hi guys, i have been enjoying my little fit for about 4 months now. The fit as my first stick shift car, it has been a lot fun driving it. From practicing 1st gear to 1st to 2nd gear, now i dont stall my car anymore. I try to have my gear shifting as smooth as possible. When it comes to the situation where i need to make a sharp turn coming from a higher speed, i found it is really inconvenient without this technique called "heel and toe". so i started practing this technique whenever i need to slow the car down downshifting. i'm 6ft tall wear size 11 shoes, i found it is really hard for me doing the heel-toe motion, because when the clutch and the brake are pushed down, my thigh are pushed together because the clutch and brake are so close to each other, i dont really have anymore room for that heel rolling to gas pedal and push down action. i even tried it without wearing my shoes but it is still not much room that i can move my foot around. my friend had told me to step on the brake at higher position, but my toe hit the top which make it even harder to drive. i felt really bad for my fit, it is such a good car, but the owner CAN'T drive...haha. any tips will be much appreciated

 

you just need practice, it was hard for me to do it in the fit at first because the pedals were so sensitive,but i can do it perfectly now. use the ball of your foot to step on the brakes then just roll your foot and blip the throttle. don't use your actual heel and toe, but use your left and right side of your foot. and practice every chance you get!!

 

I fond it alot easier after I got some after market pedals. you don't have to use your actual toes and heel; you can just use the inside of your right foot for the break and the outer part of you right foot to "blip" the gas.

 

I found that what shoes you wear helps too. My adidas "race team" shoes are extra wide right under the ball of my foot so it makes it easy to stretch that piece of shoe over to blip.

 

Yeah like everyone says, you don't actually need to heel toe to get a good downshift...I use the front left side of my foot to use the brake, then, when it's time to blip the throttle, just roll your foot over to the right...works much better like this Easier actually if you have bigger, wider feet...otherwise you'll need some aftermarket pedals to make sure your foot doesn't slip off the pedals when doing this haha

 

Yeah I agree. With this throttle by Wire I find that the rpm actually hangs a little so you can get a nice down shift or what ever.

 

part of the problem is the top hinged throttle...

 

I grinded the 2nd gear today, maybe I should practice too. First time ever, and hopefully last. And I think i need smaller shoes because lately my left foot keeps hitting the brake for some reason.

 

Well if part of the problem is the " top hinged throttle" then what is the difference when you " blip " the throttle?

 

Quick Feet - Features - Car and Driver April 2007

Here is a good video tutorial.

 

Yeah I've seen that vid before. I'm wondering how Throttle by wire Applies though. Have any of you noticed how the throttle just kind of hangs there for a sec when you take your foot off the gas?

 

Yes I have noticed the throttle hang, and it is one of my only complaints with the car. What I've heard however is that it is not really related to the drive by wire, it is just how the ECU is programmed (for emissions reasons). Lots of modern cars do that, even without drive by wire, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.

I have adjusted my driving style now so I don't really notice the hang, but whenever I do anything involving throttle off my right foot is acting a little bit ahead of my other limbs. I didn't even realizeI was doing it till I drove a friends car and I was really jerky because I was lifting the throttle before actually depressing the clutch when shifting.

As for heel-toe shifting, as others have said try moving your right foot more over the throttle and less over the break, this should give you more room to maneuver and also make the action easier. I still have a hard time heal-toeing this car (it was WAY easier in my old Subaru) because the drive-by-wire is not totally linear. So I guess good luck

 

i know how ya feel fitinfit, i'm 6'0 and wear 13's so i do exactly like they are saying, i use my right big toe (basically) for the break, and roll my foot to the right to press the throttle.

 

Heres the best way i found to do it. When you drive you should have your right heel closer to the gas pedal than the brake. So your drivin fast and you want to down shit. Keep your heel planted exactly where it is just bring your toes over to the brake pedal with out lifting your heel. Make sure you do this with out picking your foot up. Just roll your toes to the left, as your doing this bring the clutch in and make your shift down one gear. as your shifting your toes should be applying pressure to the brake, and as you apply pressure now you can lift the heel and blip the gas. let the clutch out when the the rpm's are matched and place your heel where it was before and roll your toes over to the gas. There you go. By the way the fit is a horrible car for first time driving stick. drive by wire has a huge delay, my Type R integra was so much more accurate. But practice make better, another thing i found out when i just shift normal is best done when only pushing the clutch in like little more than 1/4 of the way. Atleast my fit clutch doesn't engage until close to then end. So good luck and don't get to frustrated.

PHIL

 

thanks guys for the great input!

 

it actually depends on what kind of heel toe you are doing...

in everyday driving, if you heel toe, it's usually a lower rpm rev match. you can get away with flat foot reving, ie, right side foot braking, left side foot gasing. flipping the throttle and match it to 4k rpm. i really cant get my shoes to fit well on my current daily driver (prelude) to do a correct heel toe either, so i find myself rev matching more often coming out of turn instead of heel toe.

in racing, you often have to heel toe to a higher rpm. it's harder to rev higher and still control braking. hence why race driver use toe to brake, and heel to gas. it's pretty hard to flat foot match a 6k rpm match. im sure it's possible with enough practice, but it's no where as effective as actually controlling the brake with your toes, and gas pedal with your heel. ultimate goal of heel toe is decrease the time it takes you from braking to gasing, while matching the correct the gear to gas out of.

when i use to autox, i wear smaller shoes (same size, but thinner buttom). my normal thick buttom dress shoes is too big to heel toe in most cars (not to mention i really cant feel any pedal feedback).

 

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one. the point of heel-toe is to minimize as much as possible the weight shift of the car when down shifting. when you shift the cars weight, it affects the amount of grip you are asking from the tires (individually). the goal of driving as fastt as possible is to stay at the limit of adhesion of your tires, so when you have a weight shift, like when the engine is "forced" to rev to keep up with the tires and the weight shifts forward; that would cause some understeer by effectively lowering the available cornering grip. the tires can only give 100%. if your using 20% trail braking and 80% for cornering, and you downshift, you are asking another 20% from the tires, and they dont have it to give, and so you lose traction, some control, and a bit of speed aswell.

what io have highlighted would apply, in some sense, to left foot braking.

 

rev match is for car's stability during downshift, to avoid upsetting car's weight shift when gears engages.

heel toe is rev match with braking involved.

 

exactly my point; when would you need to rev match for a gear change, other than a corner entrance or exit?

 

when slowing down for a stop light that will soon be green...