Heel-Toe

31 December 2015 Redazione Techniques and Driving

We have said that a thousand times: the advent of the automatic transmission and the subsequent disappearance of the clutch pedal have partially disfigured the purest driving pleasure. Luckily, on some sports cars, the third pedal and the shift lever are still available and when you are approaching a curvy road, you can’t help but rub your hands as a sign of joy. There is to say that performance cars like Ferrari and Porsche, for example, also provide an electronic device that comes into play while downshifting, taking the engine revved up, just in the ideal torque, of which we are talking in a few lines.
If some cars profane have asked you the reason why you act like a real acrobat of the pedals, going to simultaneously press the brake pedal and the throttle with the same foot, you are among those who, at least in those situations require that the engine is kept revved up and ready to unleash on to ground the power without hesitations, possibly due to a turbo lag or a torque on a higher rev range than usual. This technique is called heel-toe and is nothing but a kind of collaboration between braking (and/or downshifting) and keeping the number of revs per minute appropriate for a lightning acceleration. Technique which is used on cars with turbo engines, especially with single turbine and where the torque is not delivered instantly, in order not to lose precious seconds. The automatic transmission has unfortunately missed this feature because the electronics do much of the work, and as we have seen, even a bit ‘of heel-toe, but at this point the left foot, that instead of acting as a support (not having the clutch pedal) will act on the braking, leaving to the right one the task of thinking about the gas. In this case there is therefore a physically simpler maneuver, but just as delicate, because first you have to “teach” the lazy foot (left) how to act on the brake in order to avoid too much pressure and thus lead to the locking of the wheels, as it could happen on a race car not equipped with ABS; in this case it would end in a disastrous straight at the first corner.
Not always technology makes life easier and much less makes it more fun; an unconventional movement as the heel-toe requires a bit ‘of practice and on some cars, depending on the pedals layout, sometimes specially designed for this technique, may be easier than others. My advice, if you sit at the wheel of a turbocharged sports car with a few years on its shoulders, is to go on the track and try it: you will notice an increase in your performance and a bigger smile on your face.

Carlo Brema