I've become abit familiar in braking with my left foot..although not as controllable as my right, but it's ok lah. I have a hard time trying to use it in cornering. How can it benefit driving faster? How should it be used? BTW, my car is an FF EG 4 doors. TQ.
Left Foot Braking
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left foot braking is meant to kill understeer or make the tail comes out....
go into corner faster?i dun think so leh....
if understeer in corner...means loss of time....left foot braking is applied....so tail comes out....accel out....minumun time loss in corner....
only sifu can do that....
By driving more
msn me later
msn me later
left foot braking is usually used during long bends or corners, so that the car will maintain it's cornering line during the corner and have maximum exit speed..
anyone care to elaborate on this technic? ummm... how can the tail comes out by just applying the brake with the left foot? all this while the right foot is still on the pedal? I presume this must be a real brake killer and also easy to over heat rite? don't quite understand this technic...
A quick tap of the brakes at the clipping point can introduce oversteer, while ur right foot is still with the accel pedal, u can use the left foot to tap the brake. I think this is what TypicalGuy meant.
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Left-foot braking is primarily used in front-wheel-drive cars and comes in handy during cornering at high speeds.
A severe problem affecting most front-drivers is understeer during fast cornering. Understeer generally means that during cornering at a high speed, the car has a tendency to keep moving straight and to the outer edge of the curving road rather than the direction in which you are pointing the car. To cancel out understeer, there should be more grip at the front wheels than at the rear. The left-foot braking technique more or less helps you to do just that.
When approaching a corner, you should start slowing down like you normally do, using your right foot to apply the brake. At this point, you can use the heel-and-toe maneuver and downshift to the proper gear. Now, you should move your right foot over to the accelerator and your left foot to the brake at the same time. You are now ready to perform left-foot braking. Continue slowing the car down to a reasonable - but not too low - speed by applying the brakes with your left foot. As you are about to turn into the corner, hit the gas with your right foot and keep braking with your left foot at the same time. Being a front-wheel-drive, the rear wheels will lock while the front wheels keep moving. The car's weight is transferred to the front, causing the front wheels to have more grip than the rear wheels. The car now starts to oversteer.
Now you have to keep the car in control by steering in the direction that you want to go, and applying more or less throttle and braking as needed. You have to use both your pedals at the same time, which will take practice. Lifting off the accelerator will cause more oversteer and flip out the car's rear even more. Applying more throttle while easing off the brakes will reduce oversteer and straighten out the car. Keep performing this balancing act to smoothly clear the corner at high speed, all the while making little corrections to your steering. At the end of the corner, just floor it and power out.
When you get good at this technique, you should be able to just keep the accelerator completely floored and keep the car moving in your preffered direction using just your brake pedal and steering wheel. Understeer is eliminated if done correctly and you clear the corner at a higher speed than in normal driving. The trick is to keep practicing braking with the left foot and learn to apply the brakes as well with the left foot as with the right.
With a typical race-car gearbox, you can even start your initial braking with your left foot instead of your right without having to use the clutch pedal. When braking, you can blip the throttle between the gear change. Most normal gearboxes cannot cope with such abuse and so it is generally better not to even think about trying such a move with your commuter car unless you have deep pockets to foot the resulting repair bill! Also keep in mind that many upmarket cars are equipped with computer-controlled stability systems that will help you to safely keep a car in control during high speed cornering. But with practice, you can control a car better with the stability system turned off and turn at an even higher speed.
A severe problem affecting most front-drivers is understeer during fast cornering. Understeer generally means that during cornering at a high speed, the car has a tendency to keep moving straight and to the outer edge of the curving road rather than the direction in which you are pointing the car. To cancel out understeer, there should be more grip at the front wheels than at the rear. The left-foot braking technique more or less helps you to do just that.
When approaching a corner, you should start slowing down like you normally do, using your right foot to apply the brake. At this point, you can use the heel-and-toe maneuver and downshift to the proper gear. Now, you should move your right foot over to the accelerator and your left foot to the brake at the same time. You are now ready to perform left-foot braking. Continue slowing the car down to a reasonable - but not too low - speed by applying the brakes with your left foot. As you are about to turn into the corner, hit the gas with your right foot and keep braking with your left foot at the same time. Being a front-wheel-drive, the rear wheels will lock while the front wheels keep moving. The car's weight is transferred to the front, causing the front wheels to have more grip than the rear wheels. The car now starts to oversteer.
Now you have to keep the car in control by steering in the direction that you want to go, and applying more or less throttle and braking as needed. You have to use both your pedals at the same time, which will take practice. Lifting off the accelerator will cause more oversteer and flip out the car's rear even more. Applying more throttle while easing off the brakes will reduce oversteer and straighten out the car. Keep performing this balancing act to smoothly clear the corner at high speed, all the while making little corrections to your steering. At the end of the corner, just floor it and power out.
When you get good at this technique, you should be able to just keep the accelerator completely floored and keep the car moving in your preffered direction using just your brake pedal and steering wheel. Understeer is eliminated if done correctly and you clear the corner at a higher speed than in normal driving. The trick is to keep practicing braking with the left foot and learn to apply the brakes as well with the left foot as with the right.
With a typical race-car gearbox, you can even start your initial braking with your left foot instead of your right without having to use the clutch pedal. When braking, you can blip the throttle between the gear change. Most normal gearboxes cannot cope with such abuse and so it is generally better not to even think about trying such a move with your commuter car unless you have deep pockets to foot the resulting repair bill! Also keep in mind that many upmarket cars are equipped with computer-controlled stability systems that will help you to safely keep a car in control during high speed cornering. But with practice, you can control a car better with the stability system turned off and turn at an even higher speed.
WOW!!! thank you for the detail explanation InitialD... :) now can really understand this technic...
that's a very good video! ya, noticed that he didn't apply that heel and toe thingy but maybe the corners are short and sharp gua...
ok, one more question, in the video, the car should be 4wd rite... so, even if we apply the left foot braking technic, the rear wheel should still be turning rite? ummm... unless his brake ratio is more to the rear wheel... am i rite? :huh:
that's a very good video! ya, noticed that he didn't apply that heel and toe thingy but maybe the corners are short and sharp gua...
ok, one more question, in the video, the car should be 4wd rite... so, even if we apply the left foot braking technic, the rear wheel should still be turning rite? ummm... unless his brake ratio is more to the rear wheel... am i rite? :huh:
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it is just a weight transfer technique to adjust the fore-aft weight distribution hence traction.. gently massage the brake pedal with ur throttle planted to fine tune ur mid corner line. Applying lefty on corner entry could be useful for corners where u enter and exit in the same gearing without needing to downshift prior to entry. for example Turn 11 of sepang. Be warned that ur brake wont last as long (fade) during track days and some inexperienced cars behind u might get a scare when ur brake light comes on in midcorner. :D
Haha the 4wd master have spoken.......
In your case who needs to LFB all u need is a heavy right foot on the fun pedal to turn the car.
Antaras,
to my understanding in a normal 4wd car if u lfb it will allow more torque to be distributed to the rear as the brake bias on a street car tends to be more front bias.
Anyway now a days with the current active differential and high tech gearbox on rally cars u can make it go fwd, 4wd, rwd. With your left foot.
Even in the early 90s. I remember David Lewellin who used to drive a group A toyota Celica GT-Four for Team Toyota Malaysia. That particular car was running an xtrac gearbox and it was noticed down the straights the rear brake lights are on. To my understanding he applied slight pressure on the brakes to fool the centre diff to transfer drive to the rear on the straights. I guess when u're on 2wd there's less drive train lost and hence more top speed.
If u guys wanna learn how to practice lfb u should drive one of these.
http://morris-racing.com/kalbums/aam01/DSC_2685.sized.jpg
In your case who needs to LFB all u need is a heavy right foot on the fun pedal to turn the car.
Antaras,
to my understanding in a normal 4wd car if u lfb it will allow more torque to be distributed to the rear as the brake bias on a street car tends to be more front bias.
Anyway now a days with the current active differential and high tech gearbox on rally cars u can make it go fwd, 4wd, rwd. With your left foot.
Even in the early 90s. I remember David Lewellin who used to drive a group A toyota Celica GT-Four for Team Toyota Malaysia. That particular car was running an xtrac gearbox and it was noticed down the straights the rear brake lights are on. To my understanding he applied slight pressure on the brakes to fool the centre diff to transfer drive to the rear on the straights. I guess when u're on 2wd there's less drive train lost and hence more top speed.
If u guys wanna learn how to practice lfb u should drive one of these.
http://morris-racing.com/kalbums/aam01/DSC_2685.sized.jpg
all the sifus come out to explain liao... ic ic... thanks for the explaination... well, actually all the single seater open wheel race cars also have to use left foot to brake but then again it's a different story with them...
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