I am trying to learn. I really am. I am finding that the small width of my foot (I'm a girl) is tricky to get the left side on the brake and the right side on the gas. Hey, at least I know how I should do it. I did it successfully once. Yep, only once. But I was thrilled!

Is there anyone else but me that can't do it? And will fess up to it?

Also, what is double-clutch?

 

I don't do it, not sure in street driving why you would want to. Also none of my instructors at the DE's I've been to have said anything about it. I think double declutching is something you use to do in car before they had syncros on the gears again something that would be of no value on todays tranies.

 

Yeah, me! I wish wish wish I could do it, but (I am also a girl) my feet are just too small (I wear a 5.5 shoe). Even when I'm wearing my hiking boots, I still can't even touch a sliver of both pedals at the same time! It's annoying, especially when my Dad drove the car for the first time and mentioned how close together the pedals are.

My understanding is that a double clutch is when you clutch in, gear out, clutch out (while in neutral), clutch in, then select your gear. I was told that this isn't usually necessary on modern manual trannies because it was mostly used to syncronize the gears in older trannies without syncros. Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong!

 

I don't and imagine far fewer people heal and toe than do. It's really no big deal in normal, everyday driving.

 

I can do it on other cars but not on the MINI. I have the same problem... my foot cannot physically reach both pedals. Size 7.

 

Before my MINI it was a long time (just learning to drive) since I had anything but an automatic. When I tried heel-toe I took it literally and had the ball of my foot on the brake and went for the gas with my heal. Now I use the left and right of my foot, but still turn my foot a bit. I hit the gas pedal further down the right side of my foot then I do with the left/brake side. Have you tried something like that?

 

I do it every time I downshift. I enjoy doing it, and constantly practicing; making my shifting better.

I could imagine how hard it would be with small feet. It is a valuable skill to learn, especially if you really enjoy spirited driving. Hopefully, you will be able to find a way to arrange your feet, to make it possible for you.

 

You are not alone...in fact among my MINI-owning acquaintances I know of no one who does this. I don't...but then I mostly do milk runs.

 

Like you, I did it once, ....accidently. I thought about really trying to learn to do it, but why make driving a struggle, when it can be pure fun?

 

No heel and toe here. I learned to drive on tractors and 15 ton trucks. Heck, you had to stand on the brake pedal, and unless it had just been serviced recently, it ended up at the floor boards more often than not. It also took a leg like man-mountain Dean's to push in the clutch. None of this conducive to dainty heel and toe manuevers.

Roach is right. The need to double clutch dissappeared with synchronized transmissions. In order to get the gears to mesh you would push in the clutch, shift to neutral while either letting off the gas (upshift) or laying on the gas (downshift) then push in the clutch again and complete the shift. Most vehicles developed their own peculiarities so often jumping into a strange truck meant some grinding while you figured out the timing of the double clutch manuever. Throw in shifting a 2-speed rear axle at the same time and it could get embarrassing.

 

it will give you a smoother ride on the street.

 

I dunno how it would make for a smoother ride. I thought it would only help save your clutch if you like to slow down via clutch downshifting. But... alas I have no 1st hand knowledge as I cannot do it either. I have really never tried as in my mind it seems like a virtually impossible feat (or feet )

 

No heal toe here either. Mainly because my left ankle is fused...

 

Heel to toeing is like twirling drumsticks while playing--- impressive, but quite unnecessary. And it says nothing about your driving skills.

 

technically, it wouldnt be smoother if you let the clutch out reaaaallly slowly on every downshift at low rpms. but heeltoe will make a less jerky ride on the streets easier.

 

Just to clarify the whole heel and toe thing. This is a technique to brake and downshift at the same time and match the revs to the gear. Not really something that has to be learned for everyday type of driving. You can match revs by simply blipping the throttle while downshifting before the stop or corner.

But during those times when a more spirited drive is wanted, then it is a technique that is very useful. You can check out the links in this post for a better idea what this is.

 

+1

 

1. It's done on the street to help minimize wear on the transmission and clutch when performing downshifts. When the revs are matched, the downshift is smoother, and the moving parts are not as stressed. Syncros help this now, but some people want to be extra certain.

2. On the track, it's done for the above reason and to help not upset the balance of the car under threshold braking. If you're braking in a straight line and you have to be in a different gear for the turn and its exit, using heel/toe will allow you to choose the correct gear without the transmission "lurching" the car forward. Perfectly performed heel/toe downshifts keep the car on balance under extreme braking and make you quicker/smoother around the track.
Think about it this way: you're coming down a straight at 120, you need to brake very hard to make it into your third gear turn. You're braking and all of the weight is on the front of the car. If you downshift and the car lurches, you can make the back end even lighter than it is and create a dangerous situation. At the worst, it's dangerour, at the best, it's just a less smooth way around the track.

Plus, it sounds cool!

mb

 

Haha, sure it does! It says I can do interesting things with my ankle joint! Technically, though, because of "synchromesh," heel/toe is unecessary for everyday life - on the track, though, wear happens. But once you learn it, it becomes second nature, and you do it all of the time. My transmission thanks me.

mb

edit - there are lots of threads on this topic to search and read. There are even websites dedicated to teaching/explaining it.

 

Double-clutching is still used by big rig trucks now-a-days...but thats pretty much it, and even they are getting to the point of where its not used too.

 

Wannamini, plain English, you don't use the sides of your foot on the two pedals. Your heal operates the the gas and your toe operates the brake when you are doing heal/toe. Also remember brakes are for stopping, gears and cluch are for going, not slowing down or stopping.

 

Never done it in my life. I'm 50. Plenty of autocross experience too.

Perhaps on the track, it's fine. But completely unnecessary for everyday driving, "spiritied driving," or even autocrossing (where you never get out of 2nd gear 99% of the time).

 

To clarify further what someone else alluded to above, the reason for heel-toe is when you are turning into a curve at the max performance your tires are capable of and need to downshift. Without rev matching, the momentary lurch can break the tires free and spin you out...or if not it can still screw up your turn entry and you come out r..e..a..l s..l..o..w. If your not pushing your tires to the skid limit, there's simply no need to heel-toe.

That said, it is fun! However my feet simply can't make the gyrations necessary in my MNI. If I ever start tracking my car on a regular basis, I'm gonna invest in some racing pedals.

 

Heel Toe: Using one side of your foot to depress the brake and slow the car while using the other side of your foot to "Blip" the throttle so you can be in the proper lower gear upon exiting the turn or to assist with slowing the car. Not blipping (Downshifting without rev-matching) can cause excess stress to the engine mounts, transmission mounts, (Passengers too!) and just doesn't feel very good to almost slam into the steering wheel when shifting .

I don't heel toe, not the way you're supposed to anyway. This is mostly because I wear a size 11 shoe and it's awkward to do. my foot is wide enough with the shoes I wear to use one side of my foot for one pedal and the other for the other pedal. Rocking your foot in either direction allows fairly accurate control of both pedals.

Double Clutching: Rather than going straight to the next gear, the shifter makes a stop in neutral and then the clutch is released. This is to allow the engine to slow down (or with a tap on the gas, speed up when downshifting) so the transition into the next gear is much more smooth. The driver then depresses the clutch again and completes the shift into the target gear, and finally the clutch is released again, putting the car back into gear.

As other people have said, most modern cars have synchro's, so there's really no need to double clutch (Though I still rev-match my downshifts by blipping the throttle slightly with the clutch depressed)

 

I can do it, but I don't. As mbcoops says.... I don't even feel it necessary if you are doing a track day. I guess if I was racing where it's everything to go as absolutely fast as one can, then yes I'd do it. Otherwise for me there is no need.