Left foot braking

That is the omly way to drive quicker action on braking.

 

Having used my right foot to brake for over 50 years just too unnatural and dangerous for me. Our other 3 cars are 3 pedal cars too make it more confusing going back and forth.

For me, better safe than sorry.

 

Fast or safe? A number of my track buddies left foot brake, both on the track and on the street. This is the fastest way, it seems, in practice and in theory. On the track you want to go from throttle to braking straight away, without the delay incurred when moving your right foot over. With left-footed braking, you can more easily do things you can't using your right foot, like trail brake, or apply throttle and brake at the same time (not that I'm suggesting that is a good idea for everyone; but rally drivers do it). And if you ever get into formula cars, the pedal box may be set up so tightly or with a support in the way that it's hard or impossible to use your right foot to brake.

But a number of us (read, "old guys") have driven too long braking right-footed. It would take some practice getting the feel and precision needed for street driving using your left foot, and you probably need to brake left-footed all the time to get enough practice. At first, there may be a safety issue. If you've ever tried to do any skill using your "other" hand/foot, you know how difficult this may or may not be for you. Some people pick it up easily, and others only with a lot of effort. I'm sure it can be done, but it's up to you whether the effort required is worth it.

 

Are you asking this question in regards to every day driving?.....the answer is no....I'm never in that much of a hurry or drive that fast where it's necessary....on the track I have done it but it's more difficult than one might think....

 

even heel and toe requires a lot of practise

 

A driving simulator helps immensely in this type of transition. Helps you get to where it's 2nd nature without having to risk damaging anything. I can easily go between either lfb or rfb and in the sim, I use whichever is more realistic for the car. I've compared both in the same car in a sim and I'm a solid .3-.5 seconds faster using lfb. It's worth a decent amount of lap time and allows a little better brake modulation when you get used to it so makes for more consistent lap times. Real cars I take to the track are all rfb, though, so that's what I practice in the sim.

 

My experience on kart race says unambiguous quicker drive on exit and during curves, but lost of body balance because the missed support left foot on the tap floor. With the experience on the track each driver have to percept which way he gets quicker. It´s not equal for all.

 

Takes getting used to, go karting a lot when I was younger helped a lot...been driving like that since.

I did get called out on it during my DMV driving test, even though I didn't see anything about it in curriculum.

 

I've always driven stick-shifts but have tried LFB on a few automatics, unfortunately with less than desirable results. The clutches on V8 BMWs were quite heavy so it was difficult to get my lead foot to cool it when I tried applying it to the brake paddle. My first attempt nearly resulted in a face plant, LOL!

I definitely have to work on a different set of driving skills with the F1 paddles. I suspect I may want bigger paddles too because the Ferrari paddles don't move with the steering.

 

Rigth. But F paddles are big enough to cover all the steering movement if you keep the right one light. Even on manuals you have to take your right hand off the wheel.

 

Yes, I agree. I am actually wondering about engaging neutral in an emergency de-clutch to avoid throttle lift-off oversteer, like if I hit a slippery patch half-way into a corner. I would need to simultaneously find both paddles in a flash.

 

For that specific situation Ferrari should put an N green button on steering wheel like F1 cars have.

 

Or power through the throttle to sustain traction and swing her around opposite lock

 

I LFB on the street and on the track in 2 pedal cars, but usually don't LFB in cars with a clutch pedal (though I do occasionally do on track there, too). A few suggestions that helped me learn it, maybe they'll help others, too: 1) karting helps, because you're forced to LFB there, so it helps develop feel pretty quickly; 2) on the street (and at first you need to do this in an empty parking lot or something and then graduate to non-busy streets, then regular streets!) drive entirely left-footed (brake and gas). You have to sit a little awkwardly, but you get used to it quickly. And working the gas pedal builds the feel in your left foot very quickly (major progress in even 10 or 20 minutes). You spend 99% of your time driving on the gas, so it's constant training for your foot. Waiting for situations when you brake makes the process take much longer. Plus, since I regularly twist, sprain, or break ankles, I figure it's a good skill to have so that I can still drive even if my right foot is in a cast ; and 3) if you want to LFB in a 3-pedal car, the best technique to be sure you're getting the brake pedal with your left foot instead of the clutch pedal is to bring your left foot over until it hits your right foot. That way you know you're over the brake, not the clutch.

 

Thanks Migas. You are absolutely right about the N button.

So as not to mess up this thread, I have started a new thread under the Ferrari Discussion (not model specific) forum.

All the same, here's an interesting 2010 video where a Ferrari performance engineer explains one of Felipe Massa's F1 steering wheels - towards the end of the video, he mentions the function of the N button:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEvZFvNKNaY]Felipe Massa's F1 Steering Wheel from 2010[/ame]

 

That works if the road surface provides consistent traction across the entire corner but if traction changes suddenly (e.g. because of a patch of water, oil) you may suddenly have way too much throttle as your car exit the slippery patch. Not good.

 

Good idea. Thanks, I'll have to try that with my truck.