Left foot braking = tired foot

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Jibaholic

Jibaholic

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I tried to switch to left foot braking last night but my foot gets tired. I have a logitech G27 and Playseat. There is no dead pedal spot to rest my left foot on. My options seem to be:

1. Commit to left foot braking. My left foot will build endurance over time.
2. Mod my G27 by swapping the clutch and brake (I use paddle shifters) and then building a dead pedal.
3. Something else???

Thanks for the advice!

Bonus question: is there a point to getting the Nixim brake mod? In ABS 1 you end out pushing the brake pedal to the floor, so is there any purpose in having a stiff progressive spring?
 
I have a dead pedal that I rigged up myself, it's really nice and well worth the effort 👍 but don't modify the actual pedals (Unless you want to go as far as building a proper rig so you can reverse mount them)

Just rig up a dead pedal next to the clutch like a real car would :)

Alternatively, yeah just keep at it. You'll build up the strength in your feet if you practising 👍

As for the brake mod, I can't speak for the mod you're talking about but using some kind of spongy material is a cheap and effective way of giving the brake pedal a better feel.
 
I don't utilize dead zones on either my DFGT or Microsoft wheels. I just angle my foot up away from the pedals when not pushing them, with my heels resting on the floor.
 
IceMan PJN
I don't utilize dead zones on either my DFGT or Microsoft wheels. I just angle my foot up away from the pedals when not pushing them, with my heels resting on the floor.
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That's what he's complaining about :lol: doing that gets tiring and it's certainly harsh on the ankles during long stints.

Having a dead pedal (Pedal, not zone) helps alleviate the stress on your ankle by allowing you to comfortably rest your left foot between gear changes 👍
 
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I also have g27 and playseat. I added nixim mod which I would recommend. Better feel everywhere.

My left foot got tired from trying to keep my foot off the brake pedal in long enduro's, (so I don't apply unwanted brake force.) This is just habit.

With nixim mod it's stronger and takes a lot of force to apply some brake input, more than simply resting on the pedal, its just now a habit I work to break. Just keep telling yourself that lightly resting on the brake won't slow you down.
 
Right foot brake. 💡 I just find it much more natural.

Just bring your left foot into play in more technical sections. For example the esses at Suzuka. 👍
 
it's because of playseats design. What i would recommend is flipping the pedal and removing both of the black pads, this way the angle of your foot is more natural
 
I only left foot brake with race cars or cars with no clutch. If I am using a street car I heel toe when down shifting.
 
Not an issue for me. As a manual transmission user IRL my left foot is used to dipping the clutch for every gear change and start or stop. The difficulty I had was learning not to floor my left foot on the brake.

Keeping your foot off the clutch is kind of important too IRL. If you ride the clutch you end up with a worn thrust race and that casts £££ to replace.
 
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I have a G25 & Playseat, & I always left foot brake. To rest my foot I just keep my heel in position, but pivot my foot away & rest it on the base just left of the clutch pedal. Then I simply move it back over when I'm gonna brake. Keeping your foot hovering over the brakes at all times will hurt it. I've never had any issues of my left foot getting tired.

As for the Nixim brake mod, I have that & the clutch mods installed & have to say that they're worth every penny. It makes for a much more realistic braking experience than the factory springs. My advice, go buy one asap.


👍
 
Jibaholic
1. Commit to left foot braking. My left foot will build endurance over time.
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👍 The only real answer. If you use a dead pedal or other method of resting your foot, you lose time on tricky circuits just getting your foot into the right position. For consistency and zero time loss in transitions, just train your foot and ankle to sit just on the brake pedal without pressing it - eventually it will just do it automatically and the ache will diminish. Brake response time will then be almost instantaneous - the time gains compared to right foot braking are enormous on some tracks.
 
Vagabond
👍 The only real answer. If you use a dead pedal or other method of resting your foot, you lose time on tricky circuits just getting your foot into the right position. For consistency and zero time loss in transitions, just train your foot and ankle to sit just on the brake pedal without pressing it - eventually it will just do it automatically and the ache will diminish. Brake response time will then be almost instantaneous - the time gains compared to right foot braking are enormous on some tracks.
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This is what I meant too, but this sounds better!
 
UrieHusky
That's what he's complaining about :lol: doing that gets tiring and it's certainly harsh on the ankles during long stints.

Having a dead pedal (Pedal, not zone) helps alleviate the stress on your ankle by allowing you to comfortably rest your left foot between gear changes 👍
Click to expand...

Ive got the same problem. Only with my Right foot courtesy of a titanium plate so a dead pedal wont do me much good. I guess just keep going and build endurance over time. Ive had my wheel a week and my ankles are much better than they were a week ago. Just keep at it and dont give up.
 
It's not just endurance, but also technique. Musicians and athletes alike soon learn to "mix it up" in order to prolong performance. Get used to left-foot braking with your heel and ankle in different positions relative to the pedal, or using different parts of your foot, e.g. toes vs. balls of the foot etc., and remember to stretch / loosen up when not using it. You'll probably already be doing all of this with your right foot.

Unfortunately, the only way to build up that repertoire of technique is through practice, and with that practice you'll also automatically build endurance. But endurance isn't ever infinite, so only by mastering "mixing it up" can you practically have maximum endurance.

Note, I predominantly right-foot brake, but will switch to left-foot in some sequential cars (since sequential has auto clutch and throttle blip anyway, there's no in-game advantage to clutched downshifts in, say, SuperGT cars) and if I need a cheeky jab or gentle brush of the brakes whilst still on / over the throttle.
 
Griffith500
Note, I predominantly right-foot brake, but will switch to left-foot in some sequential cars (since sequential has auto clutch and throttle blip anyway, there's no in-game advantage to clutched downshifts in, say, SuperGT cars) and if I need a cheeky jab or gentle brush of the brakes whilst still on / over the throttle.
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So, in GT5, when using wheel/pedal set, there's no need to heel/toe on cars with sequential box ? Because in real life you still need to heel/toe on downshift on GT500/SuperGT cars and even lifting off the throttle when shifting up.

Here is a video of Tsuchiya-san driving the Arta NSX breaking a lap time record at Tsukuba, note that when up shifting, he lift off the throttle and heel/toe when down shifting.



So when using clutch in GT5 and sequential gearbox cars, I can basically just shift down and the game will auto blip even on GT500/SuperGT cars ? I hope the next GT would simulate gearbox operation just like their real life counterpart when possible ( user has clutch+wheel set )
 
It's the opposite with me, - I can only just brake with my right foot - as I'm used to braking with my left foot.

My tip would be, keep practicing, and you'll learn it... I guess.
 
I have a G27 with the Playseat G27 Brake Pedal, as it use both the clutch and the brake pedal springs its stiff enough to rest your foot on the brake witout actually braking, i should think a NIXIM brake mod would let you do it as well.
 
Try sliding your left foot back and just rest it on the base of the pedals behind the brake. This is what I do on straights when my muscles start to get tired. 👍
 
Thanks for all the responses guys!


I think I'm going to tough it out, but I'll rest my foot off to the side of the clutch on the straights.
 
Ridox2JZGTE
So, in GT5, when using wheel/pedal set, there's no need to heel/toe on cars with sequential box ? Because in real life you still need to heel/toe on downshift on GT500/SuperGT cars and even lifting off the throttle when shifting up.

Here is a video of Tsuchiya-san driving the Arta NSX breaking a lap time record at Tsukuba, note that when up shifting, he lift off the throttle and heel/toe when down shifting.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaMooeaKd4Y

So when using clutch in GT5 and sequential gearbox cars, I can basically just shift down and the game will auto blip even on GT500/SuperGT cars ? I hope the next GT would simulate gearbox operation just like their real life counterpart when possible ( user has clutch+wheel set )
Click to expand...

With GT5 set to sequential gears in any car, there is "no need" to heel and toe because of the sequential controls being configured to auto blip the throttle and to manage the clutch automatically.

I don't actually remember if, when you put the G25 into sequential mode on the stick, and dip the clutch so GT5 activates manual clutch, whether you can have manual clutch with sequential changes so that you can do what's seen in that video (it's also pretty common in club-level rallying, not to mention motorcycles, and that whole differential war in F1 was partially centred around alleviating the engine braking issues with non-declutched sequential downshifts.) It's something I got used to in iRacing because of a lack of finesse on clutchless downshifts meaning I had to with a sequential box, and it's also pretty useful in LFS, so I sort of remain a right-foot braker most of the time as a result.

Cars with no clutch pedal in real life, like the GTR and SLS, do not allow clutch use anyway in GT5, and the H-pattern just becomes a direct select using the same sequential-mode "aids" of auto blip and clutch. It'd be nice if auto blip and auto clutch were treated as separate aids selectable in the menus.
 
Griffith500
With GT5 set to sequential gears in any car, there is "no need" to heel and toe because of the sequential controls being configured to auto blip the throttle and to manage the clutch automatically.

I don't actually remember if, when you put the G25 into sequential mode on the stick, and dip the clutch so GT5 activates manual clutch, whether you can have manual clutch with sequential changes so that you can do what's seen in that video (it's also pretty common in club-level rallying, not to mention motorcycles, and that whole differential war in F1 was partially centred around alleviating the engine braking issues with non-declutched sequential downshifts.) It's something I got used to in iRacing because of a lack of finesse on clutchless downshifts meaning I had to with a sequential box, and it's also pretty useful in LFS, so I sort of remain a right-foot braker most of the time as a result.

Cars with no clutch pedal in real life, like the GTR and SLS, do not allow clutch use anyway in GT5, and the H-pattern just becomes a direct select using the same sequential-mode "aids" of auto blip and clutch. It'd be nice if auto blip and auto clutch were treated as separate aids selectable in the menus.
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Thanks for the explanation, I play GT5 with a stick so yeah :p, but there's something unique when I drive with no ABS and down shifting while braking + blipping the throttle ( not needed but I like it anyway ), I can actually have some kind of control of engine braking - the auto clutch while I blip the throttle can be delayed somehow. Sorry I can't describe it in words, but the engine sound when downshifting would sound like the clutch being released a bit late due to the throttle blip .. I was wondering if the same can be done with sequential cars while using wheel/pedal + clutch. Sorry for being off topic, this will be my last :)
 
I use left foot braking, but have discovered a bad habit watching some of my replays. I always tap the brakes when downshifting even if there is no need to. I am thinking this came from using clutch all the time, now I use the paddles exclusively. On a multiple downshift through a slow turn, I keep brake applied the whole time til all shifts are complete, even though I should be off the brakes and coasting. Oh well, working on it, sometimes it is hard to break bad habits.
 
I left foot brake and I set the pedal position so my ankles are in a natural comfortable position. I relax and my foot is right above the brake without any effort. And take your shoes off you haven't yet. You should be able to rest your heels on your pedal plate and pivot your ankles without using your legs in my opinion.
 
I movey left foot out to the side to rest it when possible. I play with puma drift cat trainers and prefer it with them to just socks.
 
Thinking about how I do things, I rest my heal pretty high on the footplate and pivot my foot, so that most of my foot presses the pedal, rather than raising my leg/foot to press. Because I have weakness and poor sensation in my left leg/foot due to spinal injury, I have ended up just using this method and I don't fatigue at all, but when I am in my own car, that has an exedy clutch I can only manage about 30-40 mins worth of "spirited" driving around the twisty country roads in Oxfordshire.

Another option is to possibly get pedals like the T-500 has which can be mounted like a road car, where you can just use the tip of your foot to force pressure on the brake pedal itself. I don't know if the G27 can use different pedals so sorry if this is not possible without changing the wheel also.

Left foot braking is far too useful a skill not to use in GT5 and I would say only doing heal/toe braking and shifting is more of an important skill to learn with your feet for quick/fast driving.
 
Jaywalker
Option 1. In a week or 2 you'll wonder what you were worried about...
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My job has me on my feet all day in steel toe work boots. They already hurt before I even get behind the wheel...yup, you'll get used to it pretty quick.
 

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