using both feet when you drive

  • Thread starter ewitspaul
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ewitspaul

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hmm, i was just playing gt4p with logitech driving force pro and noticed that i was using my both feet, one to brake and one to accel, i know this is bad habit but i am so used to this its hard for me to use 1 foot now. who else have this problem?
 
That was my only problem when learning to drive. I was so used to arcade games like F355 that I was constantly getting my feet wrong. All would be fine untill I had to brake and shift down at the same time then my brain would just freeze because I only had one foot to do two things.
 
It's a habit for me to use only one foot.

1. I need to learn for driving
2. So I can keep the pedal stand on the ground when flooring the accelerator.
 
I use a controller, solves that problem. I never had any issues switching when I drove with our wheel and then our manual car.

Left foot braking isn't bad, it's standard in a lot of motorsport where there's no clutch pedal, but there are some drivers that don't do it (Rubens Barrichello comes to mind).
 
ewitspaul
... i know this is bad habit but i am so used to this its hard for me to use 1 foot now. who else have this problem?
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there´s nothing bad about that. you shouldn´t lay off that habit.

back when i was still playing with a pad i always prefered to use the buttons because you could use accel. & brakes at the same time (from driving karts as a kid it´s a natural thing for me to do) and the easiest way to that with the pedals of a wheel is with both feet.
 
I use both feet. Real race car drivers use both feet too I think. I reckon my reaction time with braking and accelerating is better using both feet than just my right foot.
 
I prefer to use left foot braking.
Its quicker to start with than moving right foot back and forth, you can simply apply brake as you let off the gas.
It also allows you to Trail Brake, to keep the car under better control.

As for messing you up in real life, hmm never had a problem yet, your always depressing the clutch with your left foot, although im sure if you were in an auto it may be tempting.
 
GTXLR
I prefer to use left foot braking.
It also allows you to Trail Brake, to keep the car under better control.

As for messing you up in real life, hmm never had a problem yet, your always depressing the clutch with your left foot, although im sure if you were in an auto it may be tempting.
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You can trailbrake in any car regardless of foot. Trailbraking is the act of holding your brakes through the start of a turn and slowly letting off.

oh and I drive in real life with both feet. I can drive waaay faster this way (starting/stopping/getting car to change gear, I do NOT mean streetracing)
 
Civicbus
You can trailbrake in any car regardless of foot. Trailbraking is the act of holding your brakes through the start of a turn and slowly letting off.
)
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I thought it was as you said, but you are already feeding in gas as you let off the brake.
 
Left foot braking is actually a very good technique to master. On the track or road or rally, is very effective in most situations, but you have to be practiced at it. Another technique you can use in conjunction with it is heel-toeing. Now I know that heel-toeing has absolutely nothing to do with game console steering wheels because none of them have a clutch. But, if you can learn to do both, you can fang a set of wheels verrrrry quickly. Just don't make the mistake with left-foot braking of hitting the brake instead of the clutch when changing gears (done it and seen somebody else do it). Very messy, especially for the back of your car and your insurance policy!
 
GTXLR
I thought it was as you said, but you are already feeding in gas as you let off the brake.
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nope, don't even need to be giving it gas. It's all about the brakes and how your letting off while turning.
 
GTXLR
As for messing you up in real life, hmm never had a problem yet, your always depressing the clutch with your left foot, although im sure if you were in an auto it may be tempting.
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Yeah, if you passed your test in a manual (or drove a manual car before) and then start driving an automatic and use your right foot for the accelerator and your left foot for the brake then that's dangerous ... Unless of course when you emergency brake that you don't slam down both brake and accelerator pedals thinking that they are the clutch and brake pedals.

It can be dangerous because in a moments instance you revert back to using both brake pedal and clutch pedal in an emergency stop when in a manual car.

BTW, why is it mostly everyone does that? You are supposed to dip the clutch just before you come to a halt to enable engine braking. It can be hard not to panic I suppose.

My word of advice would be to use one foot when driving automatic cars on the road at all times.

As for the game, I don't know if I'll be left foot braking. If it makes me faster then I suppose I will!
 
Civicbus
nope, don't even need to be giving it gas. It's all about the brakes and how your letting off while turning.
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Oh well guess i got it wrong, however the method of driving i described above allows me to get much better times and much more stability in the turns.
 
I havn't tried trail braking, I think I should to, It could make me a better racer online on V8 supercars 2.:)
 
I agree with racy bacy...I am right now learning on a manual and when you do the emergency stop you will automatically use your right foot for the brake and your left foot for the clutch........there must be a delay in depressing the clutch to allow the engine to aid braking....If you then move to an auto you will naturally think hit both pedals in an emergency which will speed you up because of pressing brake and accel!!

I would say that it is a bad habit to drive an auto with both feet unless ure a racing driver, the reason they tell you to use your left is because you will release the accel to hit the brake by habit which is obviously for safety! left foot braking, Its ok to do this in a game but I would not do it on day to day driving....I can't anyway because of manual! :)

Robin
 
i use 1 foot for driving force pro when racing on tracks, but i need to use both foot for rally course.
left foot braking is a technique, actually not a bad habbit. but mostly use on FF or Rally car (4WD)
the press their right foot fully on the floor to keep the rpm or boost (in turbo cars) but at the same time want to slow down a little bit throughout the corner, so they tap the brake with left foot
 
My car is a semi automatic, with a paddle shift, and it is much safer to use one foot. Otherwise, as has been said, when in an emergency situation you sometimes revert to your manual driving style which can be dangerous.

Most top level competition cars now have sequential geaboxes, were full power shifts are possible. Therefore there is no need to use the clutch, apart from pulling away from a standstill. In this stituation left foot braking is pretty easy, once you get used to this technique, of course.
 
lol, my friend did the healtoe when pulling off the highway and his driving instructor quit the day after and gave him his money back
 
heck.. rally drivers use both feet all the time one on brake and one on gas. nth wrong with that :)

many race car drivers do it actually
 
I'm wondering, why is it dangerous to use both feet on an automatic when on the road? I can't see any drawback, unless of course you think you're driving a manual for some reason, or you're not used to it (in other words, not co-ordinated).
 
I use left foot braking all the time on GT , it helps especially on the rally stages ,as its and easy way of inducing oversteer .
Also i use left foot braking on tarmac as a way of keeping a good constant speed and good engine revs when cormering .I find it to be the fastest .

As for doing it in real life , UUMMM no way . i'd be to scared of stabbing the brake way to hard and going through the windscreen - lol

headbutting tarmac at 50 mph would hurt man !!!
 
Ev0
I'm wondering, why is it dangerous to use both feet on an automatic when on the road? I can't see any drawback, unless of course you think you're driving a manual for some reason, or you're not used to it (in other words, not co-ordinated).
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Its not dangerous as such. But when you are in an emergency situation, you tend to revert to a manual driving style. After you learn to drive in a manual car, for some reason, you revert to this style of driving naturally, in an emergency situation.
 
can all of you think of it this way, we are driving as fast as possible on GT and race drivers are race for win, ofcoz we all want to hit the gas earlies when exit the corner and brake as late as possible, so left foot braking applies here.
but on normal street, i really mean normal driving, you wont want to take off as fast as you can or brake at the very late point when going into a corner
 
I looked up a car instruction manual.........it actually says to not press both brake and accel at the same time because it can cause damage to the engine......A normal road car is not your adverage race car, or rally car so it is not alright to do it in a normal untuned car.....its because you are forcing power to the wheels whist trying to hold them with your brake......it would be like cycling on a bike with the brakes on.....it would need alot more effort.......and that im afraid is the strain on your expensive engine!
 
Its alright to use both feet.....as long as your lifting off one of them on either the gas or brake pedal at a time......there is no added strain if you do that.....

you can brake whist still pumping gas to the engine....but expect your engine to not last as long...
 

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