Quote:
Moogle said:
on the street, it is dangerous to heel toe, because even if you bias your foot to the brake, something may slip.

very dangerous.


I respectfully disagree. Maybe it's because I have size 12 feet or wear different shoes than you, but I've been heel toe'ing on the street for 4 years and I have a 500 mile a week commute. I haven't ever had even a remotely close call because of it. In fact I think I'm a safer driver because I have more control over the car. To me, double declutching is the optional technique because if you don't double declutch, you have syncros to help you out. There are no syncos on the clutch so I don't know how you downshift smoothly without heel toeing. And you if downshift without using heel and toe in a turn you can upset the car which can lead to a spin.

EDIT: After coming back from a drive I realized some simple things I may have neglected. Ofcourse you can downshift smoothly without heel and toe, you just can't brake at the same time. So you brake, stop braking, then match revs and downshift. I'm still confused by the amount of people in performance oriented cars that don't stress the importance of heel toe. Say you're coming up to a corner and brake down to 2000 rpm. You want to be in the lower gear before you enter the corner and want to get in it while you're braking. If you don't match revs the engine will be still at 2000 rpm while the tranny wants it to be at say 4000 rpm in the lower gear. So if you just let out the clutch without blipping the throttle the engine will be pushed up to 4000 rpm by the tranny and you'll be jerked like someone put on the brakes, you might even lock the rear tires. If you used heel and toe you would have blipped the throttle while braking and be smoothly in the lower gear without a jerk. Once we have perfect paddle shifting gear boxes we won't need heel and toe, but as long as there is a clutch, we will. I think that it's one of those things that if you do it all the time you realize it's actually easier because you can do more with the car, but otherwise you think it's an annoyance. It does become natural. I can't convince you guys to double declutch because with syncros it's not necessary for smoothness (like heel and toe is), but actually even that complicated procedure enables you to shift faster because you don't have to wait for syncros and it's enjoyable.