*WARNING*
DO NOT TRY THIS FOR YOUR FIRST TIME ON A PUBLIC STREET
If you’re used to using the Clutch Pedal with your left foot, you will slam on the brakes the first time you try this.
*WARNING*
Performing Left Foot Braking
- Press the Throttle with your Right Foot
- Apply Pressure to the Brake with your Left Foot
Left Foot Braking (LFB) is, in theory, very simple. With your Right foot on the gas you use your left foot to brake and that will change the balance of the car. The trick with LFB is the technique changes from car to car and from surface to surface. When I was learning how to use LFB one of the cars I drove “preferred” a stab at the brakes followed by firm pressure, while another one preferred smooth application of the brakes and far less pressure than the first car. My WRX, in the snow, prefers throttle to pitch the car with light and short LFB to upset the balance and flick the car.
In order to succeed at LFB you should practice normal braking with your left foot in an EMPTY parking lot. The first time you try it, you will probably apply a bit too much pressure and abruptly stop. Once you’re comfortable braking with your left foot use it while driving normally. You will develop better control over your left foot.
Why Left Foot Brake?
Left Foot Braking can be used in a few ways, and those ways are surface dependent. On Tarmac it is primarily used to reduce the time from throttle to brake. On gravel, snow and dirt it is used to pitch the car into a slide. In turbocharged cars it can be used to keep the turbo spooled through corners,.
On the loose stuff it can be used to slide front wheel drive cars (FWD), and very easily rear wheel drive cars (RWD), without using the handbrake. It does this by un-weighting the rear end of the car and giving the front wheels more traction. Try it out: find an empty lot of loose stuff (parking lot with snow, field you have permission to be in, gravel parking lot you’re allowed to wreck) and start driving in a circle. Start with little steering input (so that means not full lock!) and with your right foot on the gas (keep it at a decent pressure), apply the brakes slowly and smoothly with your left. If your car just slows down, keep trying, but use less braking pressure. You might find your car enter a slide. Maybe, if you still aren’t sliding, try stabbing at the brakes with your left foot. Experiment, it is one of the best ways to teach yourself anything. You will eventually see the effects of weight transfer, and you will be a safer driver because of it. This is very hard on your brakes and your engine, so be warned and be safe!
It sports yet another nifty use: Left Foot Braking is a poor man’s limited slip differential. A car with a normal differential will apply no power to the ground if one of the drive wheels (assuming 2WD) is spinning freely. Adding braking forces to the wheel will cause the differential to act as if both wheels are gripping and will apply power to both wheels. So next time you find your dirt launches to cause a one tire fire, or one of your drive wheels is stuck in a ditch and the other is in the air, apply a tiny amount of brake pressure.
April 8th, 2008 |
