Fiesta ST180 - Heel & Toe Downshift Tutorial

Do you want to be able to heel & toe smoothly like a pro?

In this video, following on from Part 1 (rev matching), I take you through what you need to do with your right foot to heel & toe downshift, demonstrate different techniques, and give you plenty of things to think about which will hopefully make you a smoother and better driver.

I hope you enjoy this and find it useful...please leave any comments or questions below...

[Mikers]

A very good video. When I started to learn heel and toe, about half a year ago, I got through similar steps as presented on this video. Of course I'm still practising and learning but at this point I'm able to usually correctly heel and toe. I'm not perfect at this, but it works more or less fine, to master it I have a very long way ahead. In my case it took me about 2-3 weeks to be able to start trying to actually heel and toe while driving. In the beginning I was practising while car was stationary. I have important advice for beginners (similar to me when I was starting to learn this technique), as Mark said be safe and careful while practising. In some cases it is hard to get use to new technique and maintain constant pressure on break pedal. In some cases (at least in my case at the beginning) you may press break pedal too hard, or harder than you wish to. Of course in that case car will slow down rapidly, so as Mark said make sure that until you learn the basics and until you feel comfortable make sure that while practising you don't have other cars behind you (or those cars are at least far away behind you). Also practising while stationary is very helpful, it kind like lets your muscles memorize the movement you need to do while heel and toe. I remember that at the beginning I was practising each day for 2 weeks. When I got to the car before going to work I tried to move my feed from gas pedal to the position over break pedal that will let mi heel and to and I did a blip of throttle. Next I moved my feet back on gas pedal and repeated. It is quite important especially if you got used to cover whole break pedal while breaking. That is because you muscles (or brain or anything) kind like remembers this movement. So I repeated that a few times in the morning and another session was after work when I got to the care before driving back. So good luck and have fun to anyone that is going to introduce this technique into it's driving as it brings lots of good things for your car, safety and your passengers should feel more comfortable ;)

[MrEDET]

I learned heel/toe braking in Iracing and it works perfect, but after your videos I actually understand better -what- I'm doing. Thanks:)

[stoneskinner]

very informative video! thank you for posting!

[MountainSalsa]

This is great. It is extra helpful to watch a tutorial when my car is the same as yours. Thank you.

[joeygu]

Great video, very comprehensive and practical, my problem is when blipping the throttle, braking force changes, it caused juggle

[elvergonzalezprieto]

Thanks for sharing this helpful tutorial, 👍

[arcthum]

I have a ‘14 Fiesta, and using H&T is quite difficult since the gas pedals are lower than the brake pedals. (seems too focused on track use)

[clairebannister]

lol - liked it when the Yeti had a go.. very good.

[BensCoffeeRants]

Is the proper technique to row through ALL the gears like you did in your first example, or is it fine to just downshift from 6th to 2nd if you're slowing down a lot and then speeding back up.

[samuelgomez]

For me is better to learn fully on the brakes. The other is very easy but many cars, especially nowadays, don't have a good pedal position/configuration for that technique by using the middle brake only.
And full brake is better for braking itself too.
You have to learn this correct way and no car resist your technique 😂

[alexuk]

Are you using stock brakes/pads?

I ask because I found the stock pads have a really strong initial bite which meant applying light braking whilst using heel/toe was very difficult.

However, I changed to Ferodo DS2500's all around and they aren't as strong when cold/initial bite, but do not fade under high temps. This made it a lot easier to heel/toe when only applying light braking.

[divad]

do you need to push the clutch to the stop when changing gear, clutch control video next

[lesrallyesdelamarterie]

Did you change the OEM pedal box in order to heel-and-toe more easily on that car?

[waynelourenco]

Hi can you block change whilst heel and toeing? I.e. 6th to 3rd etc?

[MrDaves]

I have a 2007 Ford Fiesta TDCI and I find it really hard to heel and toe mainly because the gas pedal feels awkward to reach while breaking possibly because they are kinda far from each other. Any suggestions?

[king-manu]

My civic ep2 has precisely a pedal setup that can't use heel and toe.

[Reknaw]

he has two petals ... I mean pedals. 😆

[Swayze]

It’s no skill, all in the racing shoes. Believe me...

[soom]

Nice tutorial but I think you drive too close to the steering wheel. Arms too much bend.