Left foot braking, how different is it on RWD and AWD?

[codemunky]

Technique? Feel? Thanks.

[Kos-motate139]

I'm not sure it changes so much on the type of car...obviously you have to respect how the load transfer happens, and how that effects the bias of your car.

Skip Barber's book talks about using left foot braking more on ovals vs. road courses, the extra smoothness helping out there.

I've thought about trying to use it (my left foot's okay from karting) during autocross, but have been experimenting with a 2-1 heel-and-toe downshift instead. Kinda hard to do both.

[Jim O.]

Hmmmm...in over 200 autocrosses, I think I can count the number of times I've had to downshift into 1st gear on one hand. So, instead of working on my downshift, I think I'm going to work on my left foot braking this year. My codriver left foot brakes, and he's able to do things in my car that I can't do....

Jim

[B.Watts]

Technique and feel of left foot braking shouldn't be affected by AWD or RWD.

I have used LFB in auto-x with great success, but in the past I haven't used it on the track because you are often downshifting while slowing on the track, which involved the clutch.

Now that I am moving into a Formula Mazda race car with a real racing gear box, I am learning to downshift without a clutch, making LFB the most effective means of getting around the track. You can create much smoother transitions from braking to throttle under extreme G trailbraking situations. I can think of a particular turn at the end of a straight where I reach about 130 mph, but I don't start braking until right at the turn-in point, and I must slow to about 60mph at the apex, as it is a decreasing radius turn. Making the transition from extreme trail-braking to throttle is much smoother and leaves the car much less upset when using LFB.

However, its probably not a skill to be experimenting with at your local driving school because it is pretty useless if you must downshift in a car using a street designed manual transmission. Although, I have used it with success on some turns in my 325is race car where a downshift isn't required though, particularly on the South course of VIR, where I stayed in 3rd gear over 75% of the track.

[Kos-motate139]

Jim -- that was kind of the conclusion I was coming to as well. There is a local GS '95 325 feller that does the 2-1 thing often, and seems to do quite well with it. I'd wanted to chat with him about it more, but our last event last year was rained out.

My personal conclusion was that it seemed to help out more if less cornering grip was available, such as with my X's M Roadster on stock tires. It seemed like really narrow turns were negotiated faster by sacrificing the previous turn a bit, driving right up to the apex and braking a lot, flipping through the turn slowly, then blasting away in first as an M Roadster is capable of doing. Obviously this depends a lot on the turn(s) involved, and the rest of the course.

The previous year I never tried this on my 2002tii, since reverse doesn't have any lockout.

This year I'm getting my 318ti ready, and will probably go with Yoko A032R's on pretty wide rims, so keeping the cornering speed up should be more up this car's alley, as with the 02.

I'll be interested to try LFB as well, since I karted all last year, but not the previous one. We'll see how it goes!