What is heel to toe shifting and what is it for?

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What is heel to toe shifting and what is it for?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Manual/standard transmissions have three pedals. Clutch, gas, brake.
Clutch disconnects the transmission from the engine so a gear can be changed, gas and brake are self explanatory enough.

Ideally when turning, things should be stable and smooth. Less jerky inputs, less stop/go, the better.

When shifting, especially during racing, it can be advantageous to be able to shift, blip the throttle to match RPM so the suspension maintains stability.(Rev matching is matching the speed of the engine to a transmission, so if 1000rpm in 1st goes 15mph, 800rpm in 2nd may go 15mph. Keeping in the overlap means a smoother gear shift).

While decelerating through a corner this would require 3 control inputs from the feet. Gas to rev match, brakes to control speed, and clutch to facilitate the gear change. Humans only have 2 feet. So the technique of left foot clutch, right toe brakes, right heel on the gas is Heel toe shifting. Mostly unnecessary in modern cars and daily driving. More necessary in older performance cars when trying to drive at higher levels.

[An image if it helps picture the maneuver.](https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2018/02/Heel-Toe-Shift-1.jpg)

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