Sports Driving Techniques: Double Clutch, Heel Tip
Sport driving techniques
Sporty driving techniques have been introduced in the world of competition in order to stop the timer as soon as possible and maximize the chances of victory.
Most of them can only be carried out by racing cars at the hands of an experienced driver, but there are tricks that we could introduce into our day-to-day life and it would improve our handling in sections of curves.
Today we are going to see two tips to get the most out of the dynamic qualities of the car and, in addition, they are beneficial to take care of certain mechanical parts that are very prone to wear.
The truth is that if you don’t need to keep a high pace, within the limits, they are not necessary techniques and you will hardly notice differences in the reactions of the car. In addition, some lead to a slight increase in fuel consumption, so it is not always ideal to use them.
Toe-heel
The first thing you think of when someone explains what the toe-heel technique consists of is: but I only have two feet! Do not be alarmed, although it requires a little practice to coordinate movements, doing it well is easier than it seems.
It is a fundamentally sporting technique that consists of reducing gears, one or more, while braking, but matching the oscillation speed of the primary and secondary axes of the transmission with the accelerator.
When changing gears in a car with a manual gearbox, there is a large difference in the revolutions of the gears from the gear you were taking to the one you are going to engage. When we downshift at high speed, because we are approaching a curve, we notice a rather abrupt jerk, with the consequent retention of the engine.
This jerk is due to the fact that you are mating a gear that turns very fast with one that is stationary. To avoid that annoying and harmful pull we will do the toe-heel technique. If you practice it, you will see that the distance between the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal is very small to be able to do the operation and step on both at the same time.
While you step on the brake and clutch to reduce clutch, you give a light touch on the accelerator to balance the rotation speed of the gear of the new gear. With this, apart from avoiding the annoying jerk, we will cut the time it takes for the motor to get used to the new turning speed, so the speed reduction is more effective.
You will improve cornering traction by shifting much faster and smoother, especially on slippery surfaces, when abruptness is especially dangerous.
In adults, with this sporty driving technique we will avoid premature wear of the transmission components, although this costs us a slight increase in consumption. You can not have it all!
Double clutch
It is a sporty driving technique similar to heel-toe but a little less demanding. The end is a bit similar, but not the way to do it.
With the same purpose of balancing the engine revolutions with those of the gearbox, this technique to downshift more effectively consists of making a light touch of the accelerator at the moment in which the gear lever is in the neutral position and right after you engage the lower gear.
With that touch of the accelerator with the gearbox disengaged while we continue to press the brake pedal, we manage to match the engine’s turning speed with that of the new gear that we are going to engage and thus also avoid the suddenness of downshifting.
When stepping on the clutch, when we drive for example at 90 km / h in fifth gear to put third gear, the engine lowers to a minimum speed, while the gears in the gearbox continue to turn rapidly.
This causes a smoother and more precise synchronization, and does not force the pinions, since the clutch disc enters in a much smoother way, if you try it you will feel it clearly.
If we performed this technique every time we make a forceful reduction, such as going from fifth to third to lose speed as soon as possible, we would significantly extend the useful life of the transmission and the clutch.
