It can be done, in the summer I broke my ankle and for fun tried to drive with only one leg. I was only brave enough to test in my driveway but it is good fun lol
You really have no idea how scary that is until you do it. Feels like you're gonna crash and get thrown out the front windshield before you realize a split second later whats going on
@@campbell92 I did that once after long day driving the work truck got into my auto an hit the ebrake hilarious on snow at 2 am well now that your awake
My first auto-x i discovered this. First run was uncomfortable with my head forced forward. Removed the head rest for my second run and was quickly informed that was a no no. I then discovered I could flip thim around and all was good. Not only that but my wife appreciated that it didn't mess up her hairdo.
This is super true. Also, modern headrests horrendously push your head forward. It's stupid. I have my Sequoia's headrest turned around for that reason. It can contribute to neck issues.
All this time i was critisizing soccer moms in Chevy Tahoes and other family haulers for driving with two feet, turns out all this time they were the most experienced drivers. Good job, Karen
Like he said, gotta practice. Just like when you were new to driving as a kid, your braking was kinda jerky. You had to practice being smooth. Took me a couple months of playing with it intermittently, but now nobody can tell which foot I'm using to stop with unless they actually look. PRACTICE!
I was an ambulance driver for years and used left foot breaking when responding to the scene. Fractions of a second count when your running red lights or generally driving in a away that's not normal.
"Normal" pretty much goes out the window if you want to have any chance of actually getting to where you need to go in major city heavy traffic situations.
@@D3nn1s If you're in a manual and you left foot brake during a panic stop, just yank the shifter out of gear to keep the car from stalling. It won't hurt anything. Then you can select first gear and gtfo the way if there's someone coming up behind you. I kinda wish he went over this in the vid because stalling the car could put you in a very bad position if you're in a potential pile-up situation.
I know, I was just making a joke about me trying it for the first time. It's funny how much fine control you "lose" when you are used to hammering down a heavy clutch.
When I was learning how to drive I instinctively used my left foot for the brakes and the clutch, my dad (who was teaching me) never noticed this so I just thought it was the way you were "supposed" to do it, it wasn't until like 2 years later that a friend noticed and told me it was, according to her, a huge road hazard because if you panic you could smash both so I tried switching to right foot braking and felt so slow and dangerous. My point is, if you learn to drive left foot braking using the right foot brake will feel slow and pointless. People just program their muscle memory that way but if you fight against it you will notice how much better it is.
I don't know, im pretty fast with my right foot, not to brag but I snap that foot like a lighting, saved me in a few situations. I tried left foot braking and it's awkward, would need to practice a lot...
I was the same way when I first started driving. Left foot on brake just made sense, especially since I learned in an automatic. After a week or two, mom noticed and ripped into me furiously, saying it was dangerous for those exact reasons. So I forced myself to use only my right foot, and only _then_ did I start pressing the wrong pedals. Tried to park later that same day, and instead of pulling to a stop, nearly gunned it into the garage door. Mom immediately snapped out "that is why you only use one foot to drive, so you don't do that!" Yeah, because that makes sense.
I also think it's ok with left foot braking when you get used to it. but I'm the one who press wrong pedal when use left foot braking when I didn't focus on driving (and I was still quite new for driving). so I choose right foot braking and it hard to use left foot again.
Luis Sainz you’ll know then, I started the same but it lasted no time because I always got told the brake lights are constantly on if you do and it never made sense... do they go on when touched even remotely? or is that only with pressure?
There's a book on Amazon called Ultimate Speed Secrets: The Complete Guide To High Performance And Race Driving. It's a really, really good book. it teaches you pretty much everything that you need to know regarding high performance driving and racing as the title suggests. it explains things very in depth. It's my favorite book out there😎
All your lessons should be taught to the new young drivers. I learned more from you and other emergnecy driving courses from pro drivers than i ever did from drivers ed
For real. Driver's ed today is a joke, and what's worse, a lot of places don't even require it, just a parent/guardian signed log of X amount of hours of practicing driving. Then take the fairly simple exam and small driving test and you're good.
@@JoeIsCrazyWillman drivers ed should be taught by pro racers and stunt drivers or tactical drivers. Not fuckin old dudes who only have experience driving in traffic doing nothing advanced
While I don't disagree that drivers ed is kind of useless and professional drivers can give better advice, this guy is not a professional driver and is giving terrible advice. I hope you don't actually listen to anything he says in this video because it's all horrible. There's a reason they don't teach you to left foot break, because it comes with a bunch of problems including increased break wear, from leaving you foot slightly on the gas and this can also make you stop slower because the car is trying to accelerate. Racing drivers don't actually use left foot breaking unless they're driving an automatic/paddle, you cant left foot break and use the clutch in a manual. And they only do this while racing, when they're just driving around the town in their car they would use their right foot.
Gregory Fernandez or you know let off the gas entirely, or moving your feet when need be or even heel-toeing, and without gas, brake wear is purely pressure based so just don’t be clueless and none of these problems apply. As well you can still left brake in manual if you know you don’t need to downshift in the time braking. what you said would only apply to someone with literal lead feet
That was what i was thinking, what if there is an emergency and you totally stop the car with LFB and sudenly you are in the middle of the street with the car off (no breaking assistance, no power steering, no fast reaction to leave in case other cars coming towards you...)
@@CastingSpell It's possible to pop the car out of gear without using the clutch if you time it right. As the engine hits idle speed, this will momentarily unload the transmission, and you can pop it right out of gear!
@@CastingSpell after some practice you can change the pedals faster, it takes practice and later you do it without think about it, such as trail braking, I do trail braking even without thinking of it while i turn.with my right foot, at first the car will turn off many times, so at first its better to get more distance.
@@EveKitty08 you can actually pop it out of gear as long as it doesn't have load on it, the lower the RPMs, the smootjer and better for the trans it is
@@edugamer950 You're right! It's also entirely possible to shift gears without using the clutch, with a bit of skill. Did this to limp my car to the mechanic when the clutch stopped working right (stuck engaged).
Left foot braking gives me a huge advantage over my friends in sim racing. It took a lot of practice to master, left foot trail braking, knowing the right time to do it. But the income is great, i gained >2 seconds lap time on most circuits, and now my friends can’t beat me. I love your vids team o’neil! You explain very well, and made me become a better racer as well as a better everyday driver too.
I've been a huge advocate for left foot braking for years. I found it to be vital for driving in Boston traffic but it also makes driving more interesting and interactive.
T 25 I’m in a Subaru and left foot braking is PHENOMENAL especially on canyon runs. I might go over to RWD so I’m wondering, have you done any spirited driving while LFB? What’s your take?
I use it for off-road driving all the time in my land cruiser. LFB while using the throttle keeps the truck in an Athletic Stance and gives ya some good control
@@FiendTheatre rwd guy here, LFB on canyon runs is really good, do recommend practicing on easier roads first to get used to the weight transfer and the feel of the pedals tho
I have a question: in the track use left foot braking only applicable when there is no need to downshift, otherwise sticking to heel-and-toe? I asking this because modulating brake pressure is tough when heel-and-toeing
On the track lfb is more of a mid corner adjustment or tipping into the corner, you can heel toe to 1st/2nd then shimmy over your left foot into the brake by putting both feet on the brake and then taking away the right footwithout taking away brake pressure. Or you can downshift without clutch you just have to be good at revmatching and be confident at putting it In gear without clutch but I find that its pretty hard to get perfect so I just heel toe and shimmy.
You're on-point. Basically: the goal is to brake ambidextrously. When you need to operate the clutch and brake simultaneously, just RFB and/or heel-toe as normal. The rest of the time, LFB. That or get a sequential transmission and LFB all the time!
Excellent video. Anytime I drive on the street with an automatic I always use left-foot braking because it makes it more engaging. I've got one question though about left braking in a manual. In say a panic stop where you slam on the brake with your left foot, is there a way to take the car out of gear without the clutch or is it easier to just let the car come to a complete stop in gear and stall?
If you're coming to a full stop fast because you need to, just let the car stall out it will be fine compared to messing up the stopping part trying to do something else
@@tjbach8213 I'm not sure I agree, sometimes after coming to an emergency stop it's important to be able to accelerate again. I'd rather not have to turn the key to get going again
Just press the gas slightly (with right foot) whilst breaking. It will relieve the pressure in transmission gears and it will be very easy to take it out of gear. Never pull it out with force! Only when the gears are “relaxed”. Try it yourself. You’ll see that they become loose just after releasing gas. I use it all the time with LFB and do clutch-less shifts, so my foot never leaves the brake pedal. Only when i need to start again in the 1st gear. Hope that helps. :)
I have been driving over 25 years and have always left foot braked. So many people would give me crap about it or thought it was weird saying that I drive wuth 2 feet. My perspective was just as you described with reaction time. It always just felt right to me and made sense.
left foot braking saved my family lives, i was driving 80 miles/h then an idiot tried to almost hit my car in the front, and i did brake instantly in the same second i saw it was coming. "delay just a second on street can take lives"
Honestly Driving an automatic, left foot braking is extremely beneficial because it does reduce reaction time and can vouch that i can respond better to the roads and see how my car is acting
the problem with left foot braking at least in some automatic cars is that he brake pedal is angled so high that it hurts to keep your left foot above the pedal for more than 5 minutes.
I can’t convince my brain to hit the brake without hitting the clutch so what I do is just keep my right foot over the brake unless I have tons of room like late night highway driving
You'll get much better fuel economy and quicker braking if you leave the car in gear until the revs are near idle. At idle you should be able to push it out of gear without using the clutch at all
It's so weird...in sim racing, it's second nature to left foot brake and I'm totally fine when doing it in that environment, but as soon as I try to left foot brake in my real car, that shit feels like a bull that wants to send over the hood lol
I drive for a living and especially in automatics, I left foot brake naturally. Everyone says, "that's dangerous". But I'm also the only one I know who has a perfectly clean driving record, and I drive very aggressively when in my own personal vehicle. Lol you have much better reaction to anything on the road. When I drove freight trucks the steering column made the pedals only on one side so I also have plenty of experience driving with one foot. But I have always preferred using both feet in regards to automatic transmissions.
A reviewer was road testing a vintage 240Z to see how it compares ,with modern Sports Cars, he was saying things like, this is more analog ,no anti lock brakes, no power steering, you can hear every stone and pebble, your tire goes over! You ,have to be engaged ,driving! No texting and driving, your to busy driving,!!! And then he said " this car is amazingly easy, to heel and toe,imagine they thought about that,way back when !!!" I cried, laughing ,so hard from that ,Statement, for a good while!!! I still tear up ,laughing so hard retelling the story!!. God that's funny !
This is probably the silliest example of trying to horn in high-performance driving techniques in, where they do not belong at all. Don't get me wrong, I have lots of respect for Team O'Neil, but none of those 5 reasons survive a minute of scrutiny. Just like you wouldn't install a racing camshaft or dog-teeth gearbox into your road car, there are zero reasons to left foot brake on the street, if you are driving a manual car (this might apply to automatic car, but I have no experience with this type of transmission). The only situation I can think of where it can be useful, is driving over speed bumps, where you need to quickly decompress the front springs, and then rebound the rear when your rear axle passes over the bump. 1. "In a tough situation you will always hit the right pedal" First of all, if a driver were to effectively utilize his left food on the brake, he first must go through many weeks of practice. Even then it's completely ridiculous to assume that a driver will keep his left foot over the brake at all times. When driving, your left foot belongs on the dead pedal where it grounds you into the vehicle, pushes you back into the seat, and where it can quickly reach the clutch pedal to downshift if you need to accelerate rapidly. You are NOT racing when you are street driving. You are NOT driving at the limit, hustling the car at crazy slip angles and fighting off understeer going into corners. Left foot braking is completely useless to you. In a racing situation you very rarely need to stop to a complete halt. In street driving you stop all the time. You cannot change your gears without using the clutch here, so I guess you are going to be juggling your feet on the brake pedal once your revs drop to where it requires a downshift? Yeah, good luck. 2. "Faster response time" I guess that faster response time comes at the price of stalling your car, every time that you need to brake suddenly? Since you now cannot depress the clutch without lunging forward. If an emergency braking situation is imminent and your right foot is not already over the brake pedal, then you are just a bad and inattentive driver. This goes without saying, if you do not have a subconscious reaction to move your foot over from the accelerator when you see a glint of uncertainty coming up on the road, then you are too much of a beginner driver to try left-foot braking, sorry. "But you cannot always predict everything that is going to happen on the road." - So I take it that from now on, every 100+ mile trip you will drive with your left foot hovering over the brake pedal? Ok, once again, good luck. I could get into why reasons 3 and 4 are both really ludicrous, but I've already spent too much time over this. Weight balance or load transfer should never concern you on the street. If it does then you are wasting you focus where it doesn't matter and are basically just LARPing as a rally driver.
Not to mention if you're not paying attention to your left foot and you let it rest on the brake pedal your brake lights will be on almost all the time which will make it harder for the person behind you to know you're actually slowing down. Whatever possible time you make up from having your foot there is going to be more than compensated by the response time of the person behind you, which could put you in a higher speed collision.
This is the shit i was thinkibg watchibg this like you do not need to LFB on the street and most people cannot even use their left foot with any precision
Your ignorant response is at odds with those of us who actually do it. Ive left foot braked since i started driving (i can right foot if i want to as well) and none of your points are valid for a skilled driver. Literally none. Not even the "ridiculous to hover over brake" (thats what i do. Btw you hover, you DO NOT rest on the brake). Ive driven hundreds of kilometres with the left foot over the brake, hovering - its not difficult or particularly tiring. LFB is my standard technique. The technique just plain WORKS and saves lives and prevents accidents if done properly. I guarantee i can brake faster than you on your right foot on the street. For reference I drive a Maserati 4200 Gransport. I know the ins and outs of this technique and how it applies to a high performance vehicle. All you need is training/practise. If you cant be bothered, thats not a knock on the technique. Thats on you
I agree its not for everyone, especially a clumsy driver, but I strongly disagree with much you've said...read my post. (By the way, he said in the video to use it in situations, not on 100 mile trips)
In an auto car I use my left to brake' the only time I use my right foot (in an auto) is if I've been on the road a long time and maybe my left leg is getting a bit numb. In a manual car I brake only with my right foot' this is because when stopping in a manual car it has always been important to me to disengage the driveline at the same time.
I'm still pretty young, but I spent a lot of time offroad/on trails in high school, and learned to left foot brake to either get drive quickly on trails/slide around, or be able to instantly switch between brake and throttle when crawling over obstacles. Eventually, I started doing it in daily driving and it makes driving smoother and gives you the fastest reaction possible. Thankfully, those fractions of a second difference probably haven't made much difference for me, but those 10-20 feet of stopping distance it had saved me may have prevented a couple of fender benders from idiots on the highway. At the very least, it makes you feel like you're more in control and smooths out your driving and makes it easier to keep your chassis balanced under cornering (even in my solid axle Jeep WJ lmao). Definitely a habit worth making.
Brett Friedrichsen I think we're the only ones that does left foot braking on street in a Jeep Wj 😀😂. And also, do you move your right foot away from gas pedal when stopped at red lights? 'Cause mine revs up(around 50-100 rpm) even I just rest my right foot on it 😀
@@yunusemredemir4935 No, but I usually keep my foot just the tiniest bit off of the pedal at stop lights so Im not sure if mine would do that or not! Which motor do you have?
Just make sure your brake lights aren't coming on from you resting your foot there. Don't want to get rear ended because the person behind you didn't realize you were stopping in time.
@@yunusemredemir4935 Nice! Super reliable motor. I have the 4.7 HO. I usually don't rest my foot on the throttle, I have it just above the pedal because it's sensitive enough I think it would probably rev up a tiny bit if I did.
LFB was one of the best things i learned behind the wheel. i had driven a manual for years. one day my ankle felt super stiff and for some reason, i just couldnt rotate left and right but i needed to take a short drive somewhere. tested out LFB through the first two turns. thanks to muscle memory from manuals, i managed it well. a week into LFB, i had a cyclist pop out from nowhere behind a bush. i was stopped at a stop sign. i had already started putting pressure on the gas when that cyclist popped into my FOV and my left foot planted firmly on the brakes even before i could register what was going on and my right foot was still feathering the gas before letting off completely. this happened a couple of years ago and i'm still LFB to this day though not as much.
I do this in my automatic-trans daily because it's a clunky, opposite-of-smooth vehicle. I never thought to try it in my manual sporty car but seeing the way you shifted the weight has inspired me to give it a go.
Be careful when you are still getting used to it. You can actually slam the brakes when you mean to use the clutch. Practice when there are no cars around and do it in a conscious way. Eventually it becomes instinctive. I normally left foot brake when slowing down. When stopping or expecting to stop, I use my right, even when I'm driving an automatic transmission. That way, it's the same experience when I go back to my manual car. I usually shift to my right foot if I'm left foot braking but need to stop but in an emergency I just slam the brakes with the left.
I’m confused. How can you emergency brake with left the foot in a car with a manual transmission? Wouldn’t the car stall when the revs drop too low? 5th gear at 70mph emergency braking to a stop, for example.
sarkology It would, but stalling is kinda the least of your worries at that point. Some other people in the comments say you can slip it out of gear at/near the stall point w/out the clutch.
In a manual, you're exactly right that braking to a full stop while in gear will stall the engine... But stopping short of hitting the baby carriage is better than running it over with the clutch in. In most situations, you'd get from 70mph down to 5 or 10mph and then just drive around the obstacle. As far as heel toe, it's a great technique and definitely has it's place, but will not result in maximum deceleration.
I'm in my 69 Mach, second one back at a red light in the left turn lane entering a busy highway. In my mirror I see a truck coming in behind me WAY TOO FAST, (no idea what he was thinking, as there was no one in the right lane to go straight), my left foot is already on brake so I POUND the Gas, tires light and at the same time tweak the wheel quick, and whip it back the other way, rear slides sideways left(C6, locked rear, with 295 50 15's), in a split second let off the brake and reduce gas as tires hook, pound gas again, car launches to the right of the car in front of me, as the truck screeches to a halt full brake 6 inches from the rear of the car that was in front of me. Yes split seconds matter! I look at the guy who WAS in front of me and he looks at me and motions with a forehead swipe, I shake my head in agreement... felt like a nervous superhero after that one, we would have been a pile in a highway of oncoming traffic. Always been a left foot breaker...I'm right handed, but left footed, so it just feels natural to use ambidextrous braking, which is what it really is. But some great extra details here on why to do it. As to why "ambidextrous braking" opposed to "left foot braking", the one thing that isn't mentioned here is the necessity of situational fluidity of motion, especially in a manual(if any one remembers what a manual is among the current extinction efforts, clue its in the video here) ie. left on brake, right on gas...or left on clutch, right on brake...and as it becomes fluid, either foot floats both pedals pushing both in degrees, with the brake obviously being the shared pedal. Example: Left on clutch and brake, letting out clutch while holding brake in graduation to control speed, freeing right to fluctuate gas, to spin tires while moving, for whatever reason. :-)
Some people like to grind the brake in normal traffic. It wears them out fast and when they really do an emergeny stop, nobody knows in time because their brake light is always on.
I just wish the general public was educated about this. Whenever the topic of left foot braking comes up, the layman thinks left foot braker is equivalent to the person you see driving down the highway with their brake lights on all day. Once I went to a performance driving event where I was behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Gallardo with a "professional instructor" in the passenger seat. We were waiting at the gate to launch and he looked down at my feet and said "use your right foot on the brake pedal, what are you doing?". Instantly lost all credibility to me. Once we started going and his eyes were on the road, of course I switched back.
Been driving for about 10 years now. Started with the usual right foot brake. Made a conscious effort to pick up left foot braking. Its saved my ass in many instances where someone cut me off or the car in front stopped abrupty. I was able to react quickly because my left foot was just hovering on the brake pedal. Taking sweeping turns is smoother because I'm able to modulate the speed with both throttle and brakes.
I always Left Foot Break and only drive Automatic !! My main Reason is Beacuse I'm Left Footed , my muscle Memory is on the left side of my Brain, I'm Even Left handed as well lol... if I try Using just my Right foot For Gas and Break it gets confusing and it doesn't React quick enough 😪 so My question is !! Would I be able to Drive a Manual Transmission Using Right leg For Gas and Left leg for Clutch and break??????
I taught myself left foot braking in my auto trans Toyota 86. It only took about 30 minutes -- basically two 15 minute around town drives, at 15-30 mph speeds. A little jerky at first, but not hard at all. Now it's second nature. Problem: the brake pedal sticks out an inch or so farther than the throttle pedal, so your whole left leg is more "bent". Not comfortable for long periods. Solution: put a towel or pad under your left thigh. That's the best we can do until auto makers make the brake pedal and throttle pedal the same size (and all driver ed embraces this).
Lift off over-steer? On a rainy day I was heading to the local big city, had my Yokohama AD08r on the Honda. I accelerated on the round about with my left foot on the brake and ended in a slight under-steer, jibed the brake pedal and transitioned to a drift all the way through the 90 degree on ramp. Felt amazing and so controlled in my fwd ep3.
I know left foot braking is great for racing and emergency situations but I have found I can’t do it smoothly, like heel and toe, if I get caught at a yellow light or quickly slowing down where a downshift is necessary. I don’t want to stall when I get caught at a yellow light and have to stop quickly but not as an emergency. Likewise sometimes you can be accelerating up to 3rd gear and then have a 2nd gear corner. On public roads it’s not economical or comfortable to hold the gear up to near redline like one would on a race track and it’s equally uncomfortable to go around the corner in 3rd gear with no power on the exit and an understeery balance due to the gear.
You don't need the clutch to get into neutral. It will easily slide out of gear when you get off the throttle and just before stalling. If it's a big emergency where you have to lock the tires up and come to a complete stop you shouldn't be worrying about stalling it, you should be concentrating on surviving. For yellow lights, just slide it into neutral without the clutch at the same time as getting off the gas, or if you miss that window you can keep light steady pressure on the stick and it will slip out at about idle. You can always give it a good decisive yank and it will also slip out, not doing any damage as long as you're assertive enough. As far as corners go, you should be in the appropriate gear BEFORE the corner. If you're shifting up or down in the middle of it you're probably doing something wrong.
You can put the car out of gear without the clutch and avoid stalling in Red Light situations. In emergency braking you should focus on trying to avoid an accident no matter if your car stalls or not.
@@mikaelgaiason688 I know you can put it in neutral, i just prefer not to if i can get away with a little help from engine braking but that's just me being picky. As for downshifting, if I'm in 3rd gear at like 3500rpm approaching a corner i'm not going to downshift to second and rev to like 5k before even touching the brakes. I would do it in the braking zone before the corner but when my left foot is over the brake I naturally use it to brake which then means i can't downshift while braking. I just find it hard to justify left foot braking on public roads other than for emergency stops.
@@da_sym It sounds like you're not using engine braking right. If you're driving something that 5k is high, then 3.5k should be plenty high enough to get out of the corner. You don't left foot brake ALL the time, you have to learn when to use it. Much like any other technique. You keep bringing up public roads, yet you're also complaining about not being able to downshift while braking and needing to downshift mid corner... Are you a new driver?
Mikael Gaiason that’s not what I’m saying but I don’t know how to explain it very well. haha I know how to drive, just *sometimes* feel left foot braking isn’t the answer. I just find when my left foot is over the brake, I’ll naturally use it to brake even when I shouldn’t. I’m sure it’s the same for others.
LFB gave me the time to react to a driver who misjudged the distance when getting on the road and didn't choose a lane as I was in the middle of a pass. I tried braking, realized I was too close, he finally picked the passing lane so I made sure I was past the guy I was passing and gunned it for the slow lane. Sounds complicated but all this happened in approximately 3 seconds at 65mph.
I have been doing this for years and I'm glad I finally stumbled upon a video about it. I always say it is safer when people cricize it for being dangerous. There is no way I could confuse which foot does which and I have a quicker response time than driving normally. Plus if I want to take it easy I can go back to using my right foot for both no problem.
Your gas mileage should be better since each foot only knows that pedals resistance (muscle memory) you can be more precise on the amount of pressure needed unlike going back and forth from stiffer to light pedal. Also I don't care what anyone says it is impossible to move your foot up off the accelerator then over to brake and push down faster than just simply pushing on brake left foot while lifting off accelerator pedal with right foot. That's probably why most panic stops are with two feet on brake because left foot is already pushing down when right gets there.
I'd very much like to see what the whole "left foot braking's bad, m'kay" bullshit is based on. Anyone who says it's dangerous - please show me the data behind this determination.
At the 8:00 mark, can we visit this in another video please? Maybe have a large water bottle with a second camera, put some colored water in it and lines on the water bottle and show how much the water shifts under different type of braking left vs right foot ?? Thanks for the great content?
The only problem with modern cars is brake throttle override that kills throttle input after brake is applied, so you have to feather off throttle then back into it if trying to use this technique to maintain boost/torque up when exiting corners. Another option is get a tuner and disable this mostly useless feature.
I think the advantage I have when it comes to left foot braking is that I'm ambidextrous. It seems that a lot of people have been told that they should never ever left foot brake by "experts" who haven't given thought to the capabilities of the ambidextrous amongst us.
Only been driving sports cars since I was 16. I've had to explain this every single time Some one sees me driving two feet in an automatic. I drive this way in both auto and standard. I've been explaining this for years. Most brain washed people think it's wrong.....ha ha , ok I'm 65 only been in one accident when only the passing lane , came to a screech hault ,driving an empty box truck , and I was able ,due to heavy traffic , be able to minimise it into a rear quarter scrape instead of a ,nose stuffed into the tail. It's great to finally have a video I can show, the nay sayers...so THANKS !!! I still drive,sports cars daily. My 240z is perfect , for driving !!
I grew up racing go karts so I’ve been left foot braking since I started driving. You should see me trying to brake with my right foot. It’s made driving a manual quite a challenge for me as I rely solely on my left foot to brake so getting to the clutch and braking is tough for me. Thank god automatics are getting so good. People always try to tell me it’s dangerous. I feel it gives you way better control of the vehicle as long as you’ve practiced it and are decent at it.
another reason: when you're injured you can drive with either foot. Provided it is an automatic - which is also one more reason for driving an automatic over manual.
My only qualm with the left foot braking on the street is that you're going to be flashing your brake lights far more often. This could make drivers around you feel less confident about being within your proximity
You won't necessarily be flashing your brake lights more often. Unless you are doing high speed driving and trying to manage your corner speed with some on off brake and throttle, I don't see why that would be happening.
@@jamesshives5679for the spirited driving on a back twisty road, I agree with you. I'm more referring to the use of left foot braking to improve suspension loads. Wyatt specifically states that he recommends that you use it regularly to even out bumps, going straight down the road intermittently flashing your brakes just to get slightly better ride will look sketchy to other drivers
@@rowancall2879 Oh I see what you are saying. I usually do it when going over railroad tracks, and most people brake for railroad tracks anyway so it's not a big deal. Probably using it for every imperfection would be excessive, but for the big imperfections, I don't think it would concern people behind you.
Most people are just gonna rest their foot on the pedal instead of properly hovering, keeping their brake lights on and taking away their usefulness for any following traffic
It looks like that this works great even with a automatic transmission equipped vehicle and personally I think it’s useful especially if you got a manual mode or override and being able to use the desired gear(s) for cornering and weight transferring regardless of the driving conditions
This technique I think is only recommended for very experienced people. Yes all your reasons are right but this technique with manual transmission car if car stalls you have no choise to put gas again and avoid some obstacles if you need
That's why unexperienced drivers better drive automatic - more attention to the road in my opinion and left-foot braking is applicable without any drawbacks.
I’m only 15 but I’ve been sim racing for about 6 months now, and have used left foot braking the whole time, I don’t have my permit yet, but my aunt let me drive her car up and down the drive way, and she was dead set that I shouldn’t use left foot for braking, oughta show her this
I love how most driving schools are like non never left foot brake it's not safe and every race/rally school are like yes left foot braking it speed s up your reaction time. I tend to trust rally schools on what they say about driving techniques. I can take hairpin turns at higher speeds now and react to situations faster thanks to left foot braking. I feel like if every driving school was like a rally school we'd have much better and safer drivers on the road. I definitely think I've become a better driver from watching team O'Neil
Driving instructors tell you to keep your foot on the clutch in case you have to do some emergency braking. But if I need to quickly slow to a stop I don't really care if the car stalls as long as I don't crash.
This process will vary from car to car but we did a video about how to disable the electronic nannies a few years ago. Feel free to give it watch, it might give you some insight! ua-cam.com/video/IURlUusGTow/v-deo.html
I've driven with people who left foot brake on the street because that's how they learned to drive and it's the most nauseating thing in the world. There is no smooth transition whilet sitting in the passenger seat. Right foot braking is much more smooth as a passenger.
I left foot brake all the time, and i drive cab in nyc, soon gonna hit half million mile mark on my camry. Does it helps, sure it does, saved myself and pedestrians couple of times.
I learned to left foot brake when I was driving shitty cars in my teens and the engine would choke and stall if you take your foot off the throttle at a stop. It just stuck with me and always drive like that. It’s saved my bacon a few times having my foot hovering over the pedal and being able to brake immediately. I also like rolling on the throttle a little bit before releasing the brake to load the driveline before going full throttle coming out of a corner, takes the jerk out of it.
Thanks Wyatt! When we were teaching LF braking we would always add the following caveats: 1 - you are comfortable with it, 2 - you do not ride the brake pedal causing the brake lights to flash on and off, 3 - you agree with the concept. If you are not comfortable with LF braking or do not agree with the idea then do not use it!
I find it better have situational awareness on top of just reaction time. Like you said, humans can fumble in an emergency. Being aware of what's coming up 2 or more cars ahead you will have much more time to react without having to rely just on fast reaction time.
This video straight up is gonna get kids into accidents. From one driver to another, there’s absolutely no reason for anybody to left foot brake on the street unless they’re street racing or spending a lot of time tailgating/weaving in traffic/speeding through corners. In those cases, you may need the extra fractions of a second you get from left foot braking.
There are really only 2 comments under this video: People who do LFB talking about how it saved them from getting into accidents. And people who don't LFB talking about how they think it's maybe more dangerous.
Team O'Neil Rally School then responsibility should be taken and less bias provided for a topic that’s so split. Especially information that’s being fed to a teen/early twenties audience. Why not speak about the reality that some pedal clusters favor RFB, sacrificing comfort and safety for LFB’ers. Or that LFB encourages a more aggressive driving style, thus putting the driver in more situations where they could be in an accident. I haven’t been spending my whole life racing and teaching people how to race like you guys to perfect LFB. Just a couple kart trophies and a burned out dream. And the same goes for the many joe blows that will never be as smooth as someone who spends their time practicing on a circuit or rally stage. I can only agree with your LFB philosophy for competitively experienced drivers (with spacial awareness, reaction time, accurate pedal control).
Fully agree to everything you've said. Especially relevent to me was that I come from a small town, and when I travelled to a large city, left foot braking was really useful in the super heavy traffic going at speeds that we just don't hit in my hometown. That better reaction time left foot braking gave me was really confidence inspiring.
I've been having my left foot hovering on the brake at night at all times in the countryside after almost plowing a 600+kg moose in a rusty S13. Left foot braking on really slippery ice/snowy roads is also better than any ESP.
I haven't learned to drive yet but the few times I've operated a vehicle. (mostly parking my mom's car under the awning before it gets hit by a hail storm) I've naturally wanted to left foot break. There's 2 pedals...I have 2 feet...Might as well use them both right? :P I've always had no issues pulling right foot off gas before hitting brakes. I can understand though why that might be an issue for manual transmission vehicles. (when coming to full stop right foot would have to come off the gas and hit the break anyways as you have to engage the clutch with left foot once engine RPM gets too low but I guess you could just move both feet to the left. :P). I think it comes down to how one learns things when they first get into driving. I haven't yet so most likely when I eventually learn to drive I'm probably gonna be a left foot braker. :P My mom once said that I would surely forget to let go of the gas....Yeah right. That would never happen. I've ridden bicycles for over 20 years and while the brakes are operated by my hands in that instance, that's still separate from drive pedals and I've never forgotten to stop pedaling. I can see how someone who's learned to right foot break might do that though. But I haven't learned yet so I still have the flexibility of choosing. :D I don't think I'll ever get comfortable right foot breaking. Seems like learning to use both feet would be easier since I wouldn't have to memorize where the brake pedal is since my left foot would already be lined up with it. Does mean I'll probably want to avoid using manual transmission vehicles. :P
Can you do a video on right foot clutching next
better hand clutching, gives you preccision
It can be done, in the summer I broke my ankle and for fun tried to drive with only one leg. I was only brave enough to test in my driveway but it is good fun lol
🤣
I use a broom handle for the clutch. That way I can keep both feet over the pedals at all times and stab the clutch with the broom when needed
baer schuman I use left index finger accelerating and forehead braking
Ah yes, left foot braking...like that time I went for the clutch in my buddy’s automatic trans car 🙃
You really have no idea how scary that is until you do it. Feels like you're gonna crash and get thrown out the front windshield before you realize a split second later whats going on
Ahh good ole clutch foot
@@campbell92 I did that once after long day driving the work truck got into my auto an hit the ebrake hilarious on snow at 2 am well now that your awake
@@jbstepchild Haha i have the same but getting used the transition. The lash is real
Lol
The headrest is backwards because it gets in the way when you have a helmet on. Figured I'd answer that before someone asks
I was curious about that. Thanks.
Man I thought it was just because the headrests get in the way anyways lol, I always turn mine around in my cars xD Thanks for the answer tho!
My first auto-x i discovered this. First run was uncomfortable with my head forced forward. Removed the head rest for my second run and was quickly informed that was a no no. I then discovered I could flip thim around and all was good. Not only that but my wife appreciated that it didn't mess up her hairdo.
Thanks Steven!
This is super true. Also, modern headrests horrendously push your head forward. It's stupid. I have my Sequoia's headrest turned around for that reason. It can contribute to neck issues.
Reason 6: It makes you feel like a race car driver
Reason 0, mind you
Ass Invader nice name 😂
yesssss 😁
All this time i was critisizing soccer moms in Chevy Tahoes and other family haulers for driving with two feet, turns out all this time they were the most experienced drivers. Good job, Karen
My world is shattered too
Nah riding the brakes is dangerous and should be criticized.
@@stevenleach6506 i not talking necesarily about riding the brakes, just two feet driving in general
Dilly dilly
@@Boss1186 How do you know they're left foot braking if they're not riding the brakes?
I tried left foot brake and almost smacked my head to the steering wheel.
I tried listening to all that talk, I tuned out at reason 2.
Same, tried it a couple times and almost got abs kicking in lol
Like he said, gotta practice. Just like when you were new to driving as a kid, your braking was kinda jerky. You had to practice being smooth. Took me a couple months of playing with it intermittently, but now nobody can tell which foot I'm using to stop with unless they actually look.
PRACTICE!
@@JoeIsCrazyWillman yeah practice makes it a lot better , i don't know if driving manual trans makes it harder in the beginning.
Remember to keep your heel on the floor. Most people don’t and it’s vital to help you control how hard you brake.
I was an ambulance driver for years and used left foot breaking when responding to the scene. Fractions of a second count when your running red lights or generally driving in a away that's not normal.
I guess the ambulance isnt manual tho, right?
"Normal" pretty much goes out the window if you want to have any chance of actually getting to where you need to go in major city heavy traffic situations.
Watch a lot of police officers when they drive... Guarantee more than 60percent of cops "left foot" brake...
@@D3nn1s If you're in a manual and you left foot brake during a panic stop, just yank the shifter out of gear to keep the car from stalling. It won't hurt anything. Then you can select first gear and gtfo the way if there's someone coming up behind you. I kinda wish he went over this in the vid because stalling the car could put you in a very bad position if you're in a potential pile-up situation.
@@sntslilhlpr6601 yeah i guess but that not something an ambulace driver should have to do xd
"You'll get on those pedals with a lot more precision."
Not with my left foot you won't.
Uh yes you will if you left foot brake enough it will become better at braking than your right foot. At least that's how it is for me anyway
The first time you press the brake with the left foot you will do a screenshot of the windscreen
I know, I was just making a joke about me trying it for the first time.
It's funny how much fine control you "lose" when you are used to hammering down a heavy clutch.
@@p4inmaker just make sure you keep your heel on the ground.
Play more gran turismo
When I was learning how to drive I instinctively used my left foot for the brakes and the clutch, my dad (who was teaching me) never noticed this so I just thought it was the way you were "supposed" to do it, it wasn't until like 2 years later that a friend noticed and told me it was, according to her, a huge road hazard because if you panic you could smash both so I tried switching to right foot braking and felt so slow and dangerous. My point is, if you learn to drive left foot braking using the right foot brake will feel slow and pointless. People just program their muscle memory that way but if you fight against it you will notice how much better it is.
I don't know, im pretty fast with my right foot, not to brag but I snap that foot like a lighting, saved me in a few situations.
I tried left foot braking and it's awkward, would need to practice a lot...
It definitely takes some practice to get good, especially for some of the performance driving skills, but the payoff is huge.
I was the same way when I first started driving. Left foot on brake just made sense, especially since I learned in an automatic. After a week or two, mom noticed and ripped into me furiously, saying it was dangerous for those exact reasons. So I forced myself to use only my right foot, and only _then_ did I start pressing the wrong pedals. Tried to park later that same day, and instead of pulling to a stop, nearly gunned it into the garage door. Mom immediately snapped out "that is why you only use one foot to drive, so you don't do that!"
Yeah, because that makes sense.
I also think it's ok with left foot braking when you get used to it. but I'm the one who press wrong pedal when use left foot braking when I didn't focus on driving (and I was still quite new for driving). so I choose right foot braking and it hard to use left foot again.
Luis Sainz you’ll know then, I started the same but it lasted no time because I always got told the brake lights are constantly on if you do and it never made sense... do they go on when touched even remotely? or is that only with pressure?
I'm still trying the figure out why those boots are so weird.
They are made for mountaineering. He might as well add the crampons. La Sportiva Karakorum ?
My guess is that the driver is the devil and has two clubfeet.
You can also tell he's the devil from his generally taciturn demeanor.
@@erniediaz894 Nailed it.
After all your talk about weight transfer, I think you need to do a video on that next.
Yes! Can we break weight transfer down because it's basically the secret to two wheeled sports?
@@lawrencesussman8970 lol weight transfer covers 80% of everything i was taught about in supermoto
There's a book on Amazon called
Ultimate Speed Secrets: The Complete Guide To High Performance And Race Driving. It's a really, really good book. it teaches you pretty much everything that you need to know regarding high performance driving and racing as the title suggests. it explains things very in depth. It's my favorite book out there😎
@@loth6088 yo dude do you know xmpp?
@@loth6088 I know its not related to the vid but Im just curious cause Im learning it atm. And thanks for the great book suggestion.
All your lessons should be taught to the new young drivers. I learned more from you and other emergnecy driving courses from pro drivers than i ever did from drivers ed
I've been watching these since a lil bit before drivers ed. Finished with drivers ed but need to take drivers test
For real. Driver's ed today is a joke, and what's worse, a lot of places don't even require it, just a parent/guardian signed log of X amount of hours of practicing driving. Then take the fairly simple exam and small driving test and you're good.
@@JoeIsCrazyWillman drivers ed should be taught by pro racers and stunt drivers or tactical drivers. Not fuckin old dudes who only have experience driving in traffic doing nothing advanced
While I don't disagree that drivers ed is kind of useless and professional drivers can give better advice, this guy is not a professional driver and is giving terrible advice. I hope you don't actually listen to anything he says in this video because it's all horrible. There's a reason they don't teach you to left foot break, because it comes with a bunch of problems including increased break wear, from leaving you foot slightly on the gas and this can also make you stop slower because the car is trying to accelerate. Racing drivers don't actually use left foot breaking unless they're driving an automatic/paddle, you cant left foot break and use the clutch in a manual. And they only do this while racing, when they're just driving around the town in their car they would use their right foot.
Gregory Fernandez or you know let off the gas entirely, or moving your feet when need be or even heel-toeing, and without gas, brake wear is purely pressure based so just don’t be clueless and none of these problems apply. As well you can still left brake in manual if you know you don’t need to downshift in the time braking. what you said would only apply to someone with literal lead feet
Clutch Pedal: Am I a joke to you?
That was what i was thinking, what if there is an emergency and you totally stop the car with LFB and sudenly you are in the middle of the street with the car off (no breaking assistance, no power steering, no fast reaction to leave in case other cars coming towards you...)
@@CastingSpell It's possible to pop the car out of gear without using the clutch if you time it right. As the engine hits idle speed, this will momentarily unload the transmission, and you can pop it right out of gear!
@@CastingSpell after some practice you can change the pedals faster, it takes practice and later you do it without think about it, such as trail braking, I do trail braking even without thinking of it while i turn.with my right foot, at first the car will turn off many times, so at first its better to get more distance.
@@EveKitty08 you can actually pop it out of gear as long as it doesn't have load on it, the lower the RPMs, the smootjer and better for the trans it is
@@edugamer950 You're right! It's also entirely possible to shift gears without using the clutch, with a bit of skill. Did this to limp my car to the mechanic when the clutch stopped working right (stuck engaged).
Left foot braking gives me a huge advantage over my friends in sim racing. It took a lot of practice to master, left foot trail braking, knowing the right time to do it. But the income is great, i gained >2 seconds lap time on most circuits, and now my friends can’t beat me. I love your vids team o’neil! You explain very well, and made me become a better racer as well as a better everyday driver too.
I've been a huge advocate for left foot braking for years. I found it to be vital for driving in Boston traffic but it also makes driving more interesting and interactive.
I agree. Also, don't get paddle shifters as they mean your hands can't be used for communicating with other drivers.
LFB is very useful for rwd cars for stability.
In a fwd it can be an effective way to increase cornering speed
#initialD 🤩
T 25 On FWD you basically get to simulate limited slip diff, so its s very handy technique on tight corners.
🤙🤙
T 25 I’m in a Subaru and left foot braking is PHENOMENAL especially on canyon runs. I might go over to RWD so I’m wondering, have you done any spirited driving while LFB? What’s your take?
I use it for off-road driving all the time in my land cruiser. LFB while using the throttle keeps the truck in an Athletic Stance and gives ya some good control
@@FiendTheatre rwd guy here, LFB on canyon runs is really good, do recommend practicing on easier roads first to get used to the weight transfer and the feel of the pedals tho
I have a question: in the track use left foot braking only applicable when there is no need to downshift, otherwise sticking to heel-and-toe? I asking this because modulating brake pressure is tough when heel-and-toeing
I'm also curious about this
On the track lfb is more of a mid corner adjustment or tipping into the corner, you can heel toe to 1st/2nd then shimmy over your left foot into the brake by putting both feet on the brake and then taking away the right footwithout taking away brake pressure. Or you can downshift without clutch you just have to be good at revmatching and be confident at putting it In gear without clutch but I find that its pretty hard to get perfect so I just heel toe and shimmy.
You would transition your feet to heal and toe
Shifting down by rev matching would be an option. Requires some practice too but it is possible
You're on-point. Basically: the goal is to brake ambidextrously. When you need to operate the clutch and brake simultaneously, just RFB and/or heel-toe as normal. The rest of the time, LFB. That or get a sequential transmission and LFB all the time!
Excellent video. Anytime I drive on the street with an automatic I always use left-foot braking because it makes it more engaging. I've got one question though about left braking in a manual. In say a panic stop where you slam on the brake with your left foot, is there a way to take the car out of gear without the clutch or is it easier to just let the car come to a complete stop in gear and stall?
In in my car it's possible to just pull it out of a gear without using the clutch. I don't know how bad it is for the transmission tho....
You can pull a car out of gear without the clutch but I agree it’s not ideal.
If you're coming to a full stop fast because you need to, just let the car stall out it will be fine compared to messing up the stopping part trying to do something else
@@tjbach8213 I'm not sure I agree, sometimes after coming to an emergency stop it's important to be able to accelerate again. I'd rather not have to turn the key to get going again
Just press the gas slightly (with right foot) whilst breaking.
It will relieve the pressure in transmission gears and it will be very easy to take it out of gear.
Never pull it out with force!
Only when the gears are “relaxed”. Try it yourself. You’ll see that they become loose just after releasing gas.
I use it all the time with LFB and do clutch-less shifts, so my foot never leaves the brake pedal.
Only when i need to start again in the 1st gear.
Hope that helps. :)
I have been driving over 25 years and have always left foot braked. So many people would give me crap about it or thought it was weird saying that I drive wuth 2 feet. My perspective was just as you described with reaction time. It always just felt right to me and made sense.
i get on with 2 feets when i have to speed up in corners,but in normal driving 1 foot does the job for me
left foot braking saved my family lives, i was driving 80 miles/h then an idiot tried to almost hit my car in the front, and i did brake instantly in the same second i saw it was coming.
"delay just a second on street can take lives"
Honestly Driving an automatic, left foot braking is extremely beneficial because it does reduce reaction time and can vouch that i can respond better to the roads and see how my car is acting
Question is, does it damage the car in anyway?
@@niemanickurwa no it wont damage the car in any way (if ur in an automatic)
For a car with an automatic transmission, it's a very simple calculation. Car has two pedals, I have two feet.
the problem with left foot braking at least in some automatic cars is that he brake pedal is angled so high that it hurts to keep your left foot above the pedal for more than 5 minutes.
Michael Jordon hey jordon michael you’re right
Facts
Don't keep your left foot above the pedal then. Do you keep your right foot above the brake pedal?
I can’t convince my brain to hit the brake without hitting the clutch so what I do is just keep my right foot over the brake unless I have tons of room like late night highway driving
You'll get much better fuel economy and quicker braking if you leave the car in gear until the revs are near idle. At idle you should be able to push it out of gear without using the clutch at all
@@DrDarashin woah. I waited the whole video for him to explain this.
@@DrDarashin so just brake until with the clutch out and car in gear then slip it into neutral when it's at idle rpm?
@@TimoVTavioTimppe having a bad day bud? wanna talk about it?
Heel-toe left-foot braking
It's so weird...in sim racing, it's second nature to left foot brake and I'm totally fine when doing it in that environment, but as soon as I try to left foot brake in my real car, that shit feels like a bull that wants to send over the hood lol
After go kart practice always use it
same here xd
same here xD .. and I had a harsh instructor xD
Left foot braking helps economy cars feel fun lol
I drive for a living and especially in automatics, I left foot brake naturally. Everyone says, "that's dangerous". But I'm also the only one I know who has a perfectly clean driving record, and I drive very aggressively when in my own personal vehicle. Lol you have much better reaction to anything on the road. When I drove freight trucks the steering column made the pedals only on one side so I also have plenty of experience driving with one foot. But I have always preferred using both feet in regards to automatic transmissions.
A reviewer was road testing a vintage 240Z to see how it compares ,with modern Sports Cars, he was saying things like, this is more analog ,no anti lock brakes, no power steering, you can hear every stone and pebble, your tire goes over!
You ,have to be engaged ,driving! No texting and driving, your to busy driving,!!!
And then he said " this car is amazingly easy, to heel and toe,imagine they thought about that,way back when !!!"
I cried, laughing ,so hard from that ,Statement, for a good while!!!
I still tear up ,laughing so hard retelling the story!!.
God that's funny !
This is probably the silliest example of trying to horn in high-performance driving techniques in, where they do not belong at all. Don't get me wrong, I have lots of respect for Team O'Neil, but none of those 5 reasons survive a minute of scrutiny. Just like you wouldn't install a racing camshaft or dog-teeth gearbox into your road car, there are zero reasons to left foot brake on the street, if you are driving a manual car (this might apply to automatic car, but I have no experience with this type of transmission). The only situation I can think of where it can be useful, is driving over speed bumps, where you need to quickly decompress the front springs, and then rebound the rear when your rear axle passes over the bump.
1. "In a tough situation you will always hit the right pedal"
First of all, if a driver were to effectively utilize his left food on the brake, he first must go through many weeks of practice. Even then it's completely ridiculous to assume that a driver will keep his left foot over the brake at all times. When driving, your left foot belongs on the dead pedal where it grounds you into the vehicle, pushes you back into the seat, and where it can quickly reach the clutch pedal to downshift if you need to accelerate rapidly. You are NOT racing when you are street driving. You are NOT driving at the limit, hustling the car at crazy slip angles and fighting off understeer going into corners. Left foot braking is completely useless to you. In a racing situation you very rarely need to stop to a complete halt. In street driving you stop all the time. You cannot change your gears without using the clutch here, so I guess you are going to be juggling your feet on the brake pedal once your revs drop to where it requires a downshift? Yeah, good luck.
2. "Faster response time"
I guess that faster response time comes at the price of stalling your car, every time that you need to brake suddenly? Since you now cannot depress the clutch without lunging forward.
If an emergency braking situation is imminent and your right foot is not already over the brake pedal, then you are just a bad and inattentive driver. This goes without saying, if you do not have a subconscious reaction to move your foot over from the accelerator when you see a glint of uncertainty coming up on the road, then you are too much of a beginner driver to try left-foot braking, sorry.
"But you cannot always predict everything that is going to happen on the road." - So I take it that from now on, every 100+ mile trip you will drive with your left foot hovering over the brake pedal? Ok, once again, good luck.
I could get into why reasons 3 and 4 are both really ludicrous, but I've already spent too much time over this. Weight balance or load transfer should never concern you on the street. If it does then you are wasting you focus where it doesn't matter and are basically just LARPing as a rally driver.
Not to mention if you're not paying attention to your left foot and you let it rest on the brake pedal your brake lights will be on almost all the time which will make it harder for the person behind you to know you're actually slowing down. Whatever possible time you make up from having your foot there is going to be more than compensated by the response time of the person behind you, which could put you in a higher speed collision.
This is the shit i was thinkibg watchibg this like you do not need to LFB on the street and most people cannot even use their left foot with any precision
Your ignorant response is at odds with those of us who actually do it. Ive left foot braked since i started driving (i can right foot if i want to as well) and none of your points are valid for a skilled driver. Literally none. Not even the "ridiculous to hover over brake" (thats what i do. Btw you hover, you DO NOT rest on the brake). Ive driven hundreds of kilometres with the left foot over the brake, hovering - its not difficult or particularly tiring. LFB is my standard technique.
The technique just plain WORKS and saves lives and prevents accidents if done properly. I guarantee i can brake faster than you on your right foot on the street.
For reference I drive a Maserati 4200 Gransport. I know the ins and outs of this technique and how it applies to a high performance vehicle.
All you need is training/practise. If you cant be bothered, thats not a knock on the technique. Thats on you
@@Tom--Ace Yeah now do it in a manual and let me see how you brake and clutch in with your left foot at the same time.
I agree its not for everyone, especially a clumsy driver, but I strongly disagree with much you've said...read my post. (By the way, he said in the video to use it in situations, not on 100 mile trips)
Reason No.6: Street tandem drifting lol.
In an auto car I use my left to brake' the only time I use my right foot (in an auto) is if I've been on the road a long time and maybe my left leg is getting a bit numb. In a manual car I brake only with my right foot' this is because when stopping in a manual car it has always been important to me to disengage the driveline at the same time.
I'm still pretty young, but I spent a lot of time offroad/on trails in high school, and learned to left foot brake to either get drive quickly on trails/slide around, or be able to instantly switch between brake and throttle when crawling over obstacles. Eventually, I started doing it in daily driving and it makes driving smoother and gives you the fastest reaction possible. Thankfully, those fractions of a second difference probably haven't made much difference for me, but those 10-20 feet of stopping distance it had saved me may have prevented a couple of fender benders from idiots on the highway. At the very least, it makes you feel like you're more in control and smooths out your driving and makes it easier to keep your chassis balanced under cornering (even in my solid axle Jeep WJ lmao). Definitely a habit worth making.
Brett Friedrichsen I think we're the only ones that does left foot braking on street in a Jeep Wj 😀😂. And also, do you move your right foot away from gas pedal when stopped at red lights? 'Cause mine revs up(around 50-100 rpm) even I just rest my right foot on it 😀
@@yunusemredemir4935 No, but I usually keep my foot just the tiniest bit off of the pedal at stop lights so Im not sure if mine would do that or not! Which motor do you have?
@@BradChadley 4.0 I6
Just make sure your brake lights aren't coming on from you resting your foot there. Don't want to get rear ended because the person behind you didn't realize you were stopping in time.
@@yunusemredemir4935 Nice! Super reliable motor. I have the 4.7 HO. I usually don't rest my foot on the throttle, I have it just above the pedal because it's sensitive enough I think it would probably rev up a tiny bit if I did.
There are 3 times more reasons why a daily driver shouldn’t use left foot braking I think u missed that
Agreed
Elaborate. You probably can't even name 3 that I could possibly even consider worthy
JoeIsCrazyWillman wasting ur gas, wasting ur brake, wasting ppl’s life, and wasting my time
I learned left foot breaking when the iac valve went bad on my peugeot 😂😂
I can’t stop looking at those brutal looking boots
What're those!!!!!!
LFB was one of the best things i learned behind the wheel. i had driven a manual for years. one day my ankle felt super stiff and for some reason, i just couldnt rotate left and right but i needed to take a short drive somewhere. tested out LFB through the first two turns. thanks to muscle memory from manuals, i managed it well. a week into LFB, i had a cyclist pop out from nowhere behind a bush. i was stopped at a stop sign. i had already started putting pressure on the gas when that cyclist popped into my FOV and my left foot planted firmly on the brakes even before i could register what was going on and my right foot was still feathering the gas before letting off completely. this happened a couple of years ago and i'm still LFB to this day though not as much.
I know that heel toe shift also helps on the street but never knew left foot braking also helps
Thanks for this video guys!
I do this in my automatic-trans daily because it's a clunky, opposite-of-smooth vehicle. I never thought to try it in my manual sporty car but seeing the way you shifted the weight has inspired me to give it a go.
Be careful when you are still getting used to it. You can actually slam the brakes when you mean to use the clutch. Practice when there are no cars around and do it in a conscious way. Eventually it becomes instinctive.
I normally left foot brake when slowing down. When stopping or expecting to stop, I use my right, even when I'm driving an automatic transmission. That way, it's the same experience when I go back to my manual car.
I usually shift to my right foot if I'm left foot braking but need to stop but in an emergency I just slam the brakes with the left.
I’m confused. How can you emergency brake with left the foot in a car with a manual transmission? Wouldn’t the car stall when the revs drop too low? 5th gear at 70mph emergency braking to a stop, for example.
sarkology It would, but stalling is kinda the least of your worries at that point. Some other people in the comments say you can slip it out of gear at/near the stall point w/out the clutch.
Sam! I see. I would think a highly skilled driver would stop faster heel-toe downshifting through the gears vs left foot braking in neutral idk
In a manual, you're exactly right that braking to a full stop while in gear will stall the engine... But stopping short of hitting the baby carriage is better than running it over with the clutch in. In most situations, you'd get from 70mph down to 5 or 10mph and then just drive around the obstacle. As far as heel toe, it's a great technique and definitely has it's place, but will not result in maximum deceleration.
As someone who did delivery for a good few years
I can’t count how many times it’s saved my ass from people pulling out on me suddenly
I'm in my 69 Mach, second one back at a red light in the left turn lane entering a busy highway. In my mirror I see a truck coming in behind me WAY TOO FAST, (no idea what he was thinking, as there was no one in the right lane to go straight), my left foot is already on brake so I POUND the Gas, tires light and at the same time tweak the wheel quick, and whip it back the other way, rear slides sideways left(C6, locked rear, with 295 50 15's), in a split second let off the brake and reduce gas as tires hook, pound gas again, car launches to the right of the car in front of me, as the truck screeches to a halt full brake 6 inches from the rear of the car that was in front of me. Yes split seconds matter! I look at the guy who WAS in front of me and he looks at me and motions with a forehead swipe, I shake my head in agreement... felt like a nervous superhero after that one, we would have been a pile in a highway of oncoming traffic. Always been a left foot breaker...I'm right handed, but left footed, so it just feels natural to use ambidextrous braking, which is what it really is. But some great extra details here on why to do it. As to why "ambidextrous braking" opposed to "left foot braking", the one thing that isn't mentioned here is the necessity of situational fluidity of motion, especially in a manual(if any one remembers what a manual is among the current extinction efforts, clue its in the video here) ie. left on brake, right on gas...or left on clutch, right on brake...and as it becomes fluid, either foot floats both pedals pushing both in degrees, with the brake obviously being the shared pedal. Example: Left on clutch and brake, letting out clutch while holding brake in graduation to control speed, freeing right to fluctuate gas, to spin tires while moving, for whatever reason. :-)
Some people like to grind the brake in normal traffic. It wears them out fast and when they really do an emergeny stop, nobody knows in time because their brake light is always on.
Genuinely good information, and reasoning. I will definitely be incorporating LFB into my daily driving.
I just wish the general public was educated about this. Whenever the topic of left foot braking comes up, the layman thinks left foot braker is equivalent to the person you see driving down the highway with their brake lights on all day. Once I went to a performance driving event where I was behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Gallardo with a "professional instructor" in the passenger seat. We were waiting at the gate to launch and he looked down at my feet and said "use your right foot on the brake pedal, what are you doing?". Instantly lost all credibility to me. Once we started going and his eyes were on the road, of course I switched back.
Been driving for about 10 years now. Started with the usual right foot brake. Made a conscious effort to pick up left foot braking. Its saved my ass in many instances where someone cut me off or the car in front stopped abrupty. I was able to react quickly because my left foot was just hovering on the brake pedal. Taking sweeping turns is smoother because I'm able to modulate the speed with both throttle and brakes.
I always Left Foot Break and only drive Automatic !! My main Reason is Beacuse I'm Left Footed , my muscle Memory is on the left side of my Brain, I'm Even Left handed as well lol... if I try Using just my Right foot For Gas and Break it gets confusing and it doesn't React quick enough 😪 so My question is !! Would I be able to Drive a Manual Transmission Using Right leg For Gas and Left leg for Clutch and break??????
I taught myself left foot braking in my auto trans Toyota 86. It only took about 30 minutes -- basically two 15 minute around town drives, at 15-30 mph speeds. A little jerky at first, but not hard at all. Now it's second nature.
Problem: the brake pedal sticks out an inch or so farther than the throttle pedal, so your whole left leg is more "bent". Not comfortable for long periods.
Solution: put a towel or pad under your left thigh. That's the best we can do until auto makers make the brake pedal and throttle pedal the same size (and all driver ed embraces this).
Lift off over-steer? On a rainy day I was heading to the local big city, had my Yokohama AD08r on the Honda. I accelerated on the round about with my left foot on the brake and ended in a slight under-steer, jibed the brake pedal and transitioned to a drift all the way through the 90 degree on ramp. Felt amazing and so controlled in my fwd ep3.
In the rain this is a must do because my car brakes get wet and need to be massaged to get the water out.
I know left foot braking is great for racing and emergency situations but I have found I can’t do it smoothly, like heel and toe, if I get caught at a yellow light or quickly slowing down where a downshift is necessary.
I don’t want to stall when I get caught at a yellow light and have to stop quickly but not as an emergency.
Likewise sometimes you can be accelerating up to 3rd gear and then have a 2nd gear corner. On public roads it’s not economical or comfortable to hold the gear up to near redline like one would on a race track and it’s equally uncomfortable to go around the corner in 3rd gear with no power on the exit and an understeery balance due to the gear.
You don't need the clutch to get into neutral. It will easily slide out of gear when you get off the throttle and just before stalling. If it's a big emergency where you have to lock the tires up and come to a complete stop you shouldn't be worrying about stalling it, you should be concentrating on surviving. For yellow lights, just slide it into neutral without the clutch at the same time as getting off the gas, or if you miss that window you can keep light steady pressure on the stick and it will slip out at about idle. You can always give it a good decisive yank and it will also slip out, not doing any damage as long as you're assertive enough. As far as corners go, you should be in the appropriate gear BEFORE the corner. If you're shifting up or down in the middle of it you're probably doing something wrong.
You can put the car out of gear without the clutch and avoid stalling in Red Light situations. In emergency braking you should focus on trying to avoid an accident no matter if your car stalls or not.
@@mikaelgaiason688 I know you can put it in neutral, i just prefer not to if i can get away with a little help from engine braking but that's just me being picky. As for downshifting, if I'm in 3rd gear at like 3500rpm approaching a corner i'm not going to downshift to second and rev to like 5k before even touching the brakes. I would do it in the braking zone before the corner but when my left foot is over the brake I naturally use it to brake which then means i can't downshift while braking. I just find it hard to justify left foot braking on public roads other than for emergency stops.
@@da_sym It sounds like you're not using engine braking right. If you're driving something that 5k is high, then 3.5k should be plenty high enough to get out of the corner. You don't left foot brake ALL the time, you have to learn when to use it. Much like any other technique. You keep bringing up public roads, yet you're also complaining about not being able to downshift while braking and needing to downshift mid corner... Are you a new driver?
Mikael Gaiason that’s not what I’m saying but I don’t know how to explain it very well. haha
I know how to drive, just *sometimes* feel left foot braking isn’t the answer.
I just find when my left foot is over the brake, I’ll naturally use it to brake even when I shouldn’t. I’m sure it’s the same for others.
LFB gave me the time to react to a driver who misjudged the distance when getting on the road and didn't choose a lane as I was in the middle of a pass. I tried braking, realized I was too close, he finally picked the passing lane so I made sure I was past the guy I was passing and gunned it for the slow lane.
Sounds complicated but all this happened in approximately 3 seconds at 65mph.
I have been doing this for years and I'm glad I finally stumbled upon a video about it. I always say it is safer when people cricize it for being dangerous. There is no way I could confuse which foot does which and I have a quicker response time than driving normally. Plus if I want to take it easy I can go back to using my right foot for both no problem.
Your gas mileage should be better since each foot only knows that pedals resistance (muscle memory) you can be more precise on the amount of pressure needed unlike going back and forth from stiffer to light pedal. Also I don't care what anyone says it is impossible to move your foot up off the accelerator then over to brake and push down faster than just simply pushing on brake left foot while lifting off accelerator pedal with right foot. That's probably why most panic stops are with two feet on brake because left foot is already pushing down when right gets there.
I'd very much like to see what the whole "left foot braking's bad, m'kay" bullshit is based on. Anyone who says it's dangerous - please show me the data behind this determination.
At the 8:00 mark, can we visit this in another video please? Maybe have a large water bottle with a second camera, put some colored water in it and lines on the water bottle and show how much the water shifts under different type of braking left vs right foot ?? Thanks for the great content?
When traveling at 60mph you cover the ground at 88 feet a second. It makes a difference.
Been doing it for 9 years now. It´s great and the time reaction for braking is so low.
The only problem with modern cars is brake throttle override that kills throttle input after brake is applied, so you have to feather off throttle then back into it if trying to use this technique to maintain boost/torque up when exiting corners. Another option is get a tuner and disable this mostly useless feature.
I think the advantage I have when it comes to left foot braking is that I'm ambidextrous. It seems that a lot of people have been told that they should never ever left foot brake by "experts" who haven't given thought to the capabilities of the ambidextrous amongst us.
I think of it like any ball sport where catching is done with one hand and throwing is done with the other.
Only been driving sports cars since I was 16. I've had to explain this every single time
Some one sees me driving two feet in an automatic.
I drive this way in both auto and standard.
I've been explaining this for years.
Most brain washed people think it's wrong.....ha ha , ok
I'm 65 only been in one accident when only the passing lane , came to a screech hault ,driving an empty box truck , and I was able ,due to heavy traffic , be able to minimise it into a rear quarter scrape instead of a ,nose stuffed into the tail.
It's great to finally have a video I can show, the nay sayers...so THANKS !!!
I still drive,sports cars daily. My 240z is perfect , for driving !!
So in hard breaking you just kill the car?
Either you stall it, or you gotta drive like Sebastian Loeb
I grew up racing go karts so I’ve been left foot braking since I started driving. You should see me trying to brake with my right foot. It’s made driving a manual quite a challenge for me as I rely solely on my left foot to brake so getting to the clutch and braking is tough for me. Thank god automatics are getting so good. People always try to tell me it’s dangerous. I feel it gives you way better control of the vehicle as long as you’ve practiced it and are decent at it.
another reason: when you're injured you can drive with either foot. Provided it is an automatic - which is also one more reason for driving an automatic over manual.
Lol everyone yells at me for left foot braking and tells me it's dangerous and when I get inan accident ima hit the wrong pedal lmao
My only qualm with the left foot braking on the street is that you're going to be flashing your brake lights far more often. This could make drivers around you feel less confident about being within your proximity
You won't necessarily be flashing your brake lights more often. Unless you are doing high speed driving and trying to manage your corner speed with some on off brake and throttle, I don't see why that would be happening.
@@jamesshives5679for the spirited driving on a back twisty road, I agree with you. I'm more referring to the use of left foot braking to improve suspension loads. Wyatt specifically states that he recommends that you use it regularly to even out bumps, going straight down the road intermittently flashing your brakes just to get slightly better ride will look sketchy to other drivers
@@rowancall2879 Oh I see what you are saying. I usually do it when going over railroad tracks, and most people brake for railroad tracks anyway so it's not a big deal. Probably using it for every imperfection would be excessive, but for the big imperfections, I don't think it would concern people behind you.
Well that's a good thing. They're not going to crash into you if they're too terrified to come close.
If I'm braking to try and smooth out a pothole, they should probably be slowing down anyway
Left foot braking saved me from getting hit by the idiot on their phone running a red light inches from my bumper yesterday evening.
Most people are just gonna rest their foot on the pedal instead of properly hovering, keeping their brake lights on and taking away their usefulness for any following traffic
It looks like that this works great even with a automatic transmission equipped vehicle and personally I think it’s useful especially if you got a manual mode or override and being able to use the desired gear(s) for cornering and weight transferring regardless of the driving conditions
Real men use right foot brake, left foot is for throttle only.
Then real men don't win many races
I’ve been doing it for over 1 years and ever since day 2 it’s felt way more comfortable/natural, saves me time on my commute too.
I don't know why, but when I left foot brake on mountain roads, i feel more comfortable
Left foot braking has saved my bacon on a number of occasions , wit automatic and std transmissions, great video
Thanks! But.. What are THOSES !!! 🤢
Watch out if you try it! You ll brake waaaaay harder than normal the first time :)
This technique I think is only recommended for very experienced people. Yes all your reasons are right but this technique with manual transmission car if car stalls you have no choise to put gas again and avoid some obstacles if you need
That's why unexperienced drivers better drive automatic - more attention to the road in my opinion and left-foot braking is applicable without any drawbacks.
I’m only 15 but I’ve been sim racing for about 6 months now, and have used left foot braking the whole time, I don’t have my permit yet, but my aunt let me drive her car up and down the drive way, and she was dead set that I shouldn’t use left foot for braking, oughta show her this
Your call. It might be easier just to play her game and play yours when she is out of the car.
I love how most driving schools are like non never left foot brake it's not safe and every race/rally school are like yes left foot braking it speed s up your reaction time. I tend to trust rally schools on what they say about driving techniques. I can take hairpin turns at higher speeds now and react to situations faster thanks to left foot braking. I feel like if every driving school was like a rally school we'd have much better and safer drivers on the road. I definitely think I've become a better driver from watching team O'Neil
Rally schools teach to a higher standard because if they don't the student will crash.
I have two left feet from being a terrible dancer, maybe this is something in which I can now excel.😀
Propaganda
Driving instructors tell you to keep your foot on the clutch in case you have to do some emergency braking. But if I need to quickly slow to a stop I don't really care if the car stalls as long as I don't crash.
You only use the clutch every now and then. You should be doing all your shifting in a straight line anyways
anyone know how to disable brake-throttle override on most of these modern cars? hoping to have someone who have experience doing this...
This process will vary from car to car but we did a video about how to disable the electronic nannies a few years ago. Feel free to give it watch, it might give you some insight!
ua-cam.com/video/IURlUusGTow/v-deo.html
I've driven with people who left foot brake on the street because that's how they learned to drive and it's the most nauseating thing in the world. There is no smooth transition whilet sitting in the passenger seat. Right foot braking is much more smooth as a passenger.
Smoothness has nothing to do with which foot is pressing the pedal and is all about the skill of the driver
if there was a 4th pedal we;d use all 4 at the same time
LFB is great for quicker stopping to avoid the friggin suicidal deer we have here.
I left foot brake all the time, and i drive cab in nyc, soon gonna hit half million mile mark on my camry.
Does it helps, sure it does, saved myself and pedestrians couple of times.
I learned to left foot brake when I was driving shitty cars in my teens and the engine would choke and stall if you take your foot off the throttle at a stop. It just stuck with me and always drive like that. It’s saved my bacon a few times having my foot hovering over the pedal and being able to brake immediately.
I also like rolling on the throttle a little bit before releasing the brake to load the driveline before going full throttle coming out of a corner, takes the jerk out of it.
most cars today wont let you apply the break and gas at the same time, the vehicle will automatically cut throttle
ua-cam.com/video/IURlUusGTow/v-deo.html
Thanks Wyatt! When we were teaching LF braking we would always add the following caveats: 1 - you are comfortable with it, 2 - you do not ride the brake pedal causing the brake lights to flash on and off, 3 - you agree with the concept. If you are not comfortable with LF braking or do not agree with the idea then do not use it!
I find it better have situational awareness on top of just reaction time. Like you said, humans can fumble in an emergency. Being aware of what's coming up 2 or more cars ahead you will have much more time to react without having to rely just on fast reaction time.
AND... If you've got big feet you won't accidentally stomp both pedals. Great video!
Recently started LFBing on daily drives from your older videos. Great content guys!
This video straight up is gonna get kids into accidents. From one driver to another, there’s absolutely no reason for anybody to left foot brake on the street unless they’re street racing or spending a lot of time tailgating/weaving in traffic/speeding through corners. In those cases, you may need the extra fractions of a second you get from left foot braking.
There are really only 2 comments under this video:
People who do LFB talking about how it saved them from getting into accidents.
And people who don't LFB talking about how they think it's maybe more dangerous.
Team O'Neil Rally School then responsibility should be taken and less bias provided for a topic that’s so split. Especially information that’s being fed to a teen/early twenties audience.
Why not speak about the reality that some pedal clusters favor RFB, sacrificing comfort and safety for LFB’ers. Or that LFB encourages a more aggressive driving style, thus putting the driver in more situations where they could be in an accident. I haven’t been spending my whole life racing and teaching people how to race like you guys to perfect LFB. Just a couple kart trophies and a burned out dream. And the same goes for the many joe blows that will never be as smooth as someone who spends their time practicing on a circuit or rally stage. I can only agree with your LFB philosophy for competitively experienced drivers (with spacial awareness, reaction time, accurate pedal control).
Fun fact... Left foot braking was "invented" by Finnish rally driver Rauto Aaltonen and made popular by Swedish Bjorn Waldegaard on the Group B era
Fully agree to everything you've said. Especially relevent to me was that I come from a small town, and when I travelled to a large city, left foot braking was really useful in the super heavy traffic going at speeds that we just don't hit in my hometown. That better reaction time left foot braking gave me was really confidence inspiring.
thanks for saying it out loud!
I've been using left foot braking especially in loose conditions in my car for a while now.
I've been having my left foot hovering on the brake at night at all times in the countryside after almost plowing a 600+kg moose in a rusty S13.
Left foot braking on really slippery ice/snowy roads is also better than any ESP.
I'm broke and always have bad tires. Whole winter is lfb season, the car is much more stable at entry and mid corner.
You guys are based in NH? That’s pretty cool I live in Manchester.
Yup we're just up 93 outside Littleton!
Team O'Neil Rally School awesome. Maybe someday I’ll swing by!
I haven't learned to drive yet but the few times I've operated a vehicle. (mostly parking my mom's car under the awning before it gets hit by a hail storm) I've naturally wanted to left foot break. There's 2 pedals...I have 2 feet...Might as well use them both right? :P
I've always had no issues pulling right foot off gas before hitting brakes. I can understand though why that might be an issue for manual transmission vehicles. (when coming to full stop right foot would have to come off the gas and hit the break anyways as you have to engage the clutch with left foot once engine RPM gets too low but I guess you could just move both feet to the left. :P). I think it comes down to how one learns things when they first get into driving. I haven't yet so most likely when I eventually learn to drive I'm probably gonna be a left foot braker. :P
My mom once said that I would surely forget to let go of the gas....Yeah right. That would never happen. I've ridden bicycles for over 20 years and while the brakes are operated by my hands in that instance, that's still separate from drive pedals and I've never forgotten to stop pedaling. I can see how someone who's learned to right foot break might do that though. But I haven't learned yet so I still have the flexibility of choosing. :D
I don't think I'll ever get comfortable right foot breaking. Seems like learning to use both feet would be easier since I wouldn't have to memorize where the brake pedal is since my left foot would already be lined up with it. Does mean I'll probably want to avoid using manual transmission vehicles. :P