Left foot braking

[Just_Steve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever Obviously we need to come up with some activities Michael can do with his left foot once he stops using it for braking.

Get him to drive a bus for a few days.

Turn signals..Left toe actuated.
High beam..Left foot actuated.
Horn..Left heal actuated.
Two way radio..Left heal actuated.
Public adress..Left heal actuated.

Guaranteed that left foot will be too busy to go near the brake pedal.

[dadu007]

My deceased father drove his whole life using his left foot for the brake. Probably no surprise since he grew up in San Francisco...

[eytonxav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB It's actually been a problem for me. Pulling out into (or across) fast moving traffic, the car suddenly stops accelerating and slows very quickly. Pushing the accelerator down strongly will overcome this, but only after significant engine hesitation. Not fun in urban traffic. At first I thought it was a defect in my car, especially after seeing other similar complaints. I noticed, however, that it happened most frequently when accelerating from standstill, and it didn't always happen. A little experimenting and I identified the brake pedal as the "driving force". A little more experimenting confirmed it. One of these days I'll post over at one of the Honda forums, see what they say. First, though, I'll direct my declining cognitive abilities toward retraining my right foot.

That sounds terrible. I wonder if there is a way to disable this. I can remember having to disconnect the 2nd and 3rd gear lockout feature that came on the Corvette. It was supposedly to increase gas mileage.

[ls99]

Cutting off throttle if foot is on brake would be a major PITA for me. I drive in very hilly areas. In my old pickup w/ manual tranny heel and toe was used often to avoid roolback problems, or enhance speed through curves...

With auto tranny when stopped on steep hill I left foot brake, with no throttle applied. To get going apply throttle and release brake. Thus avoiding the roll back which would happen. The roollback happens while moving the usual left foot braking to the throttle thus the transmission has extra load to reverse the rollback and then go forward. It is hard on the torque converter.

There are many other situations for example where edging close to a steep dropoff where left foot braking comes very handy. I often drag logs out of gulleys, or off of steep hillsides, going either forward or backwards uphill. Or hauling a load of wood on steep roads.


+1 for BigHitter's list
Since I will buying a new to me GMC truck in the near future, that is one thing I'll check for. I sure don't need a manufacturer defeat a very useful feature to me. Hopefully GM has not gone with Hondas "feature". Bad enough to put up with TPMS and other mandated fixes for stoopids.

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 That sounds terrible. I wonder if there is a way to disable this. I can remember having to disconnect the 2nd and 3rd gear lockout feature that came on the Corvette. It was supposedly to increase gas mileage.

Just to clarify, it was to increase gas mileage based on the gvmts requirements so there was no gas guzzler tax... from what I remember about it, the fix was pretty simple, but I could be wrong...

[jazz4cash]

Two foot drivers is one of my pet peeves. I can spot them in traffic and can't stand to ride with them. FYI I do live and drive in DC except my commuting days are history. Two foot driving was a major deficiency when I took a defensive driving course. Modern cars use a brake input signal for all sorts of things that don't work right if you're driving with two feet unless you have manual transmission.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[jazz4cash]

A lot of cars use a hill hold feature that keeps the brakes applied for 3 seconds or so to prevent rollback. It s pretty subtle. I didn't know my last company car had that feature until I read it in the owners manual. Rollback is not hard on the torque converter but it's a safety feature.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazz4cash Two foot drivers is one of my pet peeves. I can spot them in traffic and can't stand to ride with them. FYI I do live and drive in DC except my commuting days are history. Two foot driving was a major deficiency when I took a defensive driving course. Modern cars use a brake input signal for all sorts of things that don't work right if you're driving with two feet unless you have manual transmission.

Well, I'm six feet, so no worries there. Gosh, a two foot driver would need a specially modified car to get around. Otherwise they'd never be able to reach the pedals.

[jazz4cash]

Maybe a secondary hand throttle could be a solution.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB Well, I'm six feet, so no worries there. Gosh, a two foot driver would need a specially modified car to get around. Otherwise they'd never be able to reach the pedals.

+1

Plus they really hate this song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NvgLkuEtkA

[eytonxav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud Just to clarify, it was to increase gas mileage based on the gvmts requirements so there was no gas guzzler tax... from what I remember about it, the fix was pretty simple, but I could be wrong...

I am not sure if it was to get around the gas guzzler tax on the vette or to improve the overall mileage average of Chevy's vehicles. Anyway, those C5 vettes got pretty good gas mileage, except mine had a stroker motor in it which hurt a bit. Yes, the fix was easy, just a plug disconnect underneath by the tranny.

[Music Lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meierlde Note that in newer models there is no longer an option to use the parking brake as an emergency brake, as the control is now a knob that you turn to apply the brake. No longer is there a lever to pull. I guess this is partly about with the multiple independent circuits in the service brake, that the brake is now a parking brake only.

I test drove new car a few weeks ago and the hand brake had been replaced with a parking brake button. I guess the "emergency brake" will soon be a memory.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Never heard of it, and I was wondering if it was a defect too. But evidently not, started around 2011 in some cars All U.S. Honda Vehicles To Get Brake Overrides By Next Year a feature that might be helpful 1% of the time and a PITA the other 99%? Never noticed but I wonder if my 2012 has it?

This is a helpful link that explains what is happening. Thanks!

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Hitter chalk this up to (bad) issues with newer model cars: 1) fuel cut (either by high rpm or braking) 2) TMPS sensors 3) Traction control

4) plastic bumpers replacing the old chrome ones....... now when you swipe some pedestrian standing too close to the corner curb it dents your bumper and the blood stains are hard to get out, unlike chrome that didn't dent and windex would clean in 1 squirt.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Never heard of it, and I was wondering if it was a defect too. But evidently not, started around 2011 in some cars All U.S. Honda Vehicles To Get Brake Overrides By Next Year a feature that might be helpful 1% of the time and a PITA the other 99%? Never noticed but I wonder if my 2012 has it?

Interesting, of course now I'm going to have to try it out on my new 2015 Toyota to see if it has it.

I know it has traction control as I was in a icy place and took off from the stoplight and the car started to move sideways, then felt weird as I steered into the skid, and suddenly I was back on track...

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset Interesting, of course now I'm going to have to try it out on my new 2015 Toyota to see if it has it.

Just tried it on DW's 2014 Highlander. Yep, it shuts off the accelerator when you step on the brake.

[48Fire]

Left foot breaking is definitely a safety issue. And being behind someone doing at 80 mph is even worse.

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Music Lover I test drove new car a few weeks ago and the hand brake had been replaced with a parking brake button. I guess the "emergency brake" will soon be a memory.

It's already gone on some cars. I just learned this about our 2011 model when I took it to the dealer for brake work and my friendly service advisor informed me it has a parking brake and not an emergency brake. This caught me off guard but I should not have been surprised.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freedomatlast Wow, with all the discussion generated about left foot braking, it would be really interesting to see the amount of discussion generated by heel-and-toe downshifting in a car with manual transmission.

I had a 5 speed and drove it almost 150K without needing new brake pads. Rarely had to heel and toe it when downshifting - never drove in (actual) competition, heh, heh. In cases where i was not also braking (most of the time), I typically tapped or otherwise slightly depressed the brake pedal whenever there were drivers in close proximity to my rear end (driving courtesy AND self preservation.) This is the reverse case to two-foot driving an autotrans. I offered a warning that I was "braking" rather than a false warning when not actually braking. Of course, YMMV.

[eytonxav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freedomatlast Wow, with all the discussion generated about left foot braking, it would be really interesting to see the amount of discussion generated by heel-and-toe downshifting in a car with manual transmission.

Since the advent of synchro-mesh transmissions, not much need for this, unless your road racing, and even then, you have the SMG type transmissions that can do this much better than most folks.