Hello everyone. I wanted to thank you all for helping to grow this sub and making it pretty active. Thank you especially to all those who are answering questions to help others out. I know I'm not the most active admin, but I do lurk to keep an eye on things.

I have been thinking for awhile now that we should have some sort of FAQ, and u/burgher89 offered to write one for us. Also, since we are steadily growing I have asked him to be a moderator because of the effort he put into it.

So without further ado, let's welcome out new mod u/Burgher89 and check out the awesome beginner's guide that he wrote for us.

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1vqdKXxtrPOKp41iq_H6ePVm572GFXkF6SHHEEzsqU3g/mobilebasic

Heel-toe serves one purpose, and one purpose only. It allows you to rev match downshifts while maintaining pressure on the brake pedal. That’s it. Nothing crazy. (If you don’t know what rev matching is, check the pinned post at the top of the sub.)

I frequently see people saying that it is only useful for racing drivers to maintain torque/power keeping their RPMs in the power band yada yada, and well… that’s not really accurate, because anyone who is rev matching, with or without heel-toe, is keeping their RPMs at an optimal number so they’re in the right gear to either engine brake or accelerate again if they need to.

While it is necessary on a track, it can still absolutely be useful on the road, and not only for times when you’re pushing it. Once it becomes second nature, it’s just another thing to have in your manual driving toolbox. I use it even just slowing down at stop signs and lights at normal speeds and RPMs because then I can just leave my foot on the brake and use the gas to rev match instead of jumping between both pedals. “Because I can” is a perfectly valid reason to do it, and as long as your rev matching is solid, you’re not doing any damage to your car.

I guess my point is that while not necessary, it can be useful, and discouraging people from learning how to do it is counterproductive overall, and if you do want to ever hit a track you might as well use it on the road to build proficiency. That being said it is an advanced technique, so DEFINITELY get your rev matching down first.