I know this is something you can probably only do in a clutchless... but still it would cut your reaction time if you got a good handle on it.



Am I crazy?

 

Just don't step on both at the same time.

 

not such a good idea in my opinon, have heard stories about accidents from that happening there is a foot rest for a reason

 

I have used my left foot to brake but it was by accident when driving someone else's automatic. I was speeding up on a freeway onramp and totally forgot it was an auto. I stepped on the brake with my left foot thinking it was the clutch and the next thing you know, I nearly killed all of my passengers by throwing them forward at high speed.

 

The first time I drove a rental car (auto) after having driven my manual for several months, I did the same thing and pressed on the brake reallly hard. Luckily I was the only one in the car.

From then on, whenever I drive an automatic car I always tuck my left foot in front of the drivers seat.

 

but I have a friend who does

 

My left foot never gets near the pedals, except to move empty beer bottles out of the way. (Just kidding about the bottles) My dad brakes with his left and has never had any problems, but it's not for me.

 

I have done the exact same thing only without the passengers.

The best part is, it was in an Odyssey.

 

the only person that i know that has mastered that style of driving is my dad, he's been driving like that for almost 40 years.

 

I did the same thing, but worse...

It was in my mom's car, and she had dropped something on the floor and was leaning forward, we just pulled out of the driveway and I wasn't even going like 15mph but I mashed the brake and she slammed her face into the dash and I gave her a bloody nose...

let's just say I got "yelled" at... and that's putting it nicely.

 

I don't brake with my left foot but I hold it with my left foot after I stop if I want a quick getaway once the light turns green.

 

I've tried it once with my SMT just out of curiosity to see how the left foot feel. It was just a light tap but the car screeched on the ground and almost stopped immediately 1/2 sec before I can put the clutch down. Thank God for the seat belt or I'll be out of the window. I was in traffic too. I have also hit the break and gas at the same time by mistake once, killed the car immediately.

 

Only when I play GT4 with the driving force pro steering wheel

 

Been doing it for thirty years-what could be more practical? Picked it up in '74 from a good friend of mine in Salt Lake City. He was a gay, Peruvian Mormon and drove a burgundy Mustang. First time I saw it , I thought, 'damn that's strange', but tried it, liked it, and it's second nature now. Urban traffic is so f**ked up these days, I've usually got one on the accelerator and one hovering above the brake in the event of a split second reaction time. Wouldn't being ambi-dexterous be advantageous? No different with the feet--it's all about practice and habit. And in that split second crunch could also be a life saver.

 

I did the same thing except I didn't slam anyones face into the dash. My sister gave me a dirty ass look though.

Now I drive with my left foot sometimes. If my back starts bothering me I don't even use my right foot at all.

 

My dad drives with both feet (brake/accelerator). He claims that is how his driving instructor taught him to do it... right

 

the only time i would have to use left foot braking is wen im at a steep incline trying to go up or back up from a standstill...had to do it in SF trying to back out of a parallel parking space

 

I've been driving with my left foot on the brake for many years. Now I can't go back to braking with my right foot anymore.

 

I only practice left foot braking in my parents 98' Accord back home in Hawaii since its an automatic... Easier to practice it with the auto in my oppinion since there are only 2 pedals to worry about opposed to the MT... so one foot for each pedal... yeah at first it was hard for me cause the when I thought I was pressing the braking lightly with my left foot, I would come to a screeching halt... but after practing controlling your left foot, I got really smooth with it... Like my dad said when teaching My brothers and I to control the speed, "Treat the pedal like an eggshell, if you put too much pressure you'll break it" so I guess you can apply that theory when using left foot braking... I typically don't drive like that in the auto anyways... only if I was bored so I stick to the right foot for braking...

 

My unlce drives like that for some reason. I've tried that before and since my left foot hasn't really hit a pedal before except for a clutch, you will tend to brake really hard your first couple of times. I dont think my uncle has had any problems though.
What i'd be worried about is hitting both pedals at the same time in a panic or emergency.

 

I think we all have at least tried it once, but if you owned a MT for some amount of time in your life, that habit would be hard to get into. What I don't like about left foot braking is most people don't "hover" their foot over the brake pedal, rather they rest it on it, meaning the brake lights are on whether they are braking or not.

 

same^^^^

the thing i experienced when i had my AT explorer is that your left foot lacks the fine motor skills from using your right foot so much, so you cant break as smoothly all we do with our left foot in MT is fully depress the clutch...im sure if you did it from the start you could do it, but id think thered be some time where youd be hitting both at the same time, which would cause some problems

 

ditto

 

You've been driving since you were 8 years old?

Peruvian Mormons I've met lots of. Gay Mormons? Not so many. They kind of kick you out...

 

my brother does that, but he's a freak. can't imagine doing that myself since i don't like to keep my legs closed.

 

it is the bad habbit to use the left foot to brake

 

That's his post count, not his age. I've known all kinds of Mormons (by upbringing) and many are not quite a strict as you might expect ("jack" mormons), particularly if they are in a large metro area far from SLC.

 

Left foot -> footrest
We all have paid for the footrest. This is the place for the left foot even in the cars with manual transmission (except for the very brief moments of actually using the clutch pedal.

But reading several posts mentioning people (dads, brothers) who use left foot to brake, I became curious. Is anyone doing this in a car with manual transmission?

 

I did it before, because I sprang my right ankle, and i couldn't move it from right to left. It's actually kinda fun, act like a clutch, hahahaha.......... and better braking.

But since you are so used to right foot, when there is sudden stops, your brain don't react fast enough and it tells your rigth foot to press on pedal then you will gased your car.I tried it, i almost rear-end some other car because that car suddenly stopped infront of me. It's only useful if you are very used to it.

 

Oops!

 

Probably not a variation you asked about and I don't see any reason to do it in our TSX but I do it in my Supra, gas & brake at the same time to load the engine and "brake boost" to spool up the turbos when otherwise they would not yet spool up. Works great for that.

 

I will use left foot braking when necessary.

Its a technique that comes in really handy when trying to control weight transfer to the front wheels.

It took me about 2 years to learn it right, and I'm by no means an expert at it. I learned it on my WRX after struggling to keep the car stable and fast on gravel roads. Alot of rally drivers use their left foot through the corners to put weight on the front tires and get turn it. Once you can do it smoothly it can really improve your control.

Its not to usefull on pavement/tarmac, mostly because you aren't tossing the car into turns sideways as you would on snow and gravel.

I had my TSX out at an AutoX a couple weeks ago and tried it, I wouldn't say it was helping at all. The TSX in stock form doesn't have the setup to rotate anyways. Certainly on gravel it would be an advantage, but my TSX isn't going bombing down any gravel roads... I caused way to much damage to my Subaru doing that.

Left foot braking is strictly a racing technique and really has no purpose for street driving. Some people do it on automatics, but that just more of a habbit than anything else.

Do a google search on left foot braking, the benfits are explained. You'll find its mostly rally guys that do it.

-SWRT