Heel Toe Shifting - THE Most Important Touge Technique

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Heel toe shifting is an advanced driving technique that is used by racing drivers the world over. It is the art of how to downshift smoothly, whilst keeping the car balanced through the gear changing process. Some of the greatest racing drivers across varying racing disciplines use this technique, and it a skill you should perfect as soon as possible to take your driving to the next level.
In this video, we will be discussing how both heel toe shifting works, why to use it, I’ll be teaching you exactly how to do it. So, make sure you stay tuned, because heel toe shifting is vital if you want to improve your driving.
The heel toe shifting method gets its name from pre-WW2 cars that had the accelerator pedal in a central position in between the clutch to the left and the brake to the right. This meant that drivers were able to use the heel of the right foot to engage the break whilst simultaneously using the toe to operate the accelerator. Nowadays, heel toeing means the opposite.
When performance driving, we must downsift to a lower gear whilst maitaining maximum braking. This must be done smoothly, without upsetting the balance of the car. However, if we simply dropped a gear and let out the clutch while braking heavily, the car would nose-dive, upsetting the balance. Not only this, but it would also try to lock the driving wheels, because of the extra engine braking.
I assume you all know what engine braking is? Well, if not, engine braking is simply the effect of downshifting, and letting the engine slow the car down. This happens as the rear drive wheels start spinning slower than the speed of the car, meaning the downshift almost acts as a brake. This is useful when driving day to day, however, when we’re at the peak rev range, sending it down a mountain at 100mph, the sheer amount of engine braking that would occur one a downshift would make us spin, and maybe even blow up the engine.
Anyway, the smoothest downshifts occur when the engine revs are increased beforehand. This is done by briefly applying, or stabing the accelerator with your right foot. This is what is known as blipping the throttle. This matches the engine rpm with the driving wheel’s rpm, thus resulting in no engine braking. Does that make sense?
You can actually practice these smooth downshifts without needing to heel toe. You just need to be on a straight bit of road, put the clutch in, downshift, blip the throttle and then let the clutch out. With a bit of practice, you’ll get this part easily, and you’ll notice how much smoother each downshift is. Once you get the hang of it, you won’t go back to shifting normally.
However, the tricky part is doing this style of downshift whilst also maximum braking. This requires a technique called heel and toe downshifting. Up next, I’ll be teaching you exactly how to do the heel toe technique.
Here is a step-by-step explanation of how to heel and toe downshift;
Step1. Begin braking, using the ball of your right foot on the brake pedal, while keeping a small portion of the right side of your foot covering the accelerator. However, you should not be pushing it just yet.
Step2. Depress the clutch pedal with your left foot whilst maintaining braking.
Step3. Move the shifter into the next-lower gear, whilst still maintaining braking.
Step4. While continuing braking and with the clutch pedal still depressed, pivot or roll your right foot at the ankle, quickly pushing or blipping the throttle.
Step5. Quickly ease out the clutch, whilst maintaining braking.
Step6. Complete your braking, and enter the corner.
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[@B_-.-]

I have been doing heel and toe downshifts in racing Sims for years. But, as I've just started driving recently in the real world, I've only just started doing heel and toe in real life. What became second nature to me has once again, become extremely satisfying. It's also genuinely helpful even in normal driving here in the UK, where there's a lot of country roads that'll suddenly go from 30-60. Of course I could engine brake, but I find it easier to slow down smoothly with heal and toe with big speed differences like that.

[@SaabStory636]

Besides all the wet and speed cameras, you Brit’s are blessed with some of the best country lanes and as a mini enthusiast I envy your guys hot hatch game for the reason of the roads as well. Love watching car reviews for that too.

[@ThBlueSalamander]

@@SaabStory636 really? It feels like the cameras are everywhere

[@SaabStory636]

@@ThBlueSalamander Seems so to me as well but I still see them getting down so they must just know lanes where there’s none or less of them

[@SaabStory636]

@@ThBlueSalamander they could also be stealing plates to drive like thag

[@forbiddenera]

Heel and toe should be used to downshift earlier to get the revs higher for better engine braking. Plus it's more fun at high rpm.

[@williamhayashi2190]

Takumi wearing racing suit. He finally got the Takahashi’s advices and went pro. Also: great content as always.

[@quitw4392]

Yeah pro...... In rally les go

[@powahfulgameplayer]

@@quitw4392 And then he...wait, those are spoilers.

[@quitw4392]

@@powahfulgameplayer I'm sorry I didn't realize that lmao

[@powahfulgameplayer]

@@quitw4392 Oh no no no It is my fault for pointing out something as a spoiler. XD

[@bubbasahlberg361]

@@powahfulgameplayer not technically a spoiler :) as it was never covered in inital d

[@Cheezus]

I can confirm driving after heel toe really changes how everything feels, car will feel incredible and sound amazing

[@X1erra]

The most difficult part imo is getting your foot to pivot without reducing brake pressure with potentiometer brakes, and that cheaper pedals (like the T3PA pedals) would just make your foot or shoe stuck on the bottom of the accelerator. It is a lot tougher than it looks!

[@olavi600]

I can do it with the t150 plastic shitty pedals easily but yeah it ks hard

[@TheDiamondBladeHD]

I use the T3PA and after like 5 days i got the hang of it, it's really just a matter of practicing

[@Zayon8811]

I have been practicing for 10 minutes on plastic thrustmaster automatic pedals and the hardest thing is actually keeping them on the floor! I have to use my other foot to hold it down lmao

[@Cheezus]

I learned on my basic g29, it's helpful to also adjust the pedal plate positioning to get the optimal distance to stick the ball of your foot right between the two

[@user-il9my1zu3m]

my t3pa is shaky as hell

[@agitatedtofu2511]

one thing that helped me learn heel toe is doing it in one smooth motion, and to not worry too much about how much blip you give the engine, even in touchier cars as long as you give it enough gas and it isnt done for more than half a second or so, you'll be fine and it takes out some stress of getting it perfect

[@ProfessorHoots]

This man is helping me get good at sim racing.

[@ymb9shinzou743]

Really love this series! It captures what makes touge so appealing; the romance of myths and legends combined with the maths and science of going faster. I was wondering if you would perhaps do a video showing how you might build the specific setups to most accurately represent various stages of Takumi's AE86, the upgrades and tuning to make them perform how you best imagine they would. For such a mythical car there are really no mods or guides teaching how to build a museum grade replica in AC. Most I've seen are people building these 800hp formula drift versions of it and I know from your slip angle video you know this isn't how his car functioned or handled. As someone who seems to be the 'Touge guy' around here, I think it'd be a fitting feather in your cap to be the one who built "The closest you'll get to driving Takumi's AE86"

[@shultzy6760]

So underrated, always my go to for learning techniques

[@estimateddeatharrival]

Your videos are so captivating , I have learnt how to succesfully use a mixture of grip and drift in a Touge race to go on and become one of the best Touge racers in phone games . Hats off M8

[@elliothaukas4743]

What games you play?

[@estimateddeatharrival]

@@elliothaukas4743 FR Legends and CarX Drift Racing 2

[@user-wy5uq7oq8q]

what the fuck is your problem

[@elliothaukas4743]

@@user-wy5uq7oq8q why are you getting mad?

[@elliothaukas4743]

@@SSmallwood what did i do?

[@Konag_st]

Video? Superb, but oh my god your selection of drum and bass for the background really gets me in the mood. Could you share a playlist or something? My best regards from Spain

[@tofu7397]

yellow w red interior has to be the best combination

[@mitch9521]

The hardest part about heel-toe downshifting is not accidentally stabbing the brake when you go to rotate your foot to blip the throttle.

[@elyx8073]

Yea im practicing this in time trial in gt and even though i can't feel the g forces i know that if i tried it irl I'd just brake check someone behind

[@kryaal]

Glad to be seeing you more in my recommended vids man, great content

[@karl5428]

Ordered a manual setup for my sim today, so psyched for some heel/toe action!

[@user-vz1iu3is3h]

this man just explained this very clearly and i understood what i was doing wrong halfway of the video i really appreciate you for making these videos man

[@samuelmerson]

You’ve been killing it lately brother! Keep up the great work!

[@TSRB]

Thank you!

[@JeuneF]

I was actually doing it naturally without knowing this technique, still nice to have more informations about what I’m doing unconsciously 😅

[@Nismo_Tyrone]

Man thank you heel toe is my favorite driving downshifting technique

[@Timepeace49]

thank you for you videos. i have learned more from you than i did from anyone else

[@vadim752]

You helped me learn so much touge techniques thanks man

[@819driver]

Really interesting stuff man I just got into Asseto Corsa about a week ago and your channel is exactly what I need! Yesterday while playing I figured out you could shift without the clutch in game and I know it isn't as precise as real life so I thought about doing heel and toe clutchless and to my surprised it was working and so I want to know your opinion on the matter.

[@ludo_3484]

I’ve been doing heel toe downshifts for a few months on sim and once I got my 1990 Miata I’ve been doing rev matching just for fun but yesterday I instinctively did a heel toe downshift it was very weird how natural it felt to do in real life

[@verletzlich]

Nice job!

[@coyby2174]

I started implementing double clutching into my heel toe downshifts, over the past 3 years of driving stick I would say that I have fully mastered it.

[@Cheezus]

You driving a big rig? Double clutching doesn't do much with transmissions that have syncros

[@kingofmtakina]

@@Cheezus it feels good

[@Born_Stellar]

@@Cheezus at really high RPM upshifts double clutching makes the shift faster. I don't know why you'd do it all the time though, unless you're worried about your syncros.

[@TheRguru1]

@@Cheezus Double clutching helps when the box is cold.

[@TheBadDemoman]

This video is so great !

[@Taj-px4uq]

And the I’ve been heel toe downshift almost every time I downshift on a daily basis now. It feel fun to do

[@alexthreepedals5891]

NICE shoes!! Heel toe with style my man!

[@user-ml6um1kn8p]

Thanks you helped me a lot

[@manuelchiarotto2692]

I have learnt this on my car. I own a 1973 Fiat 500, since it doesn't have a syncronised transmission, I learnt first to double clutch, then heel and toeing

[@rainbroz1817]

Another amazing video, I love your how to touge series and I have seen every video in it and they are all extremely good quality so keep it up!! Also could you pleaaaaaase tell me and the other 2 people who asked this as well how you got the ae86 with the water cup lol

[@TSRB]

Thanks! It's linked in the description

[@rainbroz1817]

@@TSRB Wow I'm so blind XD I looked in it before commenting and still missed it so thank you for replying!!

[@takumikid]

I love the yellow AE86 like why is nobody talking about it

[@750li_Behemoth]

I use the senna technique of heel toe shifting. Since my beamer has a floor throttle not a hanging one. Also unfort I can't do it on sim cause the pedals are at the same level and my ankle doesn't bend that way

[@Anthonybrother]

this is high quality content

[@anastasyarin]

After learning hill&toe sucsessfully, i will start learning to do the proper slip angle

[@dylanboyd6147]

Swag

[@euphoricgunnut5898]

I used to do heel toe downshifting all the time when I was in the sims, but irl it’s so much different, I always rev match when I shift but downshifting when I’m going fast in the mountains is scary as shit already, so I just do my braking and then downshift on corner exit or apex instead of heel toe, my brain understands it well but actually doing it is quite the challenge

[@DeathKillaGaming]

My car is impossible to heel-toe sadly, so I haven't even tried. I need to get a pedal spacer to start practicing IRL. I do exactly what you do when driving around, I can just feel how much slower I'm being because of it.

[@jamirvillarosa7924]

Ha it's easy once you do it many times. It's like second nature. Don't be afraid to do it

[@therebelliousgeek4506]

I even rev match while I downshift on my motorbike, and yes, you are right, that the only way one should be downshifting.

[@solas7a]

this video taught me that i have not been downshifting normally. ive always blipped and i never realized.

[@alexgraff2022]

i speak spanish but i can understand every word you say! Greetings from Argentina

[@michaelnixon3364]

I thought i was subscribed but i wasn't so guess ima do it now 🔥

[@NANOmasion]

thanks for ae86 mod

[@SmallHandBigHand]

That atmospheric jungle tho

[@pedroterra3931]

There it is! Illusionary Hell and Tear!

[@dc5fallout]

Finally a technique I know how to do irl

[@samuelbarrett5701]

1:30 yeah, I'm pretty sure ya spilled the water

[@Rafael-gy8ph]

meanwhile me on keyboard: ._. great video as always btw

[@burakavci6589]

can you explain the how to attack or how to defense on touge

[@jamirvillarosa7924]

Did you take these line straight of a book? I remember reading what you said exactly in this racing book lol

[@sdrawkcabmodnar]

If you double-clutch properly, heel toe is just fancy extra effort. 3rd to 2nd down shift for instance: 3rd - neutral, rev, neutral to 2nd The only reason I would need to shift WHILE braking rather than just planning to use my engine brake to assist in braking for a stronger and more predictable brake, is because I didnt plan the turn and needed to be braking while shifting. IE: If you drive with more awareness, heel toe is just extra. I learned this because its nearly impossible to heel-toe in my mazda 3, but it was very easy on my sim rig. Adaptations teach you things

[@P5YKHOTIK]

A very great way to save your transmission ‼️

[@alsa4real]

Awesome

[@pylot_Biker]

Is there anyway around at heel toing to lift the brake slightly while slipping over to the gas or is it naturally that you don’t have an constant brake performance since you’re braking point ?

[@rizicz967]

I have learned this technique on accident because I tought it looked cool in Initial D 😅

[@jeypi__]

I just found out that im bad at keeping the brake pressure when heel toeing, something new to practice.

[@jordycruz6661]

I don’t think a bad rev match in an AWD Will cause a spin out, would it?

[@piotrg5369]

When will you post the next TSRB?

[@Awsomeisimo]

My faliure past might be coming trough, but i nevrrgotthis

[@jd_baird_guitar]

Don't have a Sim rig so I practice in my Beetle.

[@b_sidez9915]

can you do this on controller as well? just downshift while braking and just blip the throttle. I'm pretty sure its the same principle for controller users.

[@boskofilipovic1927]

This is good for people who drive high performance cars. My car is diesel 2.0 B6 Passat and I can wipe my ass with heel shifting

[@alterego8650]

What is this game you are playing while talking, it looks cool

[@sunnyninya1465]

Assetto corsa :D

[@TotallyNotASpy1]

I just recently got my Thrustmaster 300GT and heel-toe is quite the challenge, i still haven't managed to do it properly. It's so difficult!

[@Keivz]

Is there any benefit to blipping the accelerator with auto clutch?

[@DAN.eight6]

can you link that ae86 with water in the cup that moves? please i never seen that one. (your link to tsukuba fruits line and car is dead)

[@zwenkwiel816]

this one I just can't get the hang of, the co-ordination needed to brake and hit the throttle at the same time is just too much for me. like whenever I go to press the gas the brake moves in ways I don't want it to (usually press it too much as I blip the throttle)

[@Dominik189]

You're probably using either too little or too much of your foot on the break and taking your heel off the floor. Practice keeping your heel on the floor and only using the big toe and the part below it to break. You don't have to rely specifically on your heel to hit the gas, rolling your foot slightly can be done more easily. Especially if you have bigger feet.

[@AndreasReitz]

ok, where did you get that ae86 with the cup physics

[@TSRB]

It's linked in the description

[@KROSS_OFFICIAL]

Did I just realize what I've been doing while racing?

[@izzyteaurewetipoparai]

"Assetto corsa is the most realistic game ever" 3:28: *hand goes through wheel*

[@hauthien4319]

niceeee

[@jackbeason9483]

everyone in real life should drive with the heel toe technique in mind at all times... that is if you are driving stick of course.

[@m4yday86]

nah, all you need to do - is simply blip throttle while downshifting, i'm always using this tecknique

[@jegg4739]

we need tutorial on how to properly use handbrake

[@carl6026]

I don't heel toe that often anymore cuz when I do my legs just push my chair away causing me to fall down lol

[@Darkspadegaming]

next video how to heel knee up shift

[@penguinmaster7]

i personally double-clutch when I heel-toe

[@nathanpratt308]

Me in my yota 1989 manual pickup eurobeat comes

[@noobitski700]

I remember this drift in f&f tokyo drift ps2 the MANJI DRIFT

[@ImElliot97]

I could never Heal toe in real life the throttle was always to far away or to far down in my cars till i got into old Japanese cars and it's like the pedal layout was designed with that in mind and was effortless

[@aperson8627]

Everyone; talks about their own history of heel toe shifting Me: wondering why takumis 86 is yellow

[@Darkspadegaming]

same 🤣🤣🤣

[@YNA_OniiChan]

Is it like clutch kick but on breaking, instead of hitting the clutch its the accelerator?

[@fatbreadsan]

Clutch kick happens when the engine rpm is higher than the clutch rpm, which will give a little bit of extra power into the driven wheels. In other words, you are trying to break the driven wheel traction by utilizing the difference in rpm speed of the engine and clutch. Heel toe does exactly the opposite. To help explain this, let there be a car, where it is traveling at 80km/h. If the car is in 3rd gear, it's engine rpm is 7000. If you shift up to 4th gear, it's engine rpm will turn to 5000. As you shift back down to 3rd gear, the engine rpm will turn back to 7000. As you remember, clutch kick is when you increase the engine rpm to give a bit of an extra power to the driven wheels. What if you decrease the engine rpm instead? The clutch will try to sync will the engine rpm, which will then cause it to slow down, and acting as a brake to the driven wheel. What you will get is the complete opposite of clutch kicking, where the car slows down instead of speeding up, but both will cause the tyres to lose traction. Usually, this sort of instant engine brake can really mess up the weight transfer of the car, as it is equivalent to having uneven braking. To mitigate this problem, the best way is to have the engine rpm higher as you shift down. Using the imaginary car mentioned above as an example, when slowing down at 4th gear at 80km/h, the engine rpm is 5000. When we shift down to 3rd gear, we will want to make sure that the engine rpm is around 7000 to allow for a smoother braking (no sudden jolt on driven wheels) which will prevent the car from spinning out.

[@assassinxsteveo]

Can’t find the “heel” button on my controller.. only YBAX.??

[@kathari954]

doing this in a car with fast changing momentum is hard af lel training myself

[@soupdog9468]

I play beamng and I am having a problem because when I press the brake on a turn the vehicle isn’t wanting to rotate meaning I sorta just ram the wall and I am starting at 50mph does anyone know what I am doing wrong?

[@ImInTheMaking]

This is tough on a load cell. Pretty easy on g29 pedals.

[@wonderfullbtw4767]

this AE86 in ur vids its SIMT modified version?

[@brocksprinkel8606]

I downloaded the 86 in the description but when I try to load onto a track the screen goes black and I have to shut down the computer and turn it back on. Does anyone know what the problem is?

[@brenxbux]

ive been trying for the life of me on my shitty g29 i just gotta keep trying

[@brenxbux]

ive never driven a real manual T before so maybe im not fully understanding the picture

[@utpalaraghu]

Incredible video! But I use keyboard...

[@Xem1822]

3:42 why are you putting in the clutch after you did the heel toe

[@brother_maleik]

How can you move your braking foot but keep the same pressure on it that parts hard

[@arcanevoid9199]

practice

[@Joshua_N-A]

With CVT, this has been kinda a lost art. Glad Assetto Corsa is used to preserve it.

[@teemupiiroinen9555]

You know people still have a lot of manual driven cars at least here in Europe? Especially now in the winter, it's important to know these driving basics if you want to safely drive on the slippery roads.

[@THMSKA]

To echo what teem said. Even in the US there are people who only drive manuals. I'm that way. I've owned several cars in my life and only one was an auto, and that was due to convenience and circumstances at the time, when I needed something cheap and running while I fixed up my other car.

[@vsapro6069]

Good vid. But when i dowloaded the mod there is no cup with water and the 86 you used have 8k rev range but that one have from 11k up to 12,5k rev range. Could you please help me? I would really like to have thu cup holder.

[@TSRB]

Updated the link!

[@arthurbretas2003]

I brake with the left foot if I don't have to downshift, if I have to I heal and toe.

[@Born_Stellar]

left foot breaking is dangerous and wrong. I will take no questions, thank you.

[@arthurbretas2003]

@@Born_Stellar why would that be? The only reasons I can think of is "your left foot is not used to it", it's not something you should do in a manual car in daily use, but it's totallysafe to do in an automatic. I've been doing it since I learned to drive, I don't do it in my CJ-5, but I do it in my Civic (which is unfortunately automatic, since it used to be my grandad's car).

[@samgong1125]

I learned this in army. If you suck at it you'll get crushed

[@christopherxiong5980]

So. You're telling me I can't simply shift lock on every corner?!?!

[@aspenGF8]

I just can't do it it my USDM car, my shoe always hits the transmission well but I can do it near effortlessly in my JDM car

[@hazedhd4902]

It's difficult to Do it in my car. Pedals r a bit narrow.

[@-cobey-13]

Great video! But i would say that when you,re driving in real life on normal roads you should always use engine braking and the brake pedal should be the last thing you need to touch when driving. You are driving correctly if you can turn your car to the next crossroad without needing the use of brake pedal. But great video on driving touge.

[@akfortyfo7024]

Clutches cost a lot more than brakes and constantly putting all that stress on your drivetrain is rough on it.

[@Cris_carman]

you know how i do it on pc is shift is the cluch and q is down sift s is the brake w is the gas fo i press shirft s q w

[@misterroy5636]

How to do trail braking on keyboard

[@crisnmaryfam7344]

It actually matches the engine with the clutch and flywheel not the wheels. The wheels speed difference is massively slower than the clutch that is spinning MUCH faster.