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Why, if I push my brake with my left foot, it feels incredible?

amdhunter

amdhunter

Lifer
As the title suggests, when I push down with my left foot, the brakes catch incredible. The stopping power feels like I hit a brick wall, with very little force.

When I push with my right foot, it is incredibly sluggish in comparison, which is funny because when my friends drive my car, they absolutely love my brakes and comment on how good they are.

Is there some adjustment needed on the pedal? Have 5 years of driving somehow taken the pedal off balance?

Car is an 09 RX-8, pads are new OEM Mazda pads installed about 2 months ago.
 
No, your right foot is probably a lot more coordinated from practice and use. If you want the brakes to work as well with your right foot as with your left, push equally hard.

It's like saying, "Wow, my drawings look so crazy with my left hand! Are my pencils unbalanced?"
 
At least as a driver of cars with manual transmissions, left foot braking is still quite difficult for me, but some simulator work has helped me get a bit of feel.
If usually you punch a really heavy clutch to the floor with that foot, adapating to lightly toe a break pedal is a bit of a challenge.
The right foot on the other hand is more used to feathering the gas, balancing the car on the throttle, and thus needs much finer movements.
Since the brake is used less than the clutch and accelerator in normal driving, this bias then transmits how you use the brakes.
In the end it's a matter of practice. If you start to routinely left-foot-brake (Which I recommend in autos that have a pedal setup that allows for it, unless you frequently switch between manual and auto transmission cars, and thus can get confused and instead of lightly touching the brakes, mash down on them as though declutching) you will quickly get adequate feel for the pedal.
 
When I was learning driving, I was told that those who brake with their left foot were much more likely to hit the brake while also hitting throttle, which nobody has any business doing. Occasionally I see cars while driving around town that have their brake lights on indefinitely, and I know they're getting horrible gas mileage and eating brakes driving around that way.
 
Yuriman said:
hit the brake while also hitting throttle, which nobody has any business doing.
Click to expand...

Well, depending on the mechanicals, there may be reasons to do this.

Some FWD differentials benefit from some brake pressure while accelerating hard out of the apex of a corner.
Old turbo engines need to be on the throttle while braking into a corner, so you don't end up with turbo lag going out.
When blipping the upshift under braking (so as not to unsettle the car from the extra torque to the drive wheels) you're on both pedals at the same time.
Launch control requires both feet on the pedals.


Admittedly, on the street those are less relevant, but left-foot braking does reduce your reaction time slightly, and it's not hard to learn how to do it properly. Pedal-draggers, be it clutch or brake, are just bad drivers, and that won't be helped if they start or stop left-foot braking.
 
_Rick_ said:
At least as a driver of cars with manual transmissions, left foot braking is still quite difficult for me, but some simulator work has helped me get a bit of feel.
If usually you punch a really heavy clutch to the floor with that foot, adapating to lightly toe a break pedal is a bit of a challenge.
The right foot on the other hand is more used to feathering the gas, balancing the car on the throttle, and thus needs much finer movements.
Since the brake is used less than the clutch and accelerator in normal driving, this bias then transmits how you use the brakes.
In the end it's a matter of practice. If you start to routinely left-foot-brake (Which I recommend in autos that have a pedal setup that allows for it, unless you frequently switch between manual and auto transmission cars, and thus can get confused and instead of lightly touching the brakes, mash down on them as though declutching) you will quickly get adequate feel for the pedal.
Click to expand...

This makes sense I guess. The clutch pedal in my 8 is pretty damned stiff. I don't ofren brake with my left foot. Mostly if I am just goofing around with the car.

I was thinking maybe the angle of the pedal was different somehow.
 
_Rick_ said:
Well, depending on the mechanicals, there may be reasons to do this.

Some FWD differentials benefit from some brake pressure while accelerating hard out of the apex of a corner.
Old turbo engines need to be on the throttle while braking into a corner, so you don't end up with turbo lag going out.
When blipping the upshift under braking (so as not to unsettle the car from the extra torque to the drive wheels) you're on both pedals at the same time.
Launch control requires both feet on the pedals.


Admittedly, on the street those are less relevant, but left-foot braking does reduce your reaction time slightly, and it's not hard to learn how to do it properly. Pedal-draggers, be it clutch or brake, are just bad drivers, and that won't be helped if they start or stop left-foot braking.
Click to expand...


brake boosting lol 😀
 
it's just a matter of practice, e.g. the arm I use less feels stronger but it's just because I'm less coordinated with it, in reality your main arm is bigger.

I don't think there is much reason to use the left foot on the brake in normal situations in a modern car.
Some people may use the right foot on both the brake and acceleration pedals (while using the clutch with the left foot) to start moving on a slope but if it comes to something that steep I just use the handbrake which is way easier to control (1 limb for each thing to control is better imho).
 
I never liked the feel of left foot braking. Supposedly all the F1 drivers do it though.

If you've ever driven a kart you would know what this is like.
 
The comparison to writing with your left hand feels pretty apt. Your dominant is also your dominant foot. It's just less noticeable because most people don't ever write with their feet...but if you did, you'd do better with your right (I'm just assumed there are no evil lefties here). And you can kick a ball both further and more accurately, much like throwing.

But really, for both righties and evil left-handed parallel universe doppelgangers (as I assume they all are, having already killed and eaten their duplicate), it comes down more to practice. Most people come to awkward stops the first time they get behind the wheel (...and some do it their whole lives), but your foot 'learns' how to be more gentle with the pedals.

Your left foot is unpracticed and clumsy, and your car only brakes 'better' because you don't know how comparatively hard you're pushing the pedal. I do a lot of left braking with cars that won't idle, or sometimes when diagnosing noises or other situations where I might want to load the engine up at a lower speed. I've done it a lot and I'm being very attentive to what I'm doing...and I still end up throwing myself into the windshield on occasion. My left foot only knows how clutches feel.
 
If you break it down, you drive 10,000's of miles and 1,000's of hours using mostly your right foot giving very fine movements. Even with a clutch, it's hard in and some feathering on the way out, but that's far less than the near 100% time you use your right foot.
 
kitatech said:
This and...because your left leg is weaker than your right and feels the resistance from the brakes more than your stronger right leg does.
Click to expand...

Nope. Even as a left leg dominant person, left foot braking will have the same effect if you aren't used to it.

reference: myself
 
Yuriman said:
No, your right foot is probably a lot more coordinated from practice and use. If you want the brakes to work as well with your right foot as with your left, push equally hard.

It's like saying, "Wow, my drawings look so crazy with my left hand! Are my pencils unbalanced?"
Click to expand...

lol, this.

When I used to hit the brakes with my left foot, I would slam it every time. It was only because I was not as coordinated. It's not because the pedal is somehow fucked up. It's because you're fucked up.

Left foot brake enough and you'll get really good at it. In my car, if you're following safe distance rules and so forth, it's almost entirely unnecessary.
 
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