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Left foot braking.

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Old Mar 24th, 2018, 13:03   #21
Clan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pookie View Post
Those Volvo drivers who have automatic transmissions, how many of you brake with the left foot?

Salut!

Pookie
all the time , you have two pedals and two feet !

Using your left foot for braking considerably helps with safety . I hover my left foot over the brake in tricky situations which saves valuable time if you need to stop quickly .
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Old Mar 24th, 2018, 15:42   #22
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On my old automatic transmission car yes, I left foot brake , as it has a lumpy idle and tends to stall unless the accelerator is depressed slightly.
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Old Mar 24th, 2018, 21:00   #23
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As a mad, dangerous so and so in my youth, I learnt to left foot brake in a manual in order to keep revs up. Funny, once past the stage of headbutting the steering wheel, it's a skill which stays with you.

I only ever use it these days when maneouvering the caravan. Means I don't have to worry about a sudden spurt of power with only 10mm left of space!
(I could use the motor mover, but that would be an admission of defeat!).
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Old Mar 25th, 2018, 09:12   #24
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Must admit I left foot brake quite a lot in the Omega as I did in the Senators and XJ I used to have.I've never come close to head butting the screen or anything like it finding I can brake just as smoothly as I can with my right foot.
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Old Mar 25th, 2018, 11:09   #25
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I am full of admiration for those who left-foot brake with confidence and safety. Those that do would appear to either come from a motor-sport background or drive 4 X 4 vehicles.

For those of us who, like me, have little or no experience in such things, I feel that it could be unwise, and possibly less safe in day to day driving.

As has been previously mentioned, braking, especially in an emergency situation, needs to be instinctive. Unless one is very, very skilled and experienced in the art, and I accept that there are some who are, I do not think that would be so in my case - I'd lose rather than save vital seconds.

Regards, John.
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Old Mar 25th, 2018, 12:07   #26
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Because I've had to drive so many different variations of vehicles over very many years, I'm comfortable with either left foot or right foot braking in my auto. Just use whichever I feel like at the time.

Though when I had three pedals down there on the floor, never left foot braked because I knew I would probably need to use the clutch.
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Old Mar 25th, 2018, 12:12   #27
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in my opinion left-foot braking is pointless, and in some situations dangerous in normal road conditions.

only useful in motorsport especially rally driving.

Iain
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Old Mar 25th, 2018, 14:42   #28
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No motorsport background here,nor do I claim to be some sort of driving god,I don't however see how it could be dangerous[but willing to be proved wrong]it just seems to be something I find easy to do,perhaps being a natural southpaw has a bearing?When I swap into the V70 which has more pedals than I've got feet I've never been caught out trying to left foot brake in it,I just seem to adapt to whichever car I'm using at the time.Although having said that when I first bought the V70 I did nearly stall it on the drive home because I forgot to depress the clutch pedal when coming to a halt at a roundabout.
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Old Mar 25th, 2018, 19:12   #29
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Having always owned manual cars (with the exception of a tatty 850 Auto for about 9 months) I'm generally in the habit of using my left foot for the clutch, and that's either up or down with very little finesse when putting it down, so using my left foot on the brake means some stupidly sharp braking (which is possibly where some people get the 'dangerous' feeling). So no left foot braking when driving down the road for me. For 'balance' when cornering I prefer to drop a gear and then use the throttle to control power or braking from the engine.
But in a truck I've used a variety of transmissions and with some of them the best maneuvering technique was to apply light braking with the left foot to hold the truck, and then use the throttle to drive the vehicle against the brake.
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Old Mar 25th, 2018, 20:48   #30
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Had to do it in an old V12 jag while the engine was warming up, otherwise it would stall, due to a faulty AAV (cold start thing to raise the revs a little while engine cold).

Was also fun to wind the torque converter up at traffic lights, for those fast getaways. (in 'D', stand on the brake, gradually push the throttle down, then floor it and come off the brake when the lights go amber.)
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