[murph-54]

Most people that use a "heel/toe" technique to downshift actually rotate their foot from side to side instead of actually using their heel. The problem with the 335i accelerator pedal is that it is a little too narrow to do this really well if you are hard braking at the time (like at the track). I have seen some aftermarket accelerator pedals that widen out about a half inch on the left side of the pedal to make this easier. BMW tells me that they do not have an option to do this and that you can't replace just the pedal because it is part of a unit that includes a plunger and sensor unit. He suggested I might be able to get a metal fabricator to make a plate that would bolt on to the existing pedal. Has anyone either replaced the pedal unit or done something like this?

[leftcoastman]

Originally Posted by murph-54

Most people that use a "heel/toe" technique to downshift actually rotate their foot from side to side instead of actually using their heel. The problem with the 335i accelerator pedal is that it is a little too narrow to do this really well if you are hard braking at the time (like at the track). I have seen some aftermarket accelerator pedals that widen out about a half inch on the left side of the pedal to make this easier. BMW tells me that they do not have an option to do this and that you can't replace just the pedal because it is part of a unit that includes a plunger and sensor unit. He suggested I might be able to get a metal fabricator to make a plate that would bolt on to the existing pedal. Has anyone either replaced the pedal unit or done something like this?

To be honest with you, I find the 335i pedal setup to be perfect for heel-toe. Just rotate your ankle and "left 2 toes / outside edge of foot" instead of heel/toe.

Get shoes with a wide toe box. It should help.

But hell, I heel-toe on the street...using my dress shoes, lol.

[Sniz]

I still got to learn how to do this.......

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by leftcoastman

To be honest with you, I find the 335i pedal setup to be perfect for heel-toe. Just rotate your ankle and "left 2 toes / outside edge of foot" instead of heel/toe.

Get shoes with a wide toe box. It should help.

But hell, I heel-toe on the street...using my dress shoes, lol.

Same here!

[murph-54]

Originally Posted by leftcoastman

To be honest with you, I find the 335i pedal setup to be perfect for heel-toe. Just rotate your ankle and "left 2 toes / outside edge of foot" instead of heel/toe.

Get shoes with a wide toe box. It should help.

But hell, I heel-toe on the street...using my dress shoes, lol.

I do all the time at the track and alot around town. The problem is when I'm at the track and braking from 135 mph down to 30 mph or so to make a very sharp turn. I'm trying to wait as long as I can before braking and really have to use a lot of brake pressure (may go to bigger brakes for next year's track season). In that case, I want to use as much of my foot on the brake as I can and still be able to rotate over to the accelerator with the right side of my foot. I had the chief driving instructor for the local porsche club drive my car at the last track day and he showed my his set up which included an aftermarket pedal that was a little wider on the left side and recommended I try to do the same in my car.

[leftcoastman]

Originally Posted by murph-54

I do all the time at the track and alot around town. The problem is when I'm at the track and braking from 135 mph down to 30 mph or so to make a very sharp turn. I'm trying to wait as long as I can before braking and really have to use a lot of brake pressure (may go to bigger brakes for next year's track season). In that case, I want to use as much of my foot on the brake as I can and still be able to rotate over to the accelerator with the right side of my foot. I had the chief driving instructor for the local porsche club drive my car at the last track day and he showed my his set up which included an aftermarket pedal that was a little wider on the left side and recommended I try to do the same in my car.

Cool. I find the shoe "upgrade" is the same. I actually wear kinda dressy shoes on track, simply because they are better than any pilotis I've found.

Bigger brakes generally require you to press HARDER to get the same braking force. You get more consistent braking, but you have to press harder, all else equal.

But you are doing it right. Better to slip off the throttle blip rather than slip off the brake. I really just rotate my ankle and never have trouble blipping. Check out youtube. There are some cool videos that demonstrate it better than I can describe.

[murph-54]

Guys, for anyone that is interested, I just found a web site, www.ultimatepedals.com, that carries high quality metal pedals to replace OEM. They have three options for the 335i, one of which does exactly what I want - it increases the left side of the accelerator pedal by 3/4 of an inch. Their accelerator pedal attaches over the existing pedal with self tapping screws and the brake and clutch pedals attach to the underlying sheet metal (after removing the OEM rubber covers). They look really great.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by murph-54

, I want to use as much of my foot on the brake as I can and still be able to rotate over to the accelerator with the right side of my foot.

ball of your foot and 2 toes should be plenty? I personally, don't see the need for aftermarket pedals either..

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by leftcoastman

Cool. I find the shoe "upgrade" is the same. I actually wear kinda dressy shoes on track,

this is what i'm currently using.. you can find it on sale for ~$60 at Banana Republic

[Sniz]

Originally Posted by murph-54

Guys, for anyone that is interested, I just found a web site, www.ultimatepedals.com, that carries high quality metal pedals to replace OEM. They have three options for the 335i, one of which does exactly what I want - it increases the left side of the accelerator pedal by 3/4 of an inch. Their accelerator pedal attaches over the existing pedal with self tapping screws and the brake and clutch pedals attach to the underlying sheet metal (after removing the OEM rubber covers). They look really great.

[leftcoastman]

eeech, that would make me nervous. To economize on movements, I generally try to keep my heel near the same location when braking and accelerating. Not sure I'd be comfortable late braking down from 150mph when I'm worried about accidentally hitting the gas.

By keeping my heel in the same general location, the transition from braking to getting back on gas is as smooth and quick as possible. My Traqmate data indicates that when I move the ball of my foot too much during braking, I can't get the same consistency in that brake-throttle transition. Additionally, it's very very obvious that it takes longer to transition, at least based on my data.

I really like the stock pedal setup, at least for performance driving.

[kenneth]

Originally Posted by Nick Nazareno

this is what i'm currently using.. you can find it on sale for ~$60 at Banana Republic

Our HPDEs (BMW or Audi) required that you use shoes with laces!!!