F1 2011 Any Advice for a former right foot braker?

[James Myers]

I just received my Fanatec CSR Wheel and Pedals and my Rennsport wheel stand. I've had several hours to practice and get used to them. I love the wheel and the stand, but I just can't get used to the pedals.

The Problem is the Brake pedal. I am a "right foot braker" and for 2 years I've been using the Microsoft Wheel and pedals. I have pretty much perfected my line on each track in F1 2011. I've gotten used to being able to tap the brakes in certain corners then switch immediately to the accelerator for a perfect apex.

With the new CSR brake pedal I have to push down much further than I'm used to. This usually ends in either slowing too early or locking the brakes completely, followed by the inevitable spin when I accelerate too hard out of the corner trying to make up time.

Changing the in-game Brake Saturation settings to 90% seemed to work for about 5 laps but no matter what brakes I used they would always overheat. I tried adjusting the spring on the back of the pedal but it never gets any better and I really don't know what I am doing.

So I mapped the brake to the clutch pedal and have started left foot braking. I worry though because my real vehicle is a 5 speed and I wonder; if I have an emergency while on the road and have to brake suddenly will my muscle memory cause me to go for the clutch rather than the brake?

Do any former right foot brakers have any experience with this, or any advice to give?

 

[Mark Greenall]

look at brake deadzone mate, try and make it zero. hope i helped.

 

[daytona64]

James,

Having used various driving game steering wheels for a variety of driving games (namely F1, rally and Touring Cars) I never ever gave a single thought to a potential "Memory muscle" related real life incident.

I suggest our brains switch on to a different operational game mode and use a completely different mode to drive the family hatchback on the road as I have never been confused by pedal use and that also applies to doing go-karting.

Every new game requires a different brake/accelerator modus operandum and you have to put in the hard yards (normally hours of gameplay) to move our foot movements from conscious to semi-conscious to close to fully automated. Don't worry about crashing your Mini Metro as your brain has already mastered that one and your sub-conscious will take care of that one.

Let us know after 3 weeks of left-foot braking how you are getting on - I guarantee you will go through the change - just fine - and no car crashes.

 

[Jan-Olov Johansson]

Well, using right foot braking in real life driving and left foot in gaming never caused me any trouble.
I agree with daytona, it is so different things that, at least for me, it never has been a problem.

Not much help from me, I know...

 

[Conlyth]

I dont have that problem either. But some time ago i wanted to look behind me in my real car and I pressed a button on the wheel instead of turning my head XD

 

[Victor Ivanov]

I dont have that problem either. But some time ago i wanted to look behind me in my real car and I pressed a button on the wheel instead of turning my head XD

You turn your had to see what's behind you? o_O

James all I can say to you is - practice, practice and practice again. There's no hint for this.

 

[Paul Lock]

I dont have that problem either. But some time ago i wanted to look behind me in my real car and I pressed a button on the wheel instead of turning my head XD

That just made me laugh out loud

You will be fine mate, ive been left foot braking with the clutch on my G27 for a year now, and not once have I ever got it mixed up when I'm driving my real car.

I get most of my real life driving problems when I take too much curb when cornering - flaming pedestrians!!!

 

[Victor Ivanov]

It's good you did't drive a bus or a truck then you would take too much pedestrians

 

[Jan-Olov Johansson]

Have to add that I defo would have a problem if we instead were talking about driving on the left side of the road, I hear they still do that in some countries... weird stuff, eh ?

 

[Paul Lock]

Have to add that I defo would have a problem if we instead were talking about driving on the left side of the road, I hear they still do that in some countries... weird stuff, eh ?

Yeah, with manual gears too Janet!

 

[Jan-Olov Johansson]

Yeah, with manual gears too Janet!

Ooooh, that hurts

 

[James Myers]

look at brake deadzone mate, try and make it zero. hope i helped.

Actually my Brake deadzone was already at zero. Thanks to everyone who responded. I am going to keep working until i get used to left foot braking. Right now I am 3 seconds a lap slower than I was, I hope I will eventually be faster this way.

 

[Graham Laing]

Personally I would never change over to left foot braking. After nearly 35 years of right foot braking it would be too unnatural for me, and to be honest needless. I don't really see left foot braking having much of an advantage. Probably heeling/toeing with the right foot would probably be easier to learn (for a right foot braker) if you wanted to apply both pedals at the same time.

My right foot's pretty adept at moving quickly from pedal to pedal rapidly.

My left foot has strength from operating the clutch most of my life, subtle enough to slip the clutch nicely, but is also used to doing nothing when driving automatics (my previous car was BMW 525i auto and I had it for 11 years). Having the left foot 'hovering' over or near the brake pedal all the time in a racing game is actually uncomfortable (the muscles are not used to it), plus is needs to learn new timing skills, and finesse the pressure whist braking.

I think there is one thing that might put the modern youngster at a disadvange, and that's driving all the racing games with left foot braking. By the time they are 16+ and want to learn to drive a real car, they will have to undo what they having been doing for years, and adopt to right foot braking. OK having a real clutch will help that, as they will have no choice. But using your left foot to brake at any time (just to slow down a bit) would probably be a failure.

So I am in favour of 'start as you mean to go on' i.e Drive your games the same way you will have to drive your future road car.

....... cheers from an old'ish git

 

[Victor Ivanov]

My car has manual gears and I brake with my right foot but in my job I have to drive auto cars every day and when I do I brake with my left foot

 

[Graham Laing]

Nothing to do with racing.....

The automatic licence driving test conditions have changed in the UK since I took my manual test ....

From the 'notes to examiners' :-

FOOTBRAKE AND ACCELERATOR
The use of the right foot for both brake and accelerator pedals has considerable safety advantages. It is therefore recommended practice for normal driving, but is not necessarily applicable to disabled drivers. The use of the left foot on the brake pedal should not however be marked as a fault unless it involves the use of the footbrake against the accelerator
The use of both feet when manoeuvring in a confined space is acceptable if carried out correctly, i.e. speed is properly adjusted so that no large throttle opening or heavy braking pressures are involved.

So the use of the left foot for braking in an automatic car is perfectly valid over here. So when are you driving over for a visit Victor?

 

[Victor Ivanov]

I don't know when but I'll have a problem with driving in your country. It looks like you drive from the passenger seat
Oh you have manual and automatic licenses there?

 

[Paul Lock]

In the UK, if you hold a manual licence, you can drive either. However if you passed your test in an automatic car then you cant legally drive a manual.

I dont seriously think that you should let your real life driving affect your gaming style - just do what feels comfortable, but give it a fair crack of the whip and practice. You get into any single seater or kart and you have a pedal under each foot, one to go and one to stop- reason - because its technically the most effective setup. Do you start worrying that you are gonna try and push the clutch to brake after a few hours at the karting track? I really wouldnt worry about it at all. The brain has a great ability to adapt to the situation.

The whole point of an auto real car is that you can stick your left foot out the way and cruise around, why worry about left foot braking - its not the time or place.You shouldnt be doing both at the same time anyway, unlike on the race track.

Sat infront of your rig, or actually on a real track in a single seater is a completely different environment and you are trying to achieve a totally different goal in a toally different way to . Applying throttle under braking, something you cant effectively do with 1 foot - I mean, can almost a full grid of F1 drivers be wrong? Only Rubens uses his right doesnt he?

 

[Graham Laing]

True ..... what is best, is what you feel most comfortable doing. We can all adopt to new styles, but personally I would be more comfortable going with my current right foot 'muscle memory'.

I won't say I'll never try left foot braking, I suppose it depends on the hardware you own as well. The DFGT doesn't have a clutch pedal, and with the throttle and brake so close to each other, it would be really uncomfortable keeping my two feet in position for a whole race. I have read that many players (who have a clutch setup), remap the brake to the clutch pedal (when only 2 pedals are in use). I can see that being much more comfortable, and probably a bit more natural, more like the karting example given by Paul, where the pedals are a long way apart.

I think you are correct about Rubens Paul .....

 

[James Myers]

Personally I would never change over to left foot braking. After nearly 35 years of right foot braking it would be too unnatural for me, and to be honest needless. I don't really see left foot braking having much of an advantage. Probably heeling/toeing with the right foot would probably be easier to learn (for a right foot braker) if you wanted to apply both pedals at the same time.

My right foot's pretty adept at moving quickly from pedal to pedal rapidly.

My left foot has strength from operating the clutch most of my life, subtle enough to slip the clutch nicely, but is also used to doing nothing when driving automatics (my previous car was BMW 525i auto and I had it for 11 years). Having the left foot 'hovering' over or near the brake pedal all the time in a racing game is actually uncomfortable (the muscles are not used to it), plus is needs to learn new timing skills, and finesse the pressure whist braking.

I think there is one thing that might put the modern youngster at a disadvange, and that's driving all the racing games with left foot braking. By the time they are 16+ and want to learn to drive a real car, they will have to undo what they having been doing for years, and adopt to right foot braking. OK having a real clutch will help that, as they will have no choice. But using your left foot to brake at any time (just to slow down a bit) would probably be a failure.

So I am in favour of 'start as you mean to go on' i.e Drive your games the same way you will have to drive your future road car.

....... cheers from an old'ish git

Thanks for the reply! And I'm not so young myself. I've been driving a manual for 19 years and I know what you mean about hovering over the brake being uncomfortable. I've been practicing an hour or two a day and after the first couple of days I was really sore. I have finally beat my old time at Melbourne and it didn't take as long to learn as I thought it would. Only 18 more tracks to re-master. So far I haven't hit the wrong pedal in my real car yet and feel kind of silly having had worried about it.

 

[Graham Laing]

I think I'll leave it for now James. Later, if I am in the market for a more 'professional' wheel, which has 3 pedals, I might try it with the brake remapped to the clutch pedal ......