Steve Richards Motorsport

The Heel and Toe Concept

The ‘heel and toe’ concept is used by the driver as he/she changes down through the gearbox i.e. from 6th to 1st.

All cars both Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon use the same manual 6 speed gearbox designed by Melbourne transmission specialist Peter Holinger.  These gearboxes are much different to the manual gearboxes that we use in our everyday cars.  Our road cars use a synchromesh gearbox for smooth gear changing and quiet in car ergonomics that satisfy the Manufacturers specifications, while our V8 Supercars are all about the speed of the gear change.  To make the gear change faster, we use a dog clutch engagement that is quite crude and noisy, but is tough and is ultra fast.  There is also a switch encased in the gear knob that trips the engine spark and fuel when we change up the gears from 1st through to 6th, which means the drivers don’t have to lift off the throttle or use the clutch at all.

Now back to the ‘heel and toe’.  Because of the design of the dog engagement in the gearbox it makes it very difficult to select a lower gear from a higher gear i.e. 6th to 1st.  The only way to do this effectively is to heel and toe.

While the left foot still operates the clutch during downshifting the right foot operates the brake and the throttle.  The ball or toe of the right foot stays on the brake pedal while the heel sneaks sideways to deliver a stab of the accelerator pedal to increase the engine RPM and match that of the corresponding gear that is about to be selected.

While it can be a tricky operation to master, it is critical for the reliability and operation of the gearbox.