Driving Shoes (What you wearing?)

Paul Hawker

Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 1, 2000
Posts
4,660
Reaction score
0
Location
San Diego, Calif, USA
As previously noted, it is going to be hard to beat a $40 pair of Nomex Piloti's from Sportsmen's.

Nomex is warmer, but fire retardent. Plain is cooler, but in a fire not as safe.

I can walk all day in mine at the track, and they look good at the apres party too.

If you are having trouble making up your mind, this is your best shot for your first track driving shoes.

At a previous VOI Piloti had a booth. They sold hundreds of pairs for about $100 each.
 

plumcrazy

Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 9, 2003
Posts
16,243
Reaction score
7
Location
ALL OVER
jon, i would say they're even worse than gloves.

i just changed my brand of drving shoe from nike to under armour.. :)
 

Magnus_

Viper Owner
Joined
Jul 23, 2008
Posts
313
Reaction score
0
Location
US
Driving shoes are great. It makes it much easier to heel toe and you also have much better pedal feel.

I only wish I could find some for a really wide foot. I have bunions. :(

Now, I just race with a set of wide new balance shoes.
 

JonB

Legacy\Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Joined
Dec 8, 1997
Posts
10,325
Reaction score
45
Location
Columbia River Gorge
The Size Matters....... those of you ballet-footed drivers wont need driving shoes. But if you have 12-C pedal-mashers like some, the SRT10 pedals are very close together for 100% safe clearance between brake and gas.... I constantly find myself toeing the gas pedal with my pinky toe, when I am NOT wearing one of my (numerous) sets of Piloti shoes.

Piloti Please.....and I paid WAAY more for some before the S.G. sale!
 

Martin

Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 15, 1997
Posts
1,810
Reaction score
0
Location
Silicon Valley, CA and Portland, OR
For drives less than a couple of hours, it's barefoot for me. For longer drives, I've got a couple pairs of Piloti shoes that I got at Sportsman's when they had one of those incredible deals and I could also use a coupon. Every time I've tried to drive either Viper with regular shoes, the edge of the shoe tread will either rest on the clutch pedal when my foot is on the dead pedal (Gen IV) or I sometimes get caught under the brake pedal when I'm transitioning from gas to brake. The Piloti shoes are nice because everything is rounded off and there aren't any edges to catch on things. Also, the heel area is really well designed so that your heel rolls rather than tilts when driving. Also, they support the heel really nicely so you don't get that painful point-contact bruising/soreness from driving barefoot.
 

shine

Viper Owner
Joined
Sep 6, 2010
Posts
410
Reaction score
0
Location
Lexington KY
Piloti as well, because I'm a wide size 13 and while I'd rather drive barefoot, it's not as practical most times. The Piloti is a nice narrow shoe that shapes my foot to fit in the space provided, and as others have said, helps a lot in heel-toeing.

My work shoes are Doc Martens, and let me tellya, they're hell to drive in with the extra-wide sole.

Flip flops? God help us all!
 

SR 27

Viper Owner
Joined
Sep 8, 2008
Posts
65
Reaction score
0
Location
westside
I figure they **** to walk in.

Driving shoes are as **** as driving gloves for street use.

The thing is, you'll look like a dork wearing disco red, blue or yellow driving shoes with anything but a firesuit, although it seems to be the norm in SoCal. If you have to wear business attire I would suggest a pair of Auri's. They are pretty much driving shoes with style and they are walking friendly.I'm happy with mine. I don't have any trouble driving race car style with my size 13 Vans skate shoes either.
 
Last edited:

SlateEd

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Posts
570
Reaction score
0
Location
NY/CT
Piloti heel is good for long distances. I take the Viper from Westchester to Rochester (325 miles) in one pass and I appreciate the rounded heel - my Nike Shox were actually painful after 3 or 4 hours non-stop resting a little on the throttle (like cruise control).

As for wearing my running shoes in the car, that's fine too, but the clutch pedal on the Viper actually tore up the sole on my AirMax 360s, which seemed like a waste of good running shoes since the Pilotis are cheaper.
 

steve911

Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 11, 2003
Posts
1,651
Reaction score
3
Location
Cottage Grove, Wi.
The thing is, you'll look like a dork wearing disco red, blue or yellow driving shoes with anything but a firesuit, although it seems to be the norm in SoCal. If you have to wear business attire I would suggest a pair of Auri's. They are pretty much driving shoes with style and they are walking friendly.I'm happy with mine. I don't have any trouble driving race car style with my size 13 Vans skate shoes either.


I agree with you. That is why all my piloti's are either black, grey, or tan. Plus, they all look good with my red/white driving suit. I do wear my Pilotis on the street too, from time to time.
 

spikeone

Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Posts
144
Reaction score
0
Location
Quebec, Canada
You must be registered for see images


You must be registered for see images


or some other leather shoes I have

pretty much any of these as they are all narrow :)
 

JHill9

Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 18, 2008
Posts
220
Reaction score
0
Location
Houston
Anyone try a pair of these yet? I hear they are the new thing for running.
 

Attachments

  • 45582f93-725b-449a-a910-shoes.jpg
    45582f93-725b-449a-a910-shoes.jpg
    24.8 KB · Views: 8

JohnnyViper

Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 1, 2010
Posts
2,077
Reaction score
0
Location
Massachusetts
"Converse All Stars...yeah! They actually give good feed back and are old school stylish."

I agree that is what i recommend and by the way if you go to converse you can have viper and your VCA screen name printed on them for free!!!
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
153,647
Posts
1,685,252
Members
18,226
Latest member
aelimos
Top