On the Viper with the stock pedal set-up, it is very difficult to do the correct heel toe shift (heel on brake and toe on accelerator), because of the distance between the brake and the accelerator. The best way that I have found it do this in the Viper is to have the toe on the brake and the heel on the accelerator. The reason for this exercise is this. As you come into a turn with the car reved near the upper rpm range, what happens when you push in the clutch to down shift and while you are braking for the turn? You guessed it, the rpms drop to near idle since your two feet are busy braking and working the clutch. So, you down shift to the next lowest gear, and as you let out the clutch, you hear a chirp from the rear tires, because the engine now goes from idle to a much higher rpm. In racing, this can upset the car and cause it to lose traction at the rear wheels and go off the track. To prevent this you want to keep the rpms from dropping to idle by just holding your heel on the accelerator while you are braking and while you have the clutch in, to maintain about the same rpm as you had before you pushed in the clutch. Now when you down shift and let out the clutch, the engine does not have to be forced to the correct rpm by the drivetrain and the rear wheels do not chirp. Remember, if you hear the chirp, you are not doing it correctly and this is dangerous in a track situation. It takes a few time of practice to not have your heel on the accelerator when the clutch is still engaged. You can of course cheat by not doing heel toe, and by slightly slipping the clutch on the release to get the rpms back up to avoid the churp. But this still loads up the drive train and wastes time in the down shift. Practice on the street as you are braking and making turns at intersections. It will eventually come naturally. If you have long legs, then you may need to raise the steering wheel a notch, when doing this on the Viper, since your right knee has to rotate up to get your heel to move over to the accelerator. Just my $.02 of course, and others will have other ways to deal with it.
Jerry Scott[CO]
