Pedal Spacer for 6MT guys (Heel and Toe goodness)

I came from a Cayman S, 350Z, Miata and a few other fun manual transmission cars. I've been out of a manual transmission for over a decade and and happy to be rowing my own gears again. The first thing that bugged me about the truck was the gas to brake spacing being too far apart. I almost considered getting cheap Autozone pedal covers to help but just didn't like the look. I've seen other aftermarket companies make pedal spacers for BRZ's and WRX's but didn't see anything for Tacomas.

I'm not banging 4th to 2nd gear downshifts from 120 MPH into turn 1 at TWS but it's nice to be in the proper gear when slowing down for a normal 90 degree residential turn in a smooth fashion. I'd have to brake, push the clutch in to downshift, let off the brake, complete the turn and then engage the clutch after I've made the turn. If this is how you do it, that's fine but I prefer to downshift into the appropriate gear (heel/toe) while I'm braking.

This pedal spacer from @r3sistance improves the pedal spacing for a reasonable price. I'm happy and although I've only had the truck a week, I'm certain it will be one of my favorite upgrades.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/gauging-interest-in-a-gas-pedal-spacer.731374/#post-27860057

 

So what is it that prevents you from downshifting into second and riding through the turn in gear?

 

Being unable to use the brakes and blip the throttle simultaneously.

 

you're in the wrong truck for this, only TRD Sports tuned suspension 6 MT should be cornering/braking/rev matching like a racer car

JK...

 

Neat idea. I can’t heel toe, however, I find I can downshift quickly enough before I need to brake that I can get into the gear I want ahead of time, then brake for the turn and gas through it in gear fine. Sometimes I wait too long and end up downshifting as I hurtle towards the turn and have to brake hard, but it’s rare and still not a problem. Heel-toeing would be nice but I work around it.

 

Why do you want to press the gas and brakes at the same time?

 

The first post contains that info.

 

Yep! Often I find myself doing that if I anticipate a red light ahead and I can take my time slowing down to downshift.

 

I heel toed in my miata and 240sx. I have not tried in my tacoma. I read toyota now has some sort of if gas and brake are pressed at the same time it kills the engine. Is that true?

I just don't try to be fast in this truck. It isn't fast, it is slow and spongy.

 

Because he can’t put his truck in the correct gear to make a corner in a neighborhood? Again. Why?

 

I believe pressing the accelerator and brake simultaneously will give a "brake override malfunction" warning.

 

consider this:

He's cruising 60 mph on a 2 lane country highway, and he's approaching an intersection where he needs to make a 90 degree right turn.

at 60 mph, he's on 5th gear, he needs to brake to slow down, but he also wants to down shift the truck without taking the foot of the brake because he doesn't like to lose stopping power

so he needs to find a way to rev match (blip the throttle) by heel toe.

He doesn't have to do that, but it's cool AF. Also, if he's living on the edge keeping RPM at red line all the time, he simply can't downshift prior to braking, he needs to brake while down shifting, otherwise the RPM goes above the rev limiter

 

Thanks Jesse for the shoutout! I'm glad it's working out for you

For me, driving fast was never a requisite to heel toe. I just enjoy doing it!

My engine has never shut off doing this.

 

You dork he’s not driving a 911 it’s a Tacoma. This is a shameless attempt to sell a useless and completely unnecessary product.

 

Hmm there is so much rev hang in this thing due to a heavy flywheel that it seems like heel toeing is rather pointless ?

 

I wanted to mention rev hang but I decided not care. I tried to heel toe the other day and realized it was just pointless in this truck. OP first thing you need to do is the accumulator delete mod.

 

He’s not selling anything.

And it had nothing to do with driving the truck like a sports car, it’s more like driving it properly and it not feeling like crap. Neutraling through turns kind of sucks. Anywho, I’m not buying this product but I see the merit to it. If you don’t like it, you are fully welcome to not buy it, so what is the point to your comments?

 

M/T owners being angry at auto owners, now they are angry at each other for heel toeing downshifts. Who knew there was so much division among M/T owners

 

I have one, I like it. Makes downshifts coming off a highway way more fun. Completing a perfect heel and toe downshift from 6th all the way down to 3rd is is fun no matter what you drive. Coming from the hot hatch world, not being able to heel toe effectively in this truck drove me nuts when I first got it.

Really don’t understand why this place gets so upset when someone says they heel toe their Tacoma.

 

Hahahahahaha! Lol I had a MT Tacoma. It's going to take more than a few spacers to make it shift like your list of cars above man. We could start with:
A new engine map
A new transmission
New shifter
New ergonomics in the cab.

Then, maybe you can heel/toe shift like Billybob the race car driver. Oh wait.... it's still a truck! Need to lower it, mod the suspension, move some weight around, get rid of those drum brakes...