Since we're talking about it, I looked down at the pedals for the first time. These pedals are not setup like a sportscar! Although Mazda never intended that I guess, it's safer for them to have spaced pedals than a position only good for the track. I can't blame them. However, the brake and gas pedals are a good 2 inches farther apart than all my other sports cars.

No way a simple side to side roll with foot angled 12 o'clock will work and I have size 12 feet. I've started practicing ball of foot on brake with foot angled about 1:30. It will work, but I need much more practice.

 

I find the RX-8 pedal setup is not too bad for heel-toe. I roll my toe up to the top of the brake pedal and use the outside edge of my foot on the gas. Just be thankful the pedals are all in the same plane; you could be driving a mustang.

Practice smooth rev-matching first, then practice heel-toe at slower speeds with light braking. If you can get it right with light braking, I think it feels easier to do smoothly with harder braking.

 

The problem I've had trying to heal toe with the pedal placement is that the gas peddle is right up against the cars center hump, i.e. there is no open space to the right of the gas pedal. In other cars when heal toeing, I've always turned my foot sideways to some extent, putting my heal to the right of the gas pedal. There is no room to do that here.

 

I had the same problem when I was learning to heel-toe on this car. Easiest way to re-train yourself is to still make the same motions, but with a lot less pivoting of your heel. After cutting back how much I swing over, I'm starting to think I'm actually a whole lot smoother now than I ever was before I made the smaller motions. Give it a shot and see how it goes.

 

I think the best way is to get your toe near the very top of the brake pedal, then roll your toe over the top lip of the pedal, and pivot your foot sideways, so that the middle of the outside edge of your foot strikes the upper left edge of the accelerator. By contacting the accelerator higher on the pedal, less motion is required of your foot.

One reason I find this method is the best, is that it works independent of the depth of the brake pedal. Some people's techniques require that they are braking hard. With this method, you can hold your toe at a constant depth and pivot the sideways motion of your foot as needed. I find this is easier than holding your toe at a constant depth and varying the depth that your heel depresses the accelerator.

Whatever technique you use, ideally you should be able to do it smoothly in all situations, not just high-rpm, hard braking. I found that by practicing with only very light braking, I exposed a jerkiness of my motions that was masked when braking hard. By concentrating on being smooth with light braking, I think my technique has improved.