No shoes.

[Stubby79]

2nd car forum in a week to bring this up. They do a report on it or something?

I don't drive without shoes...wouldn't want to, on the old beasts in my garage. You need a lot of force to brake in a hurry, that I'd never get without spreading the force across more of my foot.

Heck, I can't really drive my Miata with it's super hard clutch in my "skater" shoes, because they're so thin and soft. The ball of my left foot hurts after a short drive. (right foot is fine, as is driving any other car of mine in them)

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I don't know how driving barefoot could interfere with the foot strenght to press the pedals, but anyway, I'd rather not drive barefoot.

[RedDevil]

Ah, we're pampered these days with those shoe thingies...

Oldtimers drive hardcore:

[PaleMelanesian]

If I'm wearing shoes, I'll keep wearing them. If it's a long drive I'll take them off for the comfort of my feet.

Flip flops though, must come off. They seriously interfere with the pedal movement and driving with them on is dangerous.

[redpoint5]

Yeah, I'm the same as Pale. Shoes for short distance, just socks for long trips, and nothing if I'm wearing flip flops. Yesterday the shoes came off because I had used them walking around in the creek and going down a natural water slide. I'm not wearing soaked shoes in the vehicle.

No noticeable difference in MPG. I tend to be very steady regardless of what I'm wearing.

[niky]

Yeah. Flip flops are bad biz. The risk of them getting tangled in a pedal during an emergency is not a risk you should be taking, however carefully you drive (and as this is Ecomodder, I'm sure we all drive more carefully (and slower! (triple parenthesis!)) tham most!).

I do drive barefoot sometimes, but it feels strange. I've got wide feet and wideset stubby toes, so I can heel and toe with my big toe and my pinky. Which is entertaining, but the rest of the time, my toes are wriggling all over the place.

My favorite driving shoes are indoor soccer shoes or wushu shoes (thin, flat soles, flexible uppers) or aqua-socks. Aqua-socks are the next best thing to naked feet.... better than socks, because they have good grip... and they protect your feet from the cold, to boot.

My only issue is they suck for walking around in, and you look like a dork wearing them.

(Well, I am a dork, so sue me)

[Daschicken]

I tried driving barefoot exactly ONCE. The first time I went to brake(and i needed to brake hard by the way) I jerked the brakes a lot hard than I was expecting and caused the tailgating PICKUUUUUUP TRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUC K (i had to) behind me to lock up his tires and almost crash into me.

[redpoint5]

On a couple of occasions, I have driven an automatic after months of driving a manual, and accidentally slammed on the brake. My muscle memory has me pushing the clutch in to coast. Stupid muscle memory.

[JockoT]

The first time I went to do an emergency stop with an automatic I used both feet and went for the clutch and brake! And it was one of those ones with a big pedal.



I caught it with both feet, and boy did it stop!!

Luckily all my recent automatics had standard size brake pedals so no chance of a repeat.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by niky

Yeah. Flip flops are bad biz. The risk of them getting tangled in a pedal during an emergency is not a risk you should be taking, however carefully you drive (and as this is Ecomodder, I'm sure we all drive more carefully (and slower! (triple parenthesis!)) tham most!).

Flip-flops and other loose, open footwear, are the only thing explicitly forbidden to wear while driving in my country. Barefoot is accepted instead.

I do drive barefoot sometimes, but it feels strange. I've got wide feet and wideset stubby toes, so I can heel and toe with my big toe and my pinky. Which is entertaining, but the rest of the time, my toes are wriggling all over the place.

It might be easier to do the punta-tacco while barefoot, but I'm not really willing to try.

My favorite driving shoes are indoor soccer shoes or wushu shoes (thin, flat soles, flexible uppers) or aqua-socks. Aqua-socks are the next best thing to naked feet.... better than socks, because they have good grip... and they protect your feet from the cold, to boot.

Had to Google-check it to see what an aqua-sock is. Have already seen a handful of surfers (and wannabe-surfers too) wearing those.

Originally Posted by redpoint5

On a couple of occasions, I have driven an automatic after months of driving a manual, and accidentally slammed on the brake. My muscle memory has me pushing the clutch in to coast. Stupid muscle memory.

My grandfather told me he had similar reactions when he drove automatics from his friends a couple of times before he got his first automatic. I have never experienced this when I drove automatics.

Originally Posted by JockoT

The first time I went to do an emergency stop with an automatic I used both feet and went for the clutch and brake! And it was one of those ones with a big pedal.



I caught it with both feet, and boy did it stop!!

Luckily all my recent automatics had standard size brake pedals so no chance of a repeat.

Even in those "semi-automatic" manuals with a fully-automated clutch, the only one with a standard-sized brake pedal I saw was an Opel Corsa C. All others had that wider pedal.