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Aftermarket Gas Pedals?

S

slipperywhenwet

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Calgary, Canada
The difficulties of heel-toeing have been discussed a few times on here.

I know that some people have no issues with the spacing of the brake/gas pedals, and how deeply recessed the gas is in comparison to the brake, however, for those of us who do have issues, what have you done to rectify it?

I've been thinking about throwing an aftermarket gas pedal cover, similar to what Sparco make, on top of my stock gas pedal. I figure that this will achieve two things:
1. The contact point of the gas pedal will be raised slightly, to come closer in line with the brake pedal.
2. The aftermarket pedal should be slightly wider, and can be attached in such a way that it helps to close the gap between the gas and brake.

Has anyone tried this? Any thoughts on how it worked/felt?

I'm still working on learning to perfect it with the stock setup, but this car remains the biggest pain in my ass to heel-toe in daily situations. It's alright when I'm hustling through the mountains, but I'd like to be able to achieve better rev-matching in my daily commute.
 
JB MK7 GTI SPORT

JB MK7 GTI SPORT

Ready to race!
Location
San Diego
The last company I worked for manufactured an extended pedal cover that bolted on existing gas pedals for Porsche 911's & BMW's.

It had a left side extended tab that closed the gap between the gas and brake pedal so a side foot blip on the throttle was much easier.
It is still being used by IMSA race teams like Fall Line Racing & Kelly-Moss to help multiple & different shoe size drivers in 12 & 24 hr events with the downshift throttle blip.

I'm going to stop by there next week and see how that fits on my GTI pedals and if necessary change the design up and make a prototype to fit our cars.

I am a VP at an Aerospace CNC manufacturing company here in San Diego so I kind of have everything I need to make prototypes and even produce them for the rest of you guys.
 
2

2015WhiteGTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Chester Springs, PA
JB MK7 GTI SPORT

JB MK7 GTI SPORT

Ready to race!
Location
San Diego
That would take the fun out of it! One of the best perks of the job is designing and making new stuff just because you can
 
D

Derushi

Go Kart Champion
Location
Rain
Car(s)
Long
JB MK7 GTI SPORT said:
The last company I worked for manufactured an extended pedal cover that bolted on existing gas pedals for Porsche 911's & BMW's.

I am a VP at an Aerospace CNC manufacturing company here in San Diego so I kind of have everything I need to make prototypes and even produce them for the rest of you guys.
Click to expand...

A bolt-on extended gas pedal cover... would buy!
 
S

slipperywhenwet

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Calgary, Canada
I've been eyeing-up this pedal cover set.
http://www.sparcousa.com/product/reflex-shrtstd-0

The gas pedal cover looks to be exactly what I need, but I have two issues:
1. I don't want to buy the entire set when I only need one pedal.
2. I would prefer an option that doesn't need me to drill through the stock pedal.

If there is an option that can be installed without drilling, that would be ideal, otherwise, I might pick this up and let you guys know how it goes.
 
2

2015WhiteGTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Chester Springs, PA
JB MK7 GTI SPORT

JB MK7 GTI SPORT

Ready to race!
Location
San Diego
2015WhiteGTI said:
I'm pretty sure this is exactly what you're looking for:
http://www.rennline.com/Manual/products/1095/
Click to expand...

Their extension only fits their throttle pedal sets not OEM so if you don't mind spending a couple of hundred bucks on the pedal set then more on the extension go for it.

I'm going to make a left side extension for the OEM throttle pedal & possibly a right side extension for the OEM brake pedal depending on distance between the two.

I'm doing mock ups today then I'll finish final design in MasterCam and make a couple of prototypes next week to test in the real world.

My target price point is under $75.00 for a complete kit. Stay tuned!
 
S

slipperywhenwet

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Calgary, Canada
JB MK7 GTI SPORT said:
Their extension only fits their throttle pedal sets not OEM so if you don't mind spending a couple of hundred bucks on the pedal set then more on the extension go for it.

I'm going to make a left side extension for the OEM throttle pedal & possibly a right side extension for the OEM brake pedal depending on distance between the two.

I'm doing mock ups today then I'll finish final design in MasterCam and make a couple of prototypes next week to test in the real world.

My target price point is under $75.00 for a complete kit. Stay tuned!
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was going to note. I do, however, see that they make an adjustable lifter plate, however, that appears to only work with their own pedals.

I'll be waiting eagerly to see what you come up with. One thing of note is that I sense that our issue has as much to do with the difference in depth between the two pedals, as it does with the distance between. It is significantly easier to heel-toe when you're driving hard in the mountains, and you're getting deeper into the brake travel, than when you're daily driving. Raising the surface of the gas pedal by several mm might be all that is needed, although, having the pedals be slightly closer certainly can't hurt either.
 
JB MK7 GTI SPORT

JB MK7 GTI SPORT

Ready to race!
Location
San Diego
slipperywhenwet said:
That's exactly what I was going to note. I do, however, see that they make an adjustable lifter plate, however, that appears to only work with their own pedals.

I'll be waiting eagerly to see what you come up with. One thing of note is that I sense that our issue has as much to do with the difference in depth between the two pedals, as it does with the distance between. It is significantly easier to heel-toe when you're driving hard in the mountains, and you're getting deeper into the brake travel, than when you're daily driving. Raising the surface of the gas pedal by several mm might be all that is needed, although, having the pedals be slightly closer certainly can't hurt either.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you are talking about because on my car when the brake pedal is fully applied my gas pedal is lined up perfectly at the same depth.
Guess I need to look at a few earlier year mk7'so i can check the pedal alignment. Any photos you guys can post will help.
 
R

rfc89747

Ready to race!
Location
Pennsylvania
I believe he was saying that since in normal daily driving/spirited driving type situations you don't normally need to go hard on the brakes (aka fully apply them) so they are not as equally lined up as when you are fully applying the breaks on a hard mountain run or track visit.
 
JB MK7 GTI SPORT

JB MK7 GTI SPORT

Ready to race!
Location
San Diego
rfc89747 said:
I believe he was saying that since in normal daily driving/spirited driving type situations you don't normally need to go hard on the brakes (aka fully apply them) so they are not as equally lined up as when you are fully applying the breaks on a hard mountain run or track visit.
Click to expand...

I live and drive in traffic here in San Diego every day and not once have I felt the need to toe and heal any car I have owned in those conditions so installation of my design is going to be non intrusive in your daily "this sucks commute" but will be easy to toe & heal or ankle lean blip like I use when you so desire
 
Last edited:
S

slipperywhenwet

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Calgary, Canada
JB MK7 GTI SPORT said:
I'm not sure what you are talking about because on my car when the brake pedal is fully applied my gas pedal is lined up perfectly at the same depth.
Guess I need to look at a few earlier year mk7'so i can check the pedal alignment. Any photos you guys can post will help.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I should have been more clear on my thoughts when I put that all together.

You are correct, when the brake is fully depressed, the face of the brake pedal in my car is equal in depth, or very close to equal, with the face of the gas pedal. This appears to be the same as your car.

What I'm looking to do, is to raise the face of the gas pedal in such a way as to cut the difference between depths of the faces of the two pedal at rest, in half.
I worry that, if the gas pedal is too high, it may actually make it harder to heel toe, as I will have to bring my heel higher than is comfortable, to hit the gas when the brake is fully depressed.

Also, I know that there's no need to heel-toe in day-to-day driving, but this is less of a NEED of mine, and more of a WANT. ;)
 
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