What are the benefits of racing shoes?

[volkl23]

I really am getting into the auto-x scene and have a few questions. What are the added benefits of racing shoes compared to just regular tennis shoes? Is it more for the safety aspect or the performance, whatever that might be?

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[roofis]

Real, professionally used, SFI/FIA rated race shoes are Nomex lined. Nomex is fire resistant, pretty usefull if the car goes up in flames with you in it. Oakley makes a few pairs that have CarbonX in them, which is fireproof.

If you're just autocrossing, shoes will be more of a fitment issue than safety. Find a shoe store that sells Puma or Asics shoes. I have a pair of $60 Asics that are the most comfortable things I've ever put my feet in and will hold me over until I start competeing and need the $250 Oakleys.

Racing shoes, like the Puma/Asic ones; have thin, flexible soles and are made to contour feet better than a pair of normal Reeboks. It's much easier to feel the car through the pedals with a thin soled shoe than say, a pair of skater shoes. I have my Vans for normal driving and the Asics for anything that requires left foot braking and/or heel toe work.

With the narrower, thin soled shoes, some people find it annoying that they can't hit the brake and throttle for rev mathing as they want. They usually stick with wider soled shoes.

[FuJi K]

well....I would want some racing shoes, but something that's comparable to them are smaller thinner shoes that aren't wide. When wearing a wider shoe, I can't blip the throttle on a heeltoe doubleclutch downshift. My thinner, less width shoe is much better.

And yes, with the racing shoes, they're fire resistant for a short period. Then again I've seen it in action in one of the BESTMotoring videos where the "drift king" was riding in a FD RX7 with the floor board getting hot.

[makofoto]

article here: http://stockcarracing.com/techarticl...34_0301_shoes/

I like the Piloti slip on's ... very comfortable and convenient. You don't want to do course work in your driving shoes ... the thin sole gives no shock absorption while running ... and you can get very sore in a number of places!

I wear a slip on "day" shoe and thus can quickly change back and forth between work and driving.

These are the ones I like: http://www.piloti.com/products/produ...rod_sku=PR12-1

[jmott]

How in the world does a wider shoe make it hard for you to heel toe?
It should make it easier, in fact, sometimes its hard to avoid heel toe shifting with a wide shoe, while with a narrow shoe it can be hard to do!

The only time I found benefit from a racing shoe was when driving a z06 corvette. When each 1 degree of throttle adds 100horsepower or so it helped to be able to feel it precisely and control it.

Originally Posted by FuJi K

well....I would want some racing shoes, but something that's comparable to them are smaller thinner shoes that aren't wide. When wearing a wider shoe, I can't blip the throttle on a heeltoe doubleclutch downshift. My thinner, less width shoe is much better.

And yes, with the racing shoes, they're fire resistant for a short period. Then again I've seen it in action in one of the BESTMotoring videos where the "drift king" was riding in a FD RX7 with the floor board getting hot.

[jcroy66]

I found a pair of wrestling shoes in a Payless Shoe Store or someplace like that. I wanted a narrow shoe that I could left-foot brake with. And the thinner soles help me feel more connected with the car and the pedals too.

[Midnight_Gold]

I love my abnoxiously pink Puma running shoes. They were thin and flexible, the perfect autocross shoe. Now I'm thinking some Sparco Speedways.

~ Miranda

[thrdeye]

<---ADIDAS Samba Classic - no need to change shoes thorughout the day

[volkl23]

Thanks guys! I will look into non-racing racing shoes such as the adidas and pumas first!

[WRX-pilot]

Originally Posted by jmott

How in the world does a wider shoe make it hard for you to heel toe?
It should make it easier, in fact, sometimes its hard to avoid heel toe shifting with a wide shoe, while with a narrow shoe it can be hard to do!

The only time I found benefit from a racing shoe was when driving a z06 corvette. When each 1 degree of throttle adds 100horsepower or so it helped to be able to feel it precisely and control it.

I personally could not get my foot into a practical position for heel and toe with regular shoes.

[FuJi K]

Originally Posted by jmott

How in the world does a wider shoe make it hard for you to heel toe?
It should make it easier, in fact, sometimes its hard to avoid heel toe shifting with a wide shoe, while with a narrow shoe it can be hard to do!

The only time I found benefit from a racing shoe was when driving a z06 corvette. When each 1 degree of throttle adds 100horsepower or so it helped to be able to feel it precisely and control it.

with the stock pedals that I'm working with, when I rotate my heel over to blip the throttle, my heel touches the floor wall on the right of the gas pedal. The skinnier shoes that actually are well wrapped around my feet work better for me.

You know how regular shoes have that big front and rear soles, for me it just doesn't work too well. . . . .yah

[ExitVisa]

Ah, okay, now it makes sense. With my big wide feet I can push the brake pedal with the left side of my foot and then just rotate it to the right to depress the gas pedal.

Of course, the drawback to wide feet is that sometimes I don't get my foot far enough to the left and down go the brake and gas - at the same time. Not fun.