Matching revs...

["Paul Misencik" <paul@domain.elided>]

I have a strange question that stems from the fact that my current 1987
Graduate, which I bought about four months ago, is the first Alfa I've
driven in about twelve years.  It's great to be back in the fold, and the
advice I've received during less than a week of being on this email list has
been magnificent, but there is one niggling irritation I have with this car.

I can't seem to "heel and toe" downshift on the Spider, and it's bugging me.

I should point out that I've been driving manual-transmission sportscars of
one form or another for all my life.  MG's, Triumphs, Healeys, Porsches.  I
raced Fromula Fords for four seasons and Formula Vees for another two.  I've
always been able to deftly (in my own opionion) match revs on downshifts, on
virtually every car I've ever driven, from my racecars to my girlfriends old
Honda Civic.  But such elan with this darn Spider is thus far eluding me.
The last Alfa I drove was a 1978 Alfetta GT, and I don't remember it being a
problem with that car, but again, it was so many years ago, I suppose I
could have forgotten.

What the heck am I doing wrong?  I have larger feet, yes, but I'm no Shaq.
And "heel and toe" is generally a misnomer for the approach I typically use,
which could be better described as "right and left side of the foot".  But
when I apply the brakes in anger, the brake pedal ends up considerably
closer to the bulkhead than the throttle,  making it impossible to get the
right side of my foot back up to blip the throttle.  It's seems like a small
thing, but it robs me of a large percentage of the joy of driving quickly on
the winding roads here in North Carolina, and I can't imagine how
troublesome it will be when I start doing track events...

Is this something anyone else has experienced?  Is there a different
approach I should be using?  If this is just "the way it is," has anyone
ever heard of a different pedal assembly that changes the relationship of
the brake and throttle pedals?

BTW - thansk to everyone who helped me with a couple previous questions.  I
don't know what the ettiquette is on this list, but I never thanked anyone
for the rapid, precise (and correct) answers to my questions.  This list
really is a wonderful resource!

Cheers,

Paul Misencik
Creative Director
P. Roman Media
Huntersville, NC  28078
email: paul@domain.elided
www.paoloroman.com
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided