Controversial topic - Heel toe makes you slow

[roman]

Hey guys,

I dont have an AE86 but something close. An AA60 Carina with F series live axle rear, beams motor and 6 speed etc. It's pretty close in size / suspension / performance etc to an 86 but a little heavier perhaps (1000kg)

I recently went to a trackday and set a new best time, 2.3 seconds quicker than previous. (Different tires made part of this big difference...)

When I posted a video up though, a few people gave me the hard word for not heel toeing on downshifts and chirping the wheels at times.

Here's the vid:

Here's the thing though - I used to heel toe! And it made my braking zones WAY longer.

Why? Because I only had half of my brain concentrating on the braking, and only half of my foot on the brake pedal. A few trackdays ago I decided to concentrate on braking strongly. No engine braking through gears and then just rev match to the right gear for corner exit mid corner.

Results? Way faster with way shorter braking zones! More consistent braking with fewer errors, and much quicker to resolve any lockups etc.

I found that I was much more ready to react to a wheel locking up, or an understeer or oversteer event. So I could brake a lot later and be confident that I wasnt going to steam straight ahead.

People say
"It upsets the balance of your car"
But so what? If I'm not losing speed and I'm not spinning out, does it matter that the car squirms for 1/10th of a second? Nothing of consequence happens.

"It wears out your clutch"
A clutch is a consumable item, that's why you buy a heavy duty one

Thoughts on this?
Who rev matches and who doesnt, and why.

If I saw this thread a few years ago I'd be hugely insistent on heel toe being mandatory. But my own personal experience since then has differed. Much to my own surprise.

I'm not talking about this in terms of mechanical sympathy, just simply setting a good lap time.