Racing Pedals for heel and toe

[Simon_H]

As of last weekend I am the proud owner of a very decent and well sorted RS4. Naturally I am loving the interior finish, the quality of the switches, the feel of the small chunky steering wheel and the look of the carbon trim set. The exterior blue paint colour is OK (I wanted graphite but hey - you can't have everything) and of course I am loving the V8 sound, power and torque curve. It has recently had a carbon clean on the manifolds and with the Milltek exhaust the previous owner fitted the engine breathes well - the dyno report showed 430 BHP - so all good there.

My one gripe (to date) is that the pedals are not convenient for easy heel and toe down shifts. I prefer to roll my foot and blip the throttle using the outside of my right foot. However, the accelerator pedal is too far away to allow this movement. I have done a bit of Google surfing to see what I can find. However, so far I have only found a US company called Sullivan Racing Products (SRP Racing - Custom Aluminum Racing Pedals) which had a racing pedal set that looked like they would do the job. However, I would rather use a UK company if possible. Does anyone on here know of a company/product that looks good and does the trick? Also, I am going to need a decent Audi tuning specialist/garage to look after my new baby. I don't want to use my local Audi dealership as they are pretty rubbish. Does anyone have a good suggestion? I live in South West London.

I look forward to chatting to anyone...

 

[Sandra]

Hi, welcome to audi-sport.net. Hope you enjoy the forum. x

 

[MartayMcFly]

As for pedals, yup the accelerator is just too far for comfortable hell-and-toeing, but I can't say I've come across anyone who has changed out the pedal box nor do I know of a suitable company here unfortunately.

In terms of Audi specialists... there's a few good tuners down south, the best likely being MRC (who are in Banbury, Oxford). I don't know who there is actually in London, but there will be someone better able to look after your car than a main dealer.

 

[Broken Byzan]

you will also need a remap to facilitate what you need because the throttle is cut off on a std tune when the brake is activated

 

[Simon_H]

Many thanks guys. I don't think I need a whole new pedal box. Just pedal plates to screw/bolt onto the existing pedals. SRP Racing in the US still seem to have the right product. The only pedal that is an issue is the accelerator pedal which needs a plate that extends to the left so that it's nearer the brake pedal. That should then allow a simple foot rolling motion to blip the throttle. However, think I should replace all pedal plates to keep a uniform look. I didn't know about the std tune cutting off the the throttle when the brake is applied. I will need to look into a remap for that - thanks for the advice.

As to reliable garage/mechanic I found CamSpec in Crawley and also Expert Tuning who seem good for remaps etc. Anyone had any experience of either?

I know of MRC in Banbury so can always head up there if necessary. However, it's a bit of a hike up the M40.

If I go ahead with the changes then I will report back on the results!

 

[PetrolDave]

I didn't know about the std tune cutting off the the throttle when the brake is applied.

It's the standard setup on all VAG products.

 

[ex911driver]

Try pulling out quickly from a junction, when TC cuts in and cuts throttle it can be a butt clenching few seconds until it lets you accelerate again, or turn off TC on every journey and modulate wheelspin with your right foot.

 

[Simon_H]

Ok. Forgive my ignorance. Am new to Audi. Does the ESP Button on the dash switch the traction control on and off?

 

[PetrolDave]

Does the ESP Button on the dash switch the traction control on and off?

Not on and off directly:
- the normal state (no light on the dash) is full traction control and stability control on;
- pressing the button briefly increases the threshold at which they kick in and turns on the light on the dash (this is the only option on non-RS Audi's);
- on RS models if you press and hold the ESP button until the light on the dash flashes then both traction and stability control are off.

 

[GeoffDunk]

Off.

On by default, if you press the button and the dash light is illuminated then its off.

This threw me on the wife's X5, TC is on by default inc. ESP, press the button and full DTC is on which is great in heavy ice and snow and press and hold and all traction aids are off.

On my C63 you could never turn TC fully off which was a pain.

 

[Simon_H]

OK - so I ordered the new pedal plates from the USA. I found a company called SRP Racing that supplied them. They took a while to arrive but I had them fitted yesterday by Camspec down in Crawley, Sussex. It was a two hour job as it was quite fiddly aligning them properly using the fittings and bolt holes they came with. However, I have to say that the result is just what I was looking for.

The throttle pedal has an extension on the left hand side that makes it now easily reachable from the brake pedal with just a roll of the foot. Hey presto - perfectly smooth blip down shifts every time. I didn't need a re-map as someone above mentioned. The throttle works with the brake pedal pressed at the same time. No worries there.

For 'aftermarket' kit they don't look too bad although the grips on them are killing my leather soled work shoes! See the clutch pedal for deposits of worn leather from my left hoof.

Anyway - just wanted to report that this small improvement has really improved the driving pleasure from the RS4. All I need to do now is book in a couple of track days to really test it out.

Simon