2007 Audi Q7: If you left foot brake, you will not like this SUV

Phew, if you hadn't told me I might've bought a Q7 for rally racing and been screwed without the ability to left foot brake.

What is it with German cars and killing the throttle when you are also holding the brake? Haven't they ever heard of the brake-torque technique? A 335i automatic I drove did the same thing - it would let you rev to around 3,000 rpm and then it shut the party down if you still had your foot on the brake. Luckily, 3k with DSC/DTC off is plenty to roast the tires... not that I tried that of course.

Why would someone left foot brake? Left foot is for the clutch. That's it.

blueguydotcom, tell a Formula 1 or rally race car driver that! j/k Left-foot braking with an automatic isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Why would you do it? Still curious that someone would complain about left foot braking on 5000 lbs station wagon.

I bet you really feel all 5,420 pounds during acceleration with your left foot on the brake! ;-)

Left foot braking isn't just for rally racing or performance cars. It actually feels quite natural in any kind of vehicle and it's safer. If someone pulls out in front of me, I guarantee that I'll stop quicker than another driver who is swapping their right foot over.
 
Try it sometime, you'll probably like it too.
 
Ed Hellwig

Left-foot braking isn't done with many manual tranny vehicles since a downshift is usually required. However, when a downshift isn't required, left-foot braking can totally help, especially when a race car driver is trying to trail-brake or "balance" the car on the edge through a turn (a search for "Best Motoring" videos should provide you with some decent footage from pedal-box cameras - especially going through the quick right turn 6 at Tsukuba - http://www.trilon.com/bapom/maps/map-tsukuba.pdf).
 
Ed is absolutely correct in that reaction times will always be quicker when one is left-foot braking. Once the driver learns to properly modulate brake pedal pressure (it won't happen in an instant, folks), he or she definitely would reap the "rewards" of left-foot braking.

Some people who left-foot brake often end up just barely touching the brake. It's enough to make their brake lights come on even though they are speeding up but not enough to get their attention.

Try it sometime, you'll probably like it too.
 
My cars are manuals! If I try it, I'll kill the engine every time I come to a stop.
 
Actually, I have accidentally done this a few times with automatics. I've only owned manuals and even though I seem to be in a rental a week, the whole concept of no clutch pedal bugs the hell out of my left leg. So on more than one occasion while going for the clutch I have in fact hit the brake. Yikes!!!
 
I'm not gonna try purposely left braking with our A3 but on my next rental Thursday, I'll give it a whirl.

I believe the reason most of us were taught *NOT TO* left foot brake automatics has more to do with premature wear of the brakes themselves. It's not conducive to brake life to be both accelerating and braking at the same time. The simple fact is that most left foot brakers ride with their foot on the brakes much of the time, and their taillights seem to constantly be flashing on and off regardless of what actual operation they are doing. That telegraphs very badly to the folks behind you in traffic. Predictability is ALWAYS a good thing, unless you're running from a hitman or something. Also, I don't know what the actual tolerance is for brake pressure / light activation / pad touches rotor / drum, but again, I was always taught that you'll be unnecessarily wearing the brake components themselves.
 
I could maybe buy the faster response times and all that malarky. But let's face it, if you're left foot braking and your foot's NOT hovering on or over the pedal CONSTANTLY (ie. - it's in the floor or on the dead pedal, like 99.99% of drivers do when not using the pedal), your reaction time will be no better moving it from the relaxed floor position up to and then down onto the brake pedal than the guy moving from the throttle to the brake. Worse, you might STILL have that right foot on the throttle (or if you're panicking, jam BOTH pedals with both feet, since your now *trained* reaction is to use both feet instead of automatically switching). If so, you're reducing the effectiveness of the brakes themselves regardless of how quick your reaction with the left foot might have been.
 
Too many cons against this except in rare conditions (read: racing, hill starts for non-hillholding equipped vehicles, etc.) for me to accept the other arguments in its favor here.

Kinda makes me wonder if most of those "uncontrolled acceleration" reports were from folks swearing they were fulling pressing the brakes with no effect, all the while neglecting to mention that the accelerator was also buried to the floor by the other foot..

What if you have two left feet?

Then you'll never "get off on the right foot?" =Þ

d'oh!