One of the major differences you find when driving a car like a F355 is that the pedals are so close together. This of course makes sense since it is a high performance car, however this arrangement makes the pedal area less accommodating to normal footwear.
My normal daily footwear was most unsuitable for driving the F355 so I had resorted to an old, and somewhat tatty, pair of runners. Although they were old they were snug and comfortable and because they were somewhat worn down they provided good ‘feel’ with the pedals.
The only real downside with these tatty runners was they were perhaps not ‘formal’ enough for some establishments one finds oneself at when attending drive days with the Ferrari Club. It has not previously been a major issue, but certainly something I had become conscious of.
So I started my search for a suitable set of driving shoes. The prime requirement was they that worked well while driving and secondly that would be suitable and appropriate to wear casually at places that the Club attends.
Now if you do a search for driving shoes you typically end up with shoes like those above. Unfortunately for me these are a bit ostentatious and don’t meet my second criteria of being suitable for wearing to functions (to me anyway). They are probably great shoes and I know many people have ones like them but I really don’t think I could handle people gawking at my shoes! constantly! They do they enough with the F355.
The other issue is I typically have ‘non-standard’ feet which means the chances of getting the ‘right’ fit by ordering something online would be very rare. In that situation I’d either be stuck with an imperfect choice or having to battle to have the shoes returned. This therefore meant that I needed to find a location I could go and actually see whether my hobbit feet would fit in the shoes.
Surprisingly, finding such a location proved to be quite difficult, however after a recommendation from a friend I came across Revolution Racegear. So I headed down there a few weekends ago to check their range.
In the end I settled for the pair that you see above which are Puma Future Cat Mid P Pro. They fit me feet really snuggly without being too tight and lace all the way up to the ankle. I was considering more normal looking shoes like these:
but the boot also turned out to be fully racing compliant and designed to be used on the track. This, combined with the fact that the boots also fitted my feet much better in the end swung the credit card in their favour and was my ultimate choice.
So today I got to take the new driving shoes out for a spin and they certainly are very different from my normal driving ‘sneakers’. They feel a little funny to walk in as you foot hangs over the side of the sole of the shoe. As I backed the car out I was a little concerned that I didn’t have a good feel for the pedals but these were new shoes and I knew they would take some time to ‘break’ in. Besides, I wasn’t going to race back and change them now!
It wasn’t long before I began to find the ‘feel’ I was missing and once I had that things changed completely. I now fully appreciate the benefits that proper driving shoes make in cars like these. It really made the whole experience more pleasurable that it already normally. With these shoes I felt far more connected to the pedals and less encumbered down there. I short, I’m won over and am very happy with the investment I have made.
I would certainly recommend these shoes to anyone and reckon they tick all the boxes I was after. Personally, I would recommend you always go and try on a pair to make sure they fit you exactly which I am so glad that I did because this pair is a great fit and are really, really comfortable.
Best of all, these driving shoes from Revolution Racegear were no more expensive than normal brand running shoes. The guys at Revolution Racegear were also really helpful in letting me know the options with the different types of shoes so I’d also recommend them highly as well if you want somewhere to go and try on a pair. The only sad thing is that I now need to put away my magic driving shoes until the next F355 outing. However, this gives me something more to look forward to when I do.
Love the F355 