I drove manual for a long time, but after switching to automatics, I got quite good at left-foot braking without much trouble. You can get a slight advantage on

I drove manual for a long time, but after switching to automatics, I got quite good at left-foot braking without much trouble. You can get a slight advantage on reaction time doing it. The trick, besides not instinctively hitting the brake way too hard, is never to ride the brake pedal. You definitely need to build up your lifting muscles in your left ankle if you want to hold it poised one inch above the brake in stop-and-go traffic for absolutely fastest response time.