Review: Piloti Prototipo driving shoe

The driving shoe is an oft neglected element to any fashionable automotive aficionado's wardrobe. Having a dedicated pair (or several) of driving shoes allows the general public to know one or more of the following; that you enjoy spending your weekends driving around orange cones in a parking lot, that you partake in the occasional spirited drive, or feel that you because you own bowling shoes you should own driving shoes as well.

As senior correspondent here at c|g I enjoy none of the following: six-figure salary, a lovely office, and the respect of co-workers. I do however get the occasional box of swag. Unfortunately, I purchased these shoes by my own free will as part of my personal economic stimulus plan. Full and unbiased review of the Piloti Prototipo after the jump.

I feel a driving shoe should be lightweight and have very thin sole for optimum pedal feel however the folks at Piloti would not agree. The Prototipo has thick bottom with little to no flex, while I am a fan of the reinforced heel area, it comes at too great of a cost in terms of an overall lack of sensation in the rest of the shoe. Although I found them to be comfortable during a long drive, my feet got so little feedback from the pedals it felt a little disconcerting.

As far as the as the aesthetics are concerned, it doesn't get much better. The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was that the color of the shoes could only be likened to that of a Smurf's genitals. Further examination showed that shoes were asymmetrical, with the right shoe having some superfluous padding on the outside of the metatarsal shoulder, a feeble attempt to aid in heel-toe shifting. Perhaps I am doing it all wrong, but somehow I have managed to never roll my ankle a full ninety degrees outward during a shift so I am unable to fathom the necessity for this extra grip area on the shoe.

Also, each shoe has 3 Piloti "P" logos adorned throughout, in addition to the word Piloti appearing 4 times on on the exterior making them fell less like a driving shoe and more like a billboard for a company that produces sub-par footwear.

Across the toes of each shoe has 'piloti' embroidered into the blue suede so everyone knows that you fall into one or more of the following categories:

• have no taste in shoes
• fancy yourself a racer but fail to understand the importance of driving shoes
• can't decide between fashion and function so you chose neither
• think clown shoes should also come in blue
• have no concept of heel-toe shifting
• in need of a 12 step program for internet shopping addiction
• want someone to ask you about your shoes so you tell tell them about how awesome autocross is
• felt the name Piloti Prototipo just rolled off the tongue
• thought that Smurf blue would look good against premium denim
• really wanted the key chain that came with the shoes