Left & Right Hand drive: Why not Central?

[Milkyway]

If all vehicles had a central driving position... the need for left or right hand options wouldn’t be required, eliminating the need for different dashboards etc.
Travelling between different counties would be a lot safer too.
It’s not a new idea by far... but it must have its advantages.

[Equus]

Cos it's a pain in the ass to get in and out of the driving seat, basically

[Milkyway]

Equus said:

Cos it's a pain in the ass to get in and out of the driving seat, basically

Agreed that it would take some getting used to... but OK once on the move.

[Dingu]

Surely it’s inconveniencing all car users to the benefit of the fraction who drive abroad?

Before we even get onto the compromises in space and packaging it would present in terms of either having a 3 seat wide bench - eliminating any sort of side support really, and where you move all the stuff usually in the middle to.

[ChevronB19]

Milkyway said:

If all vehicles had a central driving position... the need for left or right hand options wouldn’t be required, eliminating the need for different dashboards etc.
Travelling between different counties would be a lot safer too.
It’s not a new idea by far... but it must have its advantages.

Seem to remember both the Rover SD1 and several vans essentially had the same dashboard whether RHD or LHD - just the instrument pod was put in the recess above the glove box to switch, and in the latter cases there was a cupholder that depending on which side drive it was housed the gearstick.

Edit to change the frankly bizarre autocorrect of ‘cupholder’ to ‘ cuphi,deer’

Edited by ChevronB19 on Friday 24th June 16:32

[Riley Blue]

Overtaking could become 'interesting', drive-thru takeaways and car park ticket machines a real faff etc. etc.

[LimaDelta]

The Beech Staggerwing had a 'throw-over' control wheel depending on who was flying, rather than having one each side. I imagine it would not be too hard to achieve the same with a car steering wheel. Not sure why you would want to though.

[Milkyway]

ChevronB19 said:

Milkyway said:

If all vehicles had a central driving position... the need for left or right hand options wouldn’t be required, eliminating the need for different dashboards etc.
Travelling between different counties would be a lot safer too.
It’s not a new idea by far... but it must have its advantages.

Seem to remember both the Rover SD1 and several vans essentially had the same dashboard whether RHD or LHD - just the instrument pod was put in the recess above the glove box to switch, and in the latter cases there was a cuphi,deer that depending on which side drive it was housed the gearstick.

The SD1 crossed my mind, BL just blocked off the steering column hole with an air vent... genius.

Edited by Milkyway on Friday 24th June 16:30

[finlo]

LimaDelta said:

The Beech Staggerwing had a 'throw-over' control wheel depending on who was flying, rather than having one each side. I imagine it would not be too hard to achieve the same with a car steering wheel. Not sure why you would want to though.

Mercedes Unimogs do that and there's always the McLaren.

[kambites]

I think back in the days when most cars had longitudinal front-mounted engines, the answer was "because the engine would be in the way of the steering column if you put the steering wheel in the middle". Since then we've sort of designed everything around the idea that the driver is on the offside of the vehicle.

[Milkyway]

With a few tweaks.

[Milkyway]

kambites said:

I think back in the days when most cars had longitudinal front-mounted engines, the answer was "because the engine would be in the way of the steering column if you put the steering wheel in the middle". Since then we've sort of designed everything around the idea that the driver is on the offside of the vehicle.

And most of the gear selection etc can now go on the steering wheel / column.

[Dingu]

Milkyway said:

With a few tweaks.

A few?! It’s like comparing a kids go cart to an F1 car.

[Triumph Man]

Problem solved

[Master Bean]

We should just drive around in these things.

[Milkyway]

Worth a read...Sorry, after the horse has bolted.
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a18237081/ce...

[Wacky Racer]

Triumph Man said:

Problem solved

[Olivergt]

Because:

Against:
95% of people only drive on one side of the road
Overtaking becomes more dangerous
Difficult to get in/out - try thinking about your granny or grandad getting in a car with a central driving position
Toll booths
Car park ticket machines
Anything that is drive through
Awkward packaging of seating arrangements, 3 abreast up front could make the driver a bit squashed, if you stagger the seats like McLaren, no room for any rear seats

For:
Only have to build one car for whole world market

If this was worth doing, financially, one of the big car co's would have already done it.

I would think it is much easier to develop an architecture where it's simple to switch between left/right hand drive, and make sure that only a few parts need to be unique.

[Milkyway]

With the latest technology... selecting either side shouldn’t be too difficult.
( Obviously...with only a single steering wheel & pedal locks)

Edited by Milkyway on Friday 24th June 17:59

[paulrockliffe]

Dingu said:

Surely it’s inconveniencing all car users to the benefit of the fraction who drive abroad?

Before we even get onto the compromises in space and packaging it would present in terms of either having a 3 seat wide bench - eliminating any sort of side support really, and where you move all the stuff usually in the middle to.

I had a Honda FRV until my father in law crashed into it. 3 full-size seats in the front, great lever and hand brake on the dash board. It worked really well.

I think the access is the killer really, it's just too niche, asit's only really easy access in people carrier type things where you have the space to climb across. You can't limit your market in the other segments as less sales means higher price.

Perhaps there's a market for the Macca F1 layout, two seater with 3 seats would open up the market for people that need to take the kids occasionally.