LHD why all the kerfuffle?
Discussion
on another thread (Mustang CS800DH) there was this comment "...But the Camaro and Challenger aren't available in RHD, making them undesirable, regardless..." which got me wondering why people seem to have a phobia about LHD. I'll accept that on occasion it does produce an inconvenience but surely no more than that if you're an even vaguely average driver?
DodgyGeezer said:
on another thread (Mustang CS800DH) there was this comment "...But the Camaro and Challenger aren't available in RHD, making them undesirable, regardless..." which got me wondering why people seem to have a phobia about LHD. I'll accept that on occasion it does produce an inconvenience but surely no more than that if you're an even vaguely average driver?
I owned a LHD car in the UK for a short while and hated it. Overtaking was nigh on impossible and half of the junctions in small villages almost seemed to be deliberately designed to make it impossible to see what's coming from the left-hand side of the car. I've also driven RHD cars on the continent a fair bit and had similar difficulties. I could live with it, but I certainly wouldn't by choice!
Wheel Turned Out said:
Depends on the car I suppose - in something modern and American (namely huge and with poor visibility) I can see it being more of a ballache than with a classic car.
That. I owned LHD here, I've driven a lot of LHD cars over the years. Normal size cars are generally fine, but the later/newer a car is the wider it gets. I sat in a McLaren SLR years ago and that's 2miles wide, so it would be a complete nightmare in the UK at ticket barriers etc. Fine if you have friends, but I don't have any of those
My car is RHD, Frau GenX’s in LHD. I guess it’s what one is used to but I don’t find a problem with either in the UK or Europe. If I have to use a ticket machine on the “wrong” side I’ll just get out and walk around, although my car is just about reachable. The situation I find a bit, but not very, tricky is normal urban roads when caught behind stopped buses etc, but just giving a bit more space to compensate and gain visibility usually solves things.
generationx said:
My car is RHD, Frau GenX s in LHD. I guess it s what one is used to but I don t find a problem with either in the UK or Europe. If I have to use a ticket machine on the wrong side I ll just get out and walk around, although my car is just about reachable. The situation I find a bit, but not very, tricky is normal urban roads when caught behind stopped buses etc, but just giving a bit more space to compensate and gain visibility usually solves things.
Litter picking grabber thing is my solution.My second car bought when I was 20 was a 1973 left hand drive BMW 2002tii - I had no particular problems except ticket machine barriers for car parks. Years later I bought a 1993 BMW M5 Touring which were all left hand drive - again no real issues, except for the standard opening the door the first time inside of changing gear
I had an E30 M3 when they were still cheap. No real issues in driving although not a daily as I had a van as well but it did get used for everything outside work and boring domestic stuff.
The only issue I ever had was when some t
t saw my wife sat in the right hand seat and proceeded to shout at her to move so he could get through a gap (which had previously been there until another tt had parked too close for anyone to get through) embarrassingly for both of them this was in a BMW dealership and they were both staff. I took great delight in pointing this out, I wouldn't have bothered normally but they were the ones who started the shouting
The only issue I ever had was when some t
t saw my wife sat in the right hand seat and proceeded to shout at her to move so he could get through a gap (which had previously been there until another tt had parked too close for anyone to get through) embarrassingly for both of them this was in a BMW dealership and they were both staff. I took great delight in pointing this out, I wouldn't have bothered normally but they were the ones who started the shouting Had at least 2 LHD cars in the UK, must have been for a total of over 2 years, one of them was my daily. Never had any issues.
Overtaking needs a better line of sight, but with the advent of mobile speed cameras and an increase in the number of fkwits on the roads I can’t remember the last time I actually did one.
Most car parks are now barrierless and I don’t do drive though food/drink establishments very much and if I do, then I’m with my wife/family anyway so would have a passenger.
On one my lefties was a mk2 Golf, and having had about 9 of them in various versions I was amazed how much nicer the LHD version was to drive. The pedals were in a far less compromised position, there was space to rest my left foot and the steering felt much nicer, presumably down to a straighter run for the steering column.
If the car was engineered to be LHD in the first place then I would much sooner have the steering wheel on the ‘correct’ side, otherwise I would just buy on condition. Driving a LHD takes a couple of hours at most to get used to, it’s really not an issue.
Overtaking needs a better line of sight, but with the advent of mobile speed cameras and an increase in the number of f
kwits on the roads I can’t remember the last time I actually did one. Most car parks are now barrierless and I don’t do drive though food/drink establishments very much and if I do, then I’m with my wife/family anyway so would have a passenger.
On one my lefties was a mk2 Golf, and having had about 9 of them in various versions I was amazed how much nicer the LHD version was to drive. The pedals were in a far less compromised position, there was space to rest my left foot and the steering felt much nicer, presumably down to a straighter run for the steering column.
If the car was engineered to be LHD in the first place then I would much sooner have the steering wheel on the ‘correct’ side, otherwise I would just buy on condition. Driving a LHD takes a couple of hours at most to get used to, it’s really not an issue.
Shnozz said:
nickfrog said:
My first Boxster was LHD in the UK. It didn't bother me, I couldn't afford the RHD equivalent in my 20s anyway!
Ironic now with anything LHD being worth far more than its RHD comparable. I have a LHD car in the UK. I brought it back with me when I moved back from Europe and decided that keeping a known good car, in much better condition and with better equipment than I would find in the UK, outweighed any inconvenience. It's not used as a daily.
Really the only difficulties are car park ticket machines, and sometimes visibility at junctions/mini-roundabouts. I don't take it to many car parks and I just take a bit more care at junctions so it's a non-issue.
Really the only difficulties are car park ticket machines, and sometimes visibility at junctions/mini-roundabouts. I don't take it to many car parks and I just take a bit more care at junctions so it's a non-issue.
I think it stems from the lack of experience of driving on that side and simply expecting it to be more of a chore than it is.
I am a brit and passed my test at 17, but had maybe 7yrs of car ownership before I emigrated and have more than double that now driving on the right.
When I visit the uk and hire a rhd car my road positioning is terrible. I frequently hear the cat’s eyes thunking, yet the verge seems already too close. The roads feel very narrow, which to an extent they are but it’s exacerbated by my positioning.
I would imagine that a person driving an lhd car in the uk for the first time would have this problem but magnified, given that being in the ‘wrong’ seat alone feel alien to them and they don’t get beyond the test drive.
There’s also the fact that car journos who have to write about something/anything will stress the problem to their readers as it means they can give negative points without it being about the car itself, which despite what they say they all struggle to do in a way that doesn’t ps off the manufacturer.
I am a brit and passed my test at 17, but had maybe 7yrs of car ownership before I emigrated and have more than double that now driving on the right.
When I visit the uk and hire a rhd car my road positioning is terrible. I frequently hear the cat’s eyes thunking, yet the verge seems already too close. The roads feel very narrow, which to an extent they are but it’s exacerbated by my positioning.
I would imagine that a person driving an lhd car in the uk for the first time would have this problem but magnified, given that being in the ‘wrong’ seat alone feel alien to them and they don’t get beyond the test drive.
There’s also the fact that car journos who have to write about something/anything will stress the problem to their readers as it means they can give negative points without it being about the car itself, which despite what they say they all struggle to do in a way that doesn’t p
s off the manufacturer. Forum | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff