LHD Vs RHD
Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2016 12:46 pm
I have been thinking about the relative merits of LHD vs RHD cars
The first thing to acknowledge that sometime there are car specific problems
E G cars originally designed for LHD often suffer when they are converted to RHD (and vice versa)
And of course this means many early BMWs E21s E9, 2002 where the power brakes unit is sited remotely away from the bulkhead- causing poor brakes poor brake feel etc
same applies to the Golf GTI Mk 1
Certain Audis have horrid offset pedals in RHD configurations
Often bonnet release catches are lurking under the passengers knees
However the pros of RHD cars are
1 Most race circuits run clockwise - therefore you are best off in a RHD racecar for weight balance and also on the RHD side is the best place to guauge that Apex - very important if you have a low slung seating position of a huge bonnet
Examples include
Alan Minshaw rebuilt his BTCC winning BMW M3 E30 into RHD (orange Demon Tweeks car)
When the boss of ICS asked Andy Rouse to build him a Camaro for the ICS TOCA championship- he built it RHD- wonder where that car is now?
2 It seems to me that all gearboxes were designed with RHD operation in mind- first gear is off to the far left and you progress up the gearbox towards the RHD driver- most of the important action takes place in the higher gears (at higher speeds)- which are therefore closer to the RHD driver
3 It is the natural rhythm of walking that co-ordinates left hand and foot in gearchanging a RHD car
Finally the case for LHD
1 Modern cars have Drive controllers that seek to emulate the computer mouse - helpful for the LHD driver to use the right hand- most are right handed
er and that's it.............. what have I missed?
this is before we look into Cyclone activity- where arguably in the Northern hemisphere cars should be RHD in Hurricane prone areas - because of the turning effect of the wind between two passing high sided lorries leading to twisters/cyclones
And in the S hemisphere the opposite is true!
thoughts?
The first thing to acknowledge that sometime there are car specific problems
E G cars originally designed for LHD often suffer when they are converted to RHD (and vice versa)
And of course this means many early BMWs E21s E9, 2002 where the power brakes unit is sited remotely away from the bulkhead- causing poor brakes poor brake feel etc
same applies to the Golf GTI Mk 1
Certain Audis have horrid offset pedals in RHD configurations
Often bonnet release catches are lurking under the passengers knees
However the pros of RHD cars are
1 Most race circuits run clockwise - therefore you are best off in a RHD racecar for weight balance and also on the RHD side is the best place to guauge that Apex - very important if you have a low slung seating position of a huge bonnet
Examples include
Alan Minshaw rebuilt his BTCC winning BMW M3 E30 into RHD (orange Demon Tweeks car)
When the boss of ICS asked Andy Rouse to build him a Camaro for the ICS TOCA championship- he built it RHD- wonder where that car is now?
2 It seems to me that all gearboxes were designed with RHD operation in mind- first gear is off to the far left and you progress up the gearbox towards the RHD driver- most of the important action takes place in the higher gears (at higher speeds)- which are therefore closer to the RHD driver
3 It is the natural rhythm of walking that co-ordinates left hand and foot in gearchanging a RHD car
Finally the case for LHD
1 Modern cars have Drive controllers that seek to emulate the computer mouse - helpful for the LHD driver to use the right hand- most are right handed
er and that's it.............. what have I missed?
this is before we look into Cyclone activity- where arguably in the Northern hemisphere cars should be RHD in Hurricane prone areas - because of the turning effect of the wind between two passing high sided lorries leading to twisters/cyclones
And in the S hemisphere the opposite is true!
thoughts?
