List of RHD compromises

[warren t claim]

Car manufacturers seem to forget that some of their export markets drive on the left and seem unwilling to engineer their cars properly for us. The breadvan VW Polo is a well known example where VW didn't design enough space under the bonnet for a brake servo when the steering column is on the right. Another example is the phase 1 Pug 106 where aircon and PAS could only be fitted to LHD spec cars.

 

I'm sure there must be many other examples where us Brits miss out.

[ashmicro]

Any RHD car that has the bonnet release on the passenger side is on my shitlist. Not a fault as such, it just gets on my nerves.

[Louise2cv]

The 2cv is a much nicer drive in its natural state: the handbreak isn't all the way over there and down a bit for a start. Plus you can get to the connections behind the dash by removing the battery and tray.

 

The Astra has the bonnet release on the passenger side. It is very annoying.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Indicator stalk on the wrong side: most cars since the late 70s.

 

Became so ingrained since even Rover and Ford started doing it that even Japanese manufacturers give us the LHD stalks while still fitting the RHD ones in Australia.

[Mash]

Indicator switch on the left - it was changed over by most manufacturers in the late 70s/early 80s to come in line with Common Market practice, thankfully the Japanese stayed with it until more recently.

 

Also the side the filler flap is at - does this have any bearing on what side the steering wheel is predominantly on? A lot of Japanese and older British cars (but not all) have it one the left which I thought might be something to do with roadside fill-ups. It's certainly a bonus for jumping queues at the filling station!

 

EDIT: just beaten by Peter by a few seconds on the stalk!!

[willswitchengage]

 

LDV Maxus dashboard. They couldn't even be bothered to make a proper LHD or RHD orientation.

 

Any car where I can't engage 5th/right 'n' down reverse without having to move my knee out of the way.

[254575]

on the reimported kit maestros built by Apple and Ledbury, you had the luxury of....

 

Windscreen wipers sweep wrong way.

hardened carpet on passenger side.

vanity mirror on driver side

wing mirrors on wrong sides

[warren t claim]

The 2cv is a much nicer drive in its natural state: the handbreak isn't all the way over there and down a bit for a start. Plus you can get to the connections behind the dash by removing the battery and tray.

 

The Astra has the bonnet release on the passenger side. It is very annoying.

 

The gearchange on the 2CV works better from the passenger seat as well.

[warren t claim]

Indicator stalk on the wrong side: most cars since the late 70s.

 

Became so ingrained since even Rover and Ford started doing it that even Japanese manufacturers give us the LHD stalks while still fitting the RHD ones in Australia.

 

I'm sure Renault had the indicators on the right until the 80s.

[quicksilver]

Car manufacturers seem to forget that some of their export markets drive on the left and seem unwilling to engineer their cars properly for us. The breadvan VW Polo is a well known example where VW didn't design enough space under the bonnet for a brake servo when the steering column is on the right.

Same deal with the Mk1 Fiesta, hence a massive bar connecting the pedal on the right to the servo on the left and brakes that were much worse than on LHD versions.

[willswitchengage]

Same deal with the Mk1 Fiesta, hence a massive bar connecting the pedal on the right to the servo on the left and brakes that were much worse than on LHD versions.

 

HAAAAAAAAAA reminded me of this story of ages ago: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13447395

[forddeliveryboy]

Every old lhd Citroen I've ever driven has always gone better than 90% of the rhd variations I've known, especially the case with the 2cv. It couldn't all have been in the assembly, think most UK garages have had their hand in it also!

 

Mercedes never fitted the turbo-charged version of its diesel engine to the W124, on the basis that it would be unnecessarily fast in a country where the limit is 70mph. But they used the excuse it wouldn't fit, something since proved wrong by a few hardened enthusiasts.

 

CX steering racks are a pig to remove on rhd cars, much easier on cars built as intended.

 

Many cars have the engine mounted over to the rhs of the car, I've often wondered if this is for crash purposes in a lhd market as well as weight distribution?

[stormee]

Car manufacturers seem to forget that some of their export markets drive on the left and seem unwilling to engineer their cars properly for us. The breadvan VW Polo is a well known example where VW didn't design enough space under the bonnet for a brake servo when the steering column is on the right.

Same deal with the Mk1 Fiesta, hence a massive bar connecting the pedal on the right to the servo on the left and brakes that were much worse than on LHD versions.

 

Scirocco as well. Had both versions (LHD & RHD) the RHD brakes were horror, whereas the LHD ones are of the best ever driven, very precise point of pressure, easy to engage and lots of power.

Passat 32B never came with a RHD wiper setup due to gaps in the bonnet, they had to have a different bonnet for RHD markets, which they didn't.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Also the side the filler flap is at - does this have any bearing on what side the steering wheel is predominantly on? A lot of Japanese and older British cars (but not all) have it one the left which I thought might be something to do with roadside fill-ups. It's certainly a bonus for jumping queues at the filling station!

 

I've got it into my head that historically a RHD vehicle would have the filler on the passenger side (for roadside fill-ups) and the exhaust pipe on the driver's side (to avoid blowing soot onto the pavement), and LHD the other way round.

[Shep Shepherd]

No factory-built right hand drive Volvo 240 Turbos due to the steering column allegedly taking up the space needed by the turbocharger

[Volksy]

RHD AMC Pacers, with the longer door on the wrong side*, and a CHAIN linking the RHD Wheel to the still LHD Colomn.

 

*Not that something like that would happen now - oh yeh - Looking at you BMW

[tonedepear]

Big old rods linking the clutch & brake pedals on RHD Saab 900s (proper old ones) to the left hand side where the hydraulics live. Not much impact to performance or owt, but it made finding the brake light switch a test, the first time round.

[reanimation-films]

Hand brake on the Citroen Xantia closer to the passenger. Not great when ya got back ache, or a creepy/'large' passenger!

[Betaphile]

Anything built on Fiat's Compact platform (Stilo/Bravo/Delta) has a footrest in LHD versions but not in RHD ones since the space is taken up by the centre console. The best bit is that when they updated the basic platform for the Giulietta, they re-engineered just about everything - except for the pedalbox. So, RHD Giuliettas lack a footrest.

[warren t claim]

No power steering option on Saab 99.

[dollywobbler]

Hand brake on the Citroen Xantia closer to the passenger. Not great when ya got back ache, or a creepy/'large' passenger!

 

A good salesman would big that up as a nostalgic nod to the 2CV!

 

Another Xantia FAIL is that we never got a V6 Activa. Presumably because things didn't fit.

 

Wipers are always an odd one. LHD or RHD, the wipers stayed in the same place on many cars, including the Citroen GS, BMW 02 and Citroen Dyane (which actually benefitted RHD for once!). On the 2CV, the wiper spindles are very slightly off centre so that the wipers can park at the bottom of the screen for LHD. On RHD, the wipers had straight arms and just stopped in front of the driver. Thanks Citroen! This is why mine has LHD wiper arms and parking.

[e287yba]

on the reimported kit maestros built by Apple and Ledbury, you had the luxury of....

 

Windscreen wipers sweep wrong way.

hardened carpet on passenger side.

vanity mirror on driver side

wing mirrors on wrong sides

 

Apples were like this, but the guys at Ledbury changed the windscreen wipers and the mirrors for RHD ones - the mirrors especially made the cars much safer to use (Apple2000 Maestro mirrors were Stevie Wonder Specials ).

[jonny69]

I always thought it was quite strange that Mk1 Fiestas had a bar that ran from the brake pedal across the entire width of the engine bay to operate the brakes. If someone stood on the brake pedal you could see it twist quite a lot along its length*

 

Any RHD car that has the bonnet release on the passenger side is on my shitlist. Not a fault as such, it just gets on my nerves.

Yes, that's quite annoying. What's even more annoying on the 207 is you have to open the door to pull the latch. So you've realised the lever not on your side of the car, you've done a cunning man-lean across the car into the passenger footwell only to find you can't pull the lever anyway!

 

Actually, there are a few things on the 207. The auto has its normal shifter and a sport and ice button. You can't see the PRND markings because they are on the wrong side of the shifter. You also can't see the buttons because they are obscured by the shifter knob. Other silly stuff is the volume knob on the radio must be easier to get to on a LHD, as must be operating the car computer thing.

 

*Quicksilver already mentioned this, the damn bounder.

[Spiny Norman]

I always thought it was quite strange that Mk1 Fiestas had a bar that ran from the brake pedal across the entire width of the engine bay to operate the brakes. If someone stood on the brake pedal you could see it twist quite a lot along its length*

 

The Volvo Amazon was like that as well, it had a cross-bar from the pedal on the right to the servo on the left, difference being the Volvo one would probably have taken the entire weight of the car hanging off it before it twisted.

[Ross_K]

Probably the worst fail of all - Peugeots and Citroens on which the brakes could be activated by the passenger stomping in the footwell.

 

Motor engineer expert Mark Brown, examining a Citroen car, said: "These models which are built in France were designed as left-hand drives - so the master brake cylinder is on the left.

 

"To adapt them for the UK market Citroen added a cross bar between this cylinder and the driver's brake pedal on the right but in doing so, they failed to adequately protect the passenger-side lever."

 

VOSA had a nice description for the problem:

Vehicle Details

Reference : R/2011/061

Manufacturer Ref : MLT

Make: CITROEN

Model : C3 Picasso

Launch Date : 17/06/2011

Numbers Involved : 24213

Build Start Date : 29/07/2008

Build End Date : 31/05/2011

Recall Details

Concern : PASSENGER MAY INFLUENCE BRAKE OPERATION

Description : The brakes could be inadvertently applied by the passenger.

Remedial Action : Recall the vehicles that are likely to be affected to fit a cover over the cross shaft lobe on the passenger side.

Vehicle Id : VF7******8T500211 to VF7******BT534931

[CYANIDE STEVE]

Indicator stalk on the wrong side: most cars since the late 70s.

 

Became so ingrained since even Rover and Ford started doing it that even Japanese manufacturers give us the LHD stalks while still fitting the RHD ones in Australia.

 

My 54 plate Getz still has the indicator stalk on the right.

I think they change it on the 2006 model.

[Spiny Norman]

I can't remember the last time I drove a car with the indicator on the right. K10 Micra maybe?

[Louise2cv]

I think the Kia Picanto my sister had had the indicators on the right.

[CYANIDE STEVE]

I think the Kia Picanto my sister had had the indicators on the right.

Yes the Kia Picanto and the Hyundai Getz share alot of the same parts. I've just done alot of work on it before putting it back on the road and alot of the parts had Kia/Hyundai stamped on them.

 

Talking of the long rods from the pedal box to the servo, the Astra Mk1 and 2 had those if I remember correctly and always made the brakes feel spongey.

[Richard]

Wrong way round wipers on the Marina, which were reversed to be wrong on LHD models too.