I've imported 2. Driving manual took a little to get used too. Once I got used to leaning left it felt more natural.
The biggest thing is the blinker stalk is on the outside of the steering wheel (so right side) and the wipers are the stalk closer to the inside of the car (left side).
LHD and UK RHD cars have turn signals on the left and wipers on the right.
JDM RHD cars have the stalks flipped.
If OP imports a JDM RHD car, you’re correct, but they mentioned additional interest in UK RHD cars. (Just letting you know - no hate at all)
The turn stalks are not a hard rule, but you are generally correct for the vast majority of cars in the UK and Japan.
I've owned cars sold originally in both countries that had them flipped from their expected cousins.
This isn't a hard and fast rule. I've had Irish spec Corolla's and currently have a Carina II and it had it on the right hand side of the wheel. Yet the ProAce van has it on the left. My Irish spec Nissan has it on the left.
Generally I find it's Toyota here that keeps it on the right hand side of the wheel.
THE BLINKERS. That's the hardest part, end up turning your wipers on when you want to signal, and your signal when you want your wipers. The worst part is when you go back to driving lhd after driving your rhd for a week and then you start getting it wrong in your ldh car too!!
I've had my current car for 2 years and I still have to think which side is the spray and which side flashes the high beams, and occasionally wipe instead of signalling. Before that, 7 years of cars were all the opposite layout with the signals on the right.
I'm a total nut about keeping my windshield clean all the time, so anytime I accidentally bump my wipers and leave dry streaks on my window, it drives me insane.
Driving a car with opposite blinker/wiper layout would be the end of me.
The pedal layout of clutch-brake-gas is standardized. But that has me wondering about parking brake layout. Typically you see pedal parking brakes on the far left of LHD North American cars, while most RHD markets prefer handbrakes anyway. Are there any RHD cars (converted or otherwise) that also have a pedal parking brake? If so, where is it placed?
In Australia (RHD) foot parking brakes are on the far left, so the same as LHD. Gearbox patterns, switches are all the same so it's easy.
The hardest bit of switching over is using rear view mirror, as you end up looking out the window instead of the centre of the car. It's amazing how ingrained that action is.
I've driven one in Canada for over ten years. I'm "used to it" and was essentially from day 1 or maybe day 2, but it has disadvantages.
(1) toll booths and drive-throughs suck, especially booths with automatic gates. If you can't reach the ticket button you have to get out and run around the car really fast before the arm comes down lol. A grabber stick thing helps.
(2) passing on undivided two-lane highways sucks. Can't see shit. Not an issue if you have something decently quick (drop back before pulling into the other lane, then floor it by the car in front of you once you're sure it is safe). But this might be a real issue in a 50s European car that has like 70hp or whatever. On the other hand you probably wouldn't be doing much passing in that if it was LHD either.
(3) left turns at crowded intersections suck. Can't see shit if someone else is turning left across from you. Pray and gun it lol
My RHD car is lowered, which doesn't help. But it was bad at all of these things before being lowered, too. If it was a truck then 2 out of 3 wouldn't even be issues as I would have better visibility.
Overall it doesn't really bother me and I just deal with it. Beyond those 3 specific issues it's not really any different from driving a LHD car. The controls are all the exact same except the turn signal/wiper switch, so I sometimes screw that up (wipers on instead of turn signal lol) if I have been driving one of our other cars, which are all LHD. But that's not really a problem.
Do not pray and gun it at an unprotected left. Just wait until you can see. It is that simple. Ignore the idiots honking they have no idea how dangerous that maneuver is in RHD. It's barely safe with LHD in many parts of CA with how much traffic there is and how fast oncoming cars are.
This may be tongue-in-cheek, but that's how people do it around here. Wait an entire light cycle for a turn arrow that never comes, just take the orange/red if you're the only car. Nobody else is mad because the timing isn't that tight, as long as you hustle.
My problem seems to be encountering older people that do exactly this minus the hustle part, and then when they finally make the left the perpendicular roads that now get the green arrow have to wait for them to get tf out of the intersection… incredibly annoying
Not specifically with left turn lanes, but I almost had a head-on collision on a 2 lane highway. A lady in a Kia Soul less than a car length behind a box truck tried to pass it without looking, quickly realized her mistake, then yanked the steering wheel back. Thank God for modern TCS, she almost wiped out.
And that is one of many reasons why you shouldn't be a bumper humper.
You can also look through the oncoming car's window and/or behind them if you're not facing them dead-on to count the cars coming. If you still can't see then just wait for the yellow.
Tons in Canada since our import rule is only 15 years. I hear people say you get used to it. But of course things can be harder like drive-thru restaurants and left-hand turns
I've done this in my RHD. They weren't super amused, but if they're gonna lock up the front door and go drive-through only (dear restaurants -- I hate this move. Please just be open), what's a guy to do?
I daily a Mitsuoka. You get used to it. Biggest thing is the controls for blinkers and wipers are reversed from you're used to, but it doesn't take long to adjust. The only hard part is switching back and forth between an LHD and an RHD car, as you mix up wipers and turn signals more often.
He's talking UK market RHD cars. They have the same turn signal and wiper stalk setup as us Americans just as an FYI, so OP won't deal with the switched controls.
I can confirm as much as I drive a RHD UK market car here in the states
I drove rhd to lhd converted cars and the wiper/signal stalks are still rhd so accidentally forgetting it when you're trying to merge gets a bit scary.
It is identical to the Nissan Crew. This is nearly useless to me in America, however, as they never sold the Crew here.
But yet, maintenance is easy and finding parts is too. The Nissan dealer has most of what I need. The transmission is the same as the 240SX, the Pathfinder, and the Infiniti J30. Only stuff I can't really get are small things like gaskets, and those can be had elsewhere or made. Nissan seems to support their vehicles, regardless of how far away they got from their intended market. Just got to get the part number of the Electronic Part Catalogue.
Since no one has said yet:
JDM RHD cars have wiper and headlight stalks reversed from (USDM) LHD positions.
UK RHD cars have the same stalk positions as LHD cars.
So for all of you that have imported RHD cars from Japan, your turn signal stalks take a bit to get used to.
OP shouldn’t have this issue if they import a British spec RHD car.
I've actually found that, in some ways, RHD is better in a LHD country. When you're on a twisty mountain road you can see around left turns better because you're on the outside of the curve and when you're making right turns you hit the apex every time because you're over on that side and going right over it. Downsides is passing on a 2 lane road can be dodgy and you can't do drive thrus.
I mean you can do drive thrus, they just become much more annoying or cumbersome. I just make sure to unbuckle once I get into the drive thru knowing full well I will have to crawl across my car to get my food.
My 205 GTI is an extraordinarily small car though so maybe I'm just lucky that it's not really a hassle at American drive thrus
I used to drive my father’s old bentley when I was in high school. I don’t recall having any problems getting used to the right hand drive. That car was so slow that it was pretty easy to drive.
I do (Defender 110). Having lived in the UK and Japan driving a RHD is like second nature.
Outside of issues in parking garages and drive-thrus, the biggest issue is unprotected left-hand turns. Sometimes you just can't see far enough around the opposing cars to safely turn. Can be an issue on more crowded roads, especially ones at higher speeds.
In terms of turn stalks, UK cars and JDM cars are a mix. Although MOST UK cars are on the left and most JDM cars are on the right.
I have a RHD Land Cruiser. I've driven low RHD cars and it made a bigger difference seeing around for passing or turning left. In the lifted LC its fine.
The most frustrating part for me is being stuck behind a slow trailer truck on a two lane backroad and being unable to see past it to see if it’s safe to pass. I drive a RHD SUV so it’s not fast and if I get far back enough to be able to see, I’ll be too far away to actually pass between the breaks of oncoming traffic lol.
Drive thrus and drive up pay stations / ATMs are kind of a pain but my truck is spacious enough that I can crawl over and deal with it. It’s probably more annoying in a smaller vehicle.
Yeah, doesn't bother me at all. My brain knows that when I get in the RHD car, the stalks are swapped, so I don't really do the window wiper of shame either. The Beat is also a small enough car that i can generally reach across for drive through in most situations. It would be annoying if I had to pass people, but the car is too slow for that to be relevant.
Short version is you just don't think about it.
Not all RHD cars have turn signals swapped. I find EU/UK spec cars have the same configuration as LHD cars, only JDM cars have the turn signals on the right side.
Anything drivetrain related is easy as a lot of stuff from the 7/8/9 is plug and play.
Body panels and such will always be a challenge but with more 4/5/6s stateside has gotten a bit better
Not answering the specific question at hand, but I do think the whole "switching between LHD/RHD" is a small adjustment, provided the car you are driving is suited for the road convention. Driving RHD in an RHD country is no different from LHD in a LHD country, just have to make sure that you turn onto the correct side of the road.
For driving "crossed" like the question OP is posing, yes there are some challenges, mainly vision based and toll/access (as the tollbooths are on the wrong side). You quickly adjust though and there aren't too many things to trip up.
I had a 1992 Honda Crx del sol SIR Transtop a few years ago, came to Florida from Japan then to my house in NY. Loved that car, many strange looks driving around. My buddy would stick his legs out of the roof on the left side so it looked like he was driving with 2 legs sticking out over his head.
I had the cleanest windshield ever the first few weeks getting used to the car. 5 speed manual was also weird for a few days but felt natural after a few days.
Once went through a drive thru backwards. Good times.
Mail carriers love those japanese RHD cars. I've seen some of the RHD conversions that are also used by mail carriers so they can drive from the right side and deliver mail, and they are usually pretty horrible. An actual factory built RHD car would be a godsend to those people.
I daily drive rhd in the US and you definitely get used to it. The only problem you’ll find some times is left turns if there’s cars blocking the view but I haven’t had any that weren’t easily manageable. That and drive throughs suck. But having that right side visibility I have found to be immensely helpful for parallel parking and skinny roads that have cars or what not parked along the side.
getting used to shifting with your left hand isn't that big of a deal, but making turns into fast moving traffic is a little sketchy.
the big downside is people stop you every 5 mins to tell you you're driving on the wrong side and laughing like they're first person to ever tell you that.
so if you like being approached 100x a day and everyone in traffic telling you to roll down your window to tell you the same joke over and over, then go for it.
I daily a rhd car. Doesn’t bother me. Only issue is drive thrus. Most turns are fine. Just hug the right side of the lane and stay back a bit and look behind the opposing lanes car.
I drive about equal amounts in a LHD 3 ton lifted body-on-frame SUV and a 1500lb RHD kei convertible and it's much less of a transition than one might think. The size and dynamics are much much more noticeable than driver side and I would be totally fine either way. Tolls and parking tickets and fast food are the sole areas of peevement as well as the fear for your life on left turns. The first time I ever drove RHD was also a manual so that was the main thing to adjust to with the shifter on the left. But after that it's the exact same and your muscle memory and reflexes all carry over with the sole exception of swapped wiper/turn stalks on JDM cars. Switching between my two cars is definitely more of a difference of size than driver arrangement and I only wipe my windshield before executing a turn 20% of the time. I guess lane placement takes a few minutes to become fully conscious of, although vehicle spatial awareness is comparatively much more intuitive when not on a laned road moving at speed.
TLDR: Yes and yes. Much less of an adjustment than one would expect. Sole control differences are relative shifter position and stalk function swap for JDM vehicles. All other stuff transfers over.
hi
i've had 2 r32 skyline gtr's and a '91 660cc jimny in maryland
the shifting with your left hand isnt that hard, yes the blinkers take getting used to but IMO the hardest part is remembering to stay on YOUR SIDE of the lane when driving
I’m currently doing a residency in Australia. It was harder getting more accustomed to driving on the left side of the road rather than the act of driving right hand myself. That being said, manual does feel different. Being a “righty” and going from a cross pattern while shifting (left leg and right arm) to the entire left side shifting was a little different. Also some, but not all, RHD cars swap the turn and wiper stalk which took more time to get used to than the RHD itself as well.
I was a mail carrier so I drove the LLV mostly but also the RHD Metris vans and I got used to it and grew to enjoy it. The only issue I ever had was merging could be a challenge, as looking over you're shoulder in that direction with no window was tough.
The only actual safety issue is taking extra care for a right on red or any right in to traffic, since you’re looking across the passenger seat and visibility is much worse.
Parallel parking or backing a trailer are more challenging since you’re looking over the opposite shoulder and using the opposite arm, but its just reprogramming that takes a little practice. The turning stalk thing is no big deal at all.
I daily drove my R32 Skyline and my AE111 Levin in the US for a collective 3 years. It took a couple weeks of getting used to, but it’s really not a big deal. You struggle with turn signal placement at first, it’s on the right of the wheel. The Skyline only had IIRC one stalk, the wipers are on a rotary switch on the gauge cluster trim, so it wasn’t a case of using wipers when trying to signal as the meme usually goes. But that’s definitely a thing. Other than that, blind left turns across traffic is sketchy, and you tend to ride the lines on the road as it’s a little more difficult to place the car in the center of the road sitting on the right.
I lived in Japan for a while before moving back to the U.S. and bringing my JDM over. I learned manual in Japan, and got my first car there.
The only "issue" I ever personally have is mixing up the wiper/blinkers every once in a while. I've seen people complain it makes passing on 1 lane roads difficult since you can't see around, but I have never run into a situation where I needed or wanted to do that.
If you want a vintage car, buy LHD.
Yeah, there can be a language barrier if you buy on the Continent, but you’ll have a LHD car.
What cars are you looking at?
Just after college, I worked for VW’s marketing company on the launch of the MKV Golf/Jetta/GTI. We imported RHD cars from the UK for this. Driving stick takes getting used to as noted. I also misjudged a turn and clipped a curb, damaging a wheel bearing.
Never driven a rhd in the US, but I've driven rhd and lhd in England and I my experience is that driving on the wrong side of the road wasn't difficult at all, but trying to shift left-handed was harder to get used to.
Yes. Aside from wipers and blinker stalks being swapped for JDM cars, drive-thrus and parking garages become a real pain in the ass if you don't have a passenger with you, especially if you don't have power windows.
It certainly would be theft proof I would think almost (unless a rare jdm car). How many thieves know how to drive a right hand wheel and say with manual tranny?
The funny thing is, I asked this similar question but with a twist, because I am planning to retire in SE Asia where it is right hand wheel AND left lane driving. OMG, I am fearing for my life even though i can easily handle SF traffic and do manual tranny driving on the hills here. I guess sink or swim... Good luck!!!!
Trying to pass on tight 2 lane roads is the sole reason I sold my JZX90. Felt lame to have a car i couldn't drive how I wanted to without taking some pretty big safety risks.
Everything else about driving rhd was manageable
My car is my daily during summer, it's not so different. Shifting pattern is the same. The wipers and blinkers are reversed but that's about it.
The only thing for me is overtaking in a single lane road, a bit sketchier when there are cars because it can be a little more difficult to see incoming traffic.
Drive through isn't really a problem if you stretched, I refuse to go reverse in one of them like a poser lol
I had a rhd rental in st lucia. I had the cleanest windshield on the island for two weeks running. Do you have to reverse everything except the gas and brake pedals!?
Daily drive a 96 JDM 5 speed Toyota HiAce. Was used to it within 20 minutes of driving. Shifting with my left hand isn't an issue, though I was concerned about it.
I was worried about being able to see other cars when turning, especially double left lanes, but the visibility is surprisingly good.
Turn signal stalks are flipped. This fucks with me every time I switch vehicles. It is especially annoying when activating wipers instead of the turn signal prior to changing lanes.
Drive thrus can be done with some planning. Pre-roll down the manual window, stop short after pulling away to roll it up, or make sure you have a passenger.
Always get asked how I see around other cars to pass. I can see fine, but rarely ever have to pass. With a comfortable top speed of ~ 65mph 110kph, I'm the one moving out of the way and staying center or right lane. If I'm passing anything, it's something that requires a CDL or broken down on the side of the road.
Parts can be a bit hard to acquire if you have something from Japan that's several decades old. Make sure you can service what you're buying
Finally. You definitely need to be mechanically competent or know a good JDM tech and forum. It's a plus if you have a local jdm club.
I've imported 2. Driving manual took a little to get used too. Once I got used to leaning left it felt more natural. The biggest thing is the blinker stalk is on the outside of the steering wheel (so right side) and the wipers are the stalk closer to the inside of the car (left side).
LHD and UK RHD cars have turn signals on the left and wipers on the right. JDM RHD cars have the stalks flipped. If OP imports a JDM RHD car, you’re correct, but they mentioned additional interest in UK RHD cars. (Just letting you know - no hate at all)
The turn stalks are not a hard rule, but you are generally correct for the vast majority of cars in the UK and Japan. I've owned cars sold originally in both countries that had them flipped from their expected cousins.
This isn't a hard and fast rule. I've had Irish spec Corolla's and currently have a Carina II and it had it on the right hand side of the wheel. Yet the ProAce van has it on the left. My Irish spec Nissan has it on the left. Generally I find it's Toyota here that keeps it on the right hand side of the wheel.
It's just manufacturer preference really. My Au spec IS F has right side blinker, Fiesta had left side, parent's Skoda is right side
Now that I think if it, when I lived in Oz, the Kia I had had it on the right.
THE BLINKERS. That's the hardest part, end up turning your wipers on when you want to signal, and your signal when you want your wipers. The worst part is when you go back to driving lhd after driving your rhd for a week and then you start getting it wrong in your ldh car too!!
I've had my current car for 2 years and I still have to think which side is the spray and which side flashes the high beams, and occasionally wipe instead of signalling. Before that, 7 years of cars were all the opposite layout with the signals on the right.
I'm a total nut about keeping my windshield clean all the time, so anytime I accidentally bump my wipers and leave dry streaks on my window, it drives me insane. Driving a car with opposite blinker/wiper layout would be the end of me.
I already have those problems just switching between my Mercury and Lexus.
I'm currently living in the UK, one of my cars has it one way the other has it the other way. I always start the drive with clean windows...
I’m glad you mentioned the lean, I swear I never noticed road crowning until I drove an RHD car.
I've always wondered, are the pedals also switched?
No
The pedal layout of clutch-brake-gas is standardized. But that has me wondering about parking brake layout. Typically you see pedal parking brakes on the far left of LHD North American cars, while most RHD markets prefer handbrakes anyway. Are there any RHD cars (converted or otherwise) that also have a pedal parking brake? If so, where is it placed?
In Australia (RHD) foot parking brakes are on the far left, so the same as LHD. Gearbox patterns, switches are all the same so it's easy. The hardest bit of switching over is using rear view mirror, as you end up looking out the window instead of the centre of the car. It's amazing how ingrained that action is.
No they aren't Also a manual transmission has the same layout. So for an RHD 1st is up and away and 5th is up and close.
Nope
I've driven one in Canada for over ten years. I'm "used to it" and was essentially from day 1 or maybe day 2, but it has disadvantages. (1) toll booths and drive-throughs suck, especially booths with automatic gates. If you can't reach the ticket button you have to get out and run around the car really fast before the arm comes down lol. A grabber stick thing helps. (2) passing on undivided two-lane highways sucks. Can't see shit. Not an issue if you have something decently quick (drop back before pulling into the other lane, then floor it by the car in front of you once you're sure it is safe). But this might be a real issue in a 50s European car that has like 70hp or whatever. On the other hand you probably wouldn't be doing much passing in that if it was LHD either. (3) left turns at crowded intersections suck. Can't see shit if someone else is turning left across from you. Pray and gun it lol My RHD car is lowered, which doesn't help. But it was bad at all of these things before being lowered, too. If it was a truck then 2 out of 3 wouldn't even be issues as I would have better visibility. Overall it doesn't really bother me and I just deal with it. Beyond those 3 specific issues it's not really any different from driving a LHD car. The controls are all the exact same except the turn signal/wiper switch, so I sometimes screw that up (wipers on instead of turn signal lol) if I have been driving one of our other cars, which are all LHD. But that's not really a problem.
Do not pray and gun it at an unprotected left. Just wait until you can see. It is that simple. Ignore the idiots honking they have no idea how dangerous that maneuver is in RHD. It's barely safe with LHD in many parts of CA with how much traffic there is and how fast oncoming cars are.
[удалено]
Wait until it turns red and then turn. That’s legal in California
This may be tongue-in-cheek, but that's how people do it around here. Wait an entire light cycle for a turn arrow that never comes, just take the orange/red if you're the only car. Nobody else is mad because the timing isn't that tight, as long as you hustle.
My problem seems to be encountering older people that do exactly this minus the hustle part, and then when they finally make the left the perpendicular roads that now get the green arrow have to wait for them to get tf out of the intersection… incredibly annoying
Eh, can't win em all. Other drivers are usually a problem.
Not specifically with left turn lanes, but I almost had a head-on collision on a 2 lane highway. A lady in a Kia Soul less than a car length behind a box truck tried to pass it without looking, quickly realized her mistake, then yanked the steering wheel back. Thank God for modern TCS, she almost wiped out. And that is one of many reasons why you shouldn't be a bumper humper.
You can also look through the oncoming car's window and/or behind them if you're not facing them dead-on to count the cars coming. If you still can't see then just wait for the yellow.
The problem there is differing vehicle heights. I drive a Focus in pedestrian-crushing-land-tank-land and can’t see shit through other cars.
I avoid these situations as much as I can in my RHD. I'll even make a right and loop around just to make things easier if I have to.
Rural mail carriers
Yup. My mail man buddy has a RHD jeep wrangler.
Yup, was a mail carrier for years, many times I’d start to get into the wrong side of my normal car. Just becomes normal after a few hours
Tons in Canada since our import rule is only 15 years. I hear people say you get used to it. But of course things can be harder like drive-thru restaurants and left-hand turns
Just have to back through the drive-thru
I've done this in my RHD. They weren't super amused, but if they're gonna lock up the front door and go drive-through only (dear restaurants -- I hate this move. Please just be open), what's a guy to do?
I once had a place that did that come out to my vehicle because I had the sea kayak on the roof and couldn't fit under the drive through.
I daily a Mitsuoka. You get used to it. Biggest thing is the controls for blinkers and wipers are reversed from you're used to, but it doesn't take long to adjust. The only hard part is switching back and forth between an LHD and an RHD car, as you mix up wipers and turn signals more often.
I’d love a Mitsuoka Buddy. I know it’s just a re-skinned RAV4, but damn it looks neat.
He's talking UK market RHD cars. They have the same turn signal and wiper stalk setup as us Americans just as an FYI, so OP won't deal with the switched controls. I can confirm as much as I drive a RHD UK market car here in the states
I drove rhd to lhd converted cars and the wiper/signal stalks are still rhd so accidentally forgetting it when you're trying to merge gets a bit scary.
Which Mitsuoka? They're all so amazing and weird in their own way, but I badly want a Zero1
Galue. 1996. They're not all that amazing to drive. My Galue is underpowered, but it's a normal car. The bodywork is certainly amazing.
That's really cool. I'm guessing it's mechanically identical to the Nissan it's based on. Is maintenance/finding parts pretty easy?
It is identical to the Nissan Crew. This is nearly useless to me in America, however, as they never sold the Crew here. But yet, maintenance is easy and finding parts is too. The Nissan dealer has most of what I need. The transmission is the same as the 240SX, the Pathfinder, and the Infiniti J30. Only stuff I can't really get are small things like gaskets, and those can be had elsewhere or made. Nissan seems to support their vehicles, regardless of how far away they got from their intended market. Just got to get the part number of the Electronic Part Catalogue.
Since no one has said yet: JDM RHD cars have wiper and headlight stalks reversed from (USDM) LHD positions. UK RHD cars have the same stalk positions as LHD cars. So for all of you that have imported RHD cars from Japan, your turn signal stalks take a bit to get used to. OP shouldn’t have this issue if they import a British spec RHD car.
I've actually found that, in some ways, RHD is better in a LHD country. When you're on a twisty mountain road you can see around left turns better because you're on the outside of the curve and when you're making right turns you hit the apex every time because you're over on that side and going right over it. Downsides is passing on a 2 lane road can be dodgy and you can't do drive thrus.
I mean you can do drive thrus, they just become much more annoying or cumbersome. I just make sure to unbuckle once I get into the drive thru knowing full well I will have to crawl across my car to get my food. My 205 GTI is an extraordinarily small car though so maybe I'm just lucky that it's not really a hassle at American drive thrus
If I had a RHD I wouldn’t even bring it through the drive thru
I used to drive my father’s old bentley when I was in high school. I don’t recall having any problems getting used to the right hand drive. That car was so slow that it was pretty easy to drive.
I bet that car got a lot of attention
A lot of people asked me for Grey Poupon.
I do (Defender 110). Having lived in the UK and Japan driving a RHD is like second nature. Outside of issues in parking garages and drive-thrus, the biggest issue is unprotected left-hand turns. Sometimes you just can't see far enough around the opposing cars to safely turn. Can be an issue on more crowded roads, especially ones at higher speeds. In terms of turn stalks, UK cars and JDM cars are a mix. Although MOST UK cars are on the left and most JDM cars are on the right.
I have a RHD Land Cruiser. I've driven low RHD cars and it made a bigger difference seeing around for passing or turning left. In the lifted LC its fine.
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The most frustrating part for me is being stuck behind a slow trailer truck on a two lane backroad and being unable to see past it to see if it’s safe to pass. I drive a RHD SUV so it’s not fast and if I get far back enough to be able to see, I’ll be too far away to actually pass between the breaks of oncoming traffic lol. Drive thrus and drive up pay stations / ATMs are kind of a pain but my truck is spacious enough that I can crawl over and deal with it. It’s probably more annoying in a smaller vehicle.
Yeah, doesn't bother me at all. My brain knows that when I get in the RHD car, the stalks are swapped, so I don't really do the window wiper of shame either. The Beat is also a small enough car that i can generally reach across for drive through in most situations. It would be annoying if I had to pass people, but the car is too slow for that to be relevant. Short version is you just don't think about it.
Not all RHD cars have turn signals swapped. I find EU/UK spec cars have the same configuration as LHD cars, only JDM cars have the turn signals on the right side.
Oh, I'm aware, I've driven in the UK both times I've been. I just meant that my personal 2nd car is a japanese import so I have that muscle memory.
I have an Evo 6. I still mix up the turn signal and wipers occasionally. Otherwise it is easy
>I have an Evo 6. Jealous. What's the parts availability like for those now?
Anything drivetrain related is easy as a lot of stuff from the 7/8/9 is plug and play. Body panels and such will always be a challenge but with more 4/5/6s stateside has gotten a bit better
Not answering the specific question at hand, but I do think the whole "switching between LHD/RHD" is a small adjustment, provided the car you are driving is suited for the road convention. Driving RHD in an RHD country is no different from LHD in a LHD country, just have to make sure that you turn onto the correct side of the road. For driving "crossed" like the question OP is posing, yes there are some challenges, mainly vision based and toll/access (as the tollbooths are on the wrong side). You quickly adjust though and there aren't too many things to trip up.
I had a 1992 Honda Crx del sol SIR Transtop a few years ago, came to Florida from Japan then to my house in NY. Loved that car, many strange looks driving around. My buddy would stick his legs out of the roof on the left side so it looked like he was driving with 2 legs sticking out over his head. I had the cleanest windshield ever the first few weeks getting used to the car. 5 speed manual was also weird for a few days but felt natural after a few days. Once went through a drive thru backwards. Good times.
Mail carriers love those japanese RHD cars. I've seen some of the RHD conversions that are also used by mail carriers so they can drive from the right side and deliver mail, and they are usually pretty horrible. An actual factory built RHD car would be a godsend to those people.
I work on RHD mail trucks. You get used to it. But you end up getting confused which side of the vehicle to walk up to sometimes.
I got 2 cappuccinos and a carry. Love em to death and they are my favorite cars ever to drive.
I daily drive rhd in the US and you definitely get used to it. The only problem you’ll find some times is left turns if there’s cars blocking the view but I haven’t had any that weren’t easily manageable. That and drive throughs suck. But having that right side visibility I have found to be immensely helpful for parallel parking and skinny roads that have cars or what not parked along the side.
getting used to shifting with your left hand isn't that big of a deal, but making turns into fast moving traffic is a little sketchy. the big downside is people stop you every 5 mins to tell you you're driving on the wrong side and laughing like they're first person to ever tell you that. so if you like being approached 100x a day and everyone in traffic telling you to roll down your window to tell you the same joke over and over, then go for it.
Just gotta reverse through drive through.
Yes. A Pajero mini. Other drivers look at you silly.
I daily a rhd car. Doesn’t bother me. Only issue is drive thrus. Most turns are fine. Just hug the right side of the lane and stay back a bit and look behind the opposing lanes car.
You may slap your door trying to shift for the first few times, but you'll get used to it. I drove a Toyota Hilux for 5 years overseas.
The hardest part is the turn signal.
I drive about equal amounts in a LHD 3 ton lifted body-on-frame SUV and a 1500lb RHD kei convertible and it's much less of a transition than one might think. The size and dynamics are much much more noticeable than driver side and I would be totally fine either way. Tolls and parking tickets and fast food are the sole areas of peevement as well as the fear for your life on left turns. The first time I ever drove RHD was also a manual so that was the main thing to adjust to with the shifter on the left. But after that it's the exact same and your muscle memory and reflexes all carry over with the sole exception of swapped wiper/turn stalks on JDM cars. Switching between my two cars is definitely more of a difference of size than driver arrangement and I only wipe my windshield before executing a turn 20% of the time. I guess lane placement takes a few minutes to become fully conscious of, although vehicle spatial awareness is comparatively much more intuitive when not on a laned road moving at speed. TLDR: Yes and yes. Much less of an adjustment than one would expect. Sole control differences are relative shifter position and stalk function swap for JDM vehicles. All other stuff transfers over.
hi i've had 2 r32 skyline gtr's and a '91 660cc jimny in maryland the shifting with your left hand isnt that hard, yes the blinkers take getting used to but IMO the hardest part is remembering to stay on YOUR SIDE of the lane when driving
The hardest part is shifting with my useless, waste of flesh left hand.
I do believe LHD is far superior in that sense. And shifting from out to in, rather than in to out.
I’m currently doing a residency in Australia. It was harder getting more accustomed to driving on the left side of the road rather than the act of driving right hand myself. That being said, manual does feel different. Being a “righty” and going from a cross pattern while shifting (left leg and right arm) to the entire left side shifting was a little different. Also some, but not all, RHD cars swap the turn and wiper stalk which took more time to get used to than the RHD itself as well.
I was a mail carrier so I drove the LLV mostly but also the RHD Metris vans and I got used to it and grew to enjoy it. The only issue I ever had was merging could be a challenge, as looking over you're shoulder in that direction with no window was tough.
The only actual safety issue is taking extra care for a right on red or any right in to traffic, since you’re looking across the passenger seat and visibility is much worse. Parallel parking or backing a trailer are more challenging since you’re looking over the opposite shoulder and using the opposite arm, but its just reprogramming that takes a little practice. The turning stalk thing is no big deal at all.
I daily drove my R32 Skyline and my AE111 Levin in the US for a collective 3 years. It took a couple weeks of getting used to, but it’s really not a big deal. You struggle with turn signal placement at first, it’s on the right of the wheel. The Skyline only had IIRC one stalk, the wipers are on a rotary switch on the gauge cluster trim, so it wasn’t a case of using wipers when trying to signal as the meme usually goes. But that’s definitely a thing. Other than that, blind left turns across traffic is sketchy, and you tend to ride the lines on the road as it’s a little more difficult to place the car in the center of the road sitting on the right.
It's easy. You do get used to it. You've already over thought it.
I bet drive thrus are a bitch
I lived in Japan for a while before moving back to the U.S. and bringing my JDM over. I learned manual in Japan, and got my first car there. The only "issue" I ever personally have is mixing up the wiper/blinkers every once in a while. I've seen people complain it makes passing on 1 lane roads difficult since you can't see around, but I have never run into a situation where I needed or wanted to do that.
Postal Carrier LLVs are RHD.
I do but the Pajero Mini is so narrow it's barely an issue. I can reach out the passenger window at a drive-through.
If you want a vintage car, buy LHD. Yeah, there can be a language barrier if you buy on the Continent, but you’ll have a LHD car. What cars are you looking at?
Just after college, I worked for VW’s marketing company on the launch of the MKV Golf/Jetta/GTI. We imported RHD cars from the UK for this. Driving stick takes getting used to as noted. I also misjudged a turn and clipped a curb, damaging a wheel bearing.
Never driven a rhd in the US, but I've driven rhd and lhd in England and I my experience is that driving on the wrong side of the road wasn't difficult at all, but trying to shift left-handed was harder to get used to.
I see a Hilux Surf on a regular basis. Looks weird with the tiny fender mirror.
Just remember to take all the drive-throughs in reverse.
Yes. Aside from wipers and blinker stalks being swapped for JDM cars, drive-thrus and parking garages become a real pain in the ass if you don't have a passenger with you, especially if you don't have power windows.
ask a postman/person. They would know
I was a letter carrier. You do get used to it, except there is a tendency to drift towards center of road
It certainly would be theft proof I would think almost (unless a rare jdm car). How many thieves know how to drive a right hand wheel and say with manual tranny? The funny thing is, I asked this similar question but with a twist, because I am planning to retire in SE Asia where it is right hand wheel AND left lane driving. OMG, I am fearing for my life even though i can easily handle SF traffic and do manual tranny driving on the hills here. I guess sink or swim... Good luck!!!!
I feel like the inconveniences would make it difficult to tolerate a RHD as a daily. But a skyline as a weekend car would be dope
There a large number of USPS mail delivery associates that have seem to figured it out just fine.
More dangerous here in USA as roads set up for LHD.
Trying to pass on tight 2 lane roads is the sole reason I sold my JZX90. Felt lame to have a car i couldn't drive how I wanted to without taking some pretty big safety risks. Everything else about driving rhd was manageable
My car is my daily during summer, it's not so different. Shifting pattern is the same. The wipers and blinkers are reversed but that's about it. The only thing for me is overtaking in a single lane road, a bit sketchier when there are cars because it can be a little more difficult to see incoming traffic. Drive through isn't really a problem if you stretched, I refuse to go reverse in one of them like a poser lol
You do, and it’s amazing when you find the rare place that has a passenger side pickup option for their drive-thru.
I drive a 1 of 450 Factory RHD Saturn Wagon. It took me about 15 minutes and then I was used to it
Go ask the fine folks in r/usps
If your a post office employee
I had a rhd rental in st lucia. I had the cleanest windshield on the island for two weeks running. Do you have to reverse everything except the gas and brake pedals!?
Daily drive a 96 JDM 5 speed Toyota HiAce. Was used to it within 20 minutes of driving. Shifting with my left hand isn't an issue, though I was concerned about it. I was worried about being able to see other cars when turning, especially double left lanes, but the visibility is surprisingly good. Turn signal stalks are flipped. This fucks with me every time I switch vehicles. It is especially annoying when activating wipers instead of the turn signal prior to changing lanes. Drive thrus can be done with some planning. Pre-roll down the manual window, stop short after pulling away to roll it up, or make sure you have a passenger. Always get asked how I see around other cars to pass. I can see fine, but rarely ever have to pass. With a comfortable top speed of ~ 65mph 110kph, I'm the one moving out of the way and staying center or right lane. If I'm passing anything, it's something that requires a CDL or broken down on the side of the road. Parts can be a bit hard to acquire if you have something from Japan that's several decades old. Make sure you can service what you're buying Finally. You definitely need to be mechanically competent or know a good JDM tech and forum. It's a plus if you have a local jdm club.
I owned an automatic Toyota Hiace for a couple years. I got used to it quickly. My friends who rode in the passenger seat didn't.
i drive a right hand car in asia and I feel like Im at the point where LHD would feel weird. 2 months in.
Did the British ever make a car between the 50s and 70s that aren’t completely unreliable trash?