Stupid thing to start a thread over I know... (car question)

Post Reply New Topic

I want to go to America one day and one thing I want to do before I'm 30 is drive from New York to somewhere like LA.

This is just a stupid curiosity question which I can't seem to find online, but how different are American cars to British cars in terms of being on the left side of the car?

Over here in the UK (and in Italy) we are on the right side of the car. The clutch pedal is on the left, the gas on the right and the break in the middle. Indicators are on the left side of the wheel and wipers are on the right. Is this completely mirrored on Yank cars?

Is the gas to the far left and the clutch on the right? Or is it the same but just on the left side of the car?

Eh, it differs car to car. Clutch is usually on the left then the brake, and gas on the right.

But you have to understand that we're not all stuck on clutch equipped diesels. We normally all drive automatic petrols (gas).... If you rent a car, there is no clutch... gas on the right, brake on the left - wipers on the left, turn signal on the right.. (usually). I found myself explaining how a automatic works to a basque in spain. If you don't know what a automatic is then google is your friend.

Last edited by Nim on 30 May 2011, 10:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

that's weird, i was wondering the exact same thing a few days ago. anyone...?

Left to middle of car, clutch, brake, gas (i'm pretty sure). Because the gas is towards the center of the car and you have to remove your foot from the gas to hit the brake while still keeping your foot on the clutch. Probably your exact opposite.

ours go ABC from right to left. Accelerator Break Clutch

Hum? So ....

Yahoo Answers says the same pedal arrangement just opposite side of he car.

yes. that is what we have concluded. definitely a happily ever after moment

The only things that comes to mind at this point is Marzipan.

your making me a cake for my efforts?

Perhaps. I try not to make baked goods because I turn into the cookie monster.

nobody wants that. marzipan cookies sound gross.

Hot peanut butter cookies, the fork smashed kind. With oatmeal mixed in the batter, topped with a herseys kiss.

Yes, the pedals are located exactly where you would expect. The gear-shift lever, however, is going to be convenient for your right hand, not your left, so you might want to consider driving an automatic-transmission car (lest you inadvertently attempt to shift gears on your car window...). I would also advise driving a gasoline (petrol) car, as the price of diesel fuel is markedly higher in most of the US.

Turn indicators and wiper controls, as noted above, vary from car to car; generally, the turn indicator lever is on the left side of the steering column, and the wiper controls on the right, but not always.

Another thing to keep in mind, and one which sometimes escapes our European friends, is the sheer scope of this country. Keep in mind that a trip from New York to Los Angeles is going to cover something over three thousand miles (almost 5000 km); the drive can be expected to take three to four days, exclusive of meals and rest breaks. And once you've gotten into the territory east of the Missouri River, keep an eye on your fuel gauge; once it gets below about a quarter of a tank, start looking for a gas station or truck stop, because in the western regions, it can be quite a piece between them, and you don't want to run out of fuel somewhere in the Sand Hills region of Nebraska, or the middle Utah, or God forbid the deserts of eastern California...

On a more practical note, if you purchase any fruit for snacking on while driving across the country, dispose of it before reaching California. The state's biggest industry is farming, and a fair bit of that is fruit; they're understandably a bit paranoid about the possibility of crop diseases or parasites being accidentally introduced. (Remember that the medfly invasion, which very nearly brought orange and lemon production in the state to a dead halt back in the '80s, happened when somebody bought some fruit in the Mediterranean region while on vacation, brought it home with them, and threw out fruit that had gone bad - and happened to contain Mediterranean fruit fly larvae...)

"Next Gas station, 200 miles"..

Very true, but I can't understand why people even want to come here. Our streets and highways are aging, we have no interesting buildings. Our "culture" is extremely lacking and we tend to be jerks. OP, why do you want to travel here?

If going to rent a car most rental places in north America only offer automatic transmission cars, however some cars will have a auto-stick feature which allows you to shift the gears manually, with out using a clutch. Also be warned they are strict on speed limits in the USA

@Nim, Canadian Highways are in good shape:P

Hey guys, thanks for your answers.

So are Automatics quite popular in the states?
Automatics are quite rare over here, the only people who use them are people who drive a lot for employment purposes. I have heard Americans talking about automatics a lot. I do know what one is, but like I said, they are rare and I have never driven one before. I think when I go I'm going to have to just take it slow for a bit and try and adjust to using my right hand to change gear.

A question that I have for any yanks that read this:
Do you guys have roundabouts in America? I never see them in American media and whenever I see an American see a roundabout for the first time they have a face like "OMG WTF IS THAT!?!?!?!". Not only that, but there was that episode of the Simpsons where they come to London and circle the roundabout for hours and hours lol. I was wandering if that was a stereotype or if roundabouts really are quite alien to Americans?


This would be something I would save a lot of money for and would take my time with. I want to see New York because its such an iconic place that I just really feel that I should at least have a beer there. I know as a Brit I don't really know what a New Yorker knows about his own home city, but I need to see for myself.

You guys have pretty much every terrain other than jungle. You have rocky mountains in Colorado, you have deserts in Arizona, you have a lot of country sides and one thing I have always wanted to do is storm chasing and we haven't got the kind of weather to do that over here. I want to see Arizona, I really want to sit on the hood of my care and watch the sin go down on this kind of landscape:
http://holidayarizona.com/img/arizona.jpg

England is kinda limited in that sense, its really small and you either live in a small town or a dirty city. As for remote areas with no houses around, then you just get bog standard grass fields and forests. Don't get me wrong, England has a lot of Natural beauty, but its only one kind of natural beauty and even though I like to see it, I have already seen it all and would like to see more.
You guys have a lot of land to play with and although your country has its problems, America I think is a place people should certainly check out.

I don't look at the big benn the same way you would and its because I have seen it a bunch of times, just like a famous American building wouldn't impress you.

Also its because we grow up with a lot of American culture in media over here. When it comes to TV and movies there is a great deal of British shows on, but about 65%-70% of the television, movies, music, video games and so on comes from America and is set in America.
I'm watching something atm called "The Vampire Diaries" its an American show and the American setting and accents and stuff would hardly be noticed, American media is just normal over here.