Right hand indicator stalks

flazio · 24-04-2014 10:31AM #1

Just curious as to whether there are still cars being sold today in Ireland that have indicator stalks on the right, I've had to switch from a 01 Fabia to a 01 Accent and the amount of thimes I've flashed my headlights at thin air when I want to clean the windshield is getting quite embarrasing. And then when I get used to it, I start doing the opposite when I'm driving my parents Quasqai.
Do you have a right handed indicator? What make/Model/Year is it?

CiniO · 24-04-2014 10:50AM

I started driving in Ireland in 2007, and never had a car with such setup.
However one of company vehicles I've driven for few months was mid 80's Leyland Plaxton coach, and it had indicators on the right.
Never driven anything like this before and after.
I was running windscreen wipers on every junction, and flashing my indicators like mad during rain.
Crazy.

djimi · 24-04-2014 10:53AM

There is no standardization on this, is there? I have owned 5 cars in my life and Im fairly sure that it changed each time! From what I can tell, it seems to be more universal among Japanese cars (on the left?), but its not always the case with other cars.

Toyotafanboi · 24-04-2014 10:55AM

my japanese starlet has the indicators on the right, but i'm pretty sure an irish starlet has them the other way around. i am similar whenever i drive the astra or the parents cars, it's wipers on at every corner.

CiniO · 24-04-2014 10:59AM

djimi wrote: »

There is no standardization on this, is there? I have owned 5 cars in my life and Im fairly sure that it changed each time! From what I can tell, it seems to be more universal among Japanese cars (on the left?), but its not always the case with other cars.

I think on LHD vehicles it's standrised, that indicators are on the left, and windscreen wipers on the right. Never seen opposite setup on LHD car.

I assume RHD cars were opposite, but at some stage manufacturers decided to unify it with LHD cars, so no nearly all vehicles have it that way (indicators on the left and wipers on the right).
At least I haven't seen any car manufactured after 2000 with opposite setup.

From practical point of view, it would be better to have indicators on the right, and wipers on the left on RHD cars, as then you can turn indicator at the same time you are changing gear with your left hand.
But I assume standarisation between RHD and LHD cars is more important, as otherwise people are going to get mixed on this at all times, so that's why I suppose all cars now have it standarised with indicators on left, and wipers on right.

djimi · 24-04-2014 11:00AM

My indicator/lights stalk is actually on the right in my JDM Integra (I had to go out and check; just goes to show how much attention I pay when driving :P ).

Michael D Not Higgins · 24-04-2014 11:01AM

My aunt used to have an old Suzuki Swift, possibly 90s reg or early 00s? It had the stalks the other way around.

djimi · 24-04-2014 11:02AM

CiniO wrote: »

I think on LHD vehicles it's standrised, that indicators are on the left, and windscreen wipers on the right. Never seen opposite setup on LHD car.

I assume RHD cars were opposite, but at some stage manufacturers decided to unify it with LHD cars, so no nearly all vehicles have it that way (indicators on the left and wipers on the right).
At least I haven't seen any car manufactured after 2000 with opposite setup.

From practical point of view, it would be better to have indicators on the right, and wipers on the left on RHD cars, as then you can turn indicator at the same time you are changing gear with your left hand.
But I assume standarisation between RHD and LHD cars is more important, as otherwise people are going to get mixed on this at all times, so that's why I suppose all cars now have it standarised with indicators on left, and wipers on right.

I agree that it makes sense to have the lights on the opposite hand to the gear stick.

I dont agree that it should be standard across LHD and RHD though. Not enough people would drive both regularly enough for this to be an issue, and Id prefer to have the lights on my non-gear stick hand in every car that I drive.

flazio · 24-04-2014 11:02AM

djimi wrote: »

My indicator/lights stalk is actually on the right in my JDM Integra (I had to go out and check; just goes to show how much attention I pay when driving :P ).

Trust me, when you drive a made for Europe RHD car you'll notice.

Engine No.9 · 24-04-2014 11:04AM

AFAIK, all Japanese and Korean (Toyota, Hyundai etc...) makes have the stalk on the right. European cars such as Open, Renault et Al are on the left.

djimi · 24-04-2014 11:06AM

flazio wrote: »

Trust me, when you drive a made for Europe RHD car you'll notice.

Oh believe me I know! I have had cars where it has been the other way around. Its very confusing!

flazio · 24-04-2014 11:06AM

pajopearl wrote: »

AFAIK, all Japanese and Korean (Toyota, Hyundai etc...) makes have the stalk on the right. European cars such as Open, Renault et Al are on the left.

These days if the car is made for the European market, whether or not the country drives on the left (Continent) or the right (UK Ireland) all manufacturers are putting the indicators on the left hand. Including the Asian badges.

jimgoose · 24-04-2014 11:06AM

pajopearl wrote: »

AFAIK, all Japanese and Korean (Toyota, Hyundai etc...) makes have the stalk on the right. European cars such as Open, Renault et Al are on the left.

IIRC the legendary Mercedes-Benz "do-everything" stalk is still on the right of the column.

jimgoose · 24-04-2014 11:08AM

OSI wrote: »

The standardisation has nothing to do with people getting mixed up, and everything to do with cost saving.

Aye. Best example of that I ever saw was the instrument binnacle on the old Rover SD1!

CiniO · 24-04-2014 11:11AM

djimi wrote: »

I agree that it makes sense to have the lights on the opposite hand to the gear stick.

It does, but I wouldn't treat it like any major issue.
It's just more convinent to have it that way.

I dont agree that it should be standard across LHD and RHD though. Not enough people would drive both regularly enough for this to be an issue, and Id prefer to have the lights on my non-gear stick hand in every car that I drive.

I'd say quite a lot of Irish people go on holidays abroad and drive LHD vehicles.

I drive LHD vehicles at least few times a year, every year.
Swithing between LHD and RHD is not that hard, especially after you tried few times, but those indicators on other side I would classify as most disturbing thing when switching from LHD to RHD and opposite.
As I said - I've driven vehicle with indicators on the right for a while some time ago, and I had to switch every day. I've driven 5 differnt vehicles nearly every day, and only this one, had indicators on the right.
It was a hell, and even after few months I couldn't get used to it.

I think decision had been already made by manufacturers, as I haven't seen any car above 2000 for Irish market with indicators on the right.

keithclancy · 24-04-2014 11:18AM

CiniO wrote: »

I drive LHD vehicles at least few times a year, every year.
Swithing between LHD and RHD is not that hard, especially after you tried few times, but those indicators on other side I would classify as most disturbing thing when switching from LHD to RHD and opposite.
As I said - I've driven vehicle with indicators on the right for a while some time ago, and I had to switch every day. I've driven 5 differnt vehicles nearly every day, and only this one, had indicators on the right.
It was a hell, and even after few months I couldn't get used to it.

I think decision had been already made by manufacturers, as I haven't seen any car above 2000 for Irish market with indicators on the right.

Me too, switching LHD/RHD is easy.
Indicator stalk on the other side ends up with me constantly engaging the window wipers.

colm_mcm · 24-04-2014 11:43AM

CiniO wrote: »

It does, but I wouldn't treat it like any major issue.
It's just more convinent to have it that way.

I'd say quite a lot of Irish people go on holidays abroad and drive LHD vehicles.

I drive LHD vehicles at least few times a year, every year.
Swithing between LHD and RHD is not that hard, especially after you tried few times, but those indicators on other side I would classify as most disturbing thing when switching from LHD to RHD and opposite.
As I said - I've driven vehicle with indicators on the right for a while some time ago, and I had to switch every day. I've driven 5 differnt vehicles nearly every day, and only this one, had indicators on the right.
It was a hell, and even after few months I couldn't get used to it.

I think decision had been already made by manufacturers, as I haven't seen any car above 2000 for Irish market with indicators on the right.

You'll see a few Hyundai's and kias like that, but anything they launched in the last 6 years or so has them on the left

R.O.R · 24-04-2014 11:54AM

I think the previous model Santa Fe had the indicator on the right, but the new model (and the iX35) has them on the left.

Not sure about the current Sorrento, it's been around long enough that it probably has the indicator on the left.

Santa Fe is the newest vehicle I can recall with the stalks the other way around.

colm_mcm · 24-04-2014 11:55AM

R.O.R wrote: »

I think the previous model Santa Fe had the indicator on the right, but the new model (and the iX35) has them on the left.

Not sure about the current Sorrento, it's been around long enough that it probably has the indicator on the left.

Santa Fe is the newest vehicle I can recall with the stalks the other way around.

The Atoz they relaunched in 06 had them on the right I think.

Gazzmonkey · 24-04-2014 01:15PM

In my experience cars built for UK / Irish market would have indicator stalk on the left and cars built for the Japanese market would be the opposite.

Just my observation.

Noccy_Mondy · 24-04-2014 01:33PM

Our 98 Pajero has the indicator on the right. Gets fierce confusing (the rear occasion) that I would drive it. Always spray up water on the windscreen at night instead of dimming the lights

galvo_clare · 24-04-2014 02:07PM

As I recall it was the Cortina that started the rot. All in aid of cost saving and maximising commonality.

jimgoose · 24-04-2014 02:14PM

galvo_clare wrote: »

As I recall it was the Cortina that started the rot. All in aid of cost saving and maximising commonality.

Could well be. Except given that my 1999 jaguar S-Type has exactly the same stalks as a 1978 Ford Granada I don't think there was ever a Ford that had the indicators on the right!

MuppetCheck · 24-04-2014 02:21PM

Sisters 07 Ceed has them on the right, the fathers 13 Ceed has them on the left.

You wonder what's gone wrong the first time you get in, doesn't take long to adjust.

FGR · 24-04-2014 02:29PM

More annoying is the handbrake not being moved to the correct side of the centre console and left in LHD configuration. I'm looking at you VW group..!!!

MuppetCheck · 24-04-2014 02:33PM

FGR wrote: »

More annoying is the handbrake not being moved to the correct side of the centre console and left in LHD configuration. I'm looking at you VW group..!!!

I have noticed this alright, but it's not really that big a stretch compared to any car I have had with a central hand brake tbh. But it's not the only thing they often miss - wipers, pedals, volume buttons usually are a bit off or on the wrong side when converted to RHD too.

piston · 24-04-2014 02:57PM

There was a time when the VAG group were too stingy to even swap the wipers for RHD.

ba_barabus · 24-04-2014 03:03PM

PSA not moving the fuse box and doing cut price RHD brake pedal conversions are the worst.

blastman · 24-04-2014 03:53PM

I have two cars, and the stalks are different in both of them. I wash my windscreen at people a lot!!

dougie-lampkin · 24-04-2014 04:03PM

ba_barabus wrote: »

PSA not moving the fuse box and doing cut price RHD brake pedal conversions are the worst.

I bought my C5 with a broken brake switch, I think I spent a good hour trying to find it under the dash on the driver's side

Spike Witwicky · 24-04-2014 04:18PM

jimgoose wrote: »

IIRC the legendary Mercedes-Benz "do-everything" stalk is still on the right of the column.

Not on mine. Its on the left right next to the cruise control stalk. Need to be careful which one you flick :pac:

My old 98 Colt had a right indi stalk. Flawless indication on roundabouts while changing gear.

Noccy_Mondy · 24-04-2014 04:23PM

jimgoose wrote: »

IIRC the legendary Mercedes-Benz "do-everything" stalk is still on the right of the column.

Not sure about Merc cars, but the coaches have the all in one right stalk. Up and down for indicators and twist it for the wipers. I think that's it anyway, I have kind of forgotten!

ofcork · 24-04-2014 05:57PM

A lot of mercs of recent vintage have a keypad by the centre armrest under a flap but the flap opens to the right so you have to reach in over it to dial,setup for lhd markets!

_Kaiser_ · 24-04-2014 06:55PM

The 2 import Mitsubishi's I had had them on the right.

The Passats I had and the A6 have them on the left

I prefer it that way being left-handed

Changing gears and indicating isn't an issue with an auto either!

JohnBoy26 · 24-04-2014 07:15PM

Old Subaru's such as the impreza have the indicator switch on the right.

ffocused · 24-04-2014 07:41PM

I have 2 Korean cars. 05 Sonata left side, 08 Epica right side. I found a system that works for me to know which side to use. Each car has its fuel filler on opposite sides & a reminder arrow on fuel gauge for same. Indicators are on same side as fuel filler in each car!

V.W.L 11 · 24-04-2014 07:45PM

I've had 3 vehicles that have had them on the right,a MK1 Subaru impreza,a 1994 Honda civic and a 2000 Mitsubishi space wagon,oh and did someone mention Hyundai accent's

make that 4

Ded_Zebra · 24-04-2014 09:59PM

I k now most people aren't used to it but in a RHD car they are way better on the right.

Old diesel · 24-04-2014 10:13PM

piston wrote: »

There was a time when the VAG group were too stingy to even swap the wipers for RHD.

Yes - the Mk 2 Golfs before the late 1987 facelift had the wipers set for left hand drive - on right hand drive cars.

Think the Passat from the 83 to 87 era was the same - but can't remember

Didn't the Mk 1 Golf have a reputation for not having particularly good brakes - because VW didn't make a brilliant job of the conversion from left hand drive to right hand drive braking wise.

_Kaiser_ · 25-04-2014 07:35AM

piston wrote: »

There was a time when the VAG group were too stingy to even swap the wipers for RHD.

Still the case with some French models and BMWs as far as I'm aware

flazio · 25-04-2014 09:07AM

AFAIK some of the 'swipe out' wipers like on the Opel Zafira didn't go to the edge of the windscreen on the right hand side, on LHD cars that's fine for the driver but not quite ok for the driver in a RHD. I can't comment on whether this was fixed for Vauxhall.

keithclancy · 25-04-2014 09:18AM

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

I bought my C5 with a broken brake switch, I think I spent a good hour trying to find it under the dash on the driver's side

Similarly I took apart a load of console plastics using the UK Haynes manual for my LHD trying to replace the internal filter.

What a "OH FFS" moment

Leonard Hofstadter · 25-04-2014 09:47AM

Asian manufacturers still do the indicators the other (correct) way around in places like Australia, Malaysia and Japan, even on cars that are identical to those sold in the UK and Ireland. Also, Fords (well the Aussie built ones at any rate) and Holdens do the indicators the correct way around for these markets too. Holden in particular is noteworthy for doing the conversion even on their models that are badge engineered Opels - which of course have them the wrong way around in the EU markets!

Right hand indicator stalks

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