Post #431,083
10/5/19 10:53:40 PM
10/5/19 10:53:40 PM
|
Peter, curious I dont remember if you rented a car when you came to the USA
if so, how hard was the lefty righty thing? Was thinking of renting a car at heathrow for a week or two and figure if I remember that the steering wheel needs to be towards the center of the roadway I should be ok. Last time I drove over there was in 1973.
Landridnod wells is not really on a regular bus route "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
|
Post #431,084
10/6/19 4:32:16 AM
10/6/19 4:32:16 AM
|
(Apropos) In '73 I also faced this demon
In friend's car, set out for a longish trek from Stoke Newington --> [don't recalll locale], but it was at night and I managed the maybe 10 mi run without killing anything/or dying. Later w/car's owner along, I lost-REFS at a roundabout; did the prudent thing of going with the flow at that point--not in correct direction. It got sorted, shortly. Point: both events needed 99% concentration ... I'd never pass the onerous UK driving test.. without X mos of 'creating/reinforcing' the new habits.
(My first experience--in the A-H Sprite in '60)--found self on the wrong side of a dual carriageway--fortunately or unfortunately empty! Had there been one other occupant it would have been instantly obvious this was Rong, of course. A luckily-nice Bobby stuck out a hand from roadside, saw I was a new-Yank and sent me to make it So, sans handcuffs. No problem later from Londinium to Harwich ferry, nor a few months later: from Channel ferry to Birmingham(?), thence ferry to Isle of Man.
tl;dr: I don't think this switch gets easier as geezer-hood looms; guess I'd say, "think twice" at least, before guessing.. just how quickly-AND-perfectly? you would perform. 46 yrs is a long gap in assessing one's adaptability, I wot. fwiw
|
Post #431,085
10/6/19 4:56:14 AM
10/6/19 4:56:14 AM
|
I didn't
Pro-tip from other friends/family who have come over and driven: rent an auto. If you don't specify, you'll get a manual, and unless you drive a manual daily, you don't need the extra cognitive load.
|
Post #431,086
10/6/19 8:05:46 AM
10/6/19 8:05:46 AM
|
Do you also have the pedals the wrong way around?
|
Post #431,087
10/6/19 9:34:14 AM
10/6/19 9:34:14 AM
|
Same pedal layout.
But you're using the correct hand for once, and such a jarring transition from wrongitude to righteousness can't be easy.
|
Post #431,089
10/6/19 1:56:07 PM
10/6/19 1:56:07 PM
|
Hadn't even thought about the hand ... Agree with your recommendation, I'd get an auto
|
Post #431,088
10/6/19 10:14:01 AM
10/6/19 10:14:01 AM
|
wouldnt have isues with a manual and since the clutch really isnt necessary until you come to a full
stop and start from a full stop pedal layout would not be an issue. Since I am left handed the stick wouldnt be an issue. "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
|
Post #431,091
10/6/19 2:58:28 PM
10/6/19 2:58:28 PM
|
Manual cars need the clutch on every gear change, you know that, right?
How long is it since you drove a manual, box? :D
(well strictly speaking they don't need it, but no, fiona, you're not good enough to correctly match revs between engine and transmission on every up- and down-shift)
|
Post #431,092
10/6/19 5:35:15 PM
10/6/19 5:35:15 PM
|
would need to use the clutch to see what the shift points are on that vehicle then no, I wouldnt
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
|
Post #431,100
10/7/19 8:17:16 AM
10/7/19 8:17:16 AM
|
If you do get an auto, be prepared for sticker shock.
Auto transmissions are *very much* more expensive in the UK ime. And rent it here before you go to save some extra cash. bcnu,
Mikem
It's mourning in America again.
|
Post #431,104
10/7/19 10:42:07 AM
10/7/19 10:42:07 AM
|
There's an uplift, but it's not huge
For example, Enterprise will give you a manual "standard" car (Vauxhall Insignia or similar) for £18/day for a manual, £23/day for an auto.
|
Post #431,105
10/7/19 10:55:49 AM
10/7/19 10:55:49 AM
|
Wow. That's different.
Budget rental here has a 1 week rental of a VW Golf picked up and returned to Reading for a week with an automatic at 95.21USD vs a VW Golf manual at 109.43USD. The automatic is cheaper by two bucks a day! That wasn't the case in September, 2017, I assure you. But, I stand absolutely corrected. bcnu,
Mikem
It's mourning in America again.
|
Post #431,095
10/6/19 10:15:05 PM
10/6/19 10:15:05 PM
|
On a motorcycle I don't need clutch on the way up
Tried a few times in the car and I can do it, but it wasn't any quicker.
|
Post #431,096
10/7/19 12:09:19 AM
10/7/19 12:09:19 AM
|
Mine's bigger™
(On one of the earlier, pre-abused Citroëns, I figured out how to use the small hand-control clutch-lever to hydraulically double-clutch into the non-synchro-equipped low gear). Screw this up and it's Lots of disassembly + Francs.
So if you think you're really a Master: try this on a ..oh, say MG-TC?--which is all crash-box because--Stiff-upper-lip, mate! But for what £££ pristine TCs have flogged for, even half a century back.. is it worth cheating-death on every ride to the 7/11 for a Big Gulp?
Humbly ..as hell
;^>
|
Post #431,099
10/7/19 2:15:11 AM
10/7/19 2:15:11 AM
|
Modern synchomesh boxes are not at all sympathetic to clutchless changing
I thoroughly explored this concept when I had a company veerhickle.
There's a clutch, and you're expected to use it, because half the time when you don't, even when you match perfectly, it'll grind like a bastard.
On my own car, I double-declutch when I can be bothered/remember (smooths out changes like you wouldn't believe).
|
Post #431,090
10/6/19 2:10:11 PM
10/6/19 2:10:11 PM
|
Apropos...
Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
|
Post #431,094
10/6/19 5:36:15 PM
10/6/19 5:36:15 PM
|
that article was what incited me to post after reading
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
|
