Do right-hand drive cars with manual transmissions have first gear on the left side, or is it reversed?
In all manual transmission cars I have seen in both the United States (left-hand drive) and South Africa (right-hand drive) first gear has been on the left hand side. Likewise the clutch, brake and accelerator pedals are in the same order.
I would imagine that in many cases the components of left-hand drive and right-hand drive versions of a car model are made in the same factory, so I guess they would want to make only one version of something if they could.
Also, it would be nightmarish to drivers who move around for all this to be different!
I don’t live overseas (we call it ‘here’). UK. Driving seat on the right side of the vehicle. First gear forward and to the left.
I drove a manual shift Mini in England back in 1980 and I remember the shift pattern was same as most US cars of the time. First was Left and Back. This was a three speed.
BTW, I always find the terms right and left hand drive confusing. I sit on the right side of the car, but drive on the left side of the road.
When you switch to a car that drives on the opposite side of what you are used to the problem isn’t in the layout of the gears. The problem is that you have to shift with a hand that isn’t used to shifting. There is a steep learning curve.
Thanks guys. I can imagine it would be difficult to learn how to shift with the left hand when the right’s been doing it, but was just curious.
Every time I needed to downshift I ended up rolling down the drivers window. 
Correct. Years ago when I visited Auckland, New Zealand (I’m from the US) I drove around in a rental. Let me tell you, when you get on the highway and need to down shift to get into traffic (“like a zipper!”), grabbing the door handle is NOT the correct thing to do!
And every time I needed to use my directional signals I turned on the windshield wipers.
I didn’t find that to be the case, and neither have any of the Americans I know who have driven in Ireland or the UK. Everyone adjusted quickly to using their left hand to shift. What is difficult for people to get used to is making turns properly when there are no cars on the road to remind them which lane they should be turning into. Even that becomes easy if you put a moment’s thought into it - you should always turn so that you (the driver) are closest to the center of the road. You can’t go wrong with that rule.
Yeah, it isn’t easy. My wife, used to my somewhat clumsy shifting when borrowing her manual car, was surprised by how much better I was when we visited my country of birth, South Africa. It is where I drove a manual car every day for many years, and even though I hadn’t been back for over two years it just came naturally.
I think I have gotten a little better here in the United States, but it took a long time.
I never found that an issue when I moved to the United States. There are usually a lot of visual clues that make lane choice intuitive. What took me a while to get used to was having all that car to the right of me. I always felt like I was sitting in the wrong place in the lane and wanted to overcompensate for that.
And I still sometimes twist myself into a pretzel trying to give tolls with the wrong hand!
My experience has been exclusively in rural Ireland, where there are few road signs or lane markings. It’s easy in places where you have cues but when you have to turn from one unmarked road to another you really have to think about it. My wife’s lone attempt at it resulted in her making her first turn into the oncoming lane of traffic. I have been the sole driver ever since. And she’s the Irish one!
I drive a right hand drive car in Canada, a left hand drive country. I find that at the beginning, I often uncousciously stray towards the centre of the road, although my terrified passengers are usually good enough to gently remind me when I get to close to the median. The shifting was no problem, but I did often turn on the wipers when trying to turn, and also, looking out of the driver side window (to the right) when trying to find the rear view mirror.
Especially on umarked roads, as noted above.
But the toughest thing of all is to remember which is the driver’s side when entering a parked car - you’ll be entirely smooth on all other aspects of ambidextrous driving before you get good at this one.
Unless you’re a Brit taking his car across the channel and into France. I have plenty of experience on both sides of the road, but this definitely seems bizzare to me.
Yes, lane changes are a challenge and take a lot of concentration. My post was geared toward the transmission issue. (Pun intended).
That first foray out of the airport and onto the highway is a real challenge. You’re thinking about lanes but you realize that your left hand doesn’t know how to shift. When you get off the main roads in Ireland they are so narrow that you feel it’s a major accomplishment if you haven’t sideswiped nearly everything.
As a Brit who has driven rental cars in both Europe and the States I’ve not had much trouble with the controls. Naturally the car in the States was an automatic - not something I’m used to but no great problem. The various cars I’ve driven in Europe have all been manuals but I don’t remember having problems changing gear with my right hand.
My experience is that remembering to drive on the “wrong” side of the road is ok if you concentrate or if there are plenty of other cars about - the problem comes after couple of days when you think you’re getting used to it and you relax. Then it is all too easy to forget when turning right onto a quiet road or just pulling out from a parking place. Urgent yelling from passengers normally wakes me up. :smack:
Having had numerous near-misses with foreign lorries attempting to overtake while I’m passing them myself, the larger blind spot of the passenger side seems to be the single biggest problem.
I’ve also had a near-miss head-on with a German car who’d made such an error.