OT: "Mixed up the brake and accelerator"?!?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

No real logic to it. In the days of BMC and column gear shifts, Morris had the 1&2 plane towards you, Austin away from you.

[NY]

That really is illogical. To have different conventions even within the same parent company (BMC, later BL) is absurd. I could imagine a different standard between (for example) all BMC cars and all Fords or all Vauxhalls, but I'd expect one company to be consistent. I suppose the Austin convention was more logical as it is at least the same way round as a floor-mounted gearshift, if you imagine looking from the knob towards the steering column (verus looking from the knob towards the floor of the car).

Did all column gearchanges have the 1/2 plane as up/down or did some even turn things round through 90 degrees and have 1/2 as towards/away?

I've never driven a column gearchange car. The only car I can remember seeing was my Dad's 1967 Ford Corsair which had a column-mounted

*automatic* - but in that case the lever only ever moves up down, apart from the slight pull-towards to overcome the interlocks for reverse and park. The oldest car I can remember riding in was a neighbour's Ford Popular (or Anglia or Prefect) from the 1950s, but that had a floor-mounted lever, even if the pivot was well under the dashboard, with a *very* long lever and hence a very large amount of travel of the knob as you moved from one gear to the next. I imagine it was 3+R rather than 4+R. I can vaguely remember a friend's father having a Mark 1 Cortina with a very long gear lever like that, whereas most had a shorter, straight lever that was pivoted further back, in the same position as in a modern car. It might have been a pre-Aeroflow model (*) with oval side lights and thick metal "knee-capping" mouldings either side of the steering column with tab switches for indicators, lights, wipers etc.

(*) Some of which were branded as "Consul" rather than "Cortina", in the same way as some Ford Granadas in the 70s were branded as "Consul" - I believe Regan and Carter's in The Sweeney (NHK 295M) was technically a Consul not a Granada, even though identical-looking cars were also sold as Granadas at the same time.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's possible Austin and Morris set their convention before becoming BMC. And wanted to keep owners loyal to that marque.

Rolls did much the same. Their first autos had the selector on the left hand side of the steering column, in the 50s. Odd when they liked right hand floor gear changes. ;-) When indicator stalks arrived, they mounted that on the right. And continued to do so into the 70s.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Was the Morris ISIS a column shift - never drove a column shift BMC car..

Not any of the above - my Bedford van (vauxhall victor FB mechanics IIRC) was towards you and up for reverse, towards you and down for first

- away and up for second and away and down for third and that was yer lot.

[Commander Kinsey]

Reading the end part of that, not sure why we have this override thing on autos. I've used one ONCE, on a VERY steep very LONG downhill in the French alps to avoid wearing out the brakes. Also tested same one just for a laugh. I selected 1st at 100mph. It very sensibly dropped a gear precisely when it was possible. The rev counter precisely hit the red line on every gear change. That's German engineering for you.

[Steve Walker]

My mother has a Hyundai with the indicator stalk on the right - on the couple of occasions that I have driven it (test drives after doing work on it), I have found it very hard to adjust. I'm sure I'd be fine after a longer drive.

Similarly, the first time I drove a left-hand drive car, I found myself swerving very slightly when changing gear - much like many learner drivers do. As I had a few hundred miles to my destination, I soon got the hang of it.

SteveW

[Commander Kinsey]

That is not conventional in the UK. We always always have R on the left. It makes sense to have reverse be close to 1, because you don't change from 4 to R!

Only ever seen that shit in a Citroen 2CV. A proper car has the stick on the floor. Operating a stick in front of you is very difficult.

Rotation, oh my god, WTF were they thinking? Let's make this car as difficult to drive as possible.

[Commander Kinsey]

I can understand you not remembering all the mechanics of the gears. So, were they hot?

[Commander Kinsey]

I don't. My peripheral vision is quite accurate.

Not enough to confuse me. And I've driven silly little cars and huge cars.

Yip, my colleague had a Nova and I had a Corsa, never caused me a problem.

I really don't get why you have a problem when pedals are slightly different. The first time you move your foot to one, your brain remembers where it is.

Women should never ever drive manual cars.

I like to select 1 in an auto when I want to stop quickly. It's amazing how accurate they are in changing at precisely the limit of the engine.

I use the clutch subconsciously. Even if I select 3rd instead of 1st, my left foot compensates and doesn't stall the engine. I've seen friends f*ck it up and and stop though.

Mine was a Mk4 1.9 TDI auto made in 1998. It never stalled.

Petrol is shit. No torque at low power at all. Way to easy to stall.

Not sure if it's possible that it would get going fast enough to get away from me. That was quite a steep hill. About steep enough that the average person would quickly tire if they tried to jog up it.

Incorrect. My Renault Scenic will engage the steering lock with the key left in the ignition. Do not ever trust a French car. Travelling along at 40mph without the ability to turn left is most worrying.

What is a "slow running control"?

Whoops! I hope your mum didn't witness that.

I destroyed the engine of a Renault (funny how these are all French?) Espace when I overtook in 2nd when I thought I was in 3rd. Apparently it did not have a limiter (it was a 1992 car and I thought all cars by then had limiters). The mechanic at the garage I took it to asked if I'd been entering it in a rally because I'd managed to "smash up all the spark plugs".

Presumably a car with no turbo would have been fine. So a car designed to operate with a turbo gets upset without one?

The only time I've seen a car with a broken turbo was my friend's car which made a loud BANG! every 5 seconds, especially when trying to accelerate. I have no idea how they work, but I assume there was petrol being combusted where there should not have been.

[Commander Kinsey]

RWD are shit at everything. Except they have smaller turning circles. I hate the way I try a U-turn in my FWD and it doesn't quite make it. Just ONE f****ng inch out and I scrape the sidewall of the tyre on the kerb. And since we have radials now instead of crossply, they just BURST!

[rbowman]

The most recent car I've ever driven with three on the tree was a '65 Dodge. My father didn't care for automatics but by '65 standard shift in a family sedan were hard to find. Most of the manuals were in the sportier offerings where floor shift were the thing.

I will have to say that with the shift on the column your girlfriend could snuggle up much better than with a floor shift, center console, and bucket seats.

The downside with bench seats and no seat belts is you could launch her back to the passenger side during spirited driving.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Surely that is an upside?

[Bob Eager]

And this is why the Bond Bug was never a success in the UK. Cheap 3 wheel car, low road tax, good fuel economy, any colour you liked as long as it was orange.

Should have impressed the girls. Except that the engine housing made a large 'hump' between the front seats. Hard to even reach the girl, let alone snuggle.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Was it an engine hump? Didn't they use the Hillman Imp rear engine and box?

[Bob Eager]

It was a conventionally mounted engine, driving the rear wheels via a prop shaft.

[NY]

A hump that makes humping difficult ;-)

I remember there was a cut-out in the rear body panel below the bumper so you could see the differential as a prominent feature.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Of course. Now what on earth was I confusing it with?

[Bob Eager]

I was trying to remember, because I'm sure you are right in that there

*was* one.

Ah...

[Commander Kinsey]

I guess it's logical.

I've driven equal amounts of both, so I suppose I'm just keeping the control method similar.

I thought you only had two states?

[NY]

I would say that it is better to use the *same* strategy (footbrake with right foot) in both manual and automatic, then you are not having to alternate when you go from one car to another.

The *only* justification I can see for using your left foot is that it gives it something to do when otherwise it would never be used since there's no clutch. Having learned to drive in a manual, I prefer the differences when driving an automatic to be as small as possible - brake and accelerator with right foot, always put car into neutral when stopped in traffic and apply handbrake (NEVER hold it on the footbrake when stationary), always use the handbrake to prevent me rolling back when doing a hill start. But then I was taught that the handbrake is an essential part of driving, and not just a parking or emergency brake.

But (as with so many things in life) I think I'm in the minority. "Canute" isn't *really* my middle name ;-)