[Zappo]

Ram, amazing mannnn... what an explanantion. Real convincing, except for that I never saw a real standard in this... You are not in sales by any chance, are you? ;-)

Since the days of the grand old Ambys (they had the filler lid on right). It seems even US has no standards about this as Samurai says.

[Rtech]

I don't think there is a rule for exhaust pipes for cars. Can't be, or else we wouldn't have cars with dual pipes.

Trucks though do have a regulation on this. The exhaust has to be on the right or rear facing. Or Upwards I guess. I feel the last option should be made compulsory. Atleast then we won't get a face full of black smoke everytime we overtake a overloaded truck.

[adit1329]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Sorry, bro, but I didn't quite follow this. Can you explain it again?

I ws thinking of going for a Baleno myself and got a car for test drive.
I looked under the Bonnet and found that there was lot of space onthe right hand side of the engine. I asked the tech what is this for. He explained that the car is still basically designed the same here in India and abroad too. Hence, it facilitates the movement of the entire steering unit either to the right or left depending on the country...

Hope this explains..else pm me your number and we can chat

[RX135]

I see a flaw in the logic. Irrespective of side to turn in to petrol bunk, what matters most is which side of the fuel vending machine is your car. So sometimes it will be convenient and sometimes it won't.

[sbasak]

I looked under the Bonnet and found that there was lot of space onthe right hand side of the engine

This is true. In real world, LHD cars are not exactly mirror images or RHD cars (& vice versa). If the manufactuers have to fit exact mirror components in the cars for LHD & RHD, it would have involved huge cost. So, they keep all components same and just move steering and pedals to required side. A very common feature in some modern cars is that the speedo/tacho dials are placed in middle of the front console (except just behind steering wheel). This is just to save money - use same mould for LHD & RHD (on the expense of making it less readable by the driver!) The funny thing is the this very feature was used in Amby's over a long time. But I'm sure they didn't do it to make LHD Ambys!

In some old Renualt & Citroen cars which ply in UK, if the front passenger pushes his legs hard enough to floor, he can actually activate the brake!

Exhausts are usually always placed on the offside because exhaust gases should be kept as far away as possible from pedestrians. For that reason, all buses & trucks in India have exhausts in offside (right).

Now I have a question here! When the manufacturers actually design & crash test the car, do they really test with both LHD & RHD options?

[Deeps]

Originally Posted by sbasak

In some old Renualt & Citroen cars which ply in UK, if the front passenger pushes his legs hard enough to floor, he can actually activate the brake!

really? It made my day.


About the fuel-lid question. I think its mainly down to the lhd to rhd conversion or vice-versa. Kind of like how some cars that have been converted to RHD have the indicator stalk on the left side of the steering wheel (Ikon for example). I've seen numerous lhd cars with the fuel lid on the off-side but cant remember seeing any rhd cars (that have not been converted from lhd) with the fuel-lid on the off-side.

[deepakhon]

Originally Posted by Deeps

About the fuel-lid question. I think its mainly down to the lhd to rhd conversion or vice-versa. Kind of like how some cars that have been converted to RHD have the indicator stalk on the left side of the steering wheel (Ikon for example). I've seen numerous lhd cars with the fuel lid on the off-side but cant remember seeing any rhd cars (that have not been converted from lhd) with the fuel-lid on the off-side.

Now beat that! My palio has the "proper" indicator and wiper stalks, but has the fuel lid to the right side. It took me a while to get used to the fuel lid stuff, but now, no issues. I do not think there is really any logic involved with the manufacturers. It might just be driven by the cost.

[normally_crazy]

Do cars from Europe have the fuel lid on the right and cars from the Asian Subcontinent have it on the left ? Is there such a standard ? The Skoda's , Fiat's have it on the right while the Honda's , Toyota's , Hyundai's have it on the left (Correct me if I am wrong )

[turbo_c]

My dad used to drive an '82 Chevvy Caprice Classic (the older 3 box angular type) in Kuwait; it had its fuel filler cap in the CENTER behind the rear license plate !

I couldn't help chuckling to myself whenever I used to see the big Chevvys refueling with a fuel pipe up its ... (ahem)

- T u r b o C -

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

Do cars from Europe have the fuel lid on the right and cars from the Asian Subcontinent have it on the left ? Is there such a standard ? The Skoda's , Fiat's have it on the right while the Honda's , Toyota's , Hyundai's have it on the left (Correct me if I am wrong )

I think the Ambys have their fuel-cap (hat?! or whatever that protruded thing is called) on the right side... on top.

Coming to think of it... turbo_c talked about the old chevvy with a filler cap at the rear of the car... left and right sides are known... amby has it on top... i wonder whether there is/was any car that had it at the front?! :-/ I am sure there is/was one

[mohit333]

I have always wondered about the location of the fuel tank lid. According to me, it should be on the right hand side since its visible from the driver's side(just IMO).

Is there any reason regarding how the manufacturers plan this??

[rohan_fonseca]

It will be visible if it is on the left side too through the LRVM. Since we drive on the left hand side of the road we tend to approach the petrol bunk from the left so it is convinient to have it on the left. Just my theory.

[devarshi84]

my wagonR has it on the left and my lancer has it on the right. havent really noticed any difference except that at the FE the guy has to always extend the pipe for my WagonR.

[BlackPearl]

they should be divided, I mean some cars should have it on left and others on right (the way it is now) so that both sides of the filler pump can be occupied at a time when two cars with oppositely located fuel caps visit at the pump at the same time.. lol.. anyway just kidding.. IMO they should be on the left side as pointed out by Rohan..

[sbasak]

It's discussed here in details
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...tml#post167041