Left Hand Drive Delicas

[Profister]

Somebody told me they're snapping up as many of the JDMs as they can now.

Yes, this is true and guess what Russian government is working on? They are trying to ban RHD vehicles. I wonder if they have some connections here in Canada...
BTW there is very interesting documentary 'Melbourne to Moscow' on youtube where you can see how many JDM vehicles are on the streets of Vladivostok, the port city which is closest to Japan.

[marsgal42]

No facts have been officially collected on the subject in Canada (despite what ICBC would have you believe with their ridiculously flawed report)
However in the UK there was a study done between LHD and RHD land rovers owned by the government, they found that the LHD ones had a lower accident rate than the RHD ones in an RHD country, the opposite would make sense in Canada as we are an LHD country, one would expect that following the same trends RHD would be safer on our roads...

Other than the laughable data quality and questionable analysis, I've always felt ICBC's "study" was flawed on a much deeper level: it doesn't reflect the day-to-day experiences of RHD drivers. When I got Gumdrop the only thing I really needed to get used to was moving from a VW Jetta to a van. Driving position was a non-issue, though I had previous RHD experience in England and Australia.

The very worst I can say about RHD is that it is irrelevant. At best, it has advantages. I've been racking my brains ever since trying to find a way to capture that.

...laura

[STL]

Hi,

I'm in between France and Austria and I own two LHD delicas (or L300 4WD 2.5TD), one in Austria (8 seats, 1991, equivalent to the exceed version I think) and one in France (well sort off). Before that, we were in the UK and owning another Delica (super exceed) from Japan but impossible to import in another European country (a grey import as they call it in the UK). We decided to buy a 1998 LWB L300 in Holland and I'm now fighting with the French Administration as it has never been officially imported in France. The Dutch LWB is a commercial car but perfect to convert in a camper van because it has a bit more space inside (and none of the electronic gadgets that will let us down at one time or another). Moreover, it is in perfect condition with only 65.000km on the clock. It drives perfect but need a bit of work though

Here it is:

[Artacoma]

I've been driving my deli for a couple of years now and don't mind right hand drive BUT if I could get the same van with lefthand drive I would . The roads are designed for it.
cheers all

[marsgal42]

I've been driving my deli for a couple of years now and don't mind right hand drive BUT if I could get the same van with lefthand drive I would . The roads are designed for it.
cheers all

Explain, please.

This has been used against us by several organizations, including ICBC and SAAQ. But nobody can ever say exactly what this means. Any "explanations" I've heard are either meaningless, or circular reasoning.

...laura

[mararmeisto]

Here's an interesting article to demonstrate why we SHOULDN'T be in LHD vehicles in a right-side driving country:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-fr ... 946497D6CF

Nothing 'circular' about whatever argument one might present in this case, I should think.

[Erebus]

Here's an interesting article to demonstrate why we SHOULDN'T be in LHD vehicles in a right-side driving country:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-fr ... 946497D6CF

Ummm, what I get on that link is from 1905, and the person was a passenger in a street car.

[richmond2000]

A reason for a LHD / 2 door van as so you /passengers / kids exit van on kurb side

[delicabits]

have driven in quite a few countries including LHD & RHD in the same countries and always feel less comfortable when driving kerbside as compared to centre.

[Mr. Flibble]

Thank you so much for your ideas...

SPAM!

Mods, feel free to delete my post along with the user "riya"

[FalcoColumbarius]

For future reference, Mr. Flibble, down in the bottom right of the offending post are buttons. The one that looks like an exclamation mark (!) is for reporting posts. Then it shows up in the forum listings, too... smiles.

Falco.

[Mr. Flibble]

For future reference, Mr. Flibble, down in the bottom right of the offending post are buttons. The one that looks like an exclamation mark (!) is for reporting posts. Then it shows up in the forum listings, too... smiles.

Falco.

Doh! I should of known that. Thanks!

[roadie]

Peoples misconception about RHD is unfortunate. At least for delicas. There are none of the drawbacks of owning say an RHD skyline, where you would want to pass on the highway, and be too low to see oncoming traffic in an intersection when turning left. The delica is unique because it has all the pros and none of the cons.

Too bad you have to experience it to understand. Because the people who are afraid will never understand. Oh well... I'll sell my van some day.

I disagree.....
Ive got no problem passing in an 800hp skyline.

[William]

Peoples misconception about RHD is unfortunate. At least for delicas. There are none of the drawbacks of owning say an RHD skyline, where you would want to pass on the highway, and be too low to see oncoming traffic in an intersection when turning left. The delica is unique because it has all the pros and none of the cons.

Too bad you have to experience it to understand. Because the people who are afraid will never understand. Oh well... I'll sell my van some day.

I disagree.....
Ive got no problem passing in an 800hp skyline.

800hp you say ? Pics and specs please Are you on GTRC as well ?

[William]

There are factory LHD L300 commercial vans. I've seen examples in Latin America. This is where the headlights come from to make our RHD Delicas compliant.

All LHD Delicas, however, are conversions. Their engineering quality varies. Like all safety-critical features, such a conversion is a priori suspect and must be approached with caution.

Right hand drive is a non-issue. Everybody will tell you this. It's true.

...laura

Left hand drive Delica's are not all conversions. Taiwan is one country that manufactures them in this format. I do agree though RHD is a non issue.