Lefties With a 6MT
 

Any lefties out there who owns or drives a manual transmission car on the regular? A buddy of mine, who is left handed stated that he has the hardest time driving a manual transmission car here in the USA. I just wanted to know how many of you guys are out there and how difficult it is for you to drive a manual transmission.

I'm a lefty and I've never had a problem with manuals. :tup:

I think it would be harder to drive a right hand drive manual.

I'm a lefty and no issues.

your friend must do serious drugs. i'm a southpaw and i've never had any issues at all... what issues could you have? there's not a lot to it... it's not like you have to sign your name on a dotted line, just rowing through a few gates in a transmission :rolleyes:

And to flip things around, there are plenty more righties who shift with their left hands in such places as the UK and Japan, presumably without any major difficulty. Your friend probably just can't drive stick very well, period. The lefty thing is just an excuse.

I think being left handed I prefer to have my left hand on the wheel, feels like I have more fine control over the steering, and I have had the experience of driving for several weeks in the UK using my left hand to shift.

Don't think there is any problem, just a matter of time getting used to it. Lots of places the drivers have to shift with left hand, so what the heck, lol.

Also, left hand should have no problem controlling a stick, think about which hand do you use to control the stick when you play arcade? Left hand.

I'm a lefty...
Never had any problems driving a manual. I also prefer keeping my left hand on the steering wheel, feels more precise.

Lefty here.. No Problems

Lefty here and I have owned both left and right hand drive and neither is a problem. It took a little getting used to my S15 at first but it is not to bad.

I think it has more to do with what you are used to than if you are right/left handed.. it sounds like your friend is used to right hand drive cars.

:iagree: I've always wondered what that would be like!

im a righty but steer the car with my left hand while cruising... so i dont see why he can't get accustomed. :icon17:

Lefty here. No issues.

:facepalm:

i do just fine

I drove in London and shifting was easy. What was hard was figuring out which lane you'd end up in turning at an intersection.

Look left and go wrong.

Tell me about it. I had a hard enough time walking without getting killed!

I'm a lefty and I remember hearing about this issue when I was a little kid, I've never understood the problem. Probably because it's never affected me.

righty here, would love to have authentic jdm z and drive on the right hand side :-)

Lefty here... Driving stick with my right hand obviously isn't an issue. Sounds like your friend is making excuses lol. Does he use his computer mouse with his left hand? Or how about when someone shakes hands with him? It's all about developing muscle memory. Shooting a basketball or throwing a baseball with the non dominant hand is clearly a problem because of the motion involved. With practice you can become ambidextrous with almost any action.

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/...20flanders.jpg

It is not as hard as you think.
1-6/R is the same so after the first 2 shifts you are use to the feel, the hard part for me was the turn signals and steering column controls are usually flipped. So I go for the turn signal and turn on the windshield wipers. :facepalm:

The most difficult things are the turn signals/wipers (they're swapped) and getting used to judging distances. Also, passing cars is awkward since you can't see around the left side of the car. Totally worth it if you enjoy attention, though. 1st gear being far away, and having 5th/6th close is weird, but not as bad as the turn signal situation. Every time I've driven RHD, the windshield was really clean after a few miles lol

Oh, and drive thrus suck too. Going through backwards is your best bet.

Very true. I'm a righty, and my brother and I have played raquetball once or twice a week for many years now. Couple years ago, my right wrist was bothering me to the point I just couldn't really play using it anymore. Not wanting to stop playing, I decided to try it left-handed. Wasn't very good at first, but after a couple weeks, I got pretty good. After a bit of time, I was almost as good playing lefty as righty. Played lefty for quite a while actually before eventually switching back. Nowadays, I can actually switch back and forth if I want. (heck, I do it every now an then just to throw my brother off during a game. :icon17:)

That is why you always take someone with you, then you do not have to do anything in the drive thrus. :tup:

i'm a lefty and never had a problem... but then again i am amphibious

amphibious??? :icon17:

lefty here. np as well
it's just one of those few things that i think lefties naturally adjust to. i can can't use lefty mouses or scissors. when i sat in the passenger seat pretending to shift with my left hand, it felt very awkward

:icon18: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:

It sounds like his friend isn't from here, cause the OP said "here in the USA"?
Either way I'm sure he'll get used to it!

AND, fortunately for me (and the car) the pedals aren't reversed!!!

I was in England for several weeks years ago. My biggest problem was going to the car on the wrong side and opening the wrong door. Then I had to look like I was going in the glove box for something, before walking around to the other side, in case someone was watching. :driving:

Stranger, anyone?