2006-10-01 07:00:03 · 6 answers · asked by aceventuradude 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
Race cars DO often have the driver's seat in the middle.
It's mainly a "width" problem and an access issue. If cars were wide enough to comfortably seat 3 people some of them MIGHT come with the driver in the middle, but then you'd have to slide over pretty far to get in. A wide car would not be very aerodynamic. For a 2 seater, side by side, one seat has to be beside the other.
Formula cars are very narrow for this reason, and they all have the driver in the exact center. Ditto with the top fuel drag racers and funny cars. Even though a funny car has a body that looks like a stock model, it's just a shell, and the driver is in the exact center.
A lesser reason on solid rear axle rear wheel drive cars: The car twists to the right on acceleration, the left side raises up. The weight of the driver on the left counters this just a bit. A minor factor, but it's there!
2006-10-01 09:50:52 · answer #1 · answered by econofix 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As being a mechanical engineering student, the technical answer to this it is to facilitate quick transmission and to allow compactness of the vechicle.. Vechiles like the earth movers do have a the steering control in the middle but they do not operate on gears.. they operate on hydraulic principle.
The location of the steering various to countries, in most of the western and European countries it is at the left and in Asian countries it is the right. It depends the type of traffic system followed there.. but in no case it is in the centre...
The vehicle gets it power from the front where the engine is in centre. The transmission shaft from the engine runs down to the differential gear at the rear. And also this is the same case in vehicle which has their engine at the rear (eg, some Ferrari model ) The vehicle's transmission system is so complicated with gears and cluthes it makes virtually impossible to have a steering system in the middle.
But steering wheel in the middle can be made possible, provided the vehicle size must be bigger... the wheel's location would be more than a metre above its normal position in a vehicle.
2006-10-01 07:16:10 · answer #2 · answered by ENOCH RUFUS 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well i mean the drivers seat isnt always on the left side depends on which country you are in, also i think it is because of space more than because of the transmission mainly because some older trucks and cars and some current ones have bench seats and people can sit in the middle with plenty of space, but i think if you had one seat in the style of like a bucket seat you wouldnt be able to have a passenger seat, also maybe so that this way you can be on the side and see the side of the road and get a better fealing of where you are sitting in terms of where your car is and the road, im not sure if you will find an exact reason however those are some reasons im sure the automotive company thought of
2006-10-01 07:13:07 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because most cars usually have the transmission tunnel running down the center of the vehicle. So if the drivers seat were in the middle, you wouldn't have very much leg room.
2006-10-01 07:04:16 · answer #4 · answered by HULK RULES!! 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oook!?!!?
My drivers seat's on the right!
Oh, that's OK, I drive on the left.
It has to be one side or the other or the driver would take up too much room.
2006-10-01 10:01:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
So you are located directly behind the steering wheel and brakes etc.
2006-10-01 07:45:18 · answer #6 · answered by frank m 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋