The agony of choice - putting the H pattern gearbox on the incorrect side...

[Lesthegringo]

I'm right handed, but a Brit who is used to having the gear change on the left of me, the correct side.... (I'll just duck down and wait for the dust to settle on that one!). For info I have spent most of my life driving left hand drive cars, so am agnostic about actual use, but for me a proper gearbox is on the left.

As a result, my racing sim rigs have all in the past been made with the home made gearbox on the left, although latterly my sequential shift has been placed on the right, mainly to allow me to have both rigidly installed at the same without getting in the way of each other. However the mouse and keyboard were also on the right low down where I had made an enclosure for the PC that was a massive help in cable management, plus allowed me to install some large, high volume quiet fans to keep everything cool. The collateral benefit was that it provided an ideal place for a mouse surface plus one of those mini keyboards, and at a height that was comfortable but not intrusive.

Now I have the P1-X rig finally 'fully' assembled, which I had a few parts made especially for so that the V3 could sit nice and low and on adjustable seat runners. As is traditional for me, the gearbox is on the left, but I am struggling to come up with a good solution to the mouse and keyboard issue.
If I was left handed, the gearbox attachment method I have come up with would allow fitment of a shelf to the left of the gearbox that with a couple of brackets would be ideal. But I'm right handed, and my OCD rails at the thought of an untidy setup just to accommodate the mouse shelf on the right hand side. I also am enjoying the ease of access to the seat afforded by the lack of any structure on the right hand side, which this shelf would effecticely neutralise.

So I'm left with two equally unappetising choices; put up with a clunky, awkward solution for a shelf on the right and block easy access, or move my gearbox over to the 'incorrect' side and use that to construct the mouse shelf, a neater solution that also leaves the left side of the rig open for ease of access. I had the foresight to make all the bits reversible, so it's easily doable, but it sort of grates to have the gearbox on the wrong side for me.

So have any of you guys come up with good solutions to this? I imagine many here are left hand drive operators anyway so would not have been troubled by this, but I'm interested to know what you came up with

Les

 

[NeoGrotesk]

I'm in the UK, never driven a LHD car, but I have my sim shifter on the right. The reason is, most sim cars are LHD so it feels like that's where it should be.

Interestingly, I have my 'mouse' (a trackball) on the left hand side despite being right handed, but that's because you use a mouse a lot more in flight sims and I prefer to keep my right hand on the stick/yoke and use my left for pressing buttons etc.

My mouse pad folds down to make getting in and out easier. It's still not easy though. I'd say that's the most realistic thing about my rig, it feels as awkward to get in as a real race car!

 

[stigs2cousin]

I´d put ergonomics first which means rely on your muscle memory and keep the gear stick in the right place for you.

I myself have the H-Pattern (VNM) and the Sequential (HSV) close together on the right ( the RIGHT) side of my rig and enter from the left ( the RIGHT way)
(As you can tell from my lack of humor I´m German)

The Mouse is on a little shelf fixed to the mounting frame of the gear levers, the fullsize keyboard on a DIY swivel mount to the left. It´s actually in the position where an open car door would be, so i don´t have to move it to snake into my rig.

About the shifters, the HSV sequential is about a hand with from the steering wheel, the VNM H-Pattern about two.
For racing it´s normaly the sequential, when I want to cruise in H-Pattern I just unscrew the HSVs handle and take it of so i have free acces to the H-Pattern knob.

MFG Carsten

 

[GEO147]

I have a P1X and had the exact same dilemma. I went with the shifter on the right and as a result never use it as I just cant get used to it on RHS

If I move it to left then I have the same keyboard and mouse issue..

 

[Lesthegringo]

I was missing one of the biggest advantages of getting the likes of the P1-X, which is the fact that it is very easy to change. As a result I'm going to move everything across and see how I feel with it on the right. The beauty is I can move it back if I don't get on with it.

I'll let you know how I get on

Les

 

[blekenbleu]

I´d put ergonomics first

I totally agree with that, and save some space using, instead of a mouse,
a trackball velcro'ed vertically to the wheel stand side.

For a keyboard mount (which IMO appears to be a key issue),
have you checked out @RCHeliguy's telescoping keyboard tray?
Also keyboard configurations in Show us your Rig / Cockpit, e.g. @Pedro Azevedo88's.

 

[BrightCandle]

After changing rigs and house and such my rig has been both ways round and I want to ensure its always easy to get into so I have had the shifter on the left, then the right and then the left again. You adapt regardless and it doesn't take that long to do so. I prefer to leave my dominant right hand on the wheel when I change gear so how I am now is preferrable but it doesn't make much difference in practice as both hands have to be capable of controlling the car anyway.

 

[metalnwood]

I am like you, drive RHS irl and always want shifters on the left. I also have motion so putting everything on the rig would have given me other issues so I moved some things off the rig.

I ended up using some 4040 and mouting it vertically off a base,. I bought some cheap wood chopping boards and attached them as shelves. So KB goes on one, mouse on top. The mouse is easy to use but not as close as yo uwould have it in an ideal situation. The KB is easy to use but you would transfer it to your lap if not racing and doing more KB work. It also gave me something like a hat rack thta I could then hang my vr, headphones, spare rim on. Its on the right side, easy to access but not in the way of getting in the rig.

 

[Lesthegringo]

I moved everything over, and played around with component placement, and while I still have to see how I get on long term with the H shift on the right, there is no contest when it comes to useability in all other respects.

I've used the H box support beam as the inboard mount for the mouse shelf, and with three other left over bits of 40 series extrusion I rigged up a really sturdy shelf with plenty of mouse area, with a keyboard at the top. It is neat, and with a bit of effort will be able to be used to mount a USB hub, further neatening everything due to better cable management.

I ended up placing the sequential shifter on the left to separate them, but as I can install it high and a bit further back it still allows relatively easy access, especially if I remember to slide the seat fully back when getting out.

My remaining quandary is the handbrake; one easy place to install it would be in the area that would effectively impede easy access in and out. It's not in truth a component that I use often, effectively the rally games, so its temporary omission is not a biggie. I may look into a quick release type fitment for it, but I'm aware of the need for the mounting to be very rigid. Like with the gear shifts, a sloppy or flexible mount destroys the immersion, rendering it toy like.

As a result I am actually considering attaching it near horizontally on the left hand side, and actually fixing it to the V3 seat frame. That would be similar to a real in car position, plus as it would be aligned wth the seat squab, would not impede access. If anyone has done this I would be interested in any feedback on potential issues

Cheers

Les

 

[Furnace Inferno]

I have the original P1 and I have the H-shift lower down on the side support, the sequential on an extra bit of extrusion under the wheel deck which puts it a little below the middle of the wheel height wise and then on the outside of the wheel support I’ve attached the handbrake.

Those are all on the left sound and roughly where they would be on most real cars that use them.

For mouse and keyboard I have the keyboard tray attached to the outside of the right wheel support and just swivel it out the way to get in/out and can fold it all the way in so it’s not in the way when not in use. I do use a keyboard with touchpad combo so I can still it to the tray though as I have full motion on the rig but I have used a normal mouse on it too.