just wondering what you guys think of putting the driver on the 'inside' of the car.

no,no not THAT kind of inside, think of using LHD at Kyoto oval but RHD for reverse, i thinbk you get the picture it's equvilent to a lower CG so there must be some advantage to be had.
just bouncing some ideas 'bout

Seems logical, all oval cars a LHD, except the old Indy Roadsters where the engine was offset to the left, so the driver went to the right (wedged between the engine and the wall with no harnesses )

I switch it up. Right hand steering for clockwise (CW) tracks and left hand steering for counter-clockwise (CCW) tracks. I'm absolutely positive it makes a difference.

Of course it makes a difference. Just how much of a difference? It can help keep the inside tyres warm though (being on the "correct" side, that is).

Quote from Bob Smith :

Of course it makes a difference. Just how much of a difference?

On We National, it makes between .2 and .5 seconds difference for me. I know this, because I'm usualy racing BL1 CW or Aston CW tracks, so when I join a WE CCW track, I forget to change sides until I notice my times sucking. As soon as I change, I improve be about that much, depending on wheather I'm in the zone, or driving like shit that day .

I would much prefer to omit the ability to change the side of the driver in cars, and instead have the driver's position fixed in the correct (or at least the predetermined position).

Thus, the UF1 and UFR, based very obviously on the English Mini, would be considered a RHD car. The FXR, based on a German Porsche (arguably with a bit of Italian Ferrari in the mix too) would be a LHD.

After all, how realistic is it for a racing team to say to themselves:
"Gosh, we're racing the Kyoto Oval reversed tomorrow. Let's take out the driver's seat, the steering column, the steering rack, the dashboard, the brake, clutch and accelerator and swap them over to the other side for the race."?

Quote from Prodromoi :

Thus, the UF1 and UFR, based very obviously on the English Mini, would be considered a RHD car. The FXR, based on a German Porsche (arguably with a bit of Italian Ferrari in the mix too) would be a LHD.

Well, I've seen LHD Minis, and I believe most of the cars in the UK are RHD whatever their country of origin is What I would prefer would be a fixed driving side, something you couldn't change for each race. Maybe have it set in your LFS account details and it could be changed once a month or something..

The system as it is now works perfectly and caters for everybody. Why change it at all?

I have never driven a rhd car irl, and i've hated 'em in games since PlayStation's TOCA. So I drive every car from the left even it cost me a second. That's it

And like said above, why to fix something that ain't broken?
But that Huru-aito's suggestion is good imo.

i have to keep adjusting my styles between games, LFS im RHD all the time (might try LHD now on some tracks seeing this ) and on GTR i always drive the Chevy or Ferrari so its LHD

yep Stikiky can quote how much time this costs on any S1 track if you have it the wrong way. Also pays quite often to have different tyre/wheel settings for different direction tracks, it can all add up to the times

Ha when I race online people ask me why Im on the wrong side (lhd) well its cause Im a yank thats why haha, its what Im used to in irl, I feel that the small weight distrubution is small and can't hurt, I'm not that compititive I just want a clean fun close race Im 50% Australian on my mothers side, so when I go there for xmas or around then Ill hop into my uncles car and see what its like driving on the wrong side ahha

I stick to the one side of the car, switching sides is one of those things I deem to indicate you take the game too seriously or you're willing to go to unsportsman like lengths to get ahead. Like button clutch in S1.
Removing the option from LFS is a bad idea though imo and enforcing sides for particular cars is completely pointless. If anything Haru's idea has some merit if you choose your nationality within LFS or something.

I actually like the fact that changing sides affects the performance. IRL, when I drive a car it's LHD (not very often since I ride a bike), so I found it an extra challenge to learn RHD driving. At first it felt very wierd, but now it feels very natural for me to change sides. IMHO, it flexes the mind to be able to drive both sides.

Regarding the realism, I don't know how it's done IRL races, but most cars can be fitted with LHD or RHD, depending on the country of driving. My logics tells me that for a race, if it can improve performance on a specific track, drivers will select the <X>HD car to fit the track best, regardless of the country at which the race takes place.

On any given racing weekend on many circuits around the world you will find both LHD and RHD competing side by side in the same race regardless of the country involved. All racing classes and series have regulatory requirements and sometimes only one type of vehicle is allowed (eg: WRC allows only LHD now).

So LHD and RHD is not dictated by the country where the event is held, it all depends on the regulations for that class or event.

Most of the world's popular cars are made in both configurations.

A lot of real racing cars often have to carry ballast, so they can get 50:50 L/R weight distribution regardless of driver side. Even so I still find it helpful to be on the inside of most corners so I can get the driving line perfect.