Long term seat comfort-how to tell?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Tue 17 Jul 2007 14:04
Long term seat comfort-how to tell? - davidh
Hi all, sorry if this has been covered before.

Just bought a new car and I'm gutted because its giving me lower back pain.

How do you correctly set a seat base/driving position with the following adjustments:

Fore / aft
tilt - seat base / wheel
Height
Lumber adj

Are there any consultants about that can set you up in your seat.

Are there any comfort solutions? I'm obviously reluctant to change the car!

Car in question is Vx Omega (leather seats - if that helps) its done 60k and is a 2003 so seat "should" be ok (the passenger seat aches me as well!)

Trouble is, I've had an omega before and that was fine (cloth seats) as was my previous rover 600 that I had for 3 years. How can you assess long term comfort from a test drive where aches might not set in?

Only previous car to give me this was a Citroen saxo I had from new with its small offset pedals and cheap seats that flattened. I found I was sitting twisted with that one.

Omega should be a comfortable old barge!

Yours confused,

David.
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Tue 17 Jul 2007 14:14
Long term seat comfort-how to tell? - borasport20
goto

tinyurl.com/24v6pm

and download the 'initial driving position and posture' guide

hth


--
Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Tue 17 Jul 2007 14:22
Long term seat comfort-how to tell? - Altea Ego
This is my experience and opinions - its not gospel.

Your bum needs to be well back into the seat/backrest joint. Wind in the lumbar support so its not pushing you out. Seat back fairly upright. You are aiming for a situation where you are in contact with the backrest from shoulders down to cocyx.

Having the seat too far away from the pedals causes your lower hips to move away from the back rest in use and you loose that seat lower back contact. Move the seat nearer / up and down so you legs when on the pedals/footrest push your hips back into the seat.

Steering wheel, up down in out so you have bent elbows and your hands at the same level as your man boobs. You need to feel the seat back against your shoulder blades.

Once thats all done tweak the lumbar out a tad till you feel it in your back.

As a general rule people sit too far back from the controls.






------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Tue 17 Jul 2007 14:43
Long term seat comfort-how to tell? - expat
My method is to raise the back of the seat and tilt the front down a bit, straighten up the back rest, use maximum lumbar support and then stick a cushion in the small of my back. It works for me but your mileage may vary.

Basically you need to start off with the good advice from the other posters then experiment to find what suits you.
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Tue 17 Jul 2007 22:07
Long term seat comfort-how to tell? - bintang
Try a typist's cushion. These are wedge shaped, with a cutout for the coccyx. They tilt the body forward slightly and cured a similar problem I had.

It is a pity we are some 60-70 years too late to buy a Swallow Gadabout. As far as seating and controls were concerned, I believe they were made to measure.
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Tue 17 Jul 2007 22:16
Long term seat comfort-how to tell? - bathtub tom
The most comfortable car I had for long distances was a Maxi.
It seemed like you were sitting on a bar stool, behind a bus steering wheel.
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