Lower back pain - best cars seats to help | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Tue 19 Feb 2008 15:46

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - davidh

Sorry if this has been discussed before but I'd appreciate anyone input. I have a leather seated 2003 Vx Omega auto thats crippling me in the lower back region when I drive. Sitting statically in the seat seems ok but drive half a mile and I can feel an ache coming on then I start having to shift round in the seat all the time and fidgeting. Its making me miserable as I had no problems with a previous cars (except a Citroen Saxo which gave similar pain) and the trouble started teh same day I picked the car up. I've go all sorts of adjustments - lumber / tilt / height but its no use - I cant get it right. Is there a psycology to pain - i.e if you expect to be uncomfortable you will be and then it becomes self fulfilling and tension builds up in the muscles? If I have to get rid (and I will - its that bad) whats got a good reputation for comfy driving position/seats thats in a similar class to the Omega for under 5 grand? Cheer + Thanks, David.

Edited by Avant on 01/01/2012 at 22:22

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 15:49

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - drivewell

Folks used to speak highly of the orthopaedic qualities of Saab seat design. Don't know if that's still the case - any Saab owners / users care to comment?

Edited by drivewell on 19/02/2008 at 15:50

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 16:40

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - commerdriver

I am on my second Saab, 145000 miles between them so far. The seats and driving position were a big part of the choice of car.
Great for me and my family drivers (wife and oldest son) all under 5' 5" can't comment on comfort for taller.
Good luck, there's not a lot worse than uncomfortable car seats when you have to spend a lot of time in the car.

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 17:44

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - davidh

>>I am on my second Saab, 145000 miles between them so far. The seats and driving position were a big part of the choice of car.
Great for me and my family drivers (wife and oldest son) all under 5' 5" can't comment on comfort for taller.
Good luck, there's not a lot worse than uncomfortable car seats when you have to spend a lot of time in the car.

Thanks for the Saab idea - I quite like the look of the 95 HOT as it happens.

I dont spend an awful lot of time in the car - maybe 80 mins a day? (actually I'm a little bit shocked its that much as I dont do a big mileage)

I find that I'm holding myself funny (yes, I know how that sounds) whilst sat in the drivers seat when my back is aching - is that self perpetuating the trouble or helping - I dont know.

I'm sure there'd be a market for a physio setting you up in the chair.

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Mon 2 Jan 2012 12:04

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Roly93

Folks used to speak highly of the orthopaedic qualities of Saab seat design. Don't know if that's still the case - any Saab owners / users care to comment?

I had a Saab 93 Vector and after 18 months of relatively unhappy ownership, I can say that the seats were the only redeeming feature of the car, they were excellent.

Edited by Roly93 on 02/01/2012 at 12:05

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 15:50

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - davidh

P.s forgot to add,

Seat felt okay on test drive so I bought the car. It seems unfortunate that the problem only came out after a couple of days.

Also, if I'm on the motorway with cruise on comfort is just about okay. Its the majority of the time when I'm mainly doing urban driving operating the brake/accelerator that the aching occurs.

Ta!

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 16:06

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - barchettaman

Withougt wishing to sound deliberately provocative, rather than changing the car, try to address the back pain itself.

After 4 sessions with a Feldenkrais teacher I was pain-free for the first time in 4 months.

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 16:19

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - TheOilBurner

If I have to get rid (and I will - its that bad) whats got

a good reputation for comfy driving position/seats thats in a similar class to the Omega

for under 5 grand?

Try early Volvo S60 or S80 or maybe a Saab 9-5. Both will do much the same as the Omega and the general opinion is that the seats are brilliant in both. Lots of choice in that price range.

Or if you want to keep the Omega, have you tried a lumbar roll or even considered swapping the seats out for something after-market?

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 17:11

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - madf

I know in a Saxo the pedals are offset so you have a slight spinal twist.
Is the Omega the same?

If so, it's a different car job as it sounds like your spine does not like twisting.

But a good chiropractor (or yoga or pilates classes) could help.

If you stand vertically and try to twist your body without moving your legs and look over your right and then left shoulders - as far as you can - does it hurt?

(Do the exercise slowly... twisting when breathing out and straightening when breathing in).

If it hurts, it's your spine. If you cannot do the exercise and turn your head so you can see at least directly behind you (or further) you have a very stiff and inflexible spine.

I used to have an inflexible spine through weight lifting but yoga helped a great deal.

Note: do not do the above exercise quickly. If it hurts stop.
If you force it you stand the risk of hurting yourself seriously, possibly a slipped disk. (did that once to neck, could not turn neck for weeks, running was agony, took months to cure)

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 17:34

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - davidh

>>I know in a Saxo the pedals are offset so you have a slight spinal twist.
Is the Omega the same?

No, the pedals are pretty much straight ahead and the footwell is vast - I just dont know wether they are positioned too high for me so I'm having to lift my leg or move it across from accelerator to brake quite far.

>>If you stand vertically and try to twist your body without moving your legs and look over your right and then left shoulders - as far as you can - does it hurt?

No, I'm fine with that (got some odd looks in the office doing the exercise tho!)

It's strange because I only get the feeling in the car.

I have tried various cushions/lumbar rolls etc but I find that I cant stop thinking about it being there so its a viscous circle!

The 2003 on Toyota Avensis seems to have good seats (for me at least)

I'd prefer not to change the car, not because of any financial reason being that I'm a Yorkshireman but because I cant get my head around why it is my back is the way it is in the car.

Do you think theres any mileage in hiring a car for 2 weeks and seeing if the back complaint goes away?

I'm pretty sqeamish about dis-robing in front of a physiotherapist because shall we say I'm quite a "large" gentleman. (Yes, I know how that sounds but I just mean big) doh I ought to stop digging with the size thing.

What are there any websites devoted to ergonomics and driving positions etc

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 17:37

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - davidh

>>Or if you want to keep the Omega, have you tried a lumbar roll or even considered swapping the seats out for something after-market?

Hmm thought about fitting the sport seat from the MV6 version but I dont know if there'd be any side airbag issues.

I like the S60. I like it a lot in fact. Parts are a bit scary on those arent they?

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Tue 19 Feb 2008 23:10

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Brian Tryzers

>I like the S60. I like it a lot in fact. Parts are a bit scary on those aren't they?

Don't know. Tyres aside, I haven't needed more than a couple of pairs of wiper blades (£28 fitted by main dealer) and a tail lamp bulb (about £1.50 fitted by me) for mine in five years and 70,000 miles. Volvo dealers offer a kind of service club for cars over 4 years old.

Had a 1998 Saab 9-3 before that. Liked the seats but the driving position was offset and the wheel too far away. The S60 has much more room around the pedals for size 12 feet too. Haven't owned a 9-5 but I've driven several; it has all the good points of the old 9-3 but fewer of the drawbacks. (I'm 6'5", by the way, and I've had lower back problems too. That the S60 seems not to revive them is one of the reasons I'm hanging onto it as long as I can.)

Have you considered that the leather may be part of the problem? Those who advise on ergonomics tend to counsel against it because its slipperiness makes it hard to stay in the right position. Saab offers some of the nicest seating fabrics I've sat on too.

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 06:05

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - oilrag

I think your only safe option is to go back to the known, or rent something for a few days to try it.
My friend switched from a Yaris, to a new Micra and after a few days was crippled with back pain, no amount of adjustments, or cushions could sort it.
Sold at a loss, the return to a new Yaris resolved the back problem while driving.

I sat in both and there seemed no difference in comfort.

Good luck WillDeBeast, I hope you soon get the pain eliminated.

Regards

Edited by oilrag on 20/02/2008 at 06:05

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 06:33

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - grumpyscot

Have had Saab 93 and 95, and Volvo S40, V70. Saab 95 definitely the best, followed by the V70.

However, I found the Vectra (which shares the platform with the Saab 95) seats absolutely awful.

Have you tried putting a rolled up towel behind your back - this was suggested to me years ago when I had a trapped nerve and it did help by making me arch my back more instead of slouching.

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 07:53

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Big Bad Dave

My dad had chronic back problems when he had his 2001 V6 Omega. Not sure if it was from constantly leaning into the engine bay to see what had broken down or all the time he spent in the cab of an AA recovery truck.

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 08:20

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - ijws15

My experience of the current Saabs its that they are awful.

Slipped a disc 18 months ago and corrected by Physio but I now watch my posture all the time to avoid recurrance. At one stage I could only sit for 15 minutes at a time at home or in the office but 2 hours in the Accord (04 Exec) was no problem - (Physio could not explain) In the early days I did consider sleeping in the car!

Six months I borrowed a pool 9-3 and after 40 minutes needed to get out and walk around - meant it never went on the list of potential replacements for the Accord! It was a well specced one with leather and lots of seat adjustment - but no use.

There is normally a fine dividing line between having the seat too reclined and too upright (too much weight on the spine rather than on the seat back), Also try and set the base with the front of the seat lower than the back so it tilts your pelvis and hence sets the lower back into the right curve (in many cars this means a compromise with the seat height), what feels right at first may not be the best long term seating position.

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 09:33

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - TheOilBurner

Don't bother with the 9-3, it's the 9-5 that still has proper SAAB seats...

The 9-3, IMO is just a Vectra with less features and a higher asking price!

The 9-5 is still a real SAAB, or as close to a real SAAB that you can still buy.

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 11:26

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - commerdriver

Don't bother with the 9-3 it's the 9-5 that still has proper SAAB seats...

You say this from how many years experience??
I went from 2 cavaliers and one vectra (over 300K miles)
to 2 Saab 93s one hatchback and now a saloon.
They are totally different cars to sit in and drive
Don't mistake 2 cars with the same platform as the same car.

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 13:44

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - TheOilBurner

You say this from how many years experience??

Did I say I was speculating?

I went from 2 cavaliers and one vectra (over 300K miles)

to 2 Saab 93s one hatchback and now a saloon.

They are totally different cars to sit in and drive

Don't mistake 2 cars with the same platform as the same car.

That might be your opinion, but I have owned both current Vectra and current 9-3, so feel qualified to comment! I agree same platform doesn't always mean same car, but often it does, and in this case the two are very similar.

Aside from a different interior and body panels, the two cars are very, very similar. Pound for pound, the Vectra is much better value too, just check out the specs for the 9-3 Vector Sport vs. a Vectra SRi. They drive the same, feel the same and have the same range of equipment and options.

The seats in the 9-3 are basically the same as the Vectra. The ones in the 9-5 are not, as a frequent passenger in a 2001 9-5, I can assure you the seats were very different, and IMO much better in the 9-5.

Like it or not, SAAB can't afford to have cars properly different from Vauxhall, when the 9-5 is replaced SAAB will be little more than a badge engineering exercise.

I'm not so blinkered to think that platform sharing automatically means the cars are the same, if you look at a new Volvo S40 vs the Ford Focus, IMO the cars are sufficiently different in feel and value for money, that the Volvo does count as a separate car.
You can really see the difference between SAAB which is just a GM badge and Volvo which is still a separate car company under Ford ownership.

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 14:04

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Hamsafar

Omega seats and driving position are supposed to be excellent, they were given a lot of attention during the design, and much was made of this to the Police and European Taxi markets, where some drivers were starting to make claims against their employers for back problems.
Some more basic models did have some adjustments absent from steering and seat, but it doesn't sound as though you have one of those. Have you tried searching for some scientific advice about adjusting seats properly? One common mistake is to dial in way too much lower lumbar support which feels nice at first, but then causes back ache.

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 14:08

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - RichardW

Lumbar 'support' in modern cars causes me lower back ache. Try setting the lumbar to min and reclining the seat a bit, which works in my Xantia.

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 14:10

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - commerdriver

Matter of opinion I guess
I totally disagree with you, I tested current Vectras before each choice and have been in several, it's a very good car but I preferred the 9-3 seats, I felt then and still feel it's a much better car to drive than the equivalent Vectra.
Looked at and tried a 9-5 but decided I didn't need the size. The seats were very good but not really any better than the 9-3.
Let the OP have his own test and see what he thinks.

The other thing that really swung it for me was that I never managed to find a decent Vauxhall dealer when I had them, the SAAB dealer I use has been very good for the 6 years I have used them.

But I guess I'm not going to convince you and you're not going to convince me so suggest we leave it there.

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 17:56

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - injection doc

I too had an Omega V6 but thye seat was killer, worst seat I ever had!. I am led to belive that the police also had a lot of issues with the seats causing problems. I had carltons & senators with the best seat ever, being in the 24vGSI carlton but the Omega was a huge dissapointment alround.
Doc

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Wed 20 Feb 2008 21:30

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Vansboy

Agree with injection doc .

I have a 97R 2.5CDX estate, it had all the toys & extras I wanted & the cloth trim I prefer. Lots seat adjustment, too.

& back ache!!

Edited by Webmaster on 21/02/2008 at 00:42

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Thu 21 Feb 2008 22:42

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Alby Back

Left the house this morning at 4.30. Drove to Scotland , worked there all day and drove back to Cheshire tonight. 528 miles round trip. Feel fine, no aches or pains. Car? ...............Mk 3 Mondeo Estate.

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Thu 21 Feb 2008 23:06

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - BobbyG

Before resorting to changing the car, get an appt with a specialist - chiropractor, maybe even a massage?

It could very well be something wrong with your back that the seats are making worse, but if the back problem was sorted then seats would be fine?

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Fri 22 Feb 2008 00:19

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - davidh

Thanks all for your replies.

I feel like I'm not going round the twist thinking its just me and Omega seats!

I have been messing around with the seat back - prodding it and such like and I reckon I can feel a taut band going across the bottom/lumbar area. The seat middle is made of leather upholstered panels - the taut band feels like its the recessed part inbetween these panels. The passenger seat feels nowhere near as obviously taut here.

I think the small of the back is quite a sensitive area especially when prodded.

I've a suspicion its just the leather seats on the Omega that are like this and the velour ones are fine. Makes me think that leather is overrated!

I dont want to drive around with 4 leather chairs and 1 velour one. It just doesnt seem right to do that yet it would be the logical choice.

Am I being fussy for not wanting to swop out the seat?

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Fri 22 Feb 2008 08:29

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - ijws15

The tight band is probably the lumbar support, does it soften if you adjust the lumbar support control?

Oddly enough the advice I was given by a Physio was to have less lumbar support but make sure the seat is high, the front edge lower than the back, and not to sit with your shins vertical in the car - all about pelvis angle and lumbar support does not affect the angle of the pelvis.

Do not sit with your shins vertical in the car - with your knee high the femur tilts the pelvis the wrong way and hence puts the wrong curve in the lower spine. Think about the strange chairs you can get where the seat is angled down at the front - that is what you should aim for in the car.

If you get the seat base right you do not need a lumbar roll.

Following these rules I have had no problems driving Octavia, Golfs (4, 5 & Plus), Avensis, Accord, Eos, Corsa (new) & Sprinter (actually vans are good because your legs are at the right angle). But not the Saab 93!!!!

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Fri 22 Feb 2008 08:13

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - ijws15

Left the house this morning at 4.30. Drove to Scotland worked there all day and

drove back to Cheshire tonight. 528 miles round trip. Feel fine no aches or pains.

Car? ...............Mk 3 Mondeo Estate.

Off topic but needs saying.

I guess your employer is not aware of its "duty of care" responsibilities.

If you had been involved in a serious accident on the way back your Fleet Manager and MD could find themselves in court on a Corporate Manslaughter" charge simply as a result of the length of your day and now much driving you did during it.

If self employed YOU would be appearing in court for manslaughter.

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Fri 22 Feb 2008 08:43

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Alby Back

Re long hours working / driving. With all due respect, get real. Many people, especially the self employed simply have no choice but to do so. As the Economy stumbles the difference between profit and loss is measured in single figures of percentage points. No one chooses to live like that for fun.

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Fri 22 Feb 2008 09:30

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Bill Payer

I get lower back pain from the leather seats in my Mercedes C Class - never had it in any other car in 30yrs. I find a small folded up towel pressing into the base of my spine fixes the problem completely. It never fails to amuse friends & colleagues though, and I'm sure my towel must have cost Mercedes sales.

Have a look at the posture guidelines, especially the initial driving position, here: www.drivingergonomics.com/

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Fri 22 Feb 2008 09:55

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - madf

shoespy
Re long hours working / driving. With all due respect, get real. Many people, especially the self employed simply have no choice but to do so. As the Economy stumbles the difference between profit and loss is measured in single figures of percentage points. No one chooses to live like that for fun "

Sorry but you get real. There are welle stablished cases of drivers falling asleep and crashing... remember the guy in a Land Rover who crashe dinto a drain. 3 hours sleep. Iirs he got 4 years.

There is a duty of care and if you do long hours and fall asleep (been there , nearly done it) and crash, the chances are you will be found guilty of negligence and rightly so.

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Sun 1 Jan 2012 23:10

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - corax

Left the house this morning at 4.30. Drove to Scotland , worked there all day and drove back to Cheshire tonight. 528 miles round trip. Feel fine, no aches or pains. Car? ...............Mk 3 Mondeo Estate.

But don't forget to tell them Humph it was a Ghia X - much better seats than the standard fare in the Zetec - I couldn't get on with them at all.

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Fri 22 Feb 2008 09:36

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - John F

A relatively short time ago, after hundreds of millions of years of evolution, a certain enterprising and stubborn vertebrate species decided to adapt the spine from a horizontal to a vertical structure. The discs between the vertebrae, having hitherto evolved merely as spacers, were suddenly expected to act as weight-bearing shock absorbers. They are not yet up to the job.

The ideal seat design [from the squashed lumbar disc point of view] is one where the squab is as far from the floor as your knee-cap is from the sole of your foot. I know of no car seat where this is possible unless you happen to be a particularly short member of the human race - perhaps from certain central African or south American tribes which are constitutionally small.

Buy a bus!

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Fri 22 Feb 2008 16:09

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - frazerjp

I once owned an 03-reg Ford fiesta, it had the most uncomfortable seat I've experienced on a long journey, on a journey longer then an hour my back was in agony, but what sorted this out was a cushion which was from an old sofa.
it did the trick.

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Mon 24 Mar 2008 15:55

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - RaineMan

I just came across this thread after doing a seach on 'Omega'. I own one, am 6'4" (with long back) and have back problems. Because we come in all shapes and sizes I think it is next to impossible to recommend a car to somebody based on the seat. I find the Omega quite comfortable but inferior to the Carlton that preceded it. Before the Carlton I had a Cavalier and a 405 - the Cavalier was only average and the 405 poor. I was a passenger in a SAAB a few years ago and got a niggle in the lower back after a shortish distance. In the late 70's/early 80's I ran a number of large old Fords (Consul/Zephyr/Zodiac). I had no problem with any of them but the Granada that came after was a real pain after 15 - 20 miles. If I can do a 250 - 300 mile run to the West Country without problems then the seat gets 5*s. I think the main advantage with the old Fords was the bench seats which allow you to change position slightly on a long run. I had the opportunity to take one on a long run (just under 300 miles) a few years ago and arrived at my destination feeling totally fresh and without a single ache. Maybe we need to go look at bench seats again?

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Mon 24 Mar 2008 16:30

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - drivewell

Maybe we need to go

look at bench seats again?

That would be a Fiat Multipla, then? ;)

(or a Honda FRV)

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Sun 1 Jan 2012 15:29

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - oobuc5

I had a pajero but after 2 spine ops and a knee opp i junked the seats and went for a pair out of a volvo with the heat pads and the posture control ,worked for me :

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Sun 1 Jan 2012 22:33

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Avant

This is quite a good thread to resurrect. Are there any current thoughts about good and bad car seats?

My experience suggests:

- too many French seats feel initally comfy but don't give enough support in the small of the back

- Volvo and Saab seats used to be the best in the business: GM has exerted its baleful influence on Saab, but Volvo's various owners have let them still be Volvos and I believe their seats are still excellent.

- the 'holy grail' for me at least is a seat that feels initially soft and inviting to sit in but then supports you where you need it. The only ones that hit that spot are all from some time ago: 1955 Austin A50 (my first ever car); 1968 Triumph 1300; and two Peugeot 205s, a GRD and a Sceptre. The 206 which succeeded it was one of the worst - hard and flat.

- the current Octavia vRS seats are firm but supportive, and better than those in non-vRS Octavias.

Edited by Avant on 02/01/2012 at 23:36

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Sun 1 Jan 2012 23:00

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - corax

- the current Octavia vRS seats are firm but supportive, and better than those in non-vRS Octavias.

Yes, isn't it a shame that many cars with good supportive seats like Recaro's have to be the sports versions of mainstream models?

Bmw sports seats are very good, at least they were in my 323i Touring. Pull out front section is useful for supporting long legs on long journeys. I've heard that the Audi sports seats are also good.

Honda Accord 2003-08. Very good. HJ reckons they might even be better than Saab and Volvo. I've no experience of them but many owners praise them in reviews.

The seats in VW's tend to be supportive. I had no problems with Polo's or Golf's.

The best seats I've ever had were in my Opel Monza. I could sit in them for 500 miles without a twinge. Again, I believe they were Recaros's.

Stay away from Toyota Avensis seats if you are in any way tall. Not enough support for long legs. Initially feel good, but after 30 minutes start to feel numb in the posterior.

Like the OP I suffer from a twinging back with flashes of sciatica. So a good seat is a priority for me these days. It also helps if the seat is high relative to the floor so that your legs are pointing down rather than forward as this can stretch the nerves unnecessarily.

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Mon 2 Jan 2012 09:26

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Philately

FWIW:

I had a Ford Ka back in 2001 which, after a while became impossible to drive as I had shooting pains down the leg after about 10 minutes. I replaced it with a Mk 1 Yaris, in which the seat was higher relative to the pedals - problem gone. I went to a chiropractor for several years.

My current car - a Skoda Fabia - was the cheapest car I could find with a decent driving position, and supportive seat, apart from a VW Fox. (So far as I can tell they have the same design of seat.)

We also have a Peugeot Partner Tepee - wheelchair adapted, which is good for the same reason as the Yaris - seating position like a dining room chair. The Fiat Doblo which preceded the Pug also had a high driving position. It also had height adjustment and a fore-and-aft rocking movement of the sit-on bit of the seat, lumbar support, reclining adjustment and armrest, which should have made it extremely comfortable - but it wasn't - don't know why!

Everyone is different, but the pointers I use are:

1. How high up are you seated relative to the floor?

2. How symmetrically laid out are the pedals (and do they work against the flat of the floor or against the angled bulkhead?

3. Is the steering wheel centrally placed with the column going away from you straight instead of at an offset angle?

One way to test a car for comfort is to hire one for a day and do a 100 mile (or more) journey.

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Mon 2 Jan 2012 09:56

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Bobbin Threadbare

I like my Mazda 6's seats. They make me sit upright, straight-backed and are supportive. I can do well over 200 miles in one go with no discomfort.

My husband's Celica is uncomfortable to drive for any length of time; he likes it because he's very tall and he can get his legs in but I am not keen on the buckety seats, which strain my back for long journeys.

I like most Japanese cars because they're quite small in the cabin. The seats seem to be about the right size for me (I'm only 5ft 7) and I have to sit upright for a bad back and knee (fell badly a few years ago).

My grandad always put those seat covers made of wooden beads on his car seats. I think it was some kind of passenger torture device as I cannot see how they make it more comfy!!

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Mon 2 Jan 2012 13:59

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - carl_a

Cars seats seem to be a very personal thing, what works for some doesn't for others. I bought a mini (or should it be MINI) and had to sell it after three weeks as the back pain was so bad.

I personally prefer Japanese cars as they space the pedals properly and are well laid out, most of them though don't use the interior space that well.

The press don't help when it comes finding cars that are good. Recently subscribed to Which? and read some of their car reviews. They say they test cars and measure the internal space, how long it takes the car to warm up and lots of other things. Yet they don't actually publish the results, all you get this their (very often it seems biased) opinions.

This is what they wrote about the VW Polo "The rear seats have poor contouring and lateral support but it's the space that's the biggest issue: leg room is tight and there's not enough cabin width to fit three adults."

So how many stars out of five do they award for Seat Space and Comfort?

4 out of 5

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Mon 2 Jan 2012 17:21

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Philately

I absolutely agree about the often trite test results of Which? They cite their own reliability findings, which seem often to be at variance with J D Power et al. One wonders why, and who to believe!

Car mags are even worse - they tend to pander to the petrol-head tendency. I suppose ththis is inevitable - they exist to flog product. An old codger (like me perhaps?...;-)) ought to be on the team purely to assess getting in and out and the comfort of the driving position over an extended distance. I reckon Vauxhall scores would improve and small Ford scores would take a nosedive.

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Mon 2 Jan 2012 17:21

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - corax

FWIW:

I had a Ford Ka back in 2001 which, after a while became impossible to drive as I had shooting pains down the leg after about 10 minutes. I replaced it with a Mk 1 Yaris, in which the seat was higher relative to the pedals - problem gone. I went to a chiropractor for several years.

The Mk 1 Yaris driving position is great. Really impressed with that cars packaging - it has been very well thought out for a small car. I find it more comfortable than my Avensis which is bonkers when you think that the Avensis has been designed for long journeys.

The Audi 80 had poor seats - even the sport ones. I remember reading a review on the coupe which was similar. "When they designed the seats someone somewhere got their sums wrong. There is no support for the lower back but the top of the seat pushes the shoulder blades forward".

Horrendous on a long journey.

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Tue 3 Jan 2012 12:48

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Snakey

I've had back problems for years and have found my Vauxhall Vectra (2006) to be excellent. Odd as the seats look cheap and are fairly firm but I can drive in it all day without lower back ache. I've learn't the hard way that I simply can't drive a Ford Focus as the seats really hurt my back. Other cars I've found good are the latest Golf, Jaguar X Type and Renault Meganes. I guess different cars will suit different backs!

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Tue 3 Jan 2012 16:43

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - bintang

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Tue 3 Jan 2012 16:55

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - dieseldogg

I bin b****ing for a wheen o years that surely car seats should be the Number One option on the list of options, i.e. what seat does Sir prefer?

One size certainly does not fit all.

Our Steyr Puch with Recaro seats is absolutly perfect for me. Sit up & beg, proper comfortable, elbow snugly resting against the door.................perfect.

The Galaxy was good/OK

The Old Volvo S80 was good.

The rover 75 was horrendeous (for me) as was a Peugeot 305/306?

The new Yaris is nice, to access & sit in , not driven for substantial period/distance yet

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Wed 4 Jan 2012 14:04

Lower back pain - best cars seats to help - Ethan Edwards

I have one of those heated vibro massage car seat covers. £20 @ Maplins plugs into the cigar lighter. Hard day sit down vibrate the stress away....bliss!

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