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Need to suggest cars for my dad who is 6'6" and want a new "luxury" car - I have no idea which are good or not ... any ideas welcome! thanks
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The Skoda Superb is a stretched old Passat with extra leg room. It has more leg room than any other car I've been in and suits me fine. I can stretch out in the back with a tall person driving.
659.
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Might be worth looking at the Mazda6. Try a model that does not have a sunshine roof.
Clk Sec
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Dad.... Six foot six... How's his back holding out?
Wouldn't the more upright driving position in a 4x4 be easier? Honda CRV?
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As my son (6ft 6in) and I (6ft 1in) have discovered, the important thing is whether you are long in the body or long in the leg. Some cars fit him and I can't sit in them and vice versa.
Ask him to take a few relative measurements!
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All seats are not created equal either. Previous VW Passat - loads of headroom but woefully short seats. In two words, Go Swedish.
WdB (1.98m)
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I have a 6'7" friend who has unusually long upper legs and he drives a previous version 5 Series BMW.
I thought 4x4's would be good, but apparently the seats don't usually go back far enough for him.
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I'm 6'3" with a difficult back which makes entry and exit to and from most saloons painful. I sold my Volvo S80 for a Honda CRV. This cured the entry/exit problem but I find the drivers seat far to short and lacking thigh support. I am actively looking to replace the Honda which is excellent in every other respect but have yet to identify a suitable vehicle whilst keeping replacment costs within a £15k budget.
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Peppers
How about changing the drivers seat to a better after-market one.
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Screwloose,
Thank's for the thought. I have made some low key enquiries about a replacement seat with no success; but encouraged by you I will redouble my efforts and keep Silverling's dad in mind if I come up with an answer.
I also much appreciate the comments on VW's, BMW's etc. Encouraging but the downside is the entry/exit problem.
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i'm a bit shorter: 6'4" and my dad's 6'5", I found my B6 audi a4 sport had fantastic sports seats, with an adjustable length base and electrically adjustable lumbar support. Also found my mk1 VW bora had excellent seats. Both the audi and vw had firm seats (better for support and long distance comfort) with good adjustment and lots of leg and head room in the front, I would highly recommend the vw group seats from my experience, if I could buy one as an office chair I would :-). I wouldn't recommend my current lexus is220d as the base model seats are comparatively soft with poor adjustment and no real lumbar support so i get back ache. also I hit my head a lot on the top of the sde window frame/roof because it rakes in quite steeply. Experience with japanese cars hasn't been particularly good (mitsubishi pinin, mk3 mx5 and latest mitsubishi colt), generally seats too soft with no lumbar support and they often seem to have that annoying stepped recline action rather than a wheel and often no reach adjustment on steering column. My dad found the jaguar xk8/xkr didn't have enough leg or head room, s-type was good though with great seats and room in front. I think he gets on well with his bmw x5 seats and general room too. I would go for an audi again as I found my feet could fit in easily and the clutch foot rest was big enough. Also the head room was impressive with easily 4 inches above me and good visibility out of the windscreen.
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I'm not quite as tall as the original posts father but would seriously recommend a Volvo S80 (1998-2006MY, I've not tried the replacement yet). Even with a sunroof fitted I can still get in comfortably with plenty of room to spare above me and plenty of room for someone to sit behind me. The seats are excellent as well with enough multi adjustment to find the perfect setting. The Skoda Superb is another fine recommendation for tall people but the seats are nowhere near as comfortable as in the Volvo S80.
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I wouldn't call it a 'luxury' car but my S-Max can easily fit somebody who is 6' 6" sitting BEHIND a driver who is 6' 6". Not too many cars can claim that.
Good Luck
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I have a 6'6" friend who in the time I have known him has had a Skoda Fabia, Mondeo, Skoda Octavia, Subaru WRX and now a BMW 5 series. My 6'7" son can easily drive the Rover 214 and the Previa. Remember it's not just overall height that counts in a car, limb length, back, even neck length all make one man's comfy car another's nightmare.
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It also follows that some cars you will want to drive and others you won't. Height can be a great excuse for not driving a car you don't want too....
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Don't know if its 100% true, but in certain parts of Norff London,(souff Tottenham ish) there are hundreds of old Volvo's driven around, because it allow the drivers to wear their obligatory hats .
Once whilst working in this area I asked the distance to another part of town, the gentleman who had a good sense of humour responded, "oh it's about 7 miles, but to you 6.5",
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When I was in the retail motor trade on an almost daily basis tall people would come into the showroom and challenge me 'have you got anything I can fit in'?Most times shown how to adjust the seat properly I could. BMW's were particulally good and I don't think I ever encountered anyone who was too tall to fit in one.One chap had been driving a 5 series for 3 years with his head wedged against the roof because he didn't realise there was a height adjuster on the seat.READ THE HANDBOOK.
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I'm 5'11" and of medium build so in theory should fit comfortably in pretty much any car. Not so I'm afraid. For some inexplicable reason the ergonomics chosen by some manufacturers really suit me and others can be really uncomfortable. Now I am the first to admit that this is a very personal view and that some which I favour may not suit others and vice versa. Based purely on my straw poll of one, my findings are as follows -
Fords - very comfortable, best of the lot for me everything where it should be
Vauxhalls - quite uncomfortable, something about the relationship to the wheel even with adjustments made.
Volvos - uncomfortable squidgy seats odd lay out of controls
BMWs - very comfortable nearly perfect
Citroen - just OK but seat squabs too short
Renault - painful saggy seats and poor wheel position
Audi - OK but not in BMW / Ford territory
Mercedes - fairly uncomfortable too hard
Rover - comfortable armchairish
Peugeot - bit weird Italianish position
Honda - cramped narrow seats
I have had various models from all the above manudacturers over the last 30 years of relatively high mileage motoring. Sorry if it sounds like a cliche but if I was to choose a car for a long drive I would boringly enough go for a large well specced Ford.
Freely accept that others will disagree
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Sorry - forgot the topic related bit of my post ! :-(
My tall friend ( 6'6" ) currently has a BMW 5 series saloon and finds it very comfortable. His previous Passat was too cramped but the Mondeo he had before that was fine.
For further trivia from me my two Golf GTIs very very uncomfortable but I didn't seem to care at the time ( especially the pre-cat 16v ) too busy keeping it out of ditches to think about the seating position !
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