What's your driving position for every day?

I sit upright when I drive.  I can't stand the seat leaned back too much.  I've been doing a little car shopping (just looking at the moment) and have noticed newer cars seem to have the headrest angle really far forward.  As an example, I had a Ford Edge rental last year and the headrest was so far forward, I had to remove it for my trip. Luckily I was able to do that on the Ford, but have noticed some cars have a fixed headrest that's also canted forward. 
Am I just an oddball and will need to learn how to drive more leaned back if I want a modern car or have others noticed the same issue?

-Rob

Does "slumped" count?

Truck has no AC, so usually arm hanging out the window, head back almost to the headrest, right hand at about 4:30 on the wheel.

Someone else will likely know more but in general, National Traffic Safely Admin rules changed a few years back on headrests.  They are now required to be much closer to your actual head.  The intention is to reduce the distance between your head and the headrest to eliminate whiplash.  But, the result for many is your head is unusually always in contact with the headrest.  

It's not just you noticing it.  

I remember reading something lately about headrest rules changing. Can't find it again though.

I drive very close to the wheel for someone of my height. 6'0" with a 32" inseam and I share a driving position with my 5'7" friend. I like the seat very upright and forward.

The XJ, having an armrest and center console at the same height, allows me to drive with both elbow supported and my hands at 8 and 4.

The E36, having horribly asymmetric controls and armrests, I like to eagle claw the wheel with my left hand and grab the drivers-rear OS handle with my right hand. 

In reply to John Welsh :

Yup this. I have to lean seat back a bit more in modern cars.

Here is a sample of Chrysler/Jeep whose modern headrests are now active meaning the headrests move forward on impact to reduce whiplash. 

My Grand Caravan has the same on the front seats: 

When the headrest rules changed a few years ago, it seemed different manufacturers had different interpretations of how to meet them.

Somewhere around 2010, Fords and Subarus in particular became undrivable to me, because the fixed headrests pushed my head so far forward that I couldn't get comfortable, and visibility was actually a problem.  I sit with the seat raked at a pretty reasonable angle - not too far back or upright.  Shouldn't have been an issue.

Either the rules relaxed a little, or makers figured it out, because later cars don't seem to have this problem to as severe an extent.  Our late-teens Volvos are not an issue.  Neither is our '12 T&C.

93EXCivic said:

In reply to John Welsh :

Yup this. I have to lean seat back a bit more in modern cars.

You guys will have to learn me this crazy idea of "lean the seat back more"...

I sit very upright, fairly close to the wheel with my left arm out the window.  

Favorite driving position? Doggystyle?

Definitely slumped, knees up behind the steering wheel.  Sitting upright gives me a screaming backache in short order.

Of course, all new vehicles have you sitting bolt upright, or are trucks, which sit you bolt upright and hinge in the middle for extra spine-aggravating bounce.

(and this is why I drove a 38 year old Mazda to work)

I'll admit at my age and weight, I don't have the core strength anymore to sit laid back.  20+ years ago, it wouldn't have been an issue.

I was just curious if it was me or something different about newer cars.  Interesting to know that the laws changed which facilitated the headrests. 

And, although I probably couldn't afford one, I kinda like the little GLA AMG, but looking at passenger seat in this picture, I'd be staring at my feet.  It's probably a little too upright for how I'd drive, but not by much.  Hence me asking the question to y'all.

-Rob

In reply to rob_lewis :

If you need core strength, you're doing it wrong.  The idea is that the seatback supports your upper body weight instead of your spine, kind of like a hammock.  Late 60s/early 70s Fords sort of had this driving position.

I will allow that most of this is due to driving cars with insufficient headroom, followed by having to scooch the seat forward so you can actually reach the steering wheels and the controls, but it turns out to be super comfortable for those 12-14 hour days in the saddle.

It always amused me that when one of my friends, who is about six inches shorter than me, would drive my car, he'd run the seat back about four or five clicks.  He's used to being able to fit his knees under the steering column, and be able to drive with his feet up instead of laid over sideways.

Just to be clear they're called head restraints not head rests. You're not taking a nap. This is what I tell my students. We have no issues with the 2019 Fusion we use for driver education. All sizes and heights seem to fit just fine. 

I sit upright and close for my height.  I read somewhere, maybe in the print form of GRM years ago, that you should set your seating position where the steering wheel hits at your wrists with elbows slightly bent. Since then, that's what I do.  

I put my foot on the floor behind the brake pedal with my knee slightly bent to set the slider.  Figure that will give me all of the mechanical advantage I need to have on the pedals and wheel.

Whether it's a race car or street car, I like to sit as high as I safely can so that I can see out better. CoG be damned.

I sit pretty upright, and in cars with power seats, I usually raise the seat nearly all the way up, but the rest depends on the car.

My favorite of my current fleet is my '77 Grand Prix.  It's made for someone exactly my height. Right hand on the wheel at 1200, left elbow on the window sill, and left fingers hooked over the rain gutter trim.  Perfect. GM made a ton of cars set up like this for years. Well, almost perfect, because if I adjust the (manually adjusted, fore-aft only) seat to have my elbow rest on the wheel when straight-armed, as I was taught in driver's ed, my legs are just a tiny bit more extended than I'd like. The seat has the perfect height, angle, and lumbar despite all of those being non-adjustable.

Second favorite is my GMT-400.  Power seats with lumbar, plenty of room in every direction and low sills.  Very nice. Usually two hands on the wheel at 9 and 2 for cruising, and left hand at 10 when shifting.

On cars with tilt wheels, I prefer the wheel low, but it usually blocks the speedometer.

I find that everything made after 1990 or so has the steering wheel too far away, even cars with telescopic column,so my seating position is always a compromise between having the wheel too far away, or the pedals too close.

Something I completely don't understand is hanging the left arm out the window and down. That can't possibly be comfortable and I'm not sure I'm physically able to do that.

I've noticed as others have noted that many newer cars have the headrests thrust forward. I am cursed with the head-too-far-forward Neanderthal look, but it keeps my head off the headrest just fine.

Almost every car I've driven has the steering wheel too damn far away.  Or maybe I have T-Rex arms.  If I get my knees comfortable, the steering wheel is several inches farther away than I want it.  Toyotas always seem to be bad about this.  Also, I am too picky.  And too grouchy.

I haven't been too bothered by headrests, but I rarely drive anything made in the last 10 years.

I drive with the seat slightly tilted back with a small pillow behind my head to keep my head cushioned and prevent my arthritis inflamed neck from getting sore from my head moving around a lot.  

I sit fairly upright with some bend in my arms.  The Suzuki/Fiat engineering situation with the SX4 seems to have blessed it with that short leg / long arm driving position the Italians are famous for so I have to compromise; I'm closer to the pedals than I would like and a bit farther from the wheel than I would like as well.  If the car had a telescoping steering wheel it would be much nicer; I have more bend in my legs when driving than I would like which focusing more of my weight into a smaller area making long drives worse than they should be.  

I both really like and kind of don't like this car at the same time.

I drive with one hand on the top of the steering wheel while slouching and leaning on the opposite arm.  I know that's a terrible driving position but 90% of driving on public roads is mental and if I sit like I should I end up driving like a shiny happy person.  Also, when I was a kid I saw the Joey Chitwood show and spent the next summer practicing stunt driving with one hand like they did. 

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to rob_lewis :

If you need core strength, you're doing it wrong. 

You need core strength when you insist on laying the seat back in the BJ position and then lean forward hanging off the steering wheel.

In reply to Duke :

It's more like the giving birth position than anything.

The seatback holds your body, your arms hold the steering wheel.

In the RX-7, the headrest is what my shoulders wedge up against.  In the Volvo, I can touch the headrest with a helmet on if I lean my head back... and I sit fairly upright in the Volvo because I can't get the seat bottom low enough to get my knees high enough for a comfy position.  Should note that the helmet also grazes the roof sometimes, so it's not like I'm sitting in the back seat or anything, I like to be able to reach the buttons on the center console without having to reach.

I have two basic issues with many seats: the headrest thing, which makes many modern cars quite uncomfortable for me, and getting sufficient thigh support for my 34" inseam legs. One of the reasons I'm so committed to my 128i is the sport seats that offer six (I think) separate adjustments. Lowest overall setting, bottom cushion tilted full up in the front, thigh bolster extended, seat back lightly reclined so that my head just grazes the headrest. This gives me about as much overall support as I can get, and has proven very comfortable over long distances.

My Saab 900 and ND Miata are not bad, but neither offers anything like the cossetting that the BMW does.

bigeyedfish said:

Almost every car I've driven has the steering wheel too damn far away.  Or maybe I have T-Rex arms.  If I get my knees comfortable, the steering wheel is several inches farther away than I want it.  Toyotas always seem to be bad about this.  Also, I am too picky.  And too grouchy.

I haven't been too bothered by headrests, but I rarely drive anything made in the last 10 years.

Me too. I'm tall so almost always have the seat all the way back, or nearly there and I sit quite upright, otherwise I wouldn't be able to reach the controls. When I see someone driving a car and their head is barely above the wheel I assume their either teeny-tiny or leaning WAY too far back trying to look cool, but really, they just look short.

To get my helmeted head to fit in my sunroof equipped FC, I had to lean way further back then when I was driving normally. It's part of the reason why I don't ever want a sunroof in one of my cars ever again. I put an aftermarket wheel and a big spacer behind it in that car and it was much better for me.

My position on driving every day is that you should take one day off. 
 

#dadjoke

And I fight a battle between my arms and my legs. I want to stretch out my legs, but I don't want to strain my back forward at all. Upper back wins the priority. I consciously push my shoulders back and move the seat forward until I can reach anyway. Otherwise I unconsciously stretch forward to get the wheel and my back tells me about it later.