Low & High Seating Position Car For Driver


Thread Starter #1
Joined
May 7, 2014
Messages
124
Likes
53
Location
Chennai
Hello All,
Not sure if this is already discussed in this forum.

When I had a discussion with my friends and colleagues, I got different messages for cars with Low seating and High seating position. Some said Low seating position is good for drivers for long drive and some said High seating position.
I would like to know experts thoughts on this.

(MOD : Please move this thread to a right thread if this one is not)
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 10, 2017
Messages
710
Likes
681
Location
mumbai
Re: Low seating and High seating position car for driver

LOW seating like an Civic,Esteem or Zen?

Not an Expert,but I think it depends on Individual preferences. A person with Back problem will always prefer High seating,a 5ft person will prefer Low seating.

Little off topic,regarding the Height Adjustable feature,my personal experience after driving Chevy Beat and MS Baleno for lots of city and highway drives is Height does make driving little comfortable.
Baleno comes with Height adjustable seats and when kept little higher it helps to get that perfect position for drives adding to the comfort.
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2013
Messages
757
Likes
419
Location
Pune
Low and High sitting position could be a personal preference, but to my knowledge of ergonomics, the angle between your thigh and calf should not be near to 180. Means the angle should be such that when you put pressure on clutch or brake the maximum work should be done by stretching the angle between thigh and calf, and the stress shouldn't be on the lumber bone. Also the angle shouldn't be to less that your thigh will not get support and keep hanging throughout the journey.

Secondly when you sit a high position, you tend to sit straight and thus reduce the pressure on lowest bones in the vertebral column. Which is good posture for long rides.

This can be practically proven when you drive a SUV [even cheapest like TATA SUMO] for long distance feels comfortable compared to luxury sedan [like BMW 3, 5 series etc.]
 
Joined
Mar 17, 2018
Messages
26
Likes
10
Location
Mumbai
This is such an important point for average height people like me. I'm 5'8". and I know because I don't have height adjust in my celerio ZDI. I miss it sorely. I think height adjust driver side seat should be a standard feature for all cars along with safety features as well, because I think, finding a comfortable seating position is paramount in the driving experience and felling tired whilst driving for long distances daily like I do for work. 80 kms daily. it's bad that I have to keep moving my seat forward and back to adjsut my back. please throw some light and comments on this point also.
also having a dead pedal near the clutch and having a driver armrest,these are such small things but manufactures of all cars seem to ignore this EXECPT a few. they tend to give this in higher variants which is absolutely ridiculous.
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2014
Messages
101
Likes
17
Location
thane
This is such an important point for average height people like me. I'm 5'8". and I know because I don't have height adjust in my celerio ZDI. I miss it sorely. I think height adjust driver side seat should be a standard feature for all cars along with safety features as well, because I think, finding a comfortable seating position is paramount in the driving experience and felling tired whilst driving for long distances daily like I do for work. 80 kms daily. it's bad that I have to keep moving my seat forward and back to adjsut my back. please throw some light and comments on this point also.
also having a dead pedal near the clutch and having a driver armrest,these are such small things but manufactures of all cars seem to ignore this EXECPT a few. they tend to give this in higher variants which is absolutely ridiculous.
Yes height adjustment should be standard feature in every car. Mine is indica ev2 and even after 6 years of ownership i feel uncomfortable while driving with those low height seats and for that i keep a pillow on seat for better viewing. I my opinion driver should be able to see bonnet front end for better judgement. I myself have touched front vehicle's back side many times in bumper to bumper traffic ( invitation for quarrel). In this case my old premier padmini is much better for front and back viewing as i can see bonnet front end and also dikky back end.
 
Joined
Mar 17, 2018
Messages
26
Likes
10
Location
Mumbai
Well said Vijay. the older gen Fiats had an amazing and confidence inspiring driving position for sure! We used to own the diesel ones.
 
Joined
Apr 29, 2017
Messages
277
Likes
261
Location
Chennai
The reason for poor bonnet visibility is primarily its steeper slope and shorter length but there are major reasons for shorter bonnet :
1. Powerful engines are now made in smaller form factor so engine bay has smaller size
2. The crumple zone can now be shorter due to material advances so the hood need not be long.
3. Aerodynamic design is needed to reduce drag coefficient and increase fuel efficiency so the bonnet and windshield are sloped down steeply
4. A steeper bonnet also ensure that in case of pedestrian accident, the head hits the bonnet and the pedestrian is not thrown under the wheel.
5. Improved handling - especially Polar moment of inertia- can improve when heavier part (like engine) are closer to the centre of gravity. Even a few cm distance will change the handling drastically as the Polar moment inertia is proportionate to twice the distance from cg.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 16, 2015
Messages
388
Likes
313
Location
Bengaluru
5. Improved handling - especially Polar moment of inertia- can improve when heavier part (like engine) are closer to the centre of gravity. Even a few cm distance will change the handling drastically as the Polar moment inertia is proportionate to twice the distance from cg.

Twice or Squared?
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2017
Messages
29
Likes
24
Location
Pune
What is comfortable may differ from person to person , depending upon his physique and age. I started driving on a Maruti 800 with low seats as all know . It was fairly comfortable then. Of late I find the family i20 seats a bit too low for my liking for long distances , also ingress and egress is not as easy as my other car a - Safari Storme .Some may argue there is less lateral movement of the body with a low centre of gravity with low seats but a good sorted out suspension in my experience takes care of that. Also I have observed a too soft or a too hard seat also takes a toll on the driver irrespective of the seat height.
 

Top Bottom