Sneak Peek of the New Prius #4

[DaveinOlyWA]

Originally Posted by ernie58

If it only adjusts the seat forward and back, then you really haven't been listening...

ya right...

i would venture to think its tilt and rise not forwards and backwards

[nyprius]

Originally Posted by marzprius

Looks to be a power lumbar, with the current height adjustment lever behind it. Which is fine, as long as the height adjustment is there I don't care whether or not it's power. What I do want is longer seat travel & telescopic wheel, there's no need for all that rear seat leg room while I'm cramped up front. I can always move my seat forward if some one needs more legroom behind me, but it'd be niice to have the capability to stretch out the 98% of the time nobody's behind me.
Front leg comfort is especially going to suck with that ridiculous center console they insist on if the seat track distance stays the same.
The new design is disappointing, I keep hoping it's just a decoy & we'll see the real thing shown in Detroit. It seems we going backwards into conventionality: center console taking up useful space, the needless shifter placement, MFD placed out of sight / rather than in front of driver, styling becoming more cluttered instead of bolder. Not the forward leap that the '04 was, not even an evolution, but quite the opposite.

I agree. It's crazy to have lots of legroom in the back seat, while front seat legroom is limited. I rarely have anyone in the back seat. We should have the option to slide the seat back further, then, as you said, slide it up if someone in the back needs room.

I took my car to a handicap retrofitter that shifted the travel of my seats back three inches. Now I can slide the front seats back three inches more than the OEM position. It feels much more comfortable.

Toyota is an excellent company. But they should realize that people are taller in the US than in Japan. It seems that many Toyota cars don't allow the front seats to slide back far enough.

US Toyota models differ in many ways from Japanese models. One of the differences should be more front seat legroom.

I also think it's great that the new Prius will have driver's seat height adjustment. It's unbelievable that they put height adjustment on the $13,000 Yaris sedan and every other US Toyota model, but didn't put it on all versions of the Prius, including the $30,000 #6. Toyota doesn't make many mistakes. But not putting height adjustment on the Prius was a really big and stupid mistake.

The Prius has height adjustment everywhere in the world except the US and Canada. I heard that the decision to not put height adjustment in the Prius was not made by Toyota in Japan, but rather by US Toyota. This makes sense. Perhaps US Toyota is emulating the bad decisions so often made by US car companies.

[zenMachine]

Originally Posted by nyprius

I took my car to a handicap retrofitter that shifted the travel of my seats back three inches. Now I can slide the front seats back three inches more than the OEM position. It feels much more comfortable.

How much did it cost?

I heard that the decision to not put height adjustment in the Prius was not made by Toyota in Japan, but rather by US Toyota.

I'd love to know who the idiot was to come up with that decision.

[nyprius]

[QUOTE=zenMachine;735263]How much did it cost?

The work was done by New England Wheels in Billerica MA. They charged about $300 and it took about three hours. They retrofit cars for Boston Celtics basketball players. The job was easy for them. The guy told me he could do it over the phone without even looking at my car.

The work involved removing the seats, drilling out the rivets on the two pedestals in each of the four seat rails, welding about five inches of strong steel to the front of the seat rails, welding the pedestals back on three inches forward from their original position, painting the assembly black, then reinstalling the seats.

The work was perfect. The range of motion of the seats was shifted back three inches. Now, even with the seats three inches further back from the OEM farthest back position, there's still enough leg room in the back seat for a tall person.

Also, since the rails are angled down toward the back, the seat is a little lower than before, since it's back farther than before.

The retrofit almost certainly didn't affect the airbag functionality since the bags are designed with lots of redundancy (ie: they need to work well for a 5' person weighting 300 lbs as well as for a 6' person weighing 120 lbs).

[drees]

Originally Posted by nyprius

I took my car to a handicap retrofitter that shifted the travel of my seats back three inches. Now I can slide the front seats back three inches more than the OEM position. It feels much more comfortable.

While I'd have more leg-room if I slid my seat back further, the problem I have is that the steering wheel is then too far way.

Keep in mind that the proper driving position lets you rest your wrist on the top of the steering wheel without reaching. If you can not do that, you are too far away from the steering wheel for full control in emergency situations.

I need a telescoping steering wheel to do that with enough leg room (mostly for my left foot).

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by ManualOnly

Don't forget, for every "new" comfy-feature added to Prius 2009/10, it is gonna add, not just weight, but also cost and complexity the entire package.

I'd rather Toyota get the hybrid basics enhanced like higher battery-energy-weight-ratio, improved safety and yes that promised improved fuel economy...

In short, no free lunch.

Apparently, that has already been taken care of.

[nyprius]

Originally Posted by drees

While I'd have more leg-room if I slid my seat back further, the problem I have is that the steering wheel is then too far way.

Keep in mind that the proper driving position lets you rest your wrist on the top of the steering wheel without reaching. If you can not do that, you are too far away from the steering wheel for full control in emergency situations.

I need a telescoping steering wheel to do that with enough leg room (mostly for my left foot).

I ride with the seat back all the way up. So even with the seat 3 inches farther back than the OEM farthest back position, I can still comfortably place my hands at 2 and 10 O'Clock on the wheel.

For me, the cramped leg room was unacceptable. Therefore I did the research needed to find mod options. A telescoping wheel would be nice. But I felt 95 percent of the problem was seat position. I mostly solved that, though I'd like to have the seat an inch or two lower.

[spwolf]

where is my sneak peak #5? :-)

[efusco]

Originally Posted by spwolf

where is my sneak peak #5? :-)

It's been around 11am or noon prev. weeks...if we get another one. It was my understanding that the first and last would be posted here...sorta makes me think there won't be more.

I hope I'm mistaken.

[ZC1]

OH COOOLL !!
An eject button!

ZC1