Seats too relaxed/reclined?!

No,the Three is priced just fine Thank You. Comes very nicely equipped without the pricy garbage on the five driving it over $30K.

Toyota got smart and listed to all the bitching from owners to put in a power seat, but it took them almost 3 years to do it.

I have absolutely no problem with they way it drives except for excessive wind and road noise. Also the excessive engine noise when accelerating because of the CRV. Much better NVH would be appreciated in future versions and we'd gladly pay more for it.

And, FYI, one can purchase a fully loaded 2012 Camry XLE 4 banger
out the door for LESS than $29K and it's one hell of a lot more car than the Prius......except for gas mileage....which is not the only thing imprtant to us.

The interior materials and trim are much better and it doesn't have the creaks, rattles and rolls of the Prius.

The Prius is a great car, but it certainly can be improved in many areas,most especially in the NVH areas AND interior materials...( dash, door panels, headliner, carpeting ) They do that, and we can
well understand paying a bit more.

Until they do that, it remains Corolla like in the interior...much as you're being a Prius fan boy hates to admit it.

 

Well, this isn't the first topic on uncomfortable seats, so you may want to search and see if there are other solutions. i remember reading some people actually purchased sparco seats and love them. i'm lucky i guess in that i feel comfortable, but i subscribe to LTZR1's suggestion of 110-120 degrees. it makes sense, and please consider this becuase......
1. if your lower back (lumbar) is not being supported by the seat, then those muscles in your back are working constantly to prevent spinal compression. so the soreness is strained muscles, kind of like walking around with a dumbell in mid-curl for an hour. that would create big time bicep soreness for days.
2. if you are sitting at 90 degrees, your full upper body weight is driven into your lower back by gravity and bumps from the road compress it further. (causes those lower muscles in your back to squeeze protectively again, when they are already tired)

The reason I posted is becuase I drive 72 miles a day, and i'm a runner too, and I know long runs and/or speed work can cause issues in the lower back so you may be double tasking your lumbar region when it's already sore. if you are willing to try something less invasive than unscrewing the seat, and something less tragic than trading in a new car thats getting amazing gas milage as you mentioned in your original post, then i'd suggest reclining the seat back a few clicks so your lower back is the first thing that touches the seat upright and don't worry if your upperback is touching. it might feel weird but it might just work?? you might try an anti-inflammatory like motrin or tylenol an hour beforehand because if your back is still irritated then nothing will feel good, even if its right. good luck!

 

Just keep one thing in mind since you're on the cap on Prius wagon...

Prius is in its 3rd generation ...

Corolla and Camry are in their 8th generation or thereabouts .. they've had a 20 year headstart to refine.

 

On the back side of the lever there should be a claw. Use a screwdriver to release the claw and slide it off.

 

Maybe his upperback isn't touching because the seat is slid back too far and can't reach the wheel.

Believe me, you want your upper back seated and the headrest reasonably close to your head in case of a rear end collision. I have a 20 year old mid back whiplash injury to prove that.

 

That has absolutely NO bearing on using quality materials in the interior and engineering in good NVH in the vehicle. They can learn from the other well developed efforts going on within the company.

I wouldn't buy the Prius V wagon with it's current anaemic powerplant and I'm NOT on certainly on "cap" for one whatever that's supposed to mean. The dash is hideous and so are the interior materials.

We were closng on the Camry XLE and watched 2 couples walk from the new Prius V wagon because of the price AND crappy interior materials.

 

LTZR, you should really go some where else to post your rudeness and name-calling. It seems that just about every one of your posts takes issue with not only the topic, but with the individual poster.

I doubt a 15 year-old could afford a new Toyota, so you are probably not 15 years old, but you sure do seem to act and write like one!

 

Hey Tony.....Talk about "name calling".......practice what you preach !

"Rudeness" ? "Name calling" ? Is that what a different opinion is to you ? Is that what a different perpective is to you ? It's an open forum, with some interesting thought provoking exchanges.
If you don't like it.....you most likely would enjoy the comic pages !

Have a nice day !

 

What is the ideal shape of the spine? Isn't it S-shaped? Isn't it suppose to curve anteriorly in the lumbar region?

Rmi: Sounds like your spine shape is too straight. I wonder if this is ok or are you more predispose to "hunch" as you age?

 

Maybe some find it laughably uncomfortable because they don't have a clue of how to correctly adjust a driver's seat. I've sat in some 20 something's car to find the seatback reclined 45 deg and no chance of steering the car well. wonder there aren't more accidents out there. See post below, many Youtube videos from pro drivers. Good chance you can work through this, but may need to change a habit.

As I understand it, your seatback is in the fully forward position, on the first setting. I tried that just now and it feels awful. I think the problem with that is the angle between the seat bottom and seatback is too small at that setting.

The other problem with seatback full forward is even if the height adjust is full down, one's head will likely be too close to the roof.

Adjusting the seatback 2 or 3 clicks back from full forward is a much more normal setting. If at that setting the steering wheel seems to be too far away, the solution is to scoot forward a notch or two.

How many notches are you scooted forward from fully back with seat sliding? Mine is 2 notches forward from full back and my legs are 35" inseam, 6'2" tall. So you know, the steering wheel telescope range in this car doesn't match the seat sliding range.

In Honda Civics, Accord, Corollas and Camrys, typically a tall person can slide the seat fully back, pull the wheel towards them and it set up very well. In this Prius, if you slide seat full back, pull wheel full towards, it's not a setup I would recommend. It's a weakness that was commented on since about June of 2009 (when it first came out).

I don't spend much time holding the steering wheel at 10 and 2 o'clock, only when traffic is really tight on freeway. otherwise, I hold the wheel down lower.

Like said before, skip the big blocky soled running type shoes. They don't make driving any more comfortable.

I hope you can get more used to it. The late model Jettas and GTIs have excellent seating and ergos although some models have a little bit too firm bottom side bolsters for my taste. But, like said the Jettas have really good seating, almost benchmark and something to compare to. IMO this 3rd gen could be better, but I've seen a good bit worse.

 

This article is pretty good -

How to Adjust Seating to the Proper Position While Driving - wikiHow, the free how-to guide


We cannot reach a perfect adjustment because placing the seat too upright will put pressure on the lower vertebrae, place our head to high, and because the steering itself is placed in an angle. We can adjust the seat back to a relativelly upright position and than use the adjustment of the steering itself to place it as parallel to the back as possible.
After adjusting the seat, including the height and the adjustments to the steering itself (bellow), we check the adjustment in the following manner: We place the wrist of our hand just over the topmost portion of the wheel. We should be able to place the wrist flat over the wheel and even bend it somewhat over the rim, while still keeping the shoulders (shoulder-blades) against the seat's back. This should be done with the arm straight but without putting in excessive effort.

----------------------
I can't quite get my wrist over the wheel doing the above, but can get base of palm over the wheel. Wrist over wheel would be optimal.

This is a good tip from a professional driver -

Another good article if you want to hear music from Run Lola Run. Subtitle, but good points about not straightening arms or legs when using pedals and wheel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=k-5NMj9dvX0

 

Ryan,

Don't sell your Prius. Your need for upper seatback support is easily fixable. I know this because I have had the same problem and fixed it on my Prius and several other cars.

The solution is to remove your Prius seat and insert one inch upholstery foam between the springs and existing foam where you need more support. This will allow you to adjust the curvature of the seatback to fit your back. Its a bit of work to remove the seat and open the seat cover. Also, you may need to do it more than once to get the right amount of foam in the right spots, but it works and when you succeed you will have immense personal satisfaction and a comfortable car.

If you can't or don't feel comfortable doing this yourself, a professional upholstery shop can do it and it should not cost much.

 

Like said before, if you are putting the seatback full forward (which I don't believe is correct) setup, and it's still not far forward enough for you, my opinion is you need to change a habit with how you adjust things. Forget the Beetle for now, see the videos and links above. Good luck.

 

I just added a $5 mesh lumbar support (Menards, DollarStore, etc). My back feels better on long rides. Give it a shot.
FWIW: do not know about your "bolt upright" being anything other than what driving instructors refer to as "the death grip".

 

Take you time and work out the seat back shape that suits you by adding padding, towels or whatever on top of the upholstery to give the seatback the shape that you want. Once you find a seat back shape you like, take that mess of stuck on towels, pads etc to an upholstery shop and have them reshape your seat back to give you that shape by altering the insides of the seat.

The stock upholstery is tight (I've taken mine off and replaced it
), I have my doubts about being able to add significant padding without adding to the upholstery. Sounds like you may need more than the inch Den added.

 

LTZR, you should really go some where else to post your rudeness and name-calling. It seems that just about every one of your posts takes issue with not only the topic, but with the individual poster.

I doubt a 15 year-old could afford a new Toyota, so you are probably not 15 years old, but you sure do seem to act and write like one!