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2010 Prius Seat to Steering Wheel Reach Noticeably Further than Camry, Accord, and Civic

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by cycledrum, Mar 20, 2010.

  1. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    ** Tall guy here, 6'2", not to bash the Prius, just compare it with top selling cars and hope for even better ergonomics in the 4th Gen Prius. Wouldn't you like to see the Prius consistently on top 10 sales lists? **

    Toyota, thanks for putting a much better driver's seat and seat adjustments in the all-new Prius.

    Note - original content deleted as the measurements were incorrect.
     
    #1 cycledrum, Mar 20, 2010
  2. halfmoonray

    halfmoonray New Member

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    I'm 6'4". Usually long arms come standard with long legs. The longer reach for the steering wheel does not bother me at all. What I really appreciate is the more leg room in the Gen 3. Without it, I would not be enjoying the prius.

    The adjustability of the steering wheel is perhaps limited because an extra 4 inches of steering column would add too much fuel efficiency damaging weight to the car.
     
    #2 halfmoonray, Mar 21, 2010
  3. bedrock8x

    bedrock8x Senior Member

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    To make the comparison more meaningful, the distance from the seat back to the brake pedal also need to be measured.
    The seat back to steering wheel distance should be compared at the same seat back to brake pedal distance.
     
    #3 bedrock8x, Mar 21, 2010
  4. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    I can say with 99.9% certainty the seat to brake pedal distance in the Camry was greater than the 2010 Prius when taking the measurement. Camry offers a little more legroom than Prius.


    But, you are right, seat to brake pedal also should be measured.
     
    #4 cycledrum, Mar 21, 2010
  5. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    Extra legroom with a long reach to the wheel = awkwardness

    Oh, I doubt they chose to limit the steering wheel travel to save a pound or two.
     
    #5 cycledrum, Mar 21, 2010
  6. spyderx

    spyderx Member

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    this is by far the worst attribute of this car! I'm 5'7" and find the steering wheel ergonomics most uncomfortable. I'm having to adjust up and down everyday! I've never had this experience in any other car. What is up with this? I'm almost thinking of replacing the steering wheel with an aftermarket unit... Or trade this thing in!!!
     
    #6 spyderx, Mar 22, 2010
  7. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    I think it would be better to measure the seat to wheel distance as a percentage of seat to pedal because seat to pedal distances will vary a couple inches. If (seat to wheel / seat to pedal) percentage is higher than good reference, then it's out of proportion in a bad way.
     
    #7 cycledrum, Mar 22, 2010
  8. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    post deleted, data flawed
     
    #8 cycledrum, Mar 22, 2010
  9. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    I'm 5' 6". I'm not fussed.
     
    #9 patsparks, Mar 22, 2010
  10. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    post deleted, my data flawed
     
    #10 cycledrum, Mar 22, 2010
  11. MikeDS

    MikeDS Member

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    Is there a way to add an inch or two to the wheel? Would there be safety concerns?
     
    #11 MikeDS, Mar 22, 2010
  12. bedrock8x

    bedrock8x Senior Member

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    There are reasons that car manufacturers purposely make the steering wheel at such distance.

    Although it would be nice to have the steering wheel closer to the driver for those who are taller, but for the shorter driver the steering will be too close for safety when the air bag deployed, it will cause great bodily damage or death.
     
    #12 bedrock8x, Mar 22, 2010
  13. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    Yeah, my grandma drove her non-airbag car with her body just inches from the steering wheel.
     
    #13 32kcolors, Mar 22, 2010
  14. timo27

    timo27 Member

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    I'm one of those people they used to 'design' cars to fit--standard 5'10", 150 lb male. I got the 'IV' package for the lumbar seat, and, even with that, I have to say, I am *constantly* trying to find the right combination of seat distance, wheel extension, seat height, phase of the moon, etc. to accommodate my <insert *very* bad word here> back. It often seems that if I could only bring the wheel out and down about 2 millimeters in each direction, that would do it. Embarrassing as it is to admit, I've had rental/fleet Cobalts (w/ adjustable lumbar support) that fit me better. (To generalize, VWs seem the best, Chryslers the worst, fwiw, at least of the cars I've driven at any length). Granted, the gen III is a huge improvement from the Gen II, which I eliminated from consideration solely on the basis of the seats, but, c'mon, 'yoda, you can do better! (YMMV, of course).
    ~T
     
    #14 timo27, Mar 22, 2010
  15. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    5'-7 1/2" here, very comfortible in my gen II. when i drive my wife's hycam with the fancy seat and steering wheel, i'm forever adjusting things but never getting them "quite right".
     
    #15 bisco, Mar 22, 2010
  16. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    fellow PCer's,

    I'm going to drop this issue because my original measurement from bottom of steering wheel to seatback is a flawed method - does not take into accout differing steering wheel diameters.

    Remeasuring to center of Prius steering wheel against an Accord and Venza shows the Prius steering wheel ergonomics to be comparable and pretty good.

    I took another long sit in a 2010 tonight. If I slide forward 2 clicks from full back on the seat, the reach to wheel is not bad and legroom is still quite good at that point.

    But, I will say this .....

    The driver's door armrest is definitely lower than the center console armrest ... very noticeable... a definite faux pas. Would need to build up height of driver door armrest. I know this has been mentioned before.

    Also, the 2nd cupholer with center armrest is not too smart as the driver armrest then goes away. The floating bridge creates that scenario, but there's still the door cupholders, so it can all work out.
     
    #16 cycledrum, Mar 23, 2010
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