7 Cars, Driver's legroom, height adjusters, observations

Ok, so I went to a Fremont Toyota and Honda dealer for driver's legroom measurements on 6 cars and 1 pickup truck.

Here, my definition of 'Legroom' is from the bottom tip of each brake pedal with tape stretched to the back of seat bottom with seat fully back and secured, and if height adjuster, full down position. The error may be 1/4" between vehicles.

All with manually adjustable seats, from most legroom to worst of 7 vehicles measured -​

09 Camry 44"​

2010 Insight 43.5"​

09 Tacoma 43"​

08 Corolla 41.5"​

09 Matrix 41.5"​

09 Prius 41"​

09 Yaris Liftback 41" ​

These differences may not seem like much, but for a tall person with somewhat cramped legroom, sliding a driver's seat just 2" further back makes a big improvement in my not so humble opinion.​

 

On the Matrix, I set the seat back and height adjustment to be 41" to the brake pedal. It felt very much like a Prius.
Next I cranked the height adjuster to full down position. Although my 'legroom' measurement increased to 41.5" it still felt somewhat cramped for my 35" inseam legs.

I've said in other threads that the height adjuster makes a big improvement in legroom feel, but I take that back.

Sliding a seat back further is what feels good for long legs. Check out my Camry and 2010 Insight legroom numbers above - very good. BTW, the Camry seat is sublime. The Insight seat is not far behind.

 

So, why all the measurements? I had been thinking today quite a bit about the couple posts of height adjuster added to Prius seats by fitting Corolla parts and racks, etc...

For my long legs, the first seat mod would be to get it to slide back further.

About the reach to the non-telescoping steering wheel of the Prius...

 

I set the Tacoma Access cab seat 'legroom' to 41" , then 21.5" from seat bottom back to bottom of steering wheel (similar to my Prius config).

Next, I slid the Tacoma seat back to 42.5" (which feels much better than 41"). The reach to the steering wheel did not feel too bad, and lowering the wheel can help too.

It might be some time before I hook up with Mobility Systems in Berkeley, CA, an outfit that claims they modify driver's seat to be able to slide back further, but I've got them in mind.