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I find American cars more comfortable and just better overall. It used to be the Japanese makes but I dont there cars ( Accord, Camry) are that much better anymore
I am tallish (6'1") with long legs (36-37"). I have yet to find any asian cars that are comfortable. Most smaller US and european cars are not that comfortable either. It is kind of hit and miss. Mostly, I just get used to being unfcmomfortable in a car. However as I get older, it gets to be a problem. With some cars after a 6= hour trip, I have a great deal of difficulty standing up after I get out of the car. Sometimes I have to lean on the hood for 5 minutes or so and slowly push myself upright. I think maybe I need to take up yoga.
I think a lot depends on how flexible you are. When I was younger I did nto car at all about size or comfrot of seats. Now it is different.
Although I like the nice snug feeling performance seats give you, I think it is mostly psychological. I have never slid around in my seat to any signficant extent and I drive aggressively enough that I have had a few cars have a wheel (or two) leave the grouund on rare occaisions (when I was younger and still learning to drive well). Never ever have I slid out of a seat, or event felt like I needed some extra support on the sides. Seat belt of harness has always held me in place just fine.
The problem with foreign vehicles is they may have more support but the seats are usually hard as a rock. My parents had an '06 DTS and it was much more comfortable than their '08 Lexus LS460.
I'll take soft and plush seats over some cardboard seats any day.
Some people prefer certain qualities about seats, others other qualities. Seat comfort is quite subjective.
But I will say, the American cars do tend to have plush, comfortable seats on their large / luxury models.
Some people prefer certain qualities about seats, others other qualities. Seat comfort is quite subjective.
But I will say, the American cars do tend to have plush, comfortable seats on their large / luxury models.
You bring up some good points, when it comes to seats it is very subjective.
Many American car seats are too soft for me, it gives me pretty severe lover back pain after a short while. Chevrolet Impalas springs to mind, Escalades would be another example.
I'm in rentals about 10x a year and I don't really find any rhyme or reason to the comfort in Detroit nameplates vs, well, Asian in my case as I don't generally get Euro rentals (had a couple VWs but it's been a few years ago).
I have had trouble with most manual Toyota seats for years (a power seat sometimes rectifies this) but when I had the RAV 4 and took that on a 5-hour one-way drive, it was fine. Other Toyotas can still be suspect.
I can also tell you a Camaro is not at all a comfortable car for a 10+ hour highway drive.
I find "comfort" to encompass the entire experience sitting and driving in there. Once I'm in the car enough I haven't found anything that has anything close to an ideal seat, so I tend to discount seat differences altogether. Drive for a few hours or more and I'm uncomfortable. And I'm 5'9", not at all too big for anything.
I also consider the ride and handling as well as the switchgear layout to be part of the comfort. Sometimes simple things like the way the steering wheel is designed are quite annoying. I couldn't tilt the steering wheel down as much as I liked in one recent car because it would block gauges too much, for example. And/or the placement of the spokes is stupid, or the wheel is too thick or too thin or an unappealing material. Controls for HVAC, audio, etc are sometimes illogical or just cheesy. The ride quality of the 2011 Camry I had most recently was too soft, so handling around curves had more roll than I like and doing simple things like driving down the ramps in my downtown parking garage were very bouncy compared to my own car (which is a 12-year-old Integra). But when I had a Malibu, I didn't find that to be better. The Taurus was nice, though, as was the Buick Regal. Those seemed to have a good balance of ride, handling, etc, although I still don't care for the GM switchgear much even in the Buick. The cheesiest ride I've had in the last year or so was a Dodge Avenger. That car was just so cheap inside, the worst Detroit has to offer. To be fair, it drove mostly okay on a 2-hour one-way highway ride.
American cars are like sofas, while they can be soft and cushy but they don't hold you like a glove. When you drive you need good lumbar and shoulder support or else you'll be shaking like jello in your seat.
Just about every American family car out there has a massive seat with no contour shaping at all. Do I blame car companies? Maybe not because a good % of Americans are big and fat.
American cars are like sofas, while they can be soft and cushy but they don't hold you like a glove. When you drive you need good lumbar and shoulder support or else you'll be shaking like jello in your seat.
Just about every American family car out there has a massive seat with no contour shaping at all. Do I blame car companies? Maybe not because a good % of Americans are big and fat.
Some American cars used to be like that. You seem to be referring to American cars from about 40 years ago!
I have rode in a friend's 2010 Cadillac DTS and the seats are on the firm side. My '69 and '76 Cadillacs both have much softer seats. (The way I like them in a car.)
I find Sentra seats too hard. Like seating on hard outside bench.
VW Don't like Dash
I want any vehicle that is too bouncy or feel road too much.
I find American cars to be unreliable and have problems. Too many exposed parts. The tail pipe is clearly rusted and visible in a Dodge pickup truck.
Manual transmission don't ever want
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