Comfortably Numb

[phil_lihp]

Over the last 3 days I've spent around 15 hours sat at the wheel, a lot more in one go than I'm used to.  This and another recent trip has brought a thought to my head - my Kia C'eed, excellent in many ways though it is, is hideously uncomfortable.  Being a modern car, it has very firm seats with plenty of adjustment but I cannot drive for more than about 2 hours non-stop before I get a sore backside, pain in my knees and a sore back.  This seems ridiculous.  I've driven a lot of other moderns including Astras and Golfs and the same applies to a greater or lesser degree.

 

On the other hand, I drove the old Rover 220 back from Kettering to Bideford, a 4 hour journey, and had no problems at all, in fact it's one of the most comfortable cars I've driven despite having seats that have seen 135,000 miles of bottoms and no fancy lumbar support etc.

 

Clearly newer is not necessarily better so what's the most/least comfortable long-distance car for you?

[Lord Sterling]

Most cars these days seem to have a styling/comfort bias towards having a harder 'Sportier' ride rather than something for comfort. A lot of the British car buying public seem to have this idea that they want their cars "sporty" which often means harder riding suspensions, bigger wheels, hard seats etc.... Even if your model isn't a "sporty" model. Cars of old seemed to be built more to comfort.

[Waderider]

I've just spent 450miles/about 10 hours over two days in a 53 plate Volvo V40, shopping about Scotland for a Volvo C30. Interestingly I started off with a sore back, but now it is fine.

 

Maybe I'm easy to please, I always find seats comfy though. But I'll go for the seats in a Mini Clubman as the least comfortable I've sat in.....that is of course a BL era Clubman.

[Micrashed]

The wonderfully French C8 is rather like driving a living room.

Comfortable & large seats, plenty of leg room and plenty of sideways room.

With my phone propped on the dash showing re-runs of Are You Being Served piped through the 16 speaker stereo its almost like being at home.

 

But I have found all my  French cars to be very comfortable in the past.

[castros_bro]

Audi 100 T reg 5 pot diesel saloon by a country 1.6Km

[Mr Lobster]

I'm well pleased with the comfort of all my three. Worst car I've driven was the previous model Astra. Whatever I did, after about half an hour of driving I was getting back pain from the hateful thing.

[carlo]

My Pug 405 seats are fine over 200 miles but the best seats I've ever sat in were 305 GTX ones - absolutely superb.

 

Funnily enough the worst were also from a French car, the earlier BXs.  The backrests were actually concave, no wonder there was no support.  Later GTI style ones were the complete opposite and almost had too much lumber support.

[daverapid]

I've just visited friends in Aberystwth in my 1987 Skoda 120L5 [otherwise known as "the shed"]. I live in Cambridgeshire. The car performed really well and although I suffer with back pain the seats are really comfortable and gave me no problems with my back. However, if I drive or travel in my wifes Astra for more than ten miles my back suffers really badly.

[philibusmo]

Most comfortable: Alfa Romeo 156 with the standard cloth interior. It was the perfect shape for me, like it was specially designed to suit my exact shape. I miss that car.

 

Least Comfortable: Hyundai Pony Excel 1.3 Sonnet Tropicana: Would give severe lower back pain within 20 minutes of setting of with almost no adjustment available. On a sunny day it was even worse as my legs would not quite fit entirely on the cloth middle section, making wearing shorts a trial by burning hot vinyl.

 

Other notable mentions go to: Citroen XM Exclusive: a little difficult to get set up so the driving position is just right, but once there it is exceedingly comfortable.

 

Mazda Demio: The dullest interior I have ever known, and the seats initially don't seem to have been made to fit humans until you find out that just like an Austin Maxi, all the seats can be folded down into a double bed. With that done it makes it far more comfortable, just not particularly easy to drive.

[Richard]

I got terrible sciatica driving mostly Peugeot 505s and 405s as taxis in the early 1990s, I think that was down to the angle and weight of the clutch pedals. It just takes a bit of pressure in the wrong place to cause problems. My Mk6/7 Escort had pushed a bit of the frame through the seat padding and that just about crippled me, even though you could barely feel it.

 

I think the SAAB 900 had the best seats- not necessarily the most comfortable but the best support.

[phil_lihp]

There's probably a difference between 'most comfortable' and 'best support' I guess, my Mk4 Astra Coupe had very firm seats and I was aware from driving a standard estate one for work that the seats in early ones at least were terribly unsupportive and led to my first ever chiropractor appointment.  The coupe was a late 05 plate and Vauxhall had obviously decided to fix the seat issue by putting in the most obtrusive lumbar support I've ever known, it was a very noticeable lump in the seat back which initially was very uncomfortable.  Funny though, after a few days I stopped noticing it altogether and never had back ache driving it long distances.

[Partridge]

The most uncomfortable car I've ever had, I'm disappointed to say was a Rover. My 45 was fine for tooling around locally in, but after an hour or two, like you say about the C'eed, it was horrible. Not so much down to lack of squidge, but more thanks to the shallow seats. It'd get numb thighs and an aching arse. That bloody thing nearly crippled me.

[The Moog]

Just done 1200 miles in Xantia and not a twinge. This included an 8 hour stretch back from harwich to scotland. Mega comfy. Saab 900 is also most awesome seats, so much so a set went in Bernard the CF camper

[pshome]

Comfort=Tagora, period.

 

[kinkersaab]

Saab 900 or 9000 aero seats are a joint equal with volvo s60 or s80 seats as best seats ever.

[daverapid]

The shed's interior

 

[skattrd]

My old Volvo S80 was the best for long distances. I would regularly do 4-500 miles a day in that and it was just the comfiest thing ever.

Otherwise, Galant Sapporo superbly comfy seats and awesome velour as well.

[Des]

I've found various modern stuff spine jarring, I kind of thought that firm suspension for handling was something from the old days that we shouldn't have to tolerate anymore, are the roads that bad these days or is it the oversized great blingy statement wheels with rubber band tyres?

[mercrocker]

I am a fan of German Hard  when it comes to seating, our current 190E is fine but the seats are  just  a  tad too short as  a result of the Teutonic shoe-horning exercise  in 4 seatery.   Farinas are surprisingly good,  most of them have got shagged seat diaphragms - new ones transform the comfort levels, the Minor is just  plain torture for any longer than an hour  and always makes me walk like Manuel during a particularly heavy frying pan bashing.    The Cowley is worse than Mr Rapids shed but not proven on any distance yet.  Best long distance comfort is had  from  the T25 (unless theres a crosswind).    Previous winners include my Pontiac Grand Prix and the Mk2 Granny Ghia Xs that I had.   I will never  ride in a Ford Ka again (it wasnt mine)

[Stixy]

For me mk3 Granada takes some beating for comfort   Scorpio's are nice too  but the 2008 shape mondeo i thought was very uncomfortable   too low and too hard 

[londonm]

Nothing to do with new and old, cars are like mattresses. My girlfriends new shape agila is intensely dull, but the seats are like lovely old armchairs and I can sit there for hours.

[hairnet]

fiesta wasnt too bad manc to dover in one go hour and half on boat then up to south holland and no bother

 

xantia are gr9

 

mk2 granny comfy too

[Barry Cade]

Surprisingly, MGF.

 

Dover- Fife in 1 sitting, and no backache,legache,or earache. And I'm 6ft4.

[rml2345]

Uncomfortable? Has to be that Chevrolet Spark as the seat was very hard and despite having plenty of adjustment the driving position could only be changed from uncomfortable to excruciatingly uncomfortable. Most comfortable seat I've had driving would be a joint tie between the 850 and the Rover 75 which was very comfortable indeed. The 850 seat was a bit wider though and as I'm a bit hefty I got a wee bit more support.

The 740 is comfy as well, although I sometimes get a bit of knee pain on a long trip. The Yaris would give me backache after a while but that had alot to do with the fact that the front seats were shagged. 
From stuff I've sat in but not driven, the Renault 25 deserves a special mention as being bloody comfortably upholstered, particularly with leather. The MK3 Granada/Scorpio weren't far behind and the Honda Legend's pews are both enormous and very soft. The ride in those can be a bit jiggly though. 

Found the MK3 Mondeo trim to be quite hard though, as was the Insignia I had a quick hurl in. The first VW based Skoda Octavia doesn't seem too bad, at least in taxi guise. 

Obviously depends on what you buy but older cars do seem to be more comfortable to me than more modern kit. 

[londonm]

I'm puzzled, perhaps older cars seem more comfortable to people on this site because that's their experience of motoring. They rarely, if ever, go near new cars? These statements are said with such authority too, funny.

[Honey Badger]

The most comfortable seats I've ever sat in are the seats in the S2000, we drove from fort William to sunny Kettering one night with only minimal stops, no back ache or any other maladies. Strange really as the ride is rock hard but the seats are so well sculpted that you always feel comfortable. Most Hondas seem to have very comfortable seats this is certainly true of my accord coupe. The only exception is a mates civic type R, I don't know what kind of slumped shouldered stick insect the bucket seats were made for as the gap between the shoulder supports was far too small for most normal* people.

 

The worst seats were in my brothers K plate Orion, half an hour in that and I had to get someone to help me out of the car into my wheelchair, I also struggled in my 216 SLi over longer periods, the seats were comfortable but they just seemed to send my legs to sleep.