My wife has retired her 2015 RAV4 and, as a Toyota-for-lifer, she has replaced it with a Lexus NX 250. Until a recent trip to Austin, I had only driven the NX by myself, and just a mile or so to the car wash. As I got hours of seat time on this trip to Austin with my wife, I learned there is a no-armrest rule. As in, I mustn’t use the armrest to rest my arm. Because I might dent it.
As you can imagine, a four-hour highway sesh without being able to assume my signature road-trip position – slouched heavily to the right, really enjoying the armrest, right hand hanging over the console while my left is hooked over the wheel at the 12 o’clock position – was quite uncomfortable.
I suffered along with both hands on the wheel like some kind of safety nerd, and recalled I’m supposed to have my hands at the three and nine positions clockface-wise, which I do not like. I’m a two-and-ten guy, and yes, I know about the airbag and why you don’t want to have your arms at two and ten, but sorry, I just can’t. I’m old and untrainable.
As for how I drape the rest of my frame on the driver’s seat and pedals, I think I’m pretty standard. The seatback isn’t particularly laid back or bolt upright, and my left foot rides the dead pedal. On long drives, I might pull that left foot back close to the seat.
I don’t tend to notice many others’ driving positions when I’m on the road, but there are two weird modes that stand out, and when I spot them, it’s always the youths assuming the positions in question. The first is “driver somehow in the middle of the car.” How is the driver’s head perfectly aligned with the CHMSL? Or even slightly to the right of it? I’m behind an Altima, not a McLaren F1! Like, I may lean a little rightward when I drive (I’m on the armrest, remember), but I remain fully within the confines of the left side of the cabin.
The other mind-boggler is the “10G liftoff position,” wherein the driver is fully reclined or close to it, seat pushed all the way back, so at most all you can see is the top of his head, which is well past the B-pillar. How do they reach the wheel? How is that comfortable? I tried it, it’s awful!
Anyway …
What’s Your Favorite Driving Position?
Top graphic image: Nissan
I like to have my legs stretched out a bit in front of me, instead of straight down like a bar stool, back reclined very slightly. Really don’t find high, upright seating positions all that comfortable, though I guess it depends more on the seat itself.
Seat all the way down and back. Seat back fairly upright. At 6’5” with equal legs and body I still don’t have enough leg room or foot room in my current cars. My early 70’s 240z and corvette and 03 corvette are the only cars that I found confortable to drive. My kid does the gangsta launch position which IMO looks affected, stupid and uncomfortable, but I’m an old guy so who ever listens to me. Wheel at 9 and 3 like I was taught when I learned to autocross.
I actually hold the wheel closer to 4 and 8, I’d say.
Really, the big thing for me is something I’ve never seen an ad mention or single out, and it was absolutely one of my favorite unwritten features of my old conversion van:
With your elbow comfortably on the right armrest, you could have your right hand at exactly the right position on the wheel (roughly 3-4). In my Prius, the elbow tends to go in my lap if I’m in lazy traffic. It’s not the same.
So in my Prius v, I’m basically centered in my seat and use both hands or alternate depending on traffic, previous knowledge of the area, etc., but in my van I definitely had a bit of a leaning-right bias.
Separately, I loved the high seating in the van, too. Less “cockpit” and more “sitting at a table,” almost.
Gently reclining,a glass of the good stuff in one hand whilst both entertaining and being entertained by a delightful companion. Driving is overated as a pastime.
I prefer to drive from the trunk, with a video feed, to be like those hero drivers in The Muppet Movie.
I need you to post a picture I imagine you either with a backwards facing ball cap or a man bun depending on your age. Frankly I prefer a slightly reclining face forward two hands on the wheel like professionally paid drivers do as opposed to your average drug dealers or wannabe rappers trying to look cool.
The trick for me is I need a lot of reach adjustment. I have crazy long legs and only slightly long arms so I need a wheel that comes all the way out to me or I suffer…
After multiple back surgeries, I’ve adopted a relatively upright position, lower back bolster fully extended where available. Hands alternate between 9 and 3 if conditions are dicy/there are curves, or left hand at 6:00 right hand in my lap. Once cruise is set, my feet are typically crossed in the well between the seat and the pedals – full extension (e.g. actively working the pedals) is an invitation for sciatica.
Lumbar disc herniation sucks.
In town, NASCAR style – as close to the wheel as safety allows, near vertical seatback – to maximize my handling responsiveness.
But my wheel holding style is often pure Italian – 8 and 4.
Seat to the floor
Slide all the way back
And seat back near-vertical.
The vertical seat back offers best visibility to see ahead of the B-pillar, but at the expense of not fitting into a great many cars. I also feel like I can more easily stay in control if I have to quickly turn the car harder than expected.
Somewhat upright with the seat on the higher side of its adjustment as legs splayed never felt comfortable and I don’t like sitting low vs. the cowl/beltline. Not too reclined as it never felt natural to my back even when I got cars with telescoping wheels. Sometimes I see my seat position as I approach the car and it looks awfully upright, but it feels natural. As mentioned elsewhere in the comments I realized relatively recently how I’d sit differently in a manual vs. auto due to the clutch.
Often have the left elbow resting on the windowsill when cruising, left hand around 9/10 o’clock on the wheel. My dad is the same way to the extent his elbow has molded a dimple in the soft plastic over time in at least one car.
Depends on how long the trip is as longer times require moving a bit, but mostly, I recline it a bit, but nowhere near as flat as the 5’4″ tire jockeys would return my car to me (I’m 5’11” and longer limbed). I like the wheel close, which usually means near the extent of travel with the seat bottom back a bit, but not so much that my legs are stretched out. Again, those short tire guys somehow move my car not only with a flat seat back, but with the seat at the full extent of rear travel where even I might have a hard time fully pressing the clutch (this is why I have 2 sets of wheels and drop the other set off when I get new tires). I sit a little higher than I prefer, but even my GR86 doesn’t go that low and the height helps to see. I can’t sit upright as it hurts my back, though I don’t have apparent back problems, so single cab pickups, vans, etc. and Miatas are no-gos for me for any time longer than an hour. If I do longer, I’ll want to run everyone ahead of me off the road so I can get to my destination sooner. With an old work E-250 with a cage restricting seat recline where I’d have to drive for more than an hour regularly, I’d end up moving the seat forward a little to recline a few degrees, then lean into the corner between the door and seat to drive with my left foot and have my right on top of the engine cover. Coworkers would marvel at how I could drive with my left foot, but it’s not really any different than driving with your right (maybe winning a gocart in a raffle as a kid had me adjust to it so readily, IDK, but I also left-foot braked my cars from the time I got my license). I marveled at how they could stand the seats.
As a young man, all my car seats only adjusted back or fourth. So I adjusted them where I could comfortably reach the pedals with my arms close enough to the wheel for leverage for when I had to hang on around a curve. Thus imprinted, I tend to adjust my seat that way now.
That is the only way. Except in Italian cars. I don’t understand them.
I run the seat as high up as possible, and was far back as I can while still reaching the controls comfortably – and despite how the car wants them in that position (they automatically rise to their upper position when I have the seats so positioned) headrests all the way down.