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Seat comfort & steering adjustment

12K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  113943  
#1 ·
I was wondering what other people think of the Ceed seating and driving position. Probably the only properly comfortable car I have ever had was an Alfasud so any comments don't necessarily single out the Ceed in particular; it's no worse than many.

I was out in our KA today and the thing I noticed was that the seat had shape and I was in contact under, behind and to the side all the way from my thighs up to my shoulder blades. In contrast, the Ceed is flat and shapeless and the side bolsters are set too far apart. The KA has no lumbar adjustment but fits well; the Ceed, in common with other cars I have had with adjusters, has poor basic fit and the adjustment does nothing noticeably useful. (I can feel a bar move in the small of my back... but for what purpose?) Overall the KA seat feels cosy whereas the Ceed seat feels more like a perch.

As for steering adjustment, it's actually my first car since the Alfasud that that has adjustment for both height and reach. Except the range is wrong. I would have thought that if adjustment is provided the idea would be that the central position would be the nominal default and adjustment goes either side? It doesn't seem that way and compared to non-extendable systems, the longest reach feels like the default. Apart from me wanting a lower, longer reach, another problem often mentioned is that small women sit too close for the airbag to work properly; well, my wife sits too close. OK, so does anybody not have the wheel set to its furthest extent? Is the adjustment just something for marketing people to put in the glossy?
 
#2 ·
I've had my Pro Cee'd about 5 days now, I love it, but to be honest the seat is my only gripe with the car, I'm tall (6ft6) so to be fair, not many cars are comfortable for me, but I find the seats it the Cee'd to be a bit on the hard side, with not enough side support for my torso, also it feels like the steering wheel is offset to the left slightly, which doesn't help. Other than that I think the car's great.
 
#3 ·
I've had mine for 3 years and when I bought it, it compared neither favourably or badly with what I'm used to. It doesn't cause particular fatigue but it probably works better for people that have their own upholstery cultivated in Macdonalds. At least it isn't made to be accommodating by being soft like some French cars used to be. (Hmm, I wonder whether KA seats would fit the runners?) Can't say I've noticed any steering offset.
 
#4 ·
I find the seating to be just as good as anything I've had in the past. I do sometimes do a lot of driving (6+ hours per day) and I generally feel fine, whereas some cars I've had in the past were much worse - a BMW 5 series springs to mind.
I wouldn't say the seats in the Ceed are particularly comfortable (or should I say, luxurious) but then they are by no means uncomfortable. They just work well and do the job and probably better than average in this class of car.
 
#5 ·
Only gripe I have is in a perfect world I would like the steering wheel to adjust a little closer to me but it's fine as it is, just me being picky. With regards to comfort never had a problem with the seats, have driven 430 miles in 8 hours several times now and have got out fresh without any back ache. They are like arm chairs compared to the Focus but never had a problem with those either. The steering wheel is certainly not offset in ours.

Wife had a Puma and the seats in that were the same as the Ka and Fiesta, could only do about 30 miles before I got terrible pain in my lower back area. replaced it with a Micra and the seats in that were great.

Test drove an Alfasud in 1980, only did a few miles and returned it, most uncomfortable driving position ever. To position yourself for the steering wheel I was way too clsoe to the pedals, get sorted for the pedals and I could not reach the wheel. The wheel was not adjustable.
 
#6 ·
Only gripe I have is in a perfect world I would like the steering wheel to adjust a little closer to me but it's fine as it is, just me being picky.
I am being picky too but am very surprised. Are you particularly tall? (Though arm length should be proportional.) I am 5'11".

Test drove an Alfasud in 1980, ... The wheel was not adjustable.
It definitely was in mine. Obviously I set to the furthest and lowest extent... until my wife drove it regularly and we moved it up slightly but for her, the main problem was that the gearlever ended up too far back. The Alfasud and Ceed are the only cars where the runners are/were long enough for me not to put the seat at the back stop.
 
#8 ·
Pro ceed 3 seats

I have to say my three year old seats are very comfy and find my backside well supported. Am only five nine, but still have the seat as high as possible and quite understand the six footers complaints. My wife does sit too close to the wheel and I tend to fret about an airbag ever going off.
My driving seat however tends to slowly loose its hight setting and I find myself trying to see over the scuttle, then pull up the hight lever a few times to get a good view again. Complained to garage about the seat loosing hight to be told that I must be sitting on the height adjustment handle when entering the car. As the seat does the same to my seven stone wife I found this lame excuse amusing.
Talking about lengths of arms and legs when I sit on a dining room chair my wife is as tall as me. When we stand up I am six inches taller. Designing a fit all chair is not an easy task, it seems.
 
#9 ·
My driving seat however tends to slowly loose its hight setting and I find myself trying to see over the scuttle, then pull up the hight lever a few times to get a good view again.
Interesting. I just went and sat in mine to perform a complete recalibration. Start with feet on the floor to set height and backrest angle. Oh, the seat was at the lowest position. I can still see out at the lowest position so I wouldn't have noticed any creepage.

The next stage to move the seat so that pedals can be used. Then rest forearms along the tops of my legs to adjust steering wheel reach to sit directly above my hands.

Well, obviously moving the seat up has effectively lowered the steering wheel and the geometry change appears to have improved the reach. We'll see how it feels to drive next time and in future I will try to notice the seat dropping.

This doesn't overcome the lack of shape in the seat and I still can't work out what the lumbar adjustment is meant to achieve. Whatever I do I can't see the indicator tell tales under the wheel and the radio often obscures the ticking.
Talking about lengths of arms and legs when I sit on a dining room chair my wife is as tall as me. When we stand up I am six inches taller. Designing a fit all chair is not an easy task, it seems.
They talk about designing round percentile populations. Some people will fall out of range.
 
#10 ·
I'm a tad over 6' (not quite 6'1"), always have seat in lowest possible position & still have problems seeing traffic lights when at junctions. Have reached conclusion that all junctions are wrongly setup unless facing lights are at the opposite side also ;)
That's a problem I get in all cars though, even a big QashQuai (spelin?).

Comfort wise, seats are 'ok' for me, at least as good as our mid range company Astra and Peugeots. I tend to adjust the back angle regularly to stop aches, but maybe that's cos I'm just not comfortable. I'll follow Ace Demon's lead & have a play with all settings later. See if I can get the damn thing dialled in properly :)

Bugger is, Cheryl's 5'2", so any time she drives it takes me ages to get it 'right' again.
 
#11 ·
I was wondering what other people think of the Ceed seating and driving position. Probably the only properly comfortable car I have ever had was an Alfasud so any comments don't necessarily single out the Ceed in particular; it's no worse than many.

I was out in our KA today and the thing I noticed was that the seat had shape and I was in contact under, behind and to the side all the way from my thighs up to my shoulder blades. In contrast, the Ceed is flat and shapeless and the side bolsters are set too far apart.........etc...etc...
Ace the side bolsters are not too far apart if your my size.:blush: But I agree perhaps there not the right size for an anorexic. :lol:
 
#14 ·
I noticed today that if I sit dead central with my knees together, I don't touch the bolsters at all; I can easily slide my hands between my body and the bolsters. In practice I drive with knees apart so touch them over the front half of the seat and I sit slightly off centre to touch one of the seat back bolsters. There's no support whatsoever around the hips and lower back and I find I have to brace. I guess I haven't noticed it before because it can't be any worse than most I have driven.
 
#15 ·
When i had the pull/push hand controls fitted (for teaching disability driving) they locked the steering wheel up and out as far as it would go and removed the mechanism . So I had to get used to driving with the seat as high as it will go to enable to get a view of the indicator warning lights, even then they are not that visable, and as stated when the radio is on it is difficult to hear the indicators.