Lumbar support on volvo's and most german cars....

[Rob7seven]

You should with your shoulders against the seat back be able to just touch the wheel with the inside of your wrists with your arms straight

I can see the problem now, I'm deformed. I'm just over six feet tall, but I seem to have disproportionately long legs, and this means that I have to have the seat well back. The steering column reach doesn't adjust enough to cope, so this must be a problem for many tall people. I used to have back problems years ago when I drove more, and a friendly osteopath advised me to try sitting less upright, as that lessens the pressure on the base of your spine, which come to think of it, may be the OP's problem, just recline the seat a bit more and see if that helps.

I've just moved my seat forward a little, that seems OK, and I've made the backrest a little more upright, and that driving position feels OK as well. I'll try driving like that and see how it all feels over some distance, but I'd still like a half inch more adjustment on the steering column.

 

[Rob7seven]

Also any back problem people , make sure you exit and entry correctly . Sit you bum down first then lift both feet in together , then exiting , both feet out together then stand up . This stops the pelvis twisting

All good advice. Going back to my osteopath, he told me that when he gets a new patient, he always watches them getting in and out of their car, and Wighty's advice is spot-on. Always back into your seat, and when your weight is supported, lift your legs in, one leg at a time is best, I grab each thigh to lift it in, which spares the back muscles. He told me that not doing this to avoid twisting their bodies, was the root cause of back problems for many of his patients. It certainly worked for me, but doing this one leg at a time halves the load on back muscles.

 

[00slk]

Our SLK seats are rock hard and have no additional lumber supports and with the 18" 35 low profile tyres on sport suspension on our Fenland roads can be a little uncomfortable, however I have found a seating position that is much more bearable and a lot of the uncomfortableness can be as said before down to miss adjustment

 

[sonic]

I can see the problem now, I'm deformed. I'm just over six feet tall, but I seem to have disproportionately long legs, and this means that I have to have the seat well back. The steering column reach doesn't adjust enough to cope, so this must be a problem for many tall people. I used to have back problems years ago when I drove more, and a friendly osteopath advised me to try sitting less upright, as that lessens the pressure on the base of your spine, which come to think of it, may be the OP's problem, just recline the seat a bit more and see if that helps.

I've just moved my seat forward a little, that seems OK, and I've made the backrest a little more upright, and that driving position feels OK as well. I'll try driving like that and see how it all feels over some distance, but I'd still like a half inch more adjustment on the steering column.

I am also 6'1" 34" inside leg & I keep my backrest upright, no problem with any MB.

 

[sl500amgsport]

My SL (R231) has the most comfortable seats I've ever experienced. I had to spend some time to get all the settings just right for me and SWMBO. They have "Active Multicontour Seat package":

Unadulterated seating comfort, even on longer journeys: integrated air cushions provide a broad scope for optimising your seating position. Optionally – particularly on longer journeys – you can enjoy a stimulating massage. For those with a sporty driving style, the dynamic seat side bolsters offer optimum lateral support.
Components:

• Active multicontour seats in the front with separately adjustable air chambers which can be set via the multimedia system
• Electrically adjustable 4-way lumbar support
• Dynamic driving functions with automatic lateral stability depending on steering angle, lateral acceleration and speed of the vehicle
• 14 air chambers enable ENERGIZING massage function featuring 6 different programmes with a relaxing, stimulating or mobilising effect, "firm" and "gentle" settings, duration between 12 and 15 minutes
• Seat heating Plus for driver and front passenger

​

Have to agree, R231 fine for me driving hundreds of miles without a rest. However 10 mins in the wife's fiat 500 and I am squirming. If I put a cushion in the 500 seat it becomes bearable....

Mercedes SL500 R231

 

[Srdl]

I am also 6'1" 34" inside leg & I keep my backrest upright, no problem with any MB.

That’s about the same for me as well

 

[LostKiwi]

I am also 6'1" 34" inside leg & I keep my backrest upright, no problem with any MB.

The backrest being too reclined is a common problem with many people. I have mine adjusted quite upright and the steering wheel nearly as far forward as it will go. I regularly do 650+ miles in a day with no back discomfort in our 210 (which has no lumbar adjustment).
For the record I'm 6ft tall 33" inside leg.

 

[00slk]

I had a 1990 Bentley Turbo R and have yet to find a more comfortable seat

 

[rorywquin]

The backrest being too reclined is a common problem with many people. I have mine adjusted quite upright and the steering wheel nearly as far forward as it will go. I regularly do 650+ miles in a day with no back discomfort in our 210 (which has no lumbar adjustment).
For the record I'm 6ft tall 33" inside leg.

Ditto, I'm also 6'2" have my seat adjusted to the recommended driving position (very upright back) no problems at all a

My SL (R231) has the most comfortable seats I've ever experienced. I had to spend some time to get all the settings just right for me and SWMBO. They have "Active Multicontour Seat package":

Unadulterated seating comfort, even on longer journeys: integrated air cushions provide a broad scope for optimising your seating position. Optionally – particularly on longer journeys – you can enjoy a stimulating massage. For those with a sporty driving style, the dynamic seat side bolsters offer optimum lateral support.
Components:

• Active multicontour seats in the front with separately adjustable air chambers which can be set via the multimedia system
• Electrically adjustable 4-way lumbar support
• Dynamic driving functions with automatic lateral stability depending on steering angle, lateral acceleration and speed of the vehicle
• 14 air chambers enable ENERGIZING massage function featuring 6 different programmes with a relaxing, stimulating or mobilising effect, "firm" and "gentle" settings, duration between 12 and 15 minutes
• Seat heating Plus for driver and front passenger

​

Yep - I also have those & really like them.

 

[rorywquin]

RECARO - RECARO Seat Fit Guide

www.recaro-automotive.com

 

[Rob7seven]

That Recaro seat fit guide is surprisingly useful, I've owned cars with branded Recaro seats in the past, but I'd never seen that before. I've had my car about 9 months, but being retired and enduring Lockdown, haven't been able to drive it much, longest outing to date has been a 30 mile round trip to a supermarket, "Just taking a longer way round to put a bit into the battery Officer!" I've fiddled with the seat, and thought I had it more or less right, though as I've already posted, I'd like the steering wheel to be a bit closer than it will adjust. I went carefully through every page of that Recaro guide, a little bit here, a tweek there, and the end result felt fine, though not a lot different from what I had before, but I had a trip yesterday to collect a new fish pond filter, only Koi in the garden pond, I'm not running a trout farm, and I really think I've found the perfect set up. The main problems were that I was sitting ever so slightly too far back, and a little bit too reclined, I hadn't bothered to pull out the seat extension, and these things are more important than I'd realised. That Recaro guide is very useful, I'd really recommend it to all, even if you think the way you have everything set up is OK already. Very small changes for me, but they've added up to a significant imporovement.

Now, once they'll let us travel again, rural southern France is beckoning, but now in total driving comfort.

 

[Naraic]

A friend of my wife is married to a chap over 7 feet tall (he was recently seen with the Queen, because he is one of her secretaries, where he looked more than 8 feet tall)...I wonder if he can fit in any car.

At 6 secs:

The Queen's Commonwealth Day Message 2021

Over the coming week, as we celebrate the friendship, spirit of unity and achievements of the Commonwealth, we have an opportunity to reflect on a time like no other.

www.royal.uk

 

[Blobcat]

A friend of my wife is married to a chap over 7 feet tall (he was recently seen with the Queen, because he is one of her secretaries, where he looked more than 8 feet tall)...I wonder if he can fit in any car.

Ed China ex of wheeler dealers struggled in many of the sheds Mike Brewer bought. He fitted in the bong bug and Messerschmidt though...

 

[LostKiwi]

Ed China ex of wheeler dealers struggled in many of the sheds Mike Brewer bought. He fitted in the bong bug and Messerschmidt though...

My stepson is 6'10". He struggles in a good many cars and usually ends up almost lying down just to get headroom.

 

[Rob7seven]

Ed China ex of wheeler dealers struggled in many of the sheds Mike Brewer bought. He fitted in the bong bug and Messerschmidt though...

Edd is 6' 7" tall, and it's surprised me just how many cars he seems to be able to drive (fairly) comfortably. I used to be around 6' 2", maybe a fraction taller, and I used to have real problems fitting into some smallish cars, I've only driven an old Mini once, and I needed help to get out of it. I tried an Abarth, the open sports car, a few years ago. It was in an Alfa showroom, I'd just bought an Alfa Giulia from them, and a pair of salesmen had to help me out of that, but no problem at all with any current or recent Mercedes. MB build cars for big, tall, and often FAT people, they have to, have you been to Germany recently? Bockwurst, Sauerkraut, Dampfknödel und so weiter (etc)?

 

[Srdl]

That Recaro seat fit guide is surprisingly useful, I've owned cars with branded Recaro seats in the past, but I'd never seen that before. I've had my car about 9 months, but being retired and enduring Lockdown, haven't been able to drive it much, longest outing to date has been a 30 mile round trip to a supermarket, "Just taking a longer way round to put a bit into the battery Officer!" I've fiddled with the seat, and thought I had it more or less right, though as I've already posted, I'd like the steering wheel to be a bit closer than it will adjust. I went carefully through every page of that Recaro guide, a little bit here, a tweek there, and the end result felt fine, though not a lot different from what I had before, but I had a trip yesterday to collect a new fish pond filter, only Koi in the garden pond, I'm not running a trout farm, and I really think I've found the perfect set up. The main problems were that I was sitting ever so slightly too far back, and a little bit too reclined, I hadn't bothered to pull out the seat extension, and these things are more important than I'd realised. That Recaro guide is very useful, I'd really recommend it to all, even if you think the way you have everything set up is OK already. Very small changes for me, but they've added up to a significant imporovement.

Now, once they'll let us travel again, rural southern France is beckoning, but now in total driving comfort.

Excellent news

 

[davidsl500]

Ed China ex of wheeler dealers struggled in many of the sheds Mike Brewer bought. He fitted in the bong bug and Messerschmidt though...

I thought it was an BMW Isetta?

 

[Blobcat]

I thought it was an BMW Isetta?

Series 12 Episode 15

The Isetta was Series 9 Episode 13

 

[Botus]

That Recaro seat fit guide is surprisingly useful,....

never been impressed with Recaro's in a plane.... drove the focus the other day... the seats are just perfect

 

[Botus]

came across this after a few posts above where some of you suggest inclining the seat "the wrong way" to help (the forward inclination being the normal way to improve the correct S shaped spine curvature we should have).

Studies have demonstrated that seating modifications reduce low back pain (LBP). One recent study found that a forward-inclined seatpan reduced low back discomfort (LBD), however this was only examined in people with flexion-related LBP. No study has yet investigated its effectiveness among people with extension-related LBP.

The authors filled the gap by this crossover study which examined 12 subjects with extension-related LBP. Sitting discomfort and surface electromyography of three trunk muscles were recorded during a 10-minute typing task while sitting with two different seatpan inclinations, both with and without a backrest. LBD (p < 0.001) and overall body discomfort (OBD) (p = 0.016) were significantly greater on the forward-inclined seatpan. The backrest did not alter trunk muscle activation or sitting discomfort.

The results demonstrate that in a specific subgroup of people with extension-related LBP, increasing forward seatpan inclination significantly increased LBD and OBD. Future research should consider matching ergonomics prescriptions according to the individual presentation of people with LBP.