Driver seat/steering position

[revian]

I've been driving for nearly five decades (not non stop!) but in my BMW 318d (2008) without the sports seats its taken me ages to find a reasonably comfortable distance driving position.... And a position for the steering wheel that is also comfortable/practical. I'm 5 ft 5/6 in 'tall'... And not wide...

Anybody have experience or advice?

[Astraist]

I have a few. The first is not about adjusting the seat, but rather how you sit in it. Sit in the seat, not on it! Push your rump square into the corner of the seat and sit up straight.

The next is obviously the adjustment of the seat. Adjust it so all pedals can be comfortably depressed. This includes the throttle, brakes, clutch and dead pedal. Start the engine and press the brakes a few times to build up pressure in the booster and depress the pedal. The pedal should be depressed fully with the ball of the foot on the pedal and the heel on the floor. Your knee should remain slightly bent throughout.

Once you have adjusted the seat, erect the rake of the back so you can turn the steering wheel in any situation without unnesecary back movements. For this end, the rake of the back and the steering wheel should be as close and as parallel as possible within reason.

Adjust the seat height so your eyes are level with the upper half or third of the windshield. For most private cars, this can be more accurately measured by keeping a margin of four to five fingers between your head and the ceiling. Readjust steering angle so you can see all the instruments in the panel and ensure that your reach at the steering and pedals remains unhindered.

Now, reach your wrist forward to the top of the steering wheel. You should be able to comfortably rest your wrist and bend it over the top of the rim without drawing your shoulder blades forward from the seat back and towards the wheel. This should mean that when gripping and turning the wheel, you never straighten your elbows or lean forward.

Ideally, the crossbrace of the steering wheel should be a few centimeters below your shoulder height at this position, this will facilitate an easier grip while still allowing to turn the wheel freely.

Once the driving position is adjusted, adjust safety measures to fit. Ensure 10 inches between the center of the steering wheel hub and your sternum. Adjust seatbelt height so it fits to the socket in your shoulder, not on the arm, calvicle or neck. Place the lapbelt on your pelvic, not the soft belly, and ensure it's snug enough so you cannot grab the slack with a pinch of your fingers.

Adjust the head restraint to a height between your eye-brows or the top of your head and as close to your head as possible (between 6 to 3 cm). If it does not move forward, bring the entire backrest to a more upright angle to achieve the desired adjustment.

Once everything is properly adjusted, position your left foot on the footrest and your right foot with the heel roughly in front of the brake pedal. Position your hands on the wheel on both sides, at three and nine (with the wheel as a clock) or slightly above or below that height; your palms should be cupping the outside of the rim, thumbs inside, and your grip should not be tighter than required to keep the wheel under your control.

[Mulski]

Good advice, don't forget to then adjust your review mirror so that it is central to your rear window and adjust your wing mirrors such the the inside of the mirror only just captures the side of your vehicle and no more. This latter adjustment ensures you maximise your LH/RH side rear vision whilst minimising your blind spot.

Cheers

[Astraist]

Actually, since the subject of mirror adjustment came up, I would advise something different than what you suggested.

The interior mirror should capture the entire rear window. The driver's side mirror should be adjusted so the side of the car just dissappears from view. This increases your field of vision into the blind spot but does not create a new one due to the overlap with the coverage of the interior mirror a foot or two behind the car.

The offside mirror is smaller in some cars and should be opened even further out. The idea is to open the mirrors as far out as possible while still keeping them overlapped by the interior mirror just as much as to not create another blind spot. In most modern cars with an electronic adjustment, you can set the mirror just past the edge of your own car and then give it about three more clicks.

This adjustment gives such a good coverage on both sides as to nearly eliminate blindspots and also reduces dazzle from side mirrors when driving east on sun-down/west on side-rise or when the drivers behind are dazzling with their beams (whether main beams or poorly adjusted low beams).

I find that in spite of the car's edges falling out of view, the driver's assesment of margins from other cars remains unhindered. The only problem appears with big vehicles (vans, lorries) where auxiliary mirrors, which now often come stock, should be used.

Another problem is with precise manuevers (e.g. reversing), but I find it better to readjust whenever reversing, since 99% of my driving is forward, not backwards, and the mirror adjustment should fit. The appropriate mirror adjustment for backing up is entirely differeny anyhow and should also be pointed further down, towards the curb.

[Mulski]

The reason why I advocate just keeping a very small edge of your vehicle in view is to ensure that you can still see a filtering motorbike, which may be on your LH rear-quarter (i.e between lane 2-3 on a M/Way), which you wouldn't see from your interior mirror due to the thickness of most cars roof to boot section. Having your LH mirror 3 clicks (a subjective value) pointed further out may well create a inability to see the motorcyclist filtering down your LH side.

Cheers

[Astraist]

The exact same reason why I say that the mirrors should always remain overlapped, like so:

That would have to be one very slim rider on a very slim motorcycle sitting right on my rear door, as to not being seen in one of the two mirrors at every single moment! If he (or she) manages to dissappear from my view - obviously the mirror was set too far outward.

[revian]

Thanks all... I think I'm doing as suggested with, maybe, the seat a tad more reclined than this so I've upped it... I've never driven gangster mode but almost vertical is odd.

I get pain in the right hip after a while (age & running damage...) and I'm trying to work out if its being discomforted by something about the way I sit...

Mirrors... A little while ago I realised I was seeing too much sky. Overtaking F111s rarely get past me so I've lowered them. Generally I set them different for town driving for manoeuvreabiity around kerbs etc.... If I remember.

[Astraist]

Thanks all... I think I'm doing as suggested with, maybe, the seat a tad more reclined than this so I've upped it... I've never driven gangster mode but almost vertical is odd.

It needn't be vertical or even almost vertical, particularly if you have an adjustable steering wheel that you can pull up towards you. This option usually allows to create an excellent driving position, but only a few drivers know of it's very existence.

Mirrors... A little while ago I realised I was seeing too much sky. Overtaking F111s rarely get past me so I've lowered them. Generally I set them different for town driving for manoeuvreabiity around kerbs etc.... If I remember.

As for the mirror height adjustment, you can adjust them so the line of the horizon is just below the center of the mirror for common driving purposes. For percision manuevers like parking near the curb, adjust it inward and down so you can see the rear wheel.

[7db]

Mirror use depends quite a lot on the vehicle.

In the 7, I like my offside mirror to give me a view over the wing to clear filterers. The nearside mirror similarly, but it flaps around and is mostly useless. The central mirror covers most of the main rearwards view, and I like a little offset to the nearside. On a bad day, I can hide a 40ft truck in my nearside blindspot. But I can clear blindspots extremely easily with glances.

In my van, the nearside mirror is tremendous -- and I take a glancing view down each side. The central mirror is a little less good except for checking one's lippy (I assume this is what my drivers use it for). Blindspots are small in the wings but large directly behind.

[fungus]

I have extra blind spot mirrors fitted on the wing mirrors of my Fiesta. The near side is angled to see the kerb, the off side angled to gvie a wider view than the door mirror does. I prefer to be able to see a small portion of the car in the door mirrors with the horizon set at about one third sky, two thirds road.

[Astraist]

From a quick chat with another driving coach, if a problem with the coverage of the door mirrors requires using an auxiliary mirror, than the door mirrors should still be opened as far out as possible without creating a new blindspot, while the auxiliary mirrors cover the blind spots further to the sides.

However, in new family cars like the Fiesta, there isn't a problem with the coverage of the mirrors, so they should be opened and directed into the blindspots, while auxiliary mirrors can be used as parking aids, aimed to the quarterpanel and kerb.

[Horse]

What about seat height adjustment?

[Astraist]

Adjust the seat height so your eyes are level with the upper half or third of the windshield. For most private cars, this can be more accurately measured by keeping a margin of four to five fingers between your head and the ceiling. Readjust steering angle so you can see all the instruments in the panel and ensure that your reach at the steering and pedals remains unhindered.

[Kimosabe]

So we've got the in - out bit nailed but what about the up - down tilt? I have my nearside mirror pointed slightly downwards and my offside pointed slightly upwards as this gives me the greatest view. Otherwise I get loads of unnecessary sky.

[Mr Cholmondeley-Warner]

I have a very simple rule for door mirrors, and no matter how I try and set them up for other purposes while stationary, I always return to it:

On a multi-lane road, in whichever lane I am, I want to see the edge of the adjacent lane in the bottom corner of the appropriate mirror. So in the middle lane of a motorway, I would have two white lines streaming out of the bottom corners of each door mirror.

I can set up the mirrors while stationary to allow me to park, or other similar task, but once out on the open road, I'm not happy until I've returned them to the position mentioned above.