6'3" here, 225lbs.

I find the HCHII's seats fine for short trips. For longer trips, my bum falls asleep.

I find the seat padding to light, the seat bottom too short (the seat ends mid-thigh), the seat bottom should adjust for rake (that is, I'd love to raise the front while dropping the rear), the steering wheel doesn't telescope out enough, and my knee hits the e-brake handle.

I can deal with this for my 20-minute commute, but for any road trips or vacations and I rent a minivan.

I test drove a prev generation Fit and loved the go-cart like test drive, but no telescoping steering at all made it not a consideration. Now that it has such, I'd say it's a consideration. At $16k it's worth a look compared to the $24k HCHII.

Still, I'd have to try the seats of the Jetta TDI if I were shopping tomorrow.

nf

 

VW normally have good seats! But then again I'm not 6'3" either.You havn't tried one yet? H

 

All you need to do to get rake on the front seat, is to put an inch-anda-half spacer uner the front of the seat. We did a 6,000 mile trip in our HCH this summer, and the only thing lacking was some lumbar support.

 

There you are!

I've been looking for that quote! I remembered you stating that, but I must not've been searching the right terms.

Still, this seems a bit beyond my limited handyman skills.

And I am a little paranoid about messing with the seat bolts. Seems they are pretty important safety-wise.

nf

 

How would this make the seat more comfortable? The driver seat allready has hieght adjustment or does more make the differance? H

 

He's only raising the front. So you end up with more thigh support.

nf

 

It makes a big difference by raising the front seat. Now I get great thigh support. Just wish it had some better lumbar support. We are still thinking about getting a RECARO seat. As far as safety goes, the 1/4-inch steel has a lot more strength than the body pan the seat bolt attaches to. A machine shop could probably make such brackets for a reasonable price.

 

Any chance we could see a picture of what you've done?

nf

 

I took a couple of pictures. Let's see if it works!

 

Thank you Per!!! I took your advise and raised the front of the seats up 1 1/4". I cannot believe the change it made for comfort. It also gets your knee cap away from the e-brake, so two items are eliminated. My only complaints with this car to date are gone! noflash hurry and make the change! You will have a happy face for along time? You wont have to rent a mini van for your next trip! lt is a very simple fix. I used 1/4" alum., got to keep the wieght down! Thanks again Per, H