Whats your driving position?

[FR-Sky]

My driving position?
Chill mode. I lay back more and raise my height.

[TheRoops]

Wait, the steering wheel can scope out? Son of a b. The amount I don't even know about this car.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by TheRoops

Wait, the steering wheel can scope out? Son of a b. The amount I don't even know about this car.

[Legionsk88]

Originally Posted by Ubersuber

It all starts with the brake pedal. For safety on the street (and track driving isn't really different in this respect) you need to be able to apply maximum possible force to the brake pedal which means at fully depressed brake pedal (on the floor in the event of severe brake fade) your knee should still be bent. Do not rely on your ankle for brake line pressure. If you drive a competition car with lower or no brake servo assistance you'll realize how important this can be.

This one aspect determines where your seat should be fore and aft. Then select a comfortable rake for the seat back. Then the steering wheel can be adjusted to your limb lengths. My preference in the BRZ is a more upright seatback (I find the laid back position I favour in other cars to be uncomfortable in the BRZ with its low seating position to begin with) and I adjust the steering wheel reach accordingly, most of the way back towards me and quite high to allow clear view of the instruments. My leg is 31(inseam) and my arm/shoulder is 33.5 (shirt sleeve length) and I am almost 6 ft tall so tall in the torso. In most cars I have to rake the seat to get under the roof but not so the BRZ which has lots of headroom (though a helmet tightens that up).

Everything else is pretty much optional although using your ankle to actuate the clutch is probably not ideal, your personal experience may differ. On almost all cars, though, the brake pedal height is the same as the clutch pedal height and so is the pedal travel.

For proper leverage on the steering wheel assuming proper power assisted steering requires that you be able to comfortably turn the wheel through 180 degrees without moving your hands or lifting your shoulders from the seat back.

There are two generally accepted steering methods: overarm and shuffle but the arm position is the same, even shuffle steerers (more common in the old days) should make the last wheel movement through up to 270 degrees if necessary without moving your hands.

Hand position on the wheel is subject to at least three commonly used variations all of which are safe and effective: standard 10 and 2 (hands at these clock positions) the preferred 9 and 3 (better for large and smoothly controlled wheel movements that give driving testers coniptions) and the Italian 8 and 4 useful for older Italian cars (and you wonder why those Ferrari steering wheels slope away from the driver so far, not for reading the newspaper). I prefer 9 and 3 for most cars and 8 and 4 for Italian cars. I prefer the shuffle technique if much more than 180 degrees of steering wheel movement is expected. With the BRZ I hardly ever have to move my hands on the wheel from 9 and 3.

Bear in mind that of the three generally used hand positions only the Italian grip requires the shuffle technique as you can rarely reach the top of the wheel and keep your shoulders touching your seat unless you have long arms and short legs....

It all begins with correct seat position for operating the brake pedal in extreme emergency. Everything else is mainly a matter of personal taste and comfort as long as you remain firmly seated at all times. The steering wheel and pedals are not stability aids.

what he said

[DAC17]

Originally Posted by giorgi0424

I"m 6'4, mostly legs, but not disproportionate really. I wear 34 length jeans. Anyways, I have my seat all the way back, with no recline to the back, and seat all the way lowered. Also, my steering wheel is all the way towards me ,and almost all the way up so I can get proper hand/knee clearance when sliding my car around. I have the optimal setup for me for performance driving. It's how I always set up my cars. I don't do the "look at how gangsta I am" setups in my cars. driving like that is a joke.

And, if you do that "gangsta" and happen to hit something, your legs will "submarine" under the dash, and your thigh bone will snap. Not a good outcome...

[pfaffendorn]

Originally Posted by Legionsk88

what he said

Yes, what he said, for sure! A super good analysis of how to fold your body into a sports car. Both my inseam and sleeve length are 34. I used to be 5'11", but with my discs drying out, I have become shorter in the torso and now measure 5'10" only after my massage therapist unchains me from his rack. (Yes, guys, wait for it!)

To be simple about it, first I set the seat forward/back for easy and fast (and strong) access to the pedals. The seat up/down I then set for a comfortable knee bend and gentle thigh contact with the cushion -- air between my thighs and the cushion makes me nuts if all my weight is concentrated on my tailbone -- .

Finally, the rake of the seat back gets adjusted for nearly fully extended arms and an easy 8-4 or 9-3 grip. If things get fast and tense, the seat back comes up a little more vertical for a strong 10-2 grip, but that's the only change necessary. A little fooling around with the wheel tilt and telescope is okay, but nearly superfluous if I get the above three steps right.

[ericwudi0830]

Seat all the way down, halfway towards the back to accomodate my 5'11" self

[Gforce]

Originally Posted by HamburgerSushi

Hi guys - I'm 6'1", 34" inch inseam

I'm wondering if there is a fix to raise the lower part of the seat to support my thighs better when driving. Right now I have some space between the seat and my thighs, which can be fatiguing.

I was thinking about finding some bolts with the same thread as the BRZ rails but longer, with a spacer between the floor's bolt-in position and the rails. I don't like that the rails would be floating though.

Any ideas?

I agree. The front edge of the seat is too low even if the seat is as low as it goes.

I add the caution that seat rails and seat positions are now very important parts of occupant safety in a collision. In the 70's all cars were dangerous and messing around with seat rails probably made no material difference to occupant safety. Now that cars are so carefully engineered to protect occupants I suggest that no modification to the seat or its mountings would be safe enough to risk doing. Just the airbag problem should be reason enough not to mess with the factory seat position.

A product from a recognized seat maker like Recaro, Corbeau or Sparco would work , but they don't make one for our cars, so far as I know.

[nikitopo]

Recaro Japan makes railways for our cars. Unfortunately, you cannot find them in US or Canada. Only if you import them from Japan.