Long Road Trips and Back Pain

[RickyBobby]

This car is not your father's Buick, and I didn't buy it for comfort, but how do you guys, besides getting new seats, deal with long road trips and back pain.

I've taken long trips before, >500 miles, and it didn't bother me, but this time after driving 800 miles it feels like someone punched me in the right kidney.

The drive was mostly interstate but it's construction time, lots of rough road.

I'm 5'11" and about 185 lbs., but maybe my age, >60, is a factor.

Next time I take a long road trip I may duct tape bubble wrap to my right side.

[jasonojordan]

I drove it for 2000 miles and was doing ok. Some slight discomfort after it all. I just attributed that to not being in to the chiropractor in the last month before the trip.

[Jfheisenberg]

I feel like the seats are great. I used to daily drive my brz for 60 miles round trip and sometimes long wait due to traffic and never felt uncomfortable.

[Killerbee]

Originally Posted by RickyBobby

Next time I take a long road trip I may duct tape bubble wrap to my right side.

that one really made me laught :-) Please take a picture of it if you really do this.

As for the topic, I do alot of mountain pass drives, normally around 500km, but 8-9hours of bumpy small backroads with alot of cornering/breaking hard included. Compared to all my other cars, the GT86 is the most confortable of them all. However, that does not change the fact that my back hurts a bit after a 9h drive, but thats to be expected.

[fumanchu1]

foam inserts

[extrashaky]

I drive 2000 to 2500 miles per month, about 1200 of them in the BRZ and the rest in rental cars. I had a little back stiffness on long drives when I first got the BRZ, but it went away. Part of it was getting accustomed to the seat.

A bigger part of it was getting the seat itself adjusted to the right position to keep me comfortable. That includes not just the distance from the pedals, but also the height of the seat bottom and the angle of the seat back. I like to sit in a more upright position because I find that I have less neck strain upright than if I'm reclining. I'm driving a manual, so the height of the seat significantly affects my leg position and the amount of strain the leverage of operating the pedals puts on my back.

I actually have a lot less back strain driving a manual than when I have to drive an automatic, with one leg just sitting there doing nothing and pulling me off center. So when I have to drive an automatic rental, I periodically use my left leg against the dead pedal or floor to lift or shift myself a little to keep things evened out.

Another big thing that helped, and that people underestimate the value of, is that I installed the US market FR-S sliding arm rest. Although I'd really like it to be an inch higher, as it is it gives me more options to shift around in the seat when a particular position starts to get uncomfortable. Since I'm usually driving alone, I also have the passenger seat pushed forward a little so that I can ride with my arm across the back of it, which sort of helps stretch out my back. In the course of a trip, I'll switch around between sitting straight up, riding with my arm on the back of the passenger seat, leaning on the door, leaning on the armrest, etc.

And then sometimes you just need to stop, get out and walk around. Don't underestimate the benefit of a rest stop.

[Tt3Sheppard]

The key is make sure you don't have your wallet in your back pocket and maybe push the seat back a bit for the longer drives. My probably is my foot will usually cramp up because of the racecar driving position.

[humdizzle]

seating position is key.

Chris Harris (driving god) said that you should be able to rest your wrists comfortably on the top of the wheel. That is proper race car position. I usually recline it a bit more for longer drives.

[sheady]

I was just on a 2600mi week long roadtrip at the beginning of the month, zero back pain and I have a history of lower back tension. I do go to PT weekly and work my glutes with a lacrosse ball which could be helping to prevent pain in the car.

[Cole]

Every now and then I get back pain. Don't know if it's from driving or not, but after long trips in either the FRS or my Silverado, I get similar pain in my lower back. Maybe I need to do stretches or something, but I don't think my line of work helps very much either.

Maybe I'll go buy some snake oil at the chiro. A friend of mine had similar pain, but the chiropractor made it go away and gave him stretches to do as well. Maybe I'll do that this winter. Thank the lord for amazing medical coverage from work.

[Packofcrows]

Originally Posted by RickyBobby

how do you guys, besides getting new seats, deal with long road trips and back pain.

By using only for short trips. 2hrs or less. I also placed one of those colorful lowrider sheets used as seat covers on my seat to add padding. I wear thin shirts. Thick ones bulge insignificantly but significantly pick at my back. I also switch buttcheek here and there. I wear loose shoes. I sit straight, then lean a tad back. Added a pillow but got stolen in SJ. Damming you SJ!

I've taken long trips before, >500 miles, and it didn't bother me, but this time after driving 800 miles it feels like someone punched me in the right kidney.

That's a 800 trip. I bet if I were sleeping those 800miles, I'd still ache. I'm 26. Drink lot of water. Rotate cheek. Pull over for 3min. My longest trip has been 300miles roundtrip in the back seat.

The drive was mostly interstate but it's construction time, lots of rough road.

Better tires. Better suspension will lessen it. Drive slower. I go 45-50 on bad roads. I'd rather pull over to let race cars go faster than hurt me. Age is an issue. Body mass isn't the same in terms of durability of a 18yr old.


I say, just have seats redone with more padding. Use seat covers. Add a rolled up pillow or something to your side's. Snuggly.


If all else fails and your worried about your health, then by all means buy a new car. Wrx is softer imho. I've test driven them. Mustang too.

[RickyBobby]

Thanks for all the tips, especially the one about taking your wallet out of your back pocket. I like those fat bi-fold wallets and keep in my left back pocket. Could be it's making me lean more to the right.

[humdizzle]

Originally Posted by sheady

I was just on a 2600mi week long roadtrip at the beginning of the month, zero back pain and I have a history of lower back tension. I do go to PT weekly and work my glutes with a lacrosse ball which could be helping to prevent pain in the car.

this man speaks the truth. I'm a physician and 95% of the back pain I see is because people are overweight, don't exercise, and sit at a desk all day. PT, or just even regular exercise will make a world of difference

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by RickyBobby

This car is not your father's Buick, and I didn't buy it for comfort, but how do you guys, besides getting new seats, deal with long road trips and back pain.

I've taken long trips before, >500 miles, and it didn't bother me, but this time after driving 800 miles it feels like someone punched me in the right kidney.

The drive was mostly interstate but it's construction time, lots of rough road.

I'm 5'11" and about 185 lbs., but maybe my age, >60, is a factor.

Next time I take a long road trip I may duct tape bubble wrap to my right side.

I'm 5'9" about the same weight, and I drove 3500 miles in 5 days without any issues.

I think the seats aren't for everyone. Some have had very specific discomfort with the stock seats and others have had no issues.

-alex