Why Are Car Seats So Uncomfortable? [ Reasons & How To Fix It ]

Whether you love long drives or simply travel within your city, uncomfortable car seats happen to be the last thing you’d expect! At times, this experience amounts to frustration. Even if you had forked out a lump sum value to cherish the luxury, uncomfortable seats would continue to haunt your rides. Ultimately, you end up with back pain, and can’t help cursing the manufacturers. Even branded automobiles come with the same comfort issue, and you keep blaming the headrest and its unnatural contour.

The average car user spends close to 300 hours in their vehicles annually. In this post, you will get to know why car seats happen to cause so much trouble.

Why are car seats so uncomfortable?

Have a look at the key reasons that lead to a compromise in the level of comfort in your car’s seats.

1. Manufacturers saving cost

When it comes to budget cars, manufacturers habitually strive to curtail costs, leading to discomfiture with the seats. Automobile brands try to maximize their profits by lowering their manufacturing costs. Therefore, if your vehicle is in the low-budget range, the seats might have just the basic materials in them. Compared to luxury vehicles, budget cars are likely to have more trouble with the seats.

2. Design issues

The average car manufacturer would try to design seats for a broader customer range, prioritizing their sales. Besides, car owners often go for generic designs when it comes to seats. Now, the problem arises when you consider that not every occupant would have the same physique, build, or height. This implies that there’s no ‘ideal’ seat design for car owners. What you might perceive to be comfortable might not suit someone else. Unless you invest in bespoke seat designs, the discomfiture would continue to haunt you.

3. Safety factors

Most automobile brands prioritize safety issues when they design the models. This ensures that the occupants would not sustain bad injuries in case of an accident. For instance, you might find the side bolsters uncomfortable on certain models. However, car owners should know that the manufacturers often integrate such features considering the safety norms. In case of a collision, the occupants would sustain limited injury. Therefore, some older models might offer more comfort than the newer ones that offer safer rides.

How do I make my car seat more comfortable?

If you are tired of uncomfortable seats, there are ways to ease things up. Here are some of the viable remedies that would help you add comfort to your seats. Experts recommend some basic tweaks to modify the seats and enhance the comfort level.

Let’s take a look at the popular hacks that would make your car’s seats more comfortable.

1. Make a height adjustment

Firstly, try to make the seats comfortable by making necessary adjustments in their heights. You might not be knowing that the wrong height of the seat leads to back pain. By adjusting the seat’s height, you can enhance the ergonomics and enjoy more comfort.

Firstly, let the seats drop all the way down. Next, reposition it in the upward position that suits your comfort. Make sure that this adjustment doesn’t hinder the windscreen view. Sit in the new position and check whether or not you get an unhindered view of the dashboard instruments as well as the objects on the road. After all, you shouldn’t be hunching down to get a proper view.

Drivers with short height must use a cushion or wedge to achieve a higher seating position. Ideally, your hips and knees should be in the same line while you take the seating position. There should be no contact with the bottom of the seat, as it leads to poor posture and hinders blood circulation.

2. Get adequate support with seat covers and cushions

To enhance your comfort in the seat, go for suitable aftermarket solutions. You will come across customized seat covers with inbuilt cushioning. Scanning through these accessories, you can choose one that warrants maximum support and comfort to your back.

These days, memory foam cushions have also gained extensive popularity. With the right padding, you’ll experience a significant difference in the level of comfort.

Don’t overlook neck support in the headrest of the car. Particularly, when you take on long drives, neck support would significantly absorb the strain that affects your shoulders and neck.

3. Tilt adjustment

With the seats reclining at the proper angle, you would appreciate the kind of comfort you expect. Moreover, your back and legs would also get adequate support while you sit at the steering.

With the right posture inside your car, your thighs and bottom should receive full support. Therefore, slightly recline the seats, ensuring that the thighs tend to extend a little beyond. In this position, you won’t have the knees crunched. The right posture on your seat can ward off chances of injuries.

4. Fine-tune the back of your seat

Well, fine-tuning the back of your seat can help you attain the right posture inside the vehicle. This holds the secret of rooting out all sorts of back pain. You might habitually recline the seat before driving for better comfort. However, you forget to correct the position of the seat and continue driving for hours.

To optimize the back support, position the back seats with a slight recline at 100-110 degrees of angle.

While correcting the angle, most drivers start from the wrong position and gradually fine-tune the seat. Stop adjusting where you find maximum comfort. You need to relax your back but maintain a straight position. Make sure to center your body at first to get maximum back support. In this position, place your shoulder behind your hips. Depending on your comfort level, make necessary adjustments in the back of the seat. You should be sitting with the bottom fully inside, positioning yourself in the center of the seat.

5. Make space for legroom

If you own a modern car, you must be using the lever to make adjustments for adequate legroom. However, have you managed to use this feature to achieve a better position? Here are certain tips to get better legroom.

• Your thighs should receive 100% support from the seat.
• Do not scrunch up your legs while sitting.
• Make sure to have acceptable legroom to access the pedals.
• To ensure free movement, there should be a little bend in your knees.
• Don’t sit too far so that you need to scamper while you reach the pedals.

Remember, crunching your knees while driving can lead to deep vein thrombosis in the long run. To achieve the right legroom, push the seat back at first as much as you can. Then keep pulling it forward, until there is a contact between the pedals and your feet. Now make yourself comfortable by pressing the pedals, provided that your back remains fixed to their position. When you press the pedal, your knees should make a 120° angle. When you relax them, the angle should be between 20°to 30°. Position your right foot in such a way that it can access the brake and the accelerator easily.

6. Get lumbar support

To leverage your comfort, get more lumbar support in your car. You can adjust this support both in terms of depth and height. The curvature in your back should get enough support. Ideally, it should rest at your beltline or the lower back area.

First, deflate this support while your backrests are on the seat. Now start inflating the lumbar support and stop when it fully supports the curvature of your back. Make no provision for an excessive curve, or leave any space between the seat and your body.

In case the lumber support feature isn’t there in your car, you can use a rolled towel as a temporary solution. Make sure to get a good cushion for adequate lumber support at the earliest.

Conclusion

You’ll run into a whole lot of aftermarket upholstery to optimize the comfort level when you start exploring. From neck supports, to thermal heat covers and standalone cushions, the list is virtually limitless. Rather than cluttering your car with too many accessories, a few branded fittings should be enough to make your rides comfortable. After all, very few cars in the market come absolutely perfect. The better you customize, the more comfortable your rides would turn out to be