So I've been doing a bunch of reading on headrest angles; my headrest pushes my head forward to a point of significant discomfort even on a 20 minute drive.

My options as far as I can tell:

1) Turn the headrest around; not as save, and a little too far back, but more comfortable

2) Find the headrests from a 2008 so it doesn't push on the back of the head

3) lean the seat further back so the angle is more natural, but harder on the lower back

4) Just cope

Anything I'm missing? This is really driving me nuts, and I'm going to do #1 until I figure out a better solution...

 

They drove me nuts too when I first got my 2010. Even thought of hunting down a set of 2008s, but never did. After a 1000 miles or so, never noticed it anymore...adaptability through repetition.

 

The further you sit up, the bigger the problem. I lean back a little and it is no issue. My Wife sits bolt upright. I just turn the headrest around. She could not drive the car without it.

I suspect it has more to do with safety and how far it lets your heat try and leave your body in an accident. An intelligent design is in my Stressless chair, where it changes the headrest angle based on the angle of the back.

10Zero, I have a 2009. Are you saying the rests are different in 08? I would very much like not having them on backwards looking, well I think the old term is "dorkey".

 

Not sure if this is possible in the second Gen cars. But I normally run with the back seat headrests in the front. Front ones are mounted in the back. They are interchangable.

The ones from the back seat have smaller dimentions and sets back farther when mounted or at least seems that way. Visibility wise I can see around them Sooooo much easier when backing up and when looking out towards the pass side.

It also makes the whole front seat setup look much less bulkier.

 

Lean seat back, get (or adjust if you've already got) lumbar supports. There's a thread around here somewhere on how to install them if you didn't get the leather/sport seats.

 

I've got mine turned around... visibly, it's not really different or noticable unless you are actively looking for it. It's a heck of a lot more comfortable for me.

 

Gosh, I haven't noticed a problem with the headrests. I have the seat leaned back pretty far and the headrest just kisses my head, probably the best fitting seat, headrest combo I've ever had in a car!

I hadn't noticed that the back seats had headrests! I folded them down just after I got the car, and covered them with a rubber cargo mat!

Dave

 

Cool, two ideas. Lumbar supports (cheap cloth, I hate leather) and the back seat. My back seat is in plastic bags in storage. Deck with spare tire in it's place. Dave, try raising the seat to a very upright position and you will see what we mean.

 

Busted for an 09. Yes, the rest is smaller, but when installed, it has exactly the same forward protrusion. ( and the ugly safety tags)

 

Thanks guys! For me leaning the seat back has been an acceptable solution. My wife has a bad back though and sloping it back puts tension on it that can leave her in a lot of discomfort. She's not in it that often, but I'd like it to be a good experience when she is.

I'll go look for the lumbar retrofit instructions. Downside of buying the one on the lot is I missed a few features:

1) Lumbar/leather
2) Auto-Dimming mirrors
3) H/K Stereo

Not enough to have held out for the manufacturing chain for, but enough that I have some upgrades to do ;-).

 

I turned my headrest around a week after I bought the car. My wife likes hers stock. I removed the rears because they blocked too much window. Between the headrests and the center pillars, I couldn't see the coppers.

 

I like the seat tipped back, it lets me use an arms straight driving position.

Dave

 

Very unsafe. You need more control on the wheel than "straight arm"
About 90 degrees at the elbow or a little more. You will find you can go around corners quicker. The column does not extend enough for taller folks who need to lean back a little. Better than the Scion box thing where the wheel was barely at my fingertips. Toyota must build for five foot people. Come ON people, my 61 MGA had more adjustment than that!

 

Not true, most road racers use a straight arm driving position. It is the classic Italian driving position, with the elbows bent about 15 degrees. You actually have more control with your arms out, and can turn the wheel farther without having to hand over hand during the turn.

Also, it puts you farther from the airbag, which helps prevent injury when it deploys in an accident.

Dave

 

I beg to disagree. Some cars, like F1 or CART, sacrifice the driving position for aero. As you are not driving an F1 car with 45 degrees lock to lock, don't think you are so cool looking like it. Don't take it from me, go to a track and take a performance driving class from professional instructors. It is about control and leverage. They will teach you how to preposition your hands before a corner to improve control. Cross-arm went out in the '30's.

And quit reading the wacko blogs on airbags, again, you are incorrect.

 

NUH UH! Your are!

Dave

 

Talk to me after your next class.

 

How is he incorrect on the airbag part?

I can say, from being in an accident with airbags deployed in my R53...I don't want to be anywhere near those things if they go off again. Got burned real bad by it.

 

Thump, you are quite correct. They are well known to cause burns as the surface is very rough. That is preferable to smashing your face into the wheel and having your head leave your shoulders as it recoils back. They also help a lot preventing your shoulder from getting torn apart. My Nephew was also burned by one. Good thing as without one he would be dead. I still have a limited range of motion from th belt turning my head to the left because I did NOT have an airbag when I got rear-ended.

Airbags are designed to a "typical" wight and a "typical" driving position. If you are too close, they can have a greater than designed impact to you and may be slightly more dangerous in some instances, but if they are too far away, they will be ineffective. They are there to minimize serious injury. No one ever said they are to prevent injury. Unfortunately, we have almost 20 years of statistics on air bags and it is very clear they work as intended: To save your life. I will grant you, the modern full surround seems to be getting carried away but short of having us wear helmets, they have found no other method to keep from smashing your skull into the side glass. I do wish the lap belts could be held tight and seat bolsters at the hips that worked. That would reduce the amount of lower body movement forward or sideways. It would also help in better driving position giving better control. The Mini does not have good close knee bracing.

One of the reasons I sold my older cars was that they were just too scary to drive around on DC highways without airbags. Go sit in a 64 Morgan and think about what would happen to you in an accident. No such things as fender benders there. A bump is fatal. Am I a whimp? Maybe, but I am not stupid. I am old enough to know I have only one body and I should not break it in half. I got my free-be when when climbing in Colorado and a snow shoot popped out from under me and I just missed the "200 ft. drop to the jagged rocks below". I don't expect another free-be.

I suspect the lack of understanding is generational. When I grew up, well maybe not yet, so let's say when I was in school, we all knew several people maimed or killed in car wrecks. Now it is pretty rare. Not the wrecks, just the deaths. We have a generation who does not remember "the good old days". This is the same generation who expects your car to start every time. A luxury I relish. It was not always true. It often took a lot of tries and just the right touch, or you were back on the buss. I'll take the new cars with the airbags.

 

I just tried putting the back headrests on the front seat. They fit perfectly. It'll work great for shorter drivers.

Can't comment on if it's safe or not, but it works and actually looks pretty good.

 

But they are just as far forward as the front ones. Tried it. I just leave the passenger one on backwards as my wife likes to sit upright.

To be safe, they need to be high enough for your head to hit them. If they are too low where only your neck hits them, bad news. I am sure the idea was to get them as close as possible in "normal" position. Problem is your normal and my normal are too far apart. No excuse. Even my living room chair moves it's headrest depending on reclining position. Not hard. They could have done that for what the noisemaker costs. (Stressless, not cheap but worth every penny)

 

Is there a trick to getting the headrests off? I can pull mine way up, but they won't come off.


__________________________________________________ ______________

Never mind, I figure it out. I won't even admit how stupid I am/was.

 

Push the button as you pull up, they'll come right out.

Good news: The older, 1st gen. headrests WILL interchange with the 2nd gen. headrests. This means you can hunt down a pair from a 1st gen. car and have no fitment issues. As far as the cloth seats are concerned, the black color and material is an exact match! The only visible difference will be that the older headrests are more flat on the bottoms (like a sideways D), and the newer ones are more rounded.

BTW, I know all this because I actually like the closer headrests of the newer cars, and I bought a pair of used newer versions (supposedly from a 2010...but I didn't see any "ugly warning label"), in cloth, for my cloth '05 R53 seats. They fit perfectly and were an exact match. (Interestingly though, they did not locate themselves much closer to my head...it must also have to do with how the rest of the seatback is shaped...)

 

maybe you have different back rests than i do but they were very slim when up front.

 

Mine is an 09 MCS. I will look at other cars at the next meet.