Er... 3-door technically.

I was riding in a friend's old '01 Civic last week, and remembered (having owned a '01 Civic) how nice it is to be able to look directly to the side and see through the window, without having to lean forward... also, to have the door armrests extend alongside the seat.

(Short people need not comment... yes, we know that you can do the above in a 4 door, and think of the Fit as being extremely roomy... while those of us who ate our vegetables as children are stuck with our heads even with the B-pillar. )

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That's one problem I've never really had in my GD; of course, my seat isn't nearly as reclined as that. Having the seat that far back make me feel as if I'm about to fall while driving in addition to blocking my view.

I'm 6 foot even and my seat is at the furthest back position, usually with a very slight recline to help with mild back pain (mountain bike landed on it) and to keep me supported during spirited drives. With the seat like this, I can easily see just beyond the B-pillar and check my blind spot by leaning forward slightly.

 

I thought I was the only one who would like to see a two door

 

It would be something like this I guess

 

One benefit you get with the 4dr vs the 01 civic 2dr is that the doors aren't 100lbs and don't try to shut automatically when you're parked on a slight incline.

I used to own a 2dr civic and my shin used to get beat up when the door slammed on it. In the fit... not so much.

Side note -- looks like you drive with a gangsta lean haha

 

Two door hatches have huge doors and are difficult to get into the rear seats. Fit does it well - those flip up rears wouldn't work on a two door.

 

Check out the CR-Z.

 

Leaning the seat back takes pressure off my back foam not being able to slide the seat back. Ideal would be to have the seatback far more upright, and the seat about 2-3 inche further back. Crz wouldn't work - no seats for the kids. I don't care how heavy the doors are.

There may be an accord coupe in my future at some point. I'm getting tired of fumbling around with the seat trying to make this car comfortable. I need to move the friggin seat back, and messing with the pedals, adjusting the seat height, adding padding to the cushion, etc., are starting to feel like treating the condition rather than the cause. This car is a blast around town, but I dread even short (<200 mile) highway trips, and I love getting out on the open road. It also seems like the amount of time before my right thigh, calf, and ankle start throbbing is getting shorter and shorter. Hopefully I can find a workable solution.

(this makes me sad, because aside from the front seats, I adore this little car. :-(. )

 

Wow Occam, if my arms were long enough to reach the steering wheel while tilted that far back, my knuckles would be dragging when I walked.... You guys with GEs have telescopic steering wheels, right?

 

Yep.

Occam, ever considered getting aftermarket seats?

 

Yep, we have rake/reach adjustment on the steering, though I'd be able to drive without it (not as comfortably, of course). This is the first car I've owned with rake/reach, and I've always been able to do it just fine.

And yes, I have long arms. I can reach out and touch the pass side B pillar, press all the buttons on the stereo without leaning forward/to the side at all, despite the "gangsta" lean. When I had my Sonoma, I could easily roll down both windows at once with my seatbelt on, and reach both rear pop-out windows.

I gave myself an intervention last night... I have something of a compulsive car-trading habit. I need to keep myself in check, make it to my next reenlistment, and pay this thing off... i can talk myself into trading if I don't have a big change in payments, but I'll be more likely to behave if it's payments vs. no payments. If I were smart, I'd still have the '01 Civic I kept for less than a year. Or the '03 Sonoma. Or the '06 Element... but I digress. I think it's genetic: My dad hasn't bought tires in over a decade - he and mom have bought something like 13 Hondas in the past 20 years. No joke, he's been in the middle of the negotiation for one and said, "Aw, toss in a Civic as well while you're at it." He can pull it off since he's retired with no mortgage... Me on the other hand... I gotta knock it off!

I think I've found my right leg aching issue. It popped up while I was on the motorcycle today too, which got me thinking, why might my right leg be getting sore. I'm pretty sure it's from falling asleep in the Papasan, together with putting my wallet in my right pocket and sitting on it when I drive.

 

HA that's an old Seinfeld routine, George and his over stuffed wallet - not to be laughed at. I lost the wallet years back, Life is full of too many pains in the ass.

Loose the wallet my friend__

 

nice :-) nice nice

 

so what you are saying is that you gangster lean? im 6'6" and dont have any issue seeing out of the front windows because i sit upright

 

You must have the legs really cramped with your size.

 

seat all the way pushed back, relatively upright. even my stepdad at 6'10" doesnt need to do the gangster lean

 

Im 6"2 and have the seat barely more then half way slid back and slightly reclined. Im not even close to seeing out the rear window. Look into some new seats with more adjustment options

 

With the telescopic steering we can choose how much lean we want... Just a personnal thing.

 

I don't know how you slide it anywhere forward of all the way back...

Sitting in the car:


I don't lean back to the point that I'm firmly against the seat... As I said, if I could slide the bottom back a bit further, I could put the seat more upright.

My legs with my foot on the gas (note that this is after remounting the throttle pedal to give me a bit of extra right legroom:


If I sit the seat more upright, it pushes my butt forward, and puts my knees far closer to the dash. As you can imagine, it makes it hard to lift off the gas and push the brake.




Overall, this is the best driving posture for me in this car:


Any further forward or more upright and it not only feels cramped, but I have to start doing stupid things like turning my foot sideways and pushing the brake with the tip of my foot.

All that said, it's pretty comfy when wearing oxfords, sneakers or sandals, and mostly acceptible when wearing boots.

I'm not about to go through the trouble and expense of changing the seats out - I would be curious if there were a simple way to add a couple of inches of extra rearward travel, but the shape of the floorpan and the underfloor gas tank make that seem inadvisable.