Picked up my used Superb Sportline last Thursday and the car is faultless apart from one rather large issue which it now appears has been covered in a fair few threads (wish I’d seen these before purchasing the car). The seat position in relation to the steering wheel reach for taller folk is terrible and I’m only 6 foot so hardly abnormally large.

 

I used this guide I found on another thread to try and get my seating position right:

 

https://www.physiomed.co.uk/uploads/guide/file/21/Physiomed_Sitting_Guide_-_Driving_Digital.pdf

 

The key bit I can’t even get close to right is this part about wheel and arm position

 

In order to get this right I have the seat so far forward my knees and ankle hurt due to being far too close to the pedals or I have to put the seat back so far forward I’m basically hunched over (and I don’t  slouch while driving and naturally have the seat very upright to start with).

 

I have an hour each way commute and getting really bad pain in my arms from having them almost fully extended just to reach the steering wheel.

 

Anyone else had a similar issue and managed to resolve it with a combination of seat settings?

 

At this stage I’m seriously considering trying to take advantage of the 30 day exchange policy skoda have and seeing if other models in the line up have better steering wheel reach. 
 

For such a comfy and big car I find it mad how little reach there is on the steering wheel and am pretty gutted to be honest.

 

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

I'm slightly taller than you and find that having the seat slightly higher than what you'd expect with the back more vertical helped me find the correct position to store for my profile.

As with anything though, it may take a bit of trial and error to get the ideal scenario. 💺

CBix,

 

I am so glad you wrote about this topic!!

 

I have owned the Octavia mk2 vRS for around  2 months now, possibly the best car i have ever owned, but i too have the same issue, i am 6ft 5, and just cant find a nice driving position, who the hell writes these guides.haha

 

if i set my feet and legs correct, my arms are at full reach all the time, or set my arms and my legs and feet feel like a chick squeezed into an egg.

if i lift the seat as mentioned above by john, i cant see out the windscreen properly.haha

i have although managed to find some sort of happy medium, and although not perfect or ideal, its a manual selection, so there will be a murder scene if anyone gets in and adjusts it!!

 

i think being tall 6ft and over i feel its just something we experience daily

 

doing the dishes, you have to practically bendover

cash machines you may aswell kneel down

trains and planes

tables and chairs 

the list goes on and on and on

but i wouldnt swap my height for anything, maybe just maybe i have Viking heritage(at least i like to tell myself)

 

sorry to hijack your post:) 

 

kind regards

 

Fisher

 

Unless I'm missing something, the steering wheel also adjusts up and down, and in and out. That help?

@john999boy I have found setting it higher than usual has helped but steering wheel still feels like a stretch. For example to reach the top of the steering wheel I have to pull my shoulder forward from the back of the seat which is never going to comfortable.

 

@FishersvRS nice to know I’m not alone in struggling with this. Funnily enough I did drive a MK3 Octavia and noticed how much more reach adjustment there was on the steering wheel. 
 

The superb ticked more boxes for me in general but starting to think maybe I overlooked one of the most important parts of the car which is being comfortable behind the wheel. Didn’t really notice it for the first few days but really starting to bother me now to the point I’m pondering contacting the dealer and seeing if I can swap it for an Octavia!

 

@freelunch yeah fully aware of reach and take adjustment but there’s doesn’t appear to be enough reach adjustment so the steering wheel feels to far away even when fully extended 

The adjustment range of the steering wheel could indeed be more. 

don't put the wheel into the uppermost position, that gives you some additional centimeters.  

Funnkly enough at 6ft3 the Superb is thr most comfortable  car I have owned. No aches and pains after a 5 or 6 hour drive.

 

Of course  I may have longer or shorter arms legs or torso than average  for my height. 

 

In any case I have the wheel as far back as it goes.  wheel height bear or a the top. The seat  high enough that my head is close to but not touching the roof. I rarely need to use the sun visor.

 

I set the seat fore and aft at a comfortable  distance  for the pedals. Then lastly fine tune the angle of the seat back to get the correct slight elbow bend at 10 to 2.

 

Luckily  I am the only driver so only need to adjust things after a service.

 

@spacelordeven with the wheel set so slow it obscures most of the dials it still doesn’t improve the aching in my arms. It’s even worse today and now have to hope I can use the 30 day exchange policy with the dealer.

 

@ircyeah I get we are all different shapes and sizes, maybe I’m just the wrong shape for this car. Unless I have the seat back a 90 degreee angle which is not comfortable at all I have no bend in my elbow at all with my hands at 10 and 2.

I'm fine with seat in my car.  I'm in Croatia at the moment having driven from the UK and I've had no problem with driving for a long distance, although it was in legs of about 6 hours per day.  At 70, it's enough driving in one day as we're usually on the road for 7 hours or a bit more with delays for road works, congestion, toilet breaks, etc.

 

I start off the day with the seat in my memory position and sometimes make fine adjustments on the journey so I'm not constantly in the exactly the same position, but can always return to my preferred settings at any time.  That's an advantage of the electric seat and it also gives you very fine adjustment to get in precisely the right position.  It can take some time to find exactly the right position.  Like irc, I'm the only driver, so the seat and mirrors are only altered by me.

@CBixsome fotos would be helpful to judge the situation 

6' 1" and I have the seat very high, as when it's low I can't see the dials properly due to the wheel, but also really hate sitting in a race-driver bathtub position in saloon cars. 

 

I find the position mostly fine, other than the internal mirror obscures some vision, but for taller folk that is an issue to some extent in almost every car.

 

The only other issue is I get lower back pain on very long trips, but again I think that's just the name of the game. We didn't evolve over tens of thousands of years to be seated for 5 hours at a time.

Not much help to you I'm afraid but yes I'm another in agreement about the lack of steering wheel distance adjustment.  If I set the seat to suit the leg to pedal distance, my arms only just reach the steering wheel enough for it to be acceptable but I'm lucky enough to have arms like a monkey.  Unless it's an old wives tale, I believe the average person's arm span from finger tip to finger tip usually matches their height approximately.  I'm 5ft 9 but my "wingspan" is about 6ft 3.

3 hours ago, Gax said:

I find the position mostly fine, other than the internal mirror obscures some vision, but for taller folk that is an issue to some extent in almost every car.

This is a problem for me in most cars on sharp left hand corners, but I just duck down lower to get a clear view under the mirror to see where I'm going.

2 minutes ago, Penpusher said:

This is a problem for me in most cars on sharp left hand corners, but I just duck down lower to get a clear view under the mirror to see where I'm going.

 

Same here haha.

 

I also find myself ducking on motorways to see if anything is about to join on the sliproad next to me, as well as ducking while overtaking to make sure the car to the left doesn't suddenly put on its right indicator.

 

Given all this, it still amazes me people add stuff like air fresheners and fluffy dice etc hanging from their mirrors and removing even further vision.

 

To be honest, strictly speaking we are probably breaking the law, but then the police don't stop people with furry dice etc, so....

I have that problem on the Yeti, looking at it I am convinced that the mirror could be placed much higher on the screen and still have long range rear vision even for shorter drivers.

 

I wonder if mine has been refitted incorrectly after a sreen replacement? I can see clear glass between the dark shaded area and the top of the mirror, I am not tall (5'8") but have the seat high.

 

Does anyone have fitment dimensions for the Superb and other vehicles like the Yeti?

Edited 22 June, 20223 yr by J.R.

So to try and clarify the issue and give a comparison I actually went to my local Skoda dealer today and sat in Octavia (very similar to my old Leon).

 

You’ll have to excuse my expression as I’m in a foul mood with the whole thing. But I wanted to test the wrist at 12 o’clock, and hand at  10 o’clock and 9 o’clock to hopefully demonstrate my point of discomfort being my arms stretched.

 

My superb seat is a little further forward than I would comfortably prefer it to be and set not far from maximum height with the steering wheel as low as possible without completely cutting off the dials (the top of the dials is blocked slightly). The Octavia is much lower where I would normally have my seat and perfect distance from the pedals with steering wheel as low and far out as possible without blocking the dials at all.

 

Superb:

 

 

Octavia:

 

 

Superb:

 

Octavia:

 

 

Superb:

 

 

Octavia:

 

 

I think the 12 o’clock and 10 o’clock pictures are most telling and thankfully demonstrates I’m not going mad and the steering wheel is substantially further away. The biggest issues is the angle when my arms are at 10 o’clock as it’s much more relaxed in the Octavia.