What enthusiast car - Tall guy addition

In reply to Knurled:

No tall guy mods done. I have no reason to spend time on that, I fit in pretty much anything.

For the record, i like convertibles. I have a '91 Miata already. Its set up as an STS autocross car. Stock steering wheel and too stiff loud for comfortable daily driving right now.

I did a radical foamectomy already on the seat bottom. To really make fit for me, the steering wheel needs move back an inch or two so my knees aren't splayed around it. The seat bottom could stand to be another inch lower and I wish I had two or three more clicks to move the whole thing back. Its all doable with selected aftermarket parts. I can add power too. That means figuring out what will meet my desires for reliability and that I can get though the "Guilty until proven innocent with lots of money and testing" California emissions laws

I asked for suggestions because I would really like to have an engaging comfortable daily driver that fits me from the OEM and not another development project.

I sincerely appreciate everyone's input. There are some things on the list that I didn't think of and new directions to explore.

For what it's worth, I hear ya. It seems like cars keep getting taller but they also get less headroom. My Volvo has a ridiculously low roof and high mounted seats and low steering column. If I sit far back enough that my legs fit under the wheel, it's too far away for me to reach. It's silly that a car as tall as that has that little headroom. Cinching the seatbelt tight and having a body shape that compresses a lot of weight into a small surface are has allowed me to break the seat in only 10k miles and I gained an inch or two of headroom that way.

My RX-7 has a steering wheel that I extended with a chunk of water pipe. It's something like 2" further back. That added a whole lot more legroom and I can sit nice and close to the steering. Likewise I transferred the seat from my previous car into this one... it has an inch or two more headroom than an un-Knurlized seat

I like the 60's Ford driving position of sitting upright in a fetal position with the steering wheel in your lap. Anything designed around having airbags is going to have the steering wheel really far away.

turboswede wrote: How about a C5/C6 Corvette..

My $.02

Corvettes are not tall friendly. I'm 6'-5", 210 and 35" inseam and greatly disappointed that my buddy's 2009 with Targa roof was WAY too short in the headroom dept.

And... another "poor me" tall guy sob story. After 20 years of driving Civic sedans and fortunately never receiving instant death from a b-pillar through the cranium... I shopped and researched.. then bought a new Mazda3 sport in May (touring models have a sunroof and that wouldn't fit). I sold it in July for a huge loss, because it was horribly uncomfortable. Beyond tolerable, awful.

Don't trust one test drive!

My own test drive turgidity turned flaccid four hours after I left the dealer on a long trip.

Whatever you buy, due to the size issue my advice is this:

rent or borrow one for at least a weekend and take a drive of at least 200 miles.

Sort of on topic but I have been noticing a trend and wondered if you longer legged people noticed it too.

I am only 6' and have a 34" inseam but longish arms. I try to position my seat so that my wrists hit the top of the steering wheel when fully extended. But if I do that with my preferred seat recline my legs are either fouling the steering wheel or knees jammed in the dash, or both. Very uncomfortable. If I move the seat back so that my legs are comfortable I can't reach the wheel unless the seat is bolt upright, and that destroys my back in short order. Even cars with telescoping wheels and movable pedals don't help. They seem to start out in the normal position but adjust backwards to what I need, making the situation worse.

It's just maddening to me.

In reply to Nick_Comstock:

I'm definitely aware of this. I think it must be some regulation that makes seats higher now, and pedals further back relative to the dashboard and steering wheel. I can totally see that for crumple zone issues.

Cars just aren't made for tall people. Headroom is the least of it...

OHSCrifle wrote: And... another "poor me" tall guy sob story. After 20 years of driving Civic sedans and fortunately never receiving instant death from a b-pillar through the cranium... I shopped and researched.. then bought a new Mazda3 sport in May (touring models have a sunroof and that wouldn't fit). I sold it in July for a huge loss, because it was horribly uncomfortable. Beyond tolerable, awful.

I am my current daily driver is a Civic hatchback. A few years ago I bought a set of Del Sol seats off Craigslist and bolted them in. They are 3 - 4 inches shorter than the stock seats. It made everything fit for me. I stopped by the closest Mazda dealer last week and sat in a 3 and a 6. The 3 felt cramped. The 6 felt good. Good tip on renting one.

Part of me is hoping when I have a chance to sit in an ND that it will fit me. I have been going to the Miatas and MRLS events for a few years. Derek Jenkins and others from design and marketing have been there a couple of times soliciting input about what current MX-5 owners wanted in the ND. My #1 request to all listening was,"An interior that I fit in." Hopefully they did something about it. From the discussion here, I am obviously not the only enthusiast who is bigger than the 85th percentile.

Nick_Comstock wrote: Sort of on topic but I have been noticing a trend and wondered if you longer legged people noticed it too. I am only 6' and have a 34" inseam but longish arms. I try to position my seat so that my wrists hit the top of the steering wheel when fully extended. But if I do that with my preferred seat recline my legs are either fouling the steering wheel or knees jammed in the dash, or both. Very uncomfortable. If I move the seat back so that my legs are comfortable I can't reach the wheel unless the seat is bolt upright, and that destroys my back in short order. Even cars with telescoping wheels and movable pedals don't help. They seem to start out in the normal position but adjust backwards to what I need, making the situation worse. It's just maddening to me.

I typically set the seats all the way back and bolt upright, but maybe I'm a bit weird - I typically find a bolt-upright seating position more comfortable than a partially reclined one. And I could still reach the wheel if I leaned the seat back a bit - it just feels a bit weird to me to do that.

I agree about the "upright" seating position. I prefer that driving position all the time because I feel it allows me to be up on the wheel better and have better peripheral vision. However, on the last 5 hour drive I took I conceded and leaned the seat back a click as it was much easier on my stomach/abs. However, I'll click it back up for the next autocross.

BTW, the front seats on the 135i/128i are almost identical to the 328/335. They took most of the length away from the back seats and rear shelf to make it shorter.

Just a jump and drive sounds like a 911 or 3series is the answer.