High or low seating position? Ergonomics while at the track.

So i thought to pose this question as i was watching a video with Chris Harris where he discusses 'how to drift', he starts out by discussing adjusting the seat and exclaims that he gets a better feel for the car with the seat down low.  This is probably normal for most people, especially wider set or bigger butted people then myself, myself being very skinny.  Reason i make this thread is because for all my life i have always felt the opposite, sitting a bit higher always has made it so i feel more of whats going on through mid-section of my body instead of it being dampened in my thighs.  With low seating, specifically in cheaper seats that arc backwards (rear lower then front) my thighs absorb all the weight and the feel through waist is diminished.  *Note i have always driven cheap or moderately priced cars with stock seats, nothing fancy with a variety of possible adjustments to height and angle of seatbase

I'd imagine usually just as a function in pure sports driving and lowering COG in anyway possible lower is always considered better, but in the more amateur world of trackdays and solo ii am I the only one who has felt this way?  Bodysize/shape coming into play here of course, im similar build as that "Engineering Explained" guy but probably with a bit more leg muscle (which obstructs weight that would be on my butt, when sitting low and with seatbase slanted backwards), lanky/scrawny, 6 foot. 

Is there only one correct way to setup a seat?  I'd imagine whichever way one feels the most out of the car is always correct, but given variability in body type/shape this varies a bit, no?

I'm used to sitting low in the track and rally cars just because it's the only way to clear the cage roof bars. But in my street cars I prefer to sit higher. 

I tend to prefer to sit higher; I prefer the visibility in general, and certainly for autocross.

I'd like to get more comfortable lower, for CoG reasons, and because I have my eye on a roadster that's going to have issues getting a top above a roll structure above my helmeted head.

I have a long torso. On almost any vehicle, I have the seat lowered all the way. Even in a 4Runner, if it has a sunroof I’ll touch the ceiling with my hair. 

So for me, it’s lower because higher was never really an option. 

In reply to Ransom :

part of me wants to just blame it on my build and hope if i had a stronger core or a bigger toosh, or a more adjustable seat sitting lower would feel great, but despite my brain screaming that logically lower is always better my sight-lines and my hips keep making me crank the seat upward.

In full on race cars with race seats you've driven, is all this less of a issue?  I have a sneaky suspiscion that if i could keep the seatbase leaning so that my rear had the majority of the weight instead of it resting on my legs while sitting low it wouldn't be so bad, like how one could setup for with a race-seat in a racecar, but with cheap daily drivers that get taken to the track, and have limited options in height and angle (either high up and leaned forward, or low and leaned backwards) i always end up cranking the seat as high as my headroom with helmet allows. 

In reply to Ottobon :

When you're cocooned in a well-fitting race seat and strapped down with a harness, you can get away with sitting low and heavily reclined. Many taller racers lay back in their seat with their knees high and rears basically touching the floor. But that's only possible due to the lateral support that the seat gives them. If they tried that in a street car seat, they'd find themselves sliding all over the place.

The reason is that when you sit upright you can use the (relatively strong) muscles in your thighs to stabilize yourself because so much of your body weight is on them. When you lean back, that weight shifts off of your legs and onto your abs. Regardless of whether you have a 6 pack or a keg, your abdominal muscles are nowhere near as strong as your thighs. Nor do they have anywhere near the same amount of leverage that your legs do when it comes to supporting your body. As a result you will always feel more stable and comfortable in a higher seating position where you can sit upright and straighten your knees more.

Like everyone else who responded so far, I tend to sit high in street cars and low in race cars, for the same reasons (fitment). Though at 5'8", I'm not even that tall. Maybe I just have a tall helmet.

The problem with newer, production-based race cars is high beltlines.  I can't see jack if the seat is on the floor.  Go as low as you practically can, but if you're not comfortable then your performance will suffer.

Unless you are the only one who will ever drive the car, then sliders are nice to retain.

My personal preference is to sit high enough to see, fairly upright, and close enough to the wheel that my elbows are slightly bent when the wheel is even with my wrist.  I'm a taller guy, so a seat with sliders makes egress easier.  

Well, OP...because drift.  Did the video also discuss the proper way to keep your hat brim flat?  Sorry, couldn't resist.

In my race cars, I prefer to sit low and fairly upright.  It's what's most comfortable for me.  I don't want to sit all the way back where I have to fully extend my arms, but I also don't like to sit with the wheel in my chest...I prefer somewhere in the middle.

I don't like sitting up higher in a race car.  Whenever I raced our pick up truck (boat) in LeMons, I never liked the up high seating position.  Made me feel less comfortable than sitting down low.

I'm another "higher's not really an option" person, but I think that you should basically throw "feel" under the bus for more important things like control ergonomics and CoG, in that order.

In reply to Ottobon :

I haven't had the pleasure of driving a full-on race car with a full-on race seat, but I will say that when I had a well-fitting performance seat (SCAT Procar, which fit me well at the time) and Schroth 4-point "harnessbelt", it removed all the issues I had with being thrown around the car; I no longer really had to brace myself intentionally at all.

Since then, I've gotten quite a bit heavier (currently 6'/190lb; I was more like 160 when I was running the 2002); The sport seats in my E30 325is did pretty much fine with 3-point belts, but I consistently bruise my left knee bracing myself in the '16 Mini w/sport seats at autocrosses.

As an aside w/regard to the legs vs butt thing, that almost sounds backward to me. Your butt can't really do much to keep you located, whereas legs have a bit more separation and articulation. Not that they should be busy with that, given that they need to be working the pedals with accuracy. I feel like upper-body retention is really key, as that's the part that really wants to flop side to side. If your torso is able to lean against bolsters, you don't have to recruit your lower body to try to stick it in place.

Seat as low as I can still see out of the car comfortably (not that I'm tall at 5'8") and I like the steering wheel up a bit higher than you can typically get in a production car. 

I feel like I have better leverage and control of the wheel and tighter/slower corners then don't put my elbow into my leg.