TrueDelta Reviews the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2015 Honda Odyssey
2015 Honda Odyssey Seat Room and Comfort: Pros
Year
Comment
2014
I test a large crossover and think, "This third-row seat isn't bad." Then I drive a minivan and marvel at home much roomier it is inside than even the roomiest crossovers. This advantage increases the farther back in the vehicle you sit. Back in the third row, it's simply no contest.
Among minivans, the Odyssey is the roomiest of the bunch. It's the only minivan with over 40 inches of legroom in each of its three rows. Total up the differences in the official specs, and the Toyota Sienna comes up nearly ten inches short (though the difference doesn't seem nearly so large in reality, maybe an inch or two). A Chrysler Town & Country? Over fourteen inches. A Toyota Highlander crossover has legroom specs similar to the Chrysler minivan, but its third row feels much more cramped. Moral of the story: don't trust the specs, sit in the cars yourself.
In cabin breadth, the official specs have the Odyssey about equal to the Town & Country and a little narrower than the Sienna, but subjectively both the Honda and the Toyota feel broader and more open than the Chrysler.
Then there's access to the rear rows. The feature most associated with minivans, their sliding side doors, are easier to open in tight parking spaces and provide a much larger opening.
In terms of seat comfort, the Odyssey falls a little short of the Sienna, if only because it doesn't offer lounge chair-like legrests in the second row. Then again, for anyone over five feet tall to use these in the Toyota the second row seat must be slid back so far as to render the third row unusable. Either minivan has more comfortable second-row seats than most crossovers, including the Highlander, and third-row comfort is simply no contest. The Chrysler's second row seats aren't as comfortable, as they are more thinly constructed to enable them to fold beneath the floor.
The Odyssey, Sienna, and Highlander can each be equipped to carry eight passengers (though the lounge seats in the Sienna eliminate one spot, and the three in the third row of the Highlander best have short legs). The Chrysler minivans can only seat seven.
see full Honda Odyssey review
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TrueDelta Reviews the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2017 Volkswagen Golf / GTI
2017 Volkswagen Golf / GTI Seat Room and Comfort: Pros
Year
Comment
2016
As I've noted before (when reviewing the e-Golf), the seventh-generation Golf's front seats are shaped and padded to provide nearly ideal comfort and support in daily driving. The CX-5's driver seat also fit me well, but not quite as well as the Volkswagen's.
Compared to other compact hatchbacks and its ancestors, the current Golf has a roomy rear seat. I can sit behind my 5-9 self with about five inches of air ahead of my knees. Unless unusually tall people populate both rows, the amount of space should be beyond adequate.
Compare the Golf SportWagen's rear seat to that in the CX-5, and a funny thing happens. On paper, the Mazda provides about 3.5 more inches of legroom. When sitting behind myself in both vehicles, though, I had about half as much space ahead of my knees in the CX-5. I've noticed in the past that VW measures rear legroom very conservatively, and apparently they continue to do so. The Golf's interior is roomier than the official specs suggest. Plus its rear seat passengers get air vents. The Mazda's do not.
This said, I'm not entirely comfortable in the Golf SportWagen's rear seat. To me it feels overly reclined. In neither the GSW nor the CX-5 is the degree of recline adjustable. It is in some compact crossovers.
see full Volkswagen Golf / GTI review
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2017 Volkswagen Golf / GTI Seat Room and Comfort: Cons
