TrueDelta Reviews the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2014 Toyota Highlander
2014 Toyota Highlander Seat Room and Comfort: Cons
Year
Comment
Toyota replaced the 2013 Highlander's rear struts with control arms to enable a three-inch-wider third-row seat, and then used the extra space to cram in a third seating position. So if you need seats for eight people, only the Highlander will do in this threesome. A top-of-the-line Santa Fe only seats six. Other eight-pass options include the Honda Pilot and GM's large crossovers.
But those three people best be small, as the Highlander doesn't have nearly as much rear legroom as the Pathfinder or the Santa Fe. To fit children of even middling size in the third row it's necessary to slide the second row well forward.
The second row seat cushion is mounted too low for adult comfort. The Nissan's second row suffers from a similar shortcoming, but the Hyundai's does not.
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What Our Members Are Saying about the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2014 Toyota Highlander
2014 Toyota Highlander Seat Room and Comfort: Pros
Year
Body/Powertrain
Comment
2013
4dr SUV 270-horsepower 3.5L V6 5-speed shiftable automatic FWD
Perfect for two car seats. Really neat trick - the middle seat for the 2nd row rolls up into the center console. I did not remove it nor attempt to sit in it but that does make the 3rd row more likely to be used for those with car seats.
I did not attempt to sit in the 3rd row (looked at it before folding into the floor for cargo space for the entire trip) so cannot opine on it. Use at your own risk.
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TrueDelta Reviews the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2018 Toyota Corolla Hatchback
2018 Toyota Corolla Hatchback Seat Room and Comfort: Cons
Year
Comment
The Scion iM / Toyota Corolla iM was engineered primarily for the European market on a totally different platform than the Toyota Corolla sedan. The 2019 Corolla Hatchback shares a new platform with the 2020 Corolla sedan (and with the new Camry and Avalon as well). But it's still a smaller car than the Corolla sedan, with a wheelbase shorter by 2.4 inches. This somehow translates to a foot less rear legroom on the spec sheets, a tremendous difference. Toyota seems to cheat the sedan's legroom specs by a couple of inches--but ten inches is still a huge difference.
Is the actual difference this large? I doubt it. The official spec for the Corolla Hatchback, 29.9 inches, is TIGHT, about a half-foot short of what the average adult male needs. There's more space back there than this spec suggests--but not a lot more. At 5-9, I could sit behind myself, but with only a couple of inches between my knees and the front seat. Put someone taller in either row and, well...
Aside from the lack of space, the Corolla Hatchback's rear seat cushion is higher offer the floor than the Civic's and provides decent thigh support.
On paper, the new Mazda3 offers about five inches more rear legroom than the Toyota. The actual difference is closer to two inches, maybe three. Not huge, but even two inches often could make the difference between people fitting comfortable and not.
Starting once again with the spec sheets, the Honda Civic offers an inch more rear legroom than the Mazda. The actual difference seems larger. Another clear win for the Honda, especially compared to the Toyota.
Focus on perceived roominess, and this Honda win becomes a rout. Although all of the cars are about equally wide, the Civic has a much wider cabin, especially up front. While the other two cars definitely feel like compacts from the driver seat, the Civic feels nearly as spacious as a midsize car. Here the spec sheet doesn't mislead: Honda claims three more inches of front shoulder room than Toyota does.
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