TrueDelta Reviews the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2016 Toyota Prius
2016 Toyota Prius Seat Room and Comfort: Pros
Year
Comment
2016
For a compact hatchback, the new Toyota Prius feels very roomy inside. It helps that the tall, sloping console of the third-generation Prius has been replaced by one with a much less intrusive (if also less sporty) design. The deep instrument panel is scooped out on top, while the windshield is large and distant. The view forward from the driver seat is very open, but anyone who isn't a goldfish will find it unusual. It's like driving a spaceship, in two senses. Or a small minivan.
The Ford C-MAX has a crossover-like driving position and the most comfortable seats. The front seats in the Prius are nicely shaped, but less firm. Those in the Volt could use more contour. I found the Civic's front seats somewhat uncomfortable.
The Volt feels far tighter inside. Up front the windshield seems far smaller than that in the Prius. The back seat, while its cushion is comfortably positioned, threatens to induce claustrophobia.
Both the Prius and the Volt have restricted visbility to the sides and especially to the rear. The view is much better from the driver seat in the C-MAX.
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2016 Toyota Prius Seat Room and Comfort: Cons
Year
Comment
Rear seat passengers in the Prius have far more knee room than those in the Volt, and feel far less closed in. Despite a low-mounted seat cushion, though, headroom is limited.
Rear seat passengers in the C-MAX enjoy a much more comfortably positioned seat cushion, significantly more headroom, and better outward visibility.
see full Toyota Prius review
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TrueDelta Reviews the Seat Room and Comfort of the 2019 Hyundai Elantra GT
2019 Hyundai Elantra GT Seat Room and Comfort: Cons
Year
Comment
The front seats are comfortable and supportive in both cars, with Hyundai's likely agreeable for a wider range of body sizes and types.
And the rear seat?
Here we have another area where the Elantra Touring excelled, but neither Elantra GT has. The culprit this time isn't design, but a decision by those who make the big bucks at the corporate level. Hyundai offers Europeans the i30 (the same car with a different model name) in two lengths. These are marketed as a hatchback and as an estate or touring or tourer or kombi or whatever other label might help sell what Americans call station wagons. With the Elantra Touring, we got the latter, and consequently far more rear seat room and cargo carrying capacity than in any other compact hatchback. But we didn't buy the car. So with the first and second Elantra GT we've been getting the much less lengthy, more athletically proportioned hatchback.
As it stands (or rather, sits), the Elantra GT's rear seat shouldn't be condemned as useless unless you're a driver of above-average height with similarly sized passsengers. At 5-9, I fit behind a driver seat set for myself with perhaps three inches between my knees and the seat back and about a half-inch to spare between the top of my head and the headliner (in a two-pedal Elantra GT with the optional sunroof). But people even a couple inches taller than me will feel cramped. The rear seats in the GTI and Civic are roomier.
One plus in the Elantra GT's column: its rear seat passengers get air vents. The Civic's don't.
In terms of cargo space the Elantra GT is more competitive, but nothing special the way it was with the Elantra Touring.
see full Hyundai Elantra GT review
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