Technical any modifications out there for more leg room?

[uberjonnoise]

Hi,

I've performed a search of the internet and the forum but couldn't find the info I was after. I am 6"5 with very long legs and feel I could do with just 1 or 2 inches more leg room beyond the furthest rearward setting on the driver's seat.

Does anybody know if the mechanism can be adjusted beyond it's factory setting, if only an inch or two?

If not I think i'm sadly not going to be able to get the 500 i've been looking forward too!

Many thanks,

Jon

 

[306maxi]

probably nothing safe to use with the standard seats, jnoiles uses a race seat which may give more adjustment....

 

[alexGS]

Would you find the steering wheel too far away?
It prevents me putting the seat back as far as I'd like - so I think your gains would be offset by a new problem of driving with locked-straight arms?

What about removing that strange trim beside the clutch pedal - the one that has a kind of tucked away footrest - perhaps the extra foot room would help alleviate the problem?

-Alex

 

[SteveTDCi]

As mentioned above all I can think of is a race seat fixed in position. But then the steering wheel could be too far away, I'm an inch shorter and the only car I've found with sufficient steering adjustment was a BMW 1 series.

 

[uberjonnoise]

thanks for the replies,

I neglected to mention that i've got long arms to match the long legs so I don't think that reach to the wheel should be a problem.

I'm hoping that there might be some safe fix out there to position the runners under the seat back an inch or two more than its default.

Hopefully somebody out there might have heard of something like this?

 

[306maxi]

Jon, as you can see by my post count I spend a bit of time on here and unfortunately you're the first person to ask this question :-(

 

[uberjonnoise]

Ah well, i've only sat in a manual and i'm thinking of a dualogic so the issue may be lessened with less pedals in the footwell!

 

[RobW]

imagin you are an ape, sit with you legs apart and your arms curled wih elbows out

this is know as the "Italian driving position"
try it

 

[uberjonnoise]

imagin you are an ape, sit with you legs apart and your arms curled wih elbows out

this is know as the "Italian driving position"
try it

Pleased to report that I had plenty of room in the dualogic 'pop'. Probably just me but sure that the seat went further back than the 'lounge' I've sat in. Very impressed. Hope I pick it up on Saturday!

 

[RobinPJ]

To the OP - possibly a bit extreme (and might make you look a bit of a twonk) but you might try race shoes - would give you a bit more space to wiggle your feet around in.

 

[loveshandbags]

Pleased to report that I had plenty of room in the dualogic 'pop'. Probably just me but sure that the seat went further back than the 'lounge' I've sat in. Very impressed. Hope I pick it up on Saturday!

Congrats on the order.
My OH's brother was more comfortable (he's 6ft 4inch) in the Sport with the Leather seats (same as the Sport seats) than in the Lounge with the chequered seats. From memory one seemed more pearched in the Lounge seats whilst you sat further into the Sport seats - they might be the same as the Pop. That might explain the 'extra inch'.

Here's an old thread on the topic.

 

[jnoiles]

The sport is definitely a lower drivers seat than the lounge.

Alternatively, OMP make a subframe for the 500. It's designed for bolting race seats to and it lets you mount a seat very far back. It bolts into the standard seat bolt holes and provides a flat surface for mounting. Any competent garage would be able to weld the standard seat rails neatly to the frame and find you up to 6 inches in space. ybracing.co.uk sell the subframe. I seem to recall it costing about £75.

It looks like this:

To make it work with the standard seat you'd need to lop off the right rear vertical mount level with the sliders. Then it would be an easy task to neatly weld it to the subframe.

 

[uberjonnoise]

thanks for the help.

Sadly I think that the issue with the passenger seat being nonadjustable is too much of an issue and not worth the bother and i've decided to look at a new panda instead.

Such a shame as I really like the 500, in all other respects it fits my needs.

 

[306maxi]

why do you need more leg room for the passenger? There is heaps of room there?

 

[loveshandbags]

thanks for the help.

Sadly I think that the issue with the passenger seat being nonadjustable is too much of an issue and not worth the bother and i've decided to look at a new panda instead.

Such a shame as I really like the 500, in all other respects it fits my needs.

Can understand the dilemma particularly if you're not on driver's duty.

It is possible to get a seat from mainland Europe that gives 'height' adjustment on the passenger side. Also on the leather option you'll find that you'll sink more into the seat.

Noticed on the New Panda that Dualogic is only available on the TA model and you have to opt for the ESP. Currently it's got a better setup that the 500 and you're staying with Fiat.

 

[uberjonnoise]

why do you need more leg room for the passenger? There is heaps of room there?

The problem is more with headroom than legroom.

 

[uberjonnoise]

maybe i'll check out a 'sport' and see how the passenger seat is for headroom and legroom! I'm determined to fit in!