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Old 02-20-2010, 05:05 PM   #22 (permalink)
rbrowning
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf View Post
Where do you find one of those? (Other than the '70s Toyota "Sport Truck") All the pickups I've driven or ridden in pretty much force a bolt-upright posture on you. Of course people are different, but to me that's quite uncomfortable.

But for this sort of commuting, it's hard to beat the original Insight. I spent a couple of years doing a 250-mile drive over the Sierra to the Bay Area. (Not every day, of course, about once every two weeks.)

The autostop also makes it pretty good in stop & go (freeway) traffic, once you master the trick of it, which is not to stop & go in lockstep with the car ahead, but let some space open up and smooth things out.
By far the best seat was in a 97 Expedition, the second best was a 2001 Silverado. The 2006 Impala feels OK around town but after 30 miles or so you start noticing that the hips and lower back a stiffening up. A co-worker had the same complaint and he had an upscale model with adjustable lumbar support that mine didn't. Another coworker didn't have a problem with hers and she was doing about 45 miles each way. For me the more vertical seating of a truck can't be beat if your feet are straight out in front of you. But maybe something like a "zero gravity" chair is very comfortable so there maybe a way to get recumbent. well supported and fit various sizes of bodies for extended periods of time and protect them in a crash. If I could design he car I would start with an Expedition seat and build a tubular steel cage (NASCAR safety frame) with a foam reinforced fiberglass body.

But that's just how I would do it.
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