I found this thread to be quite interesting, all the variety in the ways we sit in a car. I didn't even test drive my Niro before I bought it, but I did sit in one. Over all the fancy gadgets and functionality, I valued the seat comfort because I intended to drive this car A LOT!
What I found on my first *** plant was that the seat seemed stiff, but that the rolled edges forced me to sit up straighter and smack dab in the middle. The seat seemed to envelope me like a hammock and I liked it very much. Of course, a 5 minute sit and a 40 minute car ride are quite a different thing, so I was fearful that it would have uncomfortable seats, but after 7 months of driving I've never had discomfort. Or at least not for the first 90 minutes or so.
I doubt that the structure is different, but I've got the lowly baseline model WITHOUT the power driver's seat. That too was a worry because ALL my Toyotas have that feature and I love the way you can dial things in. My wife is much shorter and whenever we swap cars, seats need to be adjusted and for me it's almost like second nature. I know just how far back I want to sit and how my arms should be hanging. The seats operate like those in VW in that as you adjust your seat height up, the front lip advances upward more so that it sort of forces your butt to stay down. Once the distance and height are right, I recline, hardly ever do I sit straight up and down. I can tell from where my wife has the seat that my setup may be unorthodox. On longer dirves, I tend to move into a more upright position to help ward off lower back pain.
One thing I really like on my '05 Tundra seats are the armrests. I know they would probably look stupid in a small crossover style car, but on long drives, it is so nice to rest your arm and hold the wheel steady. The Niro can almost work that way with the console so far forward, but not quite the same.
there is DEFINITELY a difference when I keep my left foot on the foot rest (harder on the back) vs. just letting it be on the floor next to the foot rest (easier) . I have been experimenting more with the seat, and feel like it is better in some positions, but I have yet to find one where using the foot rest is not a Bad Idea.
Yeah, I've a love/hate relationship with the foot rest too. Most rigs seem to have them at different positions in relation to the gas pedal. I mostly drive with my left foot flat on the floor or else rolling aimlessly as I put it
next to the useless foot rest. The one time that a foot rest comes in handy is when you've driving for hours and you think you're legs are turning to jelly, I use it for crunching exercises, sort of like stretching.
