Try finding a blog entry on our Toyota FJ Cruiser that doesn't mention its poor rearward visibility. Now take a look at the view you get in our new Ford Edge. Not exactly a sweeping panorama of the pavement behind you.
For all of its faults, the FJ is designed for twenty something males who are far more concerned about the way they look than what they are about to back into...
The Edge on the other hand is billed as the 21st century family car, so not being able to see out the back window is a slightly more pressing issue. It doesn't really bother me much as I'm tall enough to see over the headrests, but I'm guessing shorter drivers will feel slightly less comfortable when it comes time to parallel park.
car_nut2007 says:
10:53 AM, 01/29/07
On The Edge And The MKX the center headrest folds down (as an armrest) so mabye you could drive with it folded until you need to carry 3 rear seat passengers..
firstwagon says:
10:59 AM, 01/29/07
Over sized head rest have always annoyed me. Comprising safety in the name of safety is stupid.
When I shoulder-check while driving my in-laws new Volvo, all I see at first glance is head rests( and I'm 6' 1"). It's amazing how much it obstructs your vision compared to my older Subaru Legacy wagon.
I realize it's to reduce neck injuries but I think safety features that reduce accidents (good visibility) are more important. In 27 years of driving I have never been rear ended. I change lanes many times a day though.
I won't even go into the stupidity of bad visiblility in the name of "style".
autoboy16 says:
01:59 PM, 01/29/07
What about cars that have cuts in the headrests? Volvo had them in the 80s and 90s, vw had them in the "new"beetle, honda had them in the pilot, ect ect. Ford OTOH does let the headrests collapse in Explorers(and twins starting in 2006), expeditions (and twin starting in 2007), and Volvo models such as the S-models. Were the cuts in the headrests bad for safety or something? It seems like a useful feature as you can see through them when not needed. That or simply pressing a button on the volvos or pulling a strap on the fords. Also you could just simply pull them out when not in use... -CJ
billt9 says:
10:03 PM, 01/29/07
Many car companies have gone with the L-shaped headrest. Works great. Retracts to nothing.
billt9 says:
10:08 PM, 01/29/07
I just noticed even the Ford Freestyle has L-shaped headrests!
Ha!
The ludicrous things that happen when you cut off all communication between design teams.
cole says:
09:06 AM, 01/30/07
My wife, at 5'8" has no problems with rearward visibility with all the headrests in place. Perhaps a picture taken from an even lower perspective could get more people upset about this non-issue.
firstwagon says:
01:59 PM, 01/30/07
You mean a lower prespective like my 5'2" wife would have?
billt9 says:
08:38 PM, 01/30/07
Your wife at 5'9" is very tall for a female, and is unrepresentative.
The average woman in the USA is 5'4".
My wife is 5'0".
suttons says:
12:49 PM, 02/ 1/07
Luckily the Edge's back seats recline up to 15 degrees to help aid the vertically challenged.
bankerdanny says:
03:16 PM, 02/ 1/07
I just bought a new car last weekend when my car died unexpectedly ('07 Subaru Forester). While test driving other cars I noticed the same thing in most of them. I'm 6-4 and even I felt like my vision was obscured in a couple, my wife is 5-4 and for her it was even worse. Fortunately the headrests are removeable, so into storage they went.
ugmac says:
01:48 PM, 02/14/07
I don;t have vision problem with my edge, mostly I have rear armrest down which helps a lot. I'm 5'9.
cole says:
09:09 AM, 03/ 1/07
I'll take my comment back if the person that took the photo provides some insight as to what height person that's supposed to represent. Did he/she have a 5'0 tall person turn around and take that photo? Also, the headrests come out of the rear seats, so that would help.