2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI: Great Seating Position

Scott, fantastic post!

Question: this Jettta looks like a great car, but I'm concerned about seat and steering wheel adjustments.

Do you think I'd be comfortable in one?

I don't think I'm alone in wanting to know, and in the future you might want to consider supplying this information!

I'm just trying to help you become a better writer, but you show potential!

I have a Jetta (2008 WE 2.0t) and I think the seats are awful, I don't know what you guys are talking about. The height adjustment sucks, the seat bottom is unforgiving, the backrest too thin, the seating position awkward. I get achey after 30 minutes in the driver seat, but the passenger seat is fine. So I guess it's the pedal placement that sucks. The brake pedal is too far forward.

i also have a 2008 2.0T jetta, wolfsburg. i think its perfect, i'm never uncomfortable. i think you need to play around with the seat and you'll find the right spot.

as far as supportive-ness, i think they're great, not too firm, not too soft, good bolstering.

I concur that all VW's have excellent seating. It takes a good 6-7 hours of driving before I start feeling uncomfortable in my '06 Jetta seats, at that point it is just from sitting too long. Same story with my '03 Golf. I would compare the seats to a Herman Miller office chair......they just work.

Pillow soft seats are nice for a test drive, but not good for anything beyond that. My partners Scion tC has nice cushy seats good for short trips, unfortunately they are hell on your lower back after you have been in them for maybe an hour.

What? I don't know exactly how the seats in the TDI are, but my GTI leaves quite a lot to be desired.

I'm with jpr18....the VW wheel is just never in the right place. If I have it where I want it, it blocks some of the gauges. So its up a little higher than ideal. My lower back/very low lumbar area gets quite tired on drives over 90 minutes. And I don't like how it adjusts for height but I can't adjust the thigh or butt-cheeks height separately. Then throw in the fact the brake pedal is too close to the driver relative to the gas pedal, and it all makes for a fairly unpleasant experience on a long drive.

VW does NOT get this correct. My Miata was correct. Perfect pedal placement. I wasn't jammed into the corner of the seat. Steering wheel right in front of you, no need to extend arms or mess up seat rake, just right there. Perfect. Yeah the car was loud, but seating position, seat comfort and pedal placement were perfect. The GTI is not. I could think of dozens of other cars better than my GTI.

Worst part about the car in my opinion.

I fail to understand how posters tell other posters that certain seats in certain cars are uncomfortable as that's purely subjective. It may be the same seat but its not the same body that sits in the seat. Just because you're uncomfortable with the driving position doesn't mean the next person will be.

Ive driven a few VW's (mostly my brothers former 04 GTI 1.8T) and found the car to be comfortable. VW isn't the only car company with great driving positions as Honda gets it right most of the time.

hondacura4, I don't often necessarily agree with you but on this topic you're spot-on. A seat and driving position simply cannot be made to work perfectly with every body size and type out there. And what's worse is that a seat that feels comfortable in a test drive won't necessarily still be comfortable for a long trip. In my experience though, Volvo, Saab, and high-end Mercedes seats are most comfortable for long durations for the widest variety of body types.

Is it the company or is it the particular seat?
Volvo's standard seats are super comfortable to me. But Volvo's R-Design seats are uncomfortable. They're suppose to be sporty, so they're hard and achy. "Downgrade" please.

I also love the Buick Lucerne's seats. super plush with multilayer cushioning.

I don't like VW seats just because their control scheme has all the separate hard to use knobs. Even the back recline is a knob. Everyone else uses a lever.

@billt9
Thats exactly the reason why they are so comfortable. Using a lever, there are set angles that the seat can be positioned (usually 4 or 5). With the VW's, there are an infinite amount of varibles, therefore making it easier to find the perfect positon if you try hard enough. Im not saying its easy to get to that perfect driving position, but once you get it, its sweet.

I know my 96 Passat VR6 had some amazing seats that took me a long time to find the "perfect" position with. Most cars I can dial in that perfect spot in a day or two of driving but the Passat took two months of playing with the various dials and adjustments but once I got it...perfect. The only car I've owned I could do eight hours or more driving in and not be completely decimated when I got out.

Did have to replace some of the seat cushions though, it was almost 10 years old when I bought it.

Wow, some polarizing testimony here. Anyhow, here's my two cents:

I love the seats. They are more comfortable than my 1996 Nissan 200SX, and my wife's 2006 Subaru Forester. I was very comfortable with my seats. However, I messed around with them after I bought the car and quickly put it back to the original setting. No problem whatsoever.

However, I'll say that the most important adjustment to be made is the lombar support, which is the knob on the side of the seat. It that is out of adjustment, it will quickly turn that seat into an instrument of torture.

I have loved the seats in the VW's I have owned and my current GTI has some of the most supportive sport seats I have ever sat it. However, my wife's S40 seats are much more comfy for long-haul drives, though far less supportive when the road gets twisty.

I can't comment on this Jetta, but my 2004 Golf TDI has great seats and seating position.