Given the range of adjustment in the drivers seat and steering wheel, is there an optimum sequence to setting up the adjustment. I find it difficult to find a comfortable position without stretching my arms to reach the steering wheel.

I am 6'3" and find my right leg hits the underside of the steering wheel when moving my foot from the throttle pedal to the brake pedal.

 

There are a lot of adjustments, for sure. It took me like 2 months to finally get all mine set just the way I like them. I have one setting for normal clothes like t-shirts and sweatshirts, one for suits, and one for cold weather clothing like several layers or a jacket. It sounds funny, but I found that different clothes are what always made me mess with the seat. Since nobody else drives my car, I get all three settings

Wherever you end up, remember the wheel should be adjusted to put the airbag in its ideal position.

You should be in a position that allows the airbag to point directly at your upper chest/neck/face area, at a distance that allows you to hold the wheel and straighten your arms when shoulders are pushed into the seat. Not so close that you can't straighten your arms, but not so far back that you can straighten them without having your shoulders against the seat.

 

Being a arthritic old geezer I tend to adjust the seat every 15 minutes or so. For me that is what makes the LS seat so much better than virtually any other car I have been in because it has a huge range of seat positions, heights, seat lengths, lumbar, etc.

Only one thing burns my toast, and that is the power headrest that keeps raising up anytime the seat is adjusted more than an inch or so. It never automatically lowers, only automatically raises up ?&^? I wish I had 5 minutes with the numb nuts that designed that "feature" : )

 

I can relate to adjusting the seat every 15 minutes, JW. Since I fell while shoveling snow just before Christmas, my left leg starts aching after sitting still for about that long. The power seats in both cars are getting exercised.

 

Here's the sequence I use while helping the grandsons learn to drive (that can be scary with 16-year olds):
1. Adjust the seat so the legs are comfortable, both laterally and vertically
2. Adjust the steering wheel vertically so the gages can be seen properly
3. Adjust the steering wheel laterally so the arms are nearly straight out and comfortable.
5. Minor adjustments can be made later.

 

^^^^
For teens, you forgot the important step of leaning the seat waaaay back so you look cool but can't see anything but sky out the windshield.

 

Just a little off topic...but can someone tell me why the passenger seat has controls on the drivers side. I can think of a couple good reasons but none that you can publish on here. Thanks

 

If you are carrying VIPs in the back seat, you can adjust the empty front passenger seat to give them more room in the back without getting out from behind the wheel.

I find it very useful to adjust the seat for my wife as she is disabled and unable to easily access the controls on the lower part of the seat. It is in keeping with the excellent overall job Toyota did in making the LS430 the best handicap accessible luxury sedan.

 

It's excellent to allow the driver to raise the passenger seat back after the teen passenger has left it in the reclined position trying to look way cool (or to keep their peers from recognizing that they are with parents). It also allows the passenger seat to be brought forward so other people can use the back seat. All in all, great control for the driver.

 

Haha I used to do this a few yrs ago when I first got my license. It was like sitting in a reclining chair, very comfy. Then I got a lot more into serious competitive driving and a racing driver was explaining how you must be close to the pedals and wheel at all time for optimal control. Been sitting close ever since

 

Not trying to be smart or anything JW,but are you sure you aren't pulling upwards on the backrest switch when you're adjusting the seat?

That switch is also the control for the headrest,and if you are accidentally pulling upwards slightly when trying to rock the switch back or forth to adjust the backrest angle,it would have the effect you're describing.

I tried to replicate your issue on my own car today,and that was the only explanation I could come up with. Something to consider possibly?


Justin...

 

Justin - np I appreciate any input. I am sure it is not a manipulation error on my part. On my car the headrest goes up automatically when I move the seat back. It actually does this on its own and sometimes continues to rise after I am no longer even touching the position controls.

Maybe you are right and my car is the only LS that does this (means something is not working right on my car) but I think it is an inbuilt feature of the auto settings in the LS that cannot be turned off in the cbest settings.

If your car does not do the auto headrest raise I would love to know what was done to the car's settings/options to make it stop.

 

The headrest automatically raises when a manual adjustment is made from the auto setting. I seem to remember that the explanation is that Lexus did it as a safety issue, to assure that no neck injuries would result from the headrest being too low.

I agree in your case that might be an annoyance. Don't know how you can fix this.

 

I'm inclined after reading the last two posts to think it is a setting in the USDM car's body control module.

I own an '04,and have driven another '04,and two '00 model ls430's,and none of them did what you guys are describing when I made adjustments to the seat's position.

I would suggest that the next time you have the car in for service to discuss it with the service advisor and see if they can change the setting and remove the auto-lift 'feature'.


Justin...

 

Yes, there is another thread somewhere here with illustrations on the ideal position of the headread relative to the head to be safest in an auto accident (rear ending). Lexus engineers calculated that if you move the seat back beyond a certain point, then you must be "x" feet tall and therefore, using the laws of average human dimensions, they calculated that your headrest should be at a certain height on the seat.

It's just a safety feature that for drivers who adjust their seat back just to relax their legs, will find it a PITA that the headrest automatically goes up. But hey... that's why you have seat memory positions. On our vehicle, we set the 1 as wife's setting, 2 as mine, and 3 as the full back and "comfortable" position, so we're never fumbling to find positions on the seat.

As for another question on here about the buttons to control seat on the passenger's side front seat. That is for driver (chauffeur) and rear passenger side occupant actually to more easily move the seat forward for more rear legroom if the front passenger happened to have left it in a "bad" position.