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Rear seat height seems really low
I just sat in another Model 3 today and, for the first time, tried sitting in the seat as well as the front.
I noticed immediately that the rear seats were just too short for comfort. Shorter than in my Bolt. Shorter than almost any car I can recall. They were fine for my kid, but I think most adults will find them too short (and I'm not a particularly tall person, FYI.)
Aside from that, the read seemed quite cozy and well appointed. Nice pull down center armrest with cup holders. Good storage in the doors and seat back pocket. A dedicated rear air vent. And the seats, themselves, felt very comfy but...the distance from the seat to the floor was just too short.
OK, my dad used to own a Gremlin: the rear seats in THAT car wasn't even big enough for a child, as I recall. At least the Model 3 is plenty big enough for kids. But I'd feel pretty sorry for an adult that had to ride back there for an extended road-trip.
I noticed immediately that the rear seats were just too short for comfort. Shorter than in my Bolt. Shorter than almost any car I can recall. They were fine for my kid, but I think most adults will find them too short (and I'm not a particularly tall person, FYI.)
Aside from that, the read seemed quite cozy and well appointed. Nice pull down center armrest with cup holders. Good storage in the doors and seat back pocket. A dedicated rear air vent. And the seats, themselves, felt very comfy but...the distance from the seat to the floor was just too short.
OK, my dad used to own a Gremlin: the rear seats in THAT car wasn't even big enough for a child, as I recall. At least the Model 3 is plenty big enough for kids. But I'd feel pretty sorry for an adult that had to ride back there for an extended road-trip.
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Personally, as fairly tall person, I would rather have my knees in the air rather than bouncing my head off a hard roof.
GM markets the BOLT as a type of 'crossover', even though it is not available with all wheel drive, and is technically smaller than a Honda FIT, and both are classified as 'Small Station Wagon' by the EPA. Others have posted the rear seats of the BOLT are particularly uncomfortable.
Video of the Model 3 has been posted of people as much as 6'-7" tall feeling rather comfortable in the rear seat of Model 3. I'd expect people who enjoy 'low slung' vehicles will enjoy the seating position of Model 3, while those who prefer an erect furniture seating postion as found in large, American SUVs or minivans will not. So, what the [FLOCK] are you talking about?
krissu: What size shoes do your rear seat passengers typically wear?
I observed that my child, who was sitting next to me in the rear passenger compartment, had plenty of space for her legs and, in fact, the bottom of her feet didn't touch the floor. So, your mileage may vary, as they say: if your shin bones are the length of a pre-teen child, you will be fine.
Do you have an... ~*ahem*~ ...low center of gravity? Is the issue that you prefer your [BUM] rests on a level seat that is at or above your knees? I tend to prefer stools to couches or recliners in an office or at home, and my [BACKSIDE] is always lower than my knees in any car.
...the BOLT ... is technically smaller than a Honda FIT ..."
Please explain what you mean by "technically smaller", and what's "technical" about it? Is it smaller or is it not smaller? Smaller is what dimensions or what ways?
I do agree with your question about what the OP meant by "short", but
Whatever your height, do you have long legs and a short body (like Barbie and Ken) or short legs and a long body? Probably the former?
It was a little bit like sitting in one of those “kiddie chairs” at IKEA. Indeed, my own “kiddie” had plenty of leg room. From this, I concluded that adults might find sitting in the rear seats relatively less confortable than in a car with a different layout. But it was absolutely fine for kids.
I realize it is considered sacriligeous by some to suggest that anything about “their precious” is less than perfect, but I sat in the car, and that’s what I observed. Sorry.
Its because you're not allowed to be negative on Tesla forums about Tesla.
But, I’m the first one to point out that the front seats in a Bolt are uncomfortable as heck. Model 3’s front seats, in contrast, were wonderful. Given that I’m far more likely to be sitting in the front than the rear in my own car, I’d say that Tesla made a better choice.
Upon reflection, I think both companies made somewhat unnecessarily extreme design choices. But I do think Tesla’s choice was at least somewhat understandable given the form factor and aerodynamics they were trying to achieve. Chevy’s decision to put crappy, thinly padded front seats in their car just feels like an “unforced error”. Pointlessly stupid.
Happy now? :-)
But Tesla is now selling adult booster seats in the online store. ;-)
I ask because there was a car that was otherwise fine that I learned had a torture chamber for a back seat. It was the Lincoln LS. None of the footwells were shaped the same. The rear seat footwells were absolutely horrid. Not only was it impossible to place your toes or feet underneath the front seat from either side, it was impossible to place your feet flat on the floor back there. Because the floor wasn't flat at all, anywhere. My Brothers and I had rented one for a cross-country run to go to my Grandfather's funeral. None of us could stand the back seat. So, no one wanted to spend more than a single consecutive stint between fill-ups back there. It was that bad. I haven't had that problem in any other car, including a Mercury Bobcat when I was a kid.
"Its because you're not allowed to be negative on Tesla forums about Tesla."
There is nothing negative about making a truthful observation. Facts are neither positive nor negative.
My sense is that adults can be uncomfortable sitting in the back seat of many (most?) cars of this size, but say that the seats are OK for children. Legroom is the usual problem, especially for long-legged people.
"Have you sat in the back of a Model 3 yet? Give it a try and let me know what you think."
Not yet, and living in the Midwest it may be awhile. :-(
I've sat in the back of my Bolt, and I did feel more comfortable. Out of curiosity, I Googled rear legroom for both cars, and I found that Model 3 had 35.2 versus 36.5 for the Bolt, which isn't a big difference but I think the geometry of the available space also plays a part in how it feels to actually sit there.
Again, to be perfectly clear, I think it is much more important to be comfortable sitting up front than in the rear. I'd much rather be DRIVING a Tesla Model 3 than a Chevy Bolt any day, given what I've seen so far.
I'll likely wait for a year or so to see how the next Model 3 iteration looks though. It wouldn't do to make major modifications if I may need to trade it within a couple of years