How to set your car’s seat height correctly

In ye olden days, the height of your seat base was set in stone, or at least set in the steel of the floorpan, and if you were too short to see from that position you simply had to bring a cushion with you.

Modern cars are better in almost every way than old bangers, but one of the big moves forward, or up and down, is the adjustable seat base. This ability to pump your seat up or lower it down means you should be able to achieve the perfect driving position, almost no matter your stature.

When it comes to seat height, a lot of people, and short people in particular, like to sit up as high as possible, like a child in a high chair, but you should in fact to do the opposite.

That’s because sitting low down in the car not only makes you feel more a part of the machine - this is how cars like a Porsche or a Mazda MX-5 are set up - but because it forces you to lift your eyes and look further ahead down the road, which is basically the first tenet of defensive driving.

Looking ahead, and not constantly jumping on and off throttle and brakes, can even save you fuel.

Learn more about how to find the perfect driving position here.