My 02 Tundra. Even with Bilstein coilovers it still had a Cadillac ride. Seats weren't anything special, but they were comfy and upright.
It wasn't mine, but a former girlfriend's '89 Mazda 626 was AMAZINGLY comfortable and usually got the nod when we'd take roadtrips.
It made such an impression, I'm looking at one this weekend to have as a nice backup car!
Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: Our Merc R class. I have gone from Ohio to Florida twice and to Austin one and that thing makes it very easy. The seats are just the right firmness, the cruse it the best I have ever used, up or down by 1 or 5 mph increments and its got a long wheelbase that with the air ride makes the road nice and smooth without being floatie.
Agreed. My R is astonishingly comfortable. And not just for me, but the second row has room for linebackers and the seats recline. Even the third row is acceptable. I think the longest day I've done is only 13 hours, but I get out so relaxed after that much time. Highly recommended.
For overall comfort I don't think I've had anything that topped my 99 and 2000 F-150s. Later generations added more bolstering for no good reason. But I did dearly love the seats in my SVT Contour and 05 GTO, too.
My wife's 99 Avalon is the best I've had...I'm sure there are better, but it is still a pretty nice place to spend some miles.
For cars that should have been comfy but utterly failed at it: my former MIL had a late model Town Car Platinum (comparable year to the Phaeton I had) that legit hurt to spend more than an hour in. I hated that car with a passion!
I notice that for once Miata hasn't made a GRM list.
04 suburban 2wd. Rides like a dream, comfy seats. Currently without working air conditioning, but should be fixed soon. Close second is my wife's 06 Toyota Sienna LE. Gobbles up miles in comfort and gets decent mileage. Maybe the best vehicle we've ever owned.
'95 Olds Ciera. Wide open cabin with a bench seat. If you could point your couch down the highway and set it to cruise at 70 mph the experience would probably be about the same (but windier without the cabin, obviously).
my 2015 Chevy Silverado 4 door (the big 4 door).
It is COMFY and the seats and ergonomics are good enough to allow you find a different position and keep on truckin.
Most comfortable list:
1: 2003 SAAB 9-5
1: Tie between 1993 Mercedes 300E and 1995 BMW 525. I think the Merc slightly wins
3: 2004 Volvo V70
4: 2002 Toyota Tundra
5: 2006 Acura TSX
Least comfortable:
1: 2000 Honda Oddity
2: 1999 Mazda Miata
3: Mercedes Benz ML-430
4: 2004 Toyota Corolla
5: 2007 and 2009 Toyota 4Runner
There are others that fall in the middle, but thats where I rank them. Interesting when I think about it that I have Honda, MB, and Toyota on both lists. But none of them were horrible, just not great. They also all came at different times in my life and physical condition. The Land Barges I have experience with--Crown Vic, Park Avenues, ES 350's--don't make it on either because the seats weren't supportive enough so you'd have to get out for your back every few hours, but man did they ride nice. Our 89 Chevy pickup probably would have made the top of the list for most comfortable IF it had leather (extended cab, long bed) but I wasn't a huge fan of the cloth seats. They just weren't quite right. I doubt the leather seats in that era pickup would have been any better though.
Our most comfortable car was my wife's 1991 Lincoln Continental. We took it on several long trips and it got good gas mileage and you arrived fresh. It was also our worst car from a reliability standpoint.
JohnRW1621 wrote: '95 Volvo 850 wagon. Great seats. Quiet Michelins and a manual trans to keep it interesting.
I had the sedan.. great car for munching the miles with that long straight five putting it's torque through the 5 speed. The leather seats really do make it the "buick" of the euro sedans. Being boxy and black, it was also nearly invisible.
But the most miles I ever did in one sitting, was a GMC W7 box truck.. 1000 miles straight (yes I was over my limit on time) with only a couple of potty breaks. It was uncomfortable to drive in town.. but on the highway you just mash the pedal and go
I have to split the decision, because you listed 2 criteria.
Ergonomically the best car I have every owned is my E46 / ZSP (Sport package). Absolutely everything about that cabin fits me perfectly. Controls are precisely where they should be, seat can be dialed in exactly how you want it, and it's the easiest car to heel / toe I've ever driven by far. Seat heaters are potent enough that I often drive with the windows down on nice days in late February.
For eating up long highway miles, though, we take the Concert Coach - '12 T&C Limited. Smooth, deceptively quick, space to move around.
I've had lots and lots of seat time in every Lexus made up till 2013 or so (when I stopped working for them). I agree with those saying Lexus LS being a highway bullet. Any year LS will satisfy, but the later models are even better than the 400/430's. Any LS will happily cruise at triple digit speeds all day long (or until your luck with the law runs out) with minimal driver fatigue. Great, high quality interiors/materials with comfortable seats and options and a great sound system.
Cars I've Personally owned have always had a sporty bias, and thus not the best ride. My 2007 IS250 was pretty easy to pound miles on. Oddly, my previous winter beater 2000 Nissan pathfinder is a very close second. Man that truck rode great...till the unibody frame rotted out.
Most comfortable seats(fit me best) were in my 2001 Focus Street Edition. But with the suspension, etc. modifications I had done 200 miles non-stop was my limit. Usually needed a gas fill up at that point anyhow.
Most overall comfortable is my current DD. 2015 Outback with the cloth seats. Seats are good but all the other things make it the best I have had for long distance driving. Have done 400+ miles non-stop twice now and feel just fine at the end.
Joe Gearin wrote: My 1971 Cadillac Eldorado was the bomb. After a hard day at work, slipping into that leather couch was such a relief. Pull the telescopic wheel towards you, set the electric seats and amble on home. It had the ability to go fast, ( it did have an 8.2 liter V8) but I've never had a car that was so good at going slow.
That would describe my '98 Buick Regal well too, although I do need to fix some damage to the stock leather seats. This one is pretty closely related to the Buick Century that Apexcarver mentioned, although I suspect the suspension's a bit stiffer.
The seats aren't quite as good as in my '89 LeBaron, but that one had some other features that took its comfort down a notch... such as no air conditioning. (Not broken, it never had it! And it was optioned with a 2.5 Turbo and a five speed. Really weird combo.)
1981 Cadillac ElDorado - Very comfortable apart from the fact that transmission fluid leaked on the exhaust all the time.
2000 BMW 323i not soft but just nice and solid.
1964 Buick Electra 225 absolute comfort.
Personally, I despise anything with struts, I have not driven a single strut equipped vehicle that I would describe the ride quality as anything better than poor.
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