13th Apr 2016, 15:19
You guys must be old or in bad shape. I'm a 39 year old male with a 2014 A5 Cabriolet that I leased 2 years ago. It is my second A5 lease in a row. Absolutely no issues. No back pain or problems. This car is a lot more comfortable and I have more driver space than I did in my A4. I've driven this car for 5 hours straight without getting out of the car. No issues. For being a convertible sports car, the comfort is above average. You can't expect Audi A8 space and comfort in this category. Yes the trunk space is annoying, especially when you want to take a road trip and have luggage. Removing the wind deflector so that someone can sit in the back is also a hassle. But it is what it is. If you want a car that's this sporty and good looking, there will be some sacrifices.
27th Oct 2022, 17:33
I find it odd also the amount of complaints people make about comfort in premium modern cars, I don't get it. Since the 1990s I have never been in an uncomfortable car, and certainly premium brands are exemplary in comfort.
Try driving a small economy car from the 1970s or something if you wanna know what an uncomfortable car feels like!
27th Oct 2022, 20:46
I find that in VW/Audi cars, seat comfort can be trim-dependent, even for the same model and year. I had a 1995 Audi A4 which had poor seats, not comfortable on a long drive, like the seats of a standard Toyota sedan from the 80s. But a friend had an A4 with the 2.8 engine and better trim inside, the seats felt totally different, more comfortable, better support (not sport seats, but they were trimmed in velour; it wasn't the velour though, the seats themselves were different from mine).
Driving positions also very within the same model range. I find that normally again VW/Audi cars, when the seat is pushed back for my longer legs, the steering wheel reach adjustment does not go far back enough by maybe an inch or so, to be comfortable and have to move the seat forward a bit. This is the case with the VW Golf Mk7, but the same in GTI trim using the sport seats is perfectly fine, regardless of whether they have the standard Recaro seats or the more sportier ones.
28th Oct 2022, 19:37
Agreed, depends on the car. But generally I still think comfort on most cars in the last 25 - 30 years is pretty much a given, assuming you are around average height and weight. Obviously someone very large or small will have to make a lot of adjustments to find the right driving position. Which again, should not be a problem because most modern cars have adjustable steering wheels, seatbelt height, and just about everything.
I'm old enough to remember a time when you could only adjust the seat back and forth and that was it! If the steering wheel or whatever was too high there was nothing you could do about it! Refinement is important also, older cars were noisy, most modern cars are quiet inside.
The only thing with modern cars I've noticed they seem to have in a fixed position is the headrests - I believe Volvo started this in the 1980s for whiplash protection as not many people set the height of them correctly.
25th Aug 2015, 18:17
I have to agree with you. It's a stunning car to look at and drives very well, but I got bad back ache after only a few miles (I did in the A4 as well) so couldn't keep it as I was dreading going out in it. I changed it for a Volvo C70 and haven't looked back since - superb comfort in comparison. Perhaps not quite as sexy or quite as good in the bends, but the superb comfort and value for money makes up for this in my eyes.