ck123

my lower back starts to develop aches after driving the TSX for more than 30 minutes. I think the problem lies within the seats. There is not much lower back support and then the seat has a huge curve in the middle. In other words the seat is not flat enough in my opinion..

anyone have some advice? maybe leg position have something to do. im 5 10 165 pounds for your info.

just for a comparison, when i took my dad's sienna down to LA from SF, my back would start aching after 4 hours of driving. i never had an ache on my civic though(avatar), but the longest ive driven it is a little more than an hour.

dont let this thread discourage you of buying this tsx..its a awesome car. its just a user problem. i guess some people's back are not easily adapted to these seats.

luigilee

you did try different seat positions right?

assuming you did, I think you should see a back-specialist. Your posture might be bad. Some people put a small cushion in the lower back but I'm not sure if that helps much.
I would also stretch your back before a long trip.

steeveage

I am exactly your height/weight and I feel okay...

did you try adjusting the lumbar support on the side of the driver's seat? I feel that it gives me great lower back support.

I did find that adjusting the height of the seat does afffect my comfort. I think if your seat is raised too high, you are forced to lower your legs to reach the pedals, which causes your lower back to arch. Maybe try playing with the seat height + lumbar support lever?

TSX420J

Going from my is300 to the tsx, I remember getting back pains because the lumbar support wasnt as low.

ck123

i prefer to sit higher in the tsx because the dash is higher than the civic. my civic rides insanely low. feels like im an inch off the ground. the dash goes up to my knees!!!! and i love that about the civic. feels sporty imo.

i think its just the seat...that curve on the seat is too high up...not enough lower back support but ill lower my seat and see what it does. lumbar support make sit worst, makes my back bend even more.

im only 19 :|

subdued

calvin, I got old-man-back and the tsx hasn't given me any probs.
Did you adjust the lumbar lever? I know it doesn't do much. infact my 01 accord cpe had better seat ergonomics. But overall I wouldn't give the tsx seat bad marks. I did a haul up to portland with basically one stop - 10+ hours each way and really didn't have any back issue. you are a bit taller than me and a bit lighter too. maybe you got the beginnings of a back issue? -sports?
good luck, ed

ck123

hey whats up subdue, how is it going...last time i met ya was at the tsx meet

ive tried the lumbar support during the ride. it makes it worst because it makes my back bend more. i never had back issues in my life. its just this car. we have 3 other cars i can drive and they never given me back issues that quickly. what sucks is the after pain.....i got home around 10:30pm today after driving it and my back is bothering me right now

slfmade

the lumbar support and position of the bottom cushion will affect that a lot, you might be resting a good portion of your upper body on your lower spine and it might get sore after a while, if you can reduce the amount your total body curves than it should get rid of some of that pain

LoveMyTL-S

I have back problems, disk separation. I had to play with the seat adjustments to get that position that works for me. In my situation I can't have the seat back to vertical. It must be leaned back some. You may want to try that. Also, I can't tilt the front of the seat up very high either. Try leveling the seat front to back and then lean the seat back.

LuvMyTSX

I had to work for a couple months to find a good seat position, too. Just keep playing with it. Now I have no problems, even on trips several hours long. I have 2 herniated disks, btw, so I know back pain all too well.

jiggaman

i had trouble getting comfy with the tsx seats at first too but now i am fine, just keep playing around with the adjustments and you should be good.

Mokos23

All I've gotten was right leg pain whenever I drove the TSX for awhile. Then it stopped when I put the seat a little bit and it's gone now. Only bad thing is when I have to put the seat back up so that people can sit in the back seat.

TSXPT

I don't have a TSX yet, and I didn't play with the seat settings much when I did my test drive because it was already pretty comfortable, but I am a physical therapist, so I may be able to help from that perspective.

In general, when you are sitting, you should always try to sit with your hips elevated slightly above your knees (back of the seat slightly higher than the front). Your back has a natural curve in it (called lordosis) which is what lumbar support is supposed to fill in to help you maintain. If your knees are higher than your hips (or even with them to some extent) your pelvis rocks backwards and flattens out the curve which puts increased stress on the discs and other structures and makes the muscles work harder to maintain your position instead of the natural shape of your spine doing it for you.

If you aren't used to sitting this way, it will feel awkward at first (so be patient), but over time your body will adjust and in most cases it will help alleviate the back pain and help protect you from future back problems. The exception to this would be in older individuals who have spinal stenosis, but based on the age of the OP I wouldn't expect that to be a problem in this case.

So, (here's the part where the fact that I don't have a TSX yet comes into play), if possible, try tilting the bottom of the seat forward slightly so that your hips are elevated above your knees. If the seat doesn't have that adjustment, you can purchase a wedge to sit on that will position you correctly. There are several brands available that work well, but they'll all look something like this: http://www.neseminars.com/store/come...?idProduct=157

Hope this helps!

CJams

No back problems here! I use to drive an hour to work and 2 hours home and never had problems. every once in a while I would feel like I had hunch back syndrom because the head rest didn't let me put my head all the way back so I just turn the head rest around when I feel like that and viola!!! I can lean my head back as far as I want.

taylor314gh

yeah, after buying the car i drove 16 hours to get it home, no back pain at all. However, i'm 6'4", so the height difference may be the reason.

PACman

I agree with what TSXPT said. Plus strengthen your core muscles - abs and lower back. The most common complaint I get is lower back pain, and the most common reason for back pain is weak core muscles.

EuRTSX

Also, it took me a good 6 months for a transition from my old Volvo to this car. After 6 months of backpain, I finally got used to the seats.

ProjectT4

man i drove 7 hrs to pittsburgh once and damn my back was aching alright, then i started getting annoyed and along with the loud ass exhaust + inake + tire sound my head started aching. only killed about half a bottle of advil... lol! great trip! great trip!

but then i got to drive my friends '06 M5 so that was nice....

Tsx536

Is that your ride in your avatar? Looks nice, post more pics if you got em

stevezilla

I'm 6' 0", 200 lbs / 2005 6MT... i had to play with the seat and the steering wheel to get it just right... oddly, I couldn't lean too far back or my shoulders would ache. i had to scoot it back, lower the seat & tilt it forward a little bit. It took some getting used to. I think my car was orinially driven by a dwarf or a little old lady. Weird.

savage

I thought the TSX seats were the most comfortable seats i have sat in for a road trip... I have driven 6 hours plus in my car with no issues. Most other cars my back would tighten up and i would need to stretch out a bit...

Just play around with the adjustments until you get it just right...

savage

yeah it looks tight...

ProjectT4

i wish that was my ride! well about a year ago i made a couple trips actually to japan for an industrial desing workshop where i met a guy, friend of my dads actualy that works for the honda, hes an engineer and he knew a guy that works for the phase circuit team. and that is the Phase Cl-7 accord euro r. signature blue with white rims.

ProjectT4

Tsx536

^^ Wow, that thing has nice wheels. I wonder where I could get those

For the people with the back aches, do you usually rest your head on the headrest? I find that takes some of the pressure off my back, because i tend to lean my head forward a lot.

ck123

thanks for this advice....ill remember to adjust it so that my hips are leveled with my knees. as of right now my knees are definetly higher than my hips, but it doesnt explain why my back would not ache on my civic because the seat is extremely low and you cannot adjust the height of the chair. the tsx seat canjust the lean, distance(from wheel) and angle height of the front/back of the seat

sinc ei go to the gym ill start working out my lower back. thanks for that advice

gtg710w

I had same exact problem, except it took about an hour for it to show up. One day my sister got me a back support that goes on top of the seat, it's like a mesh with steel frame that attaches to lower back area of the seat,.Since then i have no problem at all. I don't know what they are called but she said she got it for like 5 bucks at walmart

CJams

Oh iforgot....Turn the seat heaters on and loosen up those muscles.

furball

Any suggestions on what you did to fix it? I've had my TSX for 6 weeks - I'm ready to get rid of it. I'm so upset with it that I'm still car shopping, and the issue is that the TSX is almost perfect in every other respect. In order to get a car with as many goodies, I'd have to pay 15K more for a Lexus, not to mention that I'd lose about 8K in depreciation.

I have two other alternatives. First, there are lots of ergonomics consultants in town, some of whom do vehicles (aimed mostly at people who drive for a living). Also, I'm considering going to an auto upholstery shop and having them re-jig the stuffing in the back of the seat.

ck123

try what gtg710w is using. his post is near the top.

jesuswalks

this happens to me also. Some days worst then others.

Im only 5'8 or 5'9 and sometimes i cant get into a comfortable position. for some reason i put the seat as far back as i can, and it still feels weird. Im not quite sure where my legs and knees are supposed to be, to make it most comfortable.

gtg710w

do you lean to the left or right while driving? I think that was the cause of problem for me, although not 100 % sure.

I found myself leaning to right, and it was my left lower back that always hurt. Since then I try my best to sit straight, in car or any kind of seat, with help of the mesh thing that I mentioned earlier. I don't think I feel pain anymore. At this point, I'm not sure if its either that I fixed my back problem or that I just don't drive long enough.

BTW I'm 5'11"

dinaro

My back aches easily as well and I had the same problem as you, I actually went out and bought myself an OBUS form back support cushion and its helped out a lot

LuvMyTSX

I did a few things:
- At first, I didn't like the lumbar support, so I didn't really use it, but it didn't help anything, so I started using it and it took some time to get used to having it there, but then I really started to like it. It takes some getting used to.
- I also had to work for a few months with lowering and raising the seat to find the right height. If it's too high or too low, it makes you strain to reach the pedals, so play with that more.
- It also took a while to find the right distance from the pedals & steering wheel (it is uncomfortable for me to be too close, but I'm also not stretching to reach, that is important). The steering wheel is tilting & telescoping, so also use that to your advantage. I had to bring it out in order for me to reach it when I moved the seat back (I must have long legs, lol).

Thank God the TSX is very flexible in seating positions. It might take some work to find the right position, but it's worth it. Keep working at it for a couple more months. At least every year past 2004 has memory seats, if I remember correctly, so if someone else drives your car, it won't be a problem for you to put it back how you like it. Wish I had that!

Also, seeing an ergonomics specialist is a very good idea. They could probably give you more pointers. I guess it's good and bad that the car has so many position options. Good because it lets you find the perfect position for you, but bad because you have so many things to adjust in order to find it. It's just a matter of hitting that sweet spot.

Street Spirit

My bet is that you're going from a car with NO proper back support (old civic with "flat seats") to the TSX, which does have more ergonomic seats (if you can call it that) and you're finding it hard to adjust (sit properly). How long have you had the TSX? My guess would be it'll just take some time to adjust to a proper seating position after having been in something without....kinda like people who find it uncomfortable at first to sit with an ObusForme back support or shoe insoles. Adjust all the settings and see if there's something that feels a little more comfortable to you.

Deity711

This is a great post.

I have actually always raised the front of the seat up higher than the back so as to support my thighs. I've been riding in seats like this for years, but I find it very comfortable and have never had back problems - am I doing damage to my back?

NJJT

I'm 7'3" and I have no problems.

LuvMyTSX

Holy smokes, that's tall!!

ck123

april 2006... i took TSXPT advice about having my knee leveled with my hip. i went down to the garage to adjust that yesterday, but i havent driven it yet.

NJJT

I'm 5'6" on a good day.

But "Holy Smokes" is a pretty sweet expression. Thanks!