Model 3 headrest

[gary3411]

Turn them around. Much simpler than trying to bend them. Plus you can always put them back in original position. I did this day 1, infinitely better. Put seat angle at near vertical.

Now for those saying you don't lean ur head on the headrest, there are two scenarios possibly happening here:

1. Their entire back is arched like this ) is putting degrading strain on entire spine even if you 'feel comfortable.'

2. Or they are leaning seat quite far back, but not leaning any part of back/neck/head against back of seat except very lower back, keeping spine near perpendicular to ground and not parallel or even near the back of seat or headrest. This is probably the best posture as it activates the abs and is stable. However, it is very difficult to keep this position for longer than 10-30 minutes and you will eventually start slouching back into your seat in a bad position.

 

[BillyDale]

This is what I did.


Tesla Car Seat Headrest Pillow Neck Rest Cushion Black Leather Embroidery Red | eBay

 

[Fernand]

It's surprising we can all even fit in roughly the same
shaped seats, human bodies differ a lot. For me, the
simplest solution that feels best were a pair of these,
at $20 ea. I have no idea what the theoretically perfect
posture is. I adjust the seat, my head rests where desired.
The units are A quality, they match the seats. Removable.
There are many others on Amazon that could fit you better,
or worse.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077Q382WD/ref=psdc_3732121_t2_B00A7ZV0R0

NOW my question is how to give the front seats a bit more
of a bucket seat nesting. As is, these have a bit of that IKEA
couch while visiting the girlfriend's parents the first time feel.
My 2007 Honda LX Accord's leather seats put these to shame.
Anybody found a simple solution?

 

[KenC]

It's surprising we can all even fit in roughly the same
shaped seats, human bodies differ a lot. For me, the
simplest solution that feels best were a pair of these,
at $20 ea. I have no idea what the theoretically perfect
posture is. I adjust the seat, my head rests as desired.
The units are A quality, they match the seats. Removable.
I'm sure there are many others that can fit better or worse.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077Q382WD/ref=psdc_3732121_t2_B00A7ZV0R0

I have those, but I think mine are flipped the other way around.

 

[stonelance]

I didn't like it at first, but I'm not sure why someone would rest their head on it no matter what the comfort level is. Unless you drive on the smoothest roads ever, your head is going to be bouncing all over. The head "rest" is pretty firm...

 

[Fernand]

It's all in the spine. Maybe Chiropractors are right
and all human maladies and misfortunes stem from
spinal issues. Anyway ... I prefer being able to settle
back into a soft headrest, one hand on the wheel,
strapped in, NOA handling the chores. It's positively
... cocoonish.

 

[Fernand]

On seat covers that might change the feel of
the seats, I found a lot on AliBaba that might
work. The prices are great until you include
Tesla in the search term

 

[rickdogg82]

I'd never thought of this as a problem. Although I have never driven with my head against the headrest in any car I have ever driven.

 

[SMAlset]

"Headrest" is not the correct term, these are "head restraints". It is not a comfort feature, it is a safety feature designed to prevent or mitigate injury to your neck in the event of a collision.

Auto manufacturers to their best to meet this goal with the thought in mind of a variety of driver body types. Nothing will be perfect for everyone and perhaps your body shape/posture/preferred seating position makes the choices Tesla made uncomfortable for you. Personally, I have no complaints, having driven ~18,000 miles so far including a few 6-7 hour trips.

Exactly. You are not supposed to be driving with your head touching the head restraint. If you are, no wonder you have back pain. When I'm seated in my car (Model 3), the back portion of the seat is slightly angled backwards so that the top part of my body just below my shoulder blade area I guess is the upper most part of my body that touches the seat. I'm sitting up and not slouching forward either. There is a gap between my shoulders/head and the upper portion of the car seat. You don't want the seat to be tilted too far back so that there is too much room for your head to get thrown back in an accident either. Your back muscles should support your shoulders and head so that you are comfortably seated in the car.

Once I got my back seat portion (including lumbar settings) and bottom seat portion properly adjusted to my body, I have found the car's seat to be very comfortable while driving, even longer distances. Once you have it adjusted make sure to save your profile settings. BTW adjusting the seat forward and back for proper leg placement is also just as important to how comfortable the feel of the seat will be. For those who purchased a car with the Premium Package you should also adjust the steering wheel up, down and tilt and forward and back from the dash so your arm position is comfortable for you as well.

 

[SMAlset]

The day we picked up the car (July 2018), my wife was in the passenger seat, and felt the head restraint was tipping her head forward. She asked the delivery dude about adjustability, and we all know the answer now. Awkward moment. We'd waited over two years for the car, and she felt she had a critical fit issue. Then she tried tipping the seat back a bit backward, and was instantly comfortable. 13 months and 22,500 miles later all is good.

Yep, I think a lot of people don't realize this and I see new and older owners sometimes complain here on the forum that the head restraint makes them crouch forward and they feel muscle strain and find the car seat uncomfortable. Tesla says the back of the seat shouldn't be tilted backwards more than 30 degrees BTW.

 

[CharleyBC]

Tesla says the back of the seat shouldn't be tilted backwards more than 30 degrees BTW.

My wife's fix was maybe 5 degrees. But your admonition reminds me of my dad. His preferred seat back position felt like sleeping posture to me. He leaned waaay back. It was always so weird getting into the driver seat after he'd been the previous driver.

 

[Fernand]

I REALLY think there's no standard best way to position seats, or to rest, or not rest, one's "head". We are blessed with diversity.

My (minor) complaint about the seats is that I'd prefer a more "bucket" feel. As it is, my butt seems to drift to the left edge of the seat, and that part is flattening. Maybe it's a bit lopsided and I need to go in to have it "looked at" or replaced?

BTW - They have some cool inexpensive seat covers in China. LOTS of alternatives, tons of little shops making them. Aside from the Model 3 specific headrest, that might require just chucking the top, is there a real issue with air-bags?

China Factory High Quality Universal Size 3d Pu Leather Car Seat Cover P7426 - Buy Universal Car Seat Covers,Pu Leather Car Seat Cover,3d Car Seat Covers Product on Alibaba.com

High Quality Luxurious Wholesale Universal Full Set Pu Leather Car Seat Covers - Buy Pu Leather Seat Cover For Car,Seat Cover For Car,Black Leather Car Seat Cover Product on Alibaba.com

All Season Universal Size For 5 Seat Car Seat Covers P2412 - Buy Car Seat Covers,Seat Covers,All Season Seat Cover Product on Alibaba.com

 

[JayNJ]

I think the model 3 is a great car and probably even a better overall package than the model S. I would probably have gone with a model 3 over an S, except it has one big flaw. I'm not sure why it isn't discussed more often, but I know others have noticed it too. I want to convince other people to get the model 3, but I don't want to mislead anyone.

The headrest is very awkward. You can't adjust it and it protrudes forward. When sitting back, it puts you out of alignment and could cause health problems down the line. It's probably not a problem for heavier people, but how do the rest of you deal with this? I can imagine long drives are not so comfortable.

Before you reply denying the problem, please take a moment to really think about it and simply look at your seat from the side and you can clearly see what I'm talking about.

I have never once sat so that my head actually touches the headrest. It is really for whiplash protection. Maybe because I am always the driver but I don't lean back against it. Try leaning the seat back more, sounds like it is too upright.

 

[Watts_Up]

Yep, I think a lot of people don't realize this and I see new and older owners sometimes complain here on the forum
that the head restraint makes them crouch forward and they feel muscle strain and find the car seat uncomfortable.
Tesla says the back of the seat shouldn't be tilted backwards more than 30 degrees BTW.

There is also a possibility of adjusting the curvature of the back of the seat by inflating the cushion balloon
using the air pump which is controlled by the top of the tree side buttons on the side of the Model 3 front seats.

 

[KenC]

The question is why some people complain of the headrest pushing their heads forward, while others say their headrests don't even touch their heads. I'm with the 2nd group. Does the headrest angle vary that much? Why don't people who have the headrests that are too far forward take some pics.

 

[Ragnarkov]

I've done a 10hr + 4hr x2 road trip with my seat and lumbar set how I like (this includes having my head able to comfortably rest on the head restraint) and have had zero issues. I think the main issue is having your seat in a position to have muscles strained for any length of time that is abnormal to how they should be.

If I sit in one way on my couch, I can sit for hours with no issues. If I change my position a subtle ways, I can start having back strain, and even spasms, within minutes. It's all about the muscles.

It's made worse if you have ongoing back issues (which I think the majority of us suffer from, including myself).

I think the seats in the M3 are perfectly fine. If you are having comfort issues, it's more likely there's other things going on.

 

[PearlShark]

I think about these kind of things a lot, and I have been a personal trainer. I put a lot of emphasis on posture in my daily life, and it has helped me immensely in avoiding injuries, etc.

#1 Everybody is Different - this is why some people may not even find this as an issue. Eg, Shorter people may not even have the back of their head meet the top of the headrest where it protrudes most. This is reason enough why adjustability matters. My C-class had an adjustable headrest that could even move forward and back. It was magical, and I do miss it.

#2 Safety vs Ergonomics - Optimizing for rare emergency situations alone would mean that in normal situations, we could be compromising health. Vehicles are rated based on emergency safety, not on ergonomics. That is what leads us to seeing seats with a heavy bias towards safety, sometimes compromising on ergonomics. You can essentially accumulate enough damage over your lifetime of driving un-ergonomically seated, that it wouldn't be much better than the damage from one bad accident. Ideally there is a balance in the middle somewhere. This is where Active Safety solutions come into play. Eg, Headrests that come forward, only in case of accident. Again my C-class had this, but I fortunately never had to find out if it was effective.

#3 Comfort as a Target - People who's heads don't touch, may just be so accustomed to the forward-head posture, that they don't touch the headrest when they sit because they don't sit straight anymore. Additionally, because the head rest may be a nuisance while driving, they sub-consciously hold their head forward to avoid the headrest. Just because you feel comfortable, doesn't mean it is the ideal position for your posture. Fixing bad posture is uncomfortable - until it's fixed. Eg, Most pop-drinkers think most beverages are just sweet enough (despite copious amount of sugar), therefore any beverage maker will have to follow suit and include lot's of sugar so that most beverage drinkers can accept the sweetness of their drinks.

Advice: Spend 2 minutes learning about good posture and "stacking the joints" and then be mindful of it in your daily life (no need to obsess over it either). It WILL help you later in life.

Thanks for reading, and open to thoughts on this.
I think it about it way too much to not have a career related to this at all.

 

[gary3411]

#3 Comfort as a Target - People who's heads don't touch, may just be so accustomed to the forward-head posture, that they don't touch the headrest when they sit because they don't sit straight anymore. Additionally, because the head rest may be a nuisance while driving, they sub-consciously hold their head forward to avoid the headrest. Just because you feel comfortable, doesn't mean it is the ideal position for your posture. Fixing bad posture is uncomfortable - until it's fixed. Eg, Most pop-drinkers think most beverages are just sweet enough (despite copious amount of sugar), therefore any beverage maker will have to follow suit and include lot's of sugar so that most beverage drinkers can accept the sweetness of their drinks.

^THIS x10

It is understandably very difficult for people to wrap their heads around, because it is a slow long term problem without immediate tangible or even measurable results. The model 3 seat (and probably 99% of car seats) as they come when bought make it nearly impossible to have great posture. This is nobody's fault, but a result of 'sitting culture." Most of the population is "fit to sit" in a forward leaning manner. Therefore, sitting this way feels normal, but in the background your spine is being shredded.

Really, sitting for periods of time greater than 20 mins, is anti-posture, no matter how the seat is designed. However, there are degrees and sitting can be optimized by keeping the spine in its most efficient alignment.

Spending less time sitting (especially in a car) will do way more for your spine than any ergonomic seat will. Get out as often as you can. This is one reason I love electric cars, they force you to stop driving after about 3 hours.

 

[MMBTUS]

Look, nobody’s head touches the restraints when sitting and driving optimally. It is not supposed to. You have to tilt so far back that your head and spine are at an awkward angle if you try to touch. My chiropractor cringes.

The folks who sell after-market head rests are bringing the cushion way forward to be more in line with the head’s natural erect driving position. Even then there’s a small lean back. It’s kinda nice for small stretch. But if your head’s touching the regular seat back when driving comfortably then you’re actually an elephant.

On that note this turtle finds the M3 seat to be extremely comfortable after 12 mos.

 

[KenC]

... You can essentially accumulate enough damage over your lifetime of driving un-ergonomically seated, that it wouldn't be much better than the damage from one bad accident. ...

Some things need a citation. Can you point me to some published research on the above point?