This past Monday the job required a trip to Ogallala, NE,
about a 380 mile round trip. Decided to do it in a rental. When I picked it up
at Enterprise (the only game in my town – Hertz is a joke) they gave me a free
upgrade to a Hyundai Sonata.
Tuesday my back and hips were hurting so bad I made an
appointment with the back quack and got adjusted. It took him awhile and I
yelped a time or two.
The seat felt fine during the trip and the car, while
boring, was ok, if not for noticeable road noise. Mileage was in the upper 30
mpg.
I’m puzzled as to why my back got so out of adjustment. Was
it the car? I don’t know. Other than the trip, my mundane life continued with
no unusual (no moving furniture or breaking horses) activities.
Not much to blog about recently. I’m active on Facebook as a
way to keep up with my 50 or so cousins among others. A regular posting is, “Stirring
the pot”, items that will stir up liberal readers. Just to keep them on their
toes, put up this.
As always, YMMV.
14 comments:
Yes, it was the car. Next time, try renting a 1964 Lincoln Continental. Pretty dang comfy.
Fredd
Put 500,000 miles on two Towncars. I'm looking for another, 95-97. Just missed one with 43K on the odometer. Maybe if I paid the asking price?
Sonata-
I'm reminded of a story printed in "Car and Driver" mag some years ago. They reported a guy in Phoenix had been arrested for going 143mph on loop 202 there. They initially thought the guy was being ripped because the car wouldn't go that fast. They then checked out their last Sonata road test and saw their test car went an actual 138 mph, and when they investigated, found the spot he had been clocked was on a downhill slope.
Our son just bought an Elantra. I'm VERY impressed with Hyundai/Kia.
And tires make ALL the difference in road noise. Stick with Michelins.
Hyundais and Kias have a reputation in the auto industry for giving exceptional value, but aren't quite "there" yet when it comes to certain aspects of chassis tuning.
The THWACK! (called Impact Harshness) you hear when driving over certain "road features" is part of it. My wife's little Elantra does the same thing on her summer tires, but her winter tires don't make the same noise.
The Hankook tires supplied as OEM might give good tread life and traction, but they don't interact with very well with the rest of the suspension.
She's just getting down to the treadwear indicators, so new tires are soon in order. Michelins are good tires, but there are other "good tires", too, like Bridgestone, which I've always had excellent results with.
DrJim and GB
I sold Kias starting in 2002. Weird, because our focus was used pickups and stock or utility trailers. Within a few years we had three Kia stores plus the offsite sales program I managed. Later, I worked as an endurance driver for Roush and spent many miles in Kias and Hyundais. I have great respect for both brands although I think Kia does a better job. Strange, because more and more they are the same basic platform across the line. Kias once had a lot of Mazda DNA from when Ford owned both. Example, the Kia Sportage and Mazda Miata engines were interchangeable.
I was quite surprised by my back issues as the seat seemed ok the whole trip.
Yesterday I did a 144 mile round trip in my old Taurus and my back is ok today.
Lastly, most models have gone to metal timing chains. When they recommended 60,000 mile replacement of timing belts, they were not exaggerating.
Fredd was right. It's the car. Hundai seats are designed for Koreans.
LL
Probably.
I'm no expert but I like that last infographic, a lot.
LSP
My relationship with coffee has lasted far longer than any other relationship.
I'm that way in anything Toyota... Those seats and I just DON'T get along... Glad the quack got you straightened out...more or less... LOL
OldNFO
I'm afraid something else is going on (not COVID-19) and the long road trip didn't help. At 75, I have malady's come and go.
Agree with you on Toyotas. While with Roush I put 5k on a South American export model and was uncomfortable the whole time. I asked my boss why we were testing it. He explained they needed high altitude tests and our location wasn't known for driver kidnap and ransom demands. We drove a route that was above 7,500' to 11,000'.
Oftentimes back pain from car seats is due to too much rearward lean on the upright portion.
What feels good at a stop will wreck your back after 2-3 hours of driving.
Used to have a Datsun B-210, which was a very comfortable city driver, for trips of 20-30 minutes (and I really liked it's manual transmission, fun driver.) But after an hour? Damn seat would just kill me. Saw a doctor about my back, he told me to sit up straight. Ever since then, almost vertical seat no matter what vehicle and I can drive for 8-9 hours with no back problems. Arse problems, knee problems? Yes. Back problems? No.
That, and if the stupid seat has an adjustable lumbar support, most likely it's been screwed up by someone else.
Beans
I've always driven in the "Italian Bus Driver" position. I'm beginning to think there was some other factor or factors.
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