2009 Sienna headrest's design

3 messages, Last post on Feb 02, 2009 at 1:02 PM

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#2 of 3 Re: 2009 Sienna headrest's design [nws_reader] by yatesjo Jan 30, 2009 (11:46 am)
Replying to: nws_reader (Jan 30, 2009 8:37 am) I think a lot of how comfortable or uncomfortable a headrest is depends on how far the occupant reclines their seats. My wife hates the headrest design in most modern vehicles because she sits very upright and the headrests push her head forward. I tend to recline a lot so I'm never bothered by the head rests... except that I can rarely reach the headrest to put my head comfortably on it. For my wife, when we test drove the 2008 XLE with leather seats that was the most comfortable of all minivans, but she finds the 2008 LE (cloth seats) we bought a little less comfortable, though still more comfortable than the Ody (we won't even talk about her impressions of the Dodge seats- I'll just say she couldn't get out fast enough). Of consideration, too, is the safety aspect of the headrest. When the vehicle is rear ended the headrest is the primary protective device to prevent head and neck injury. It needs to be in the right place at the right time to prevent or reduce injury. To my wife, our 2005 Legacy has the most comfortable headrests of any newer vehicle we've test driven but it also has active head restraint technology that pushes the headrest forward in a rear impact collision. While the Legacy/Outback gets 5 star rear impact rating, the 2008 and previous Sienna's were dinged on rear impact testing because the passive headrest didn't do enough to catch and arrest the head's motion. It is possible they might have redesigned the headrests in 2009 to improve that rating without adding the expense of active headrests... and in the process made them less comfortable for people like you and my wife. Replies to this message: ateixeira (Feb 02, 2009 1:02 pm)
#3 of 3 Re: 2009 Sienna headrest's design [yatesjo] by ateixeira Feb 02, 2009 (1:02 pm)
Replying to: yatesjo (Jan 30, 2009 11:46 am) Bingo, nowadays they are really more of a whiplash-prevention-device and less an actual place to rest your head.

#2 of 3: Re: 2009 Sienna headrest's design [nws_reader] by yatesjo; Jan 30, 2009 (11:46 am)

Replying to: nws_reader (Jan 30, 2009 8:37 am)

I think a lot of how comfortable or uncomfortable a headrest is depends on how far the occupant reclines their seats. My wife hates the headrest design in most modern vehicles because she sits very upright and the headrests push her head forward. I tend to recline a lot so I'm never bothered by the head rests... except that I can rarely reach the headrest to put my head comfortably on it. For my wife, when we test drove the 2008 XLE with leather seats that was the most comfortable of all minivans, but she finds the 2008 LE (cloth seats) we bought a little less comfortable, though still more comfortable than the Ody (we won't even talk about her impressions of the Dodge seats- I'll just say she couldn't get out fast enough).

Of consideration, too, is the safety aspect of the headrest. When the vehicle is rear ended the headrest is the primary protective device to prevent head and neck injury. It needs to be in the right place at the right time to prevent or reduce injury. To my wife, our 2005 Legacy has the most comfortable headrests of any newer vehicle we've test driven but it also has active head restraint technology that pushes the headrest forward in a rear impact collision. While the Legacy/Outback gets 5 star rear impact rating, the 2008 and previous Sienna's were dinged on rear impact testing because the passive headrest didn't do enough to catch and arrest the head's motion. It is possible they might have redesigned the headrests in 2009 to improve that rating without adding the expense of active headrests... and in the process made them less comfortable for people like you and my wife.