Ride comfort/ Front headrest problem

[72 dudes]

@ciunky

Unfortunately Volvo or the dealer won't do that.

We tried to order an Inscription Pro but keep the standard 18" wheels. No, impossible was the answer

[Littletaffia]

I have an Inscription Pro on 19'' (235/55) and the ride is very comfortable. I took out an Inscription for a test drive and hit a pothole and was surprised. Driving home in my Golf GTD I hit the same pothole the difference was huge. My fillings nearly came out in the Golf. It's a bit of swings and roundabouts though with the suspension as body roll is far more apparent on the Volvo, more so than an Audi Q3.

Didn't enjoy the Volvo on the first couple of days of ownership but it's growing on me.

[Chris John]

Sorry but I just don’t get this whole thread.
The R Drive Pro is the sports model hence the large wheels, if you don’t want the sport ride get a different model.
As for the head restraints being forward, I tried this morning and they are not forward at all. To get them to touch the back of your head you have to tilt your head backwards. God knows how you had the seat adjusted to get the restraint to keep hitting the back of your head

[Citizen]

Not sure what is not to understand. The R Design ( not R drive) comes in two guises, one of which (Pro) has extras and 20inch wheels. The non pro version does not have as much kit and 18 inch wheels. Both are the sport model, of which the Pro has the less forgiving ride ride due to wheel size. Contributors to this thread are trying to help the author of said thread. Regards headrest, again people trying to explain about seat position helping the issue.

[DanishPastry]

I couldn't 'get another model' because the R-Design Pro was what Volvo assigned to my extended test drive,.

Attached is a photo of the headrest. That looks quite angled forward to me.

I don't have another photo of a different car, but I know the headrest on my previous car was directly above the top of the seat, not forward of it.

Not criticising the XC40, just trying to understand the options.

[Bill Payer]

If the R Design Pro is the car you are intending to buy then ok, but if not then why drive it in a test drive. The car you intend to buy is surely the one you should test drive.

The photo of the head rest looks wrong to me. As far as I'm aware the adjustment is purely up and down, not front and back as this looks. It looks faulty to me. What did the dealer say when you mentioned it to them?
A broken head restraint is a safety issue and you shouldn't have been allowed to have a passenger in that seat.

[DanishPastry]

I phoned to ask if I could get either an R-Design or Inscription (as those are the models I'm considering), for my extended test drive (which is managed centrally by Volvo, not by the dealer network). Said that I specifically did not want a Pro because of the harder ride, and all that could do would be put me off buying an XC40.

Was told (effectively) that you get what you're given, and I would be getting an R-Design Pro. How could anybody not want the top-of-the-range model (although I had just explained why I didn't!).

Indeed, the headrest adjustment is only up/down. Point of my question was to check I hadn't missed an adjustment of angle, but it seems not.

Perhaps the perspective is misleading - I'm sure the headrest wasn't faulty as passenger and driver were identical.

[Bill Payer]

I've just been outside to my car.

Looking at your photo it looks to me that the seat is bolt upright. That doesn't seem right to me. Even accounting for personal preference when driving or riding some rake/angle should be given to the seat. It's not a dining chair.

When I angle my seat to your fully upright position I also experience the head restraint uncomfortably hitting the back of my head. When I put the seat into a more normal 110/120 degree rake the head restraint is well out of the touch of me head.

I've taken a pic of my usual rake adjustment. In the pic I've adjusted the restraint to its maximum height. Normally I would have the restraint at its fully lower setting but I did it to compare with yours.

When I adjust my restraint as per the photo it doesn't come anywhere near the back of my head in normal driving. I would have to deliberately stretch backwards to touch.
The car is a RDesign T4.

[eugen61]

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the angle of your headrest. Just for comparison, look at the headrest angle in the new BMW iX3, it’s very similar with the XC40.

Try tilting back a bit the back of the seat and modify the height of the headrest in order to avoid touching your head while driving.

[DanishPastry]

Thanks Bill and eugen61 for taking the trouble to reply, and with photos.

My main passenger (the one with the bad back), has a set idea she needs an 'upright' seat. But I agree with your theory that adding a bit of tilt will remove the headrest issue.