I see this gets some attention on reddit every year or so, I have been doing my own survey and here is what I’ve found for modern cars
Big Vehicles - No console
- Hyundai Staria - Small gear shifter clear of knee box.
- Mercedes Sprinter
- Nissan Serena - Small gear shifter clear of knee box
- Suzuki Carry - Manual only, 2 seater cargo
- Honda Stepwgn shifter gets into knee box
- Toyota HIACE Some models no console, gear shifter does dig into knee box a little.
- Ford F150 Some configurations
Small Vehicles - No console
- Volkswagon Buzz KeiCar
- Suzuki Spacia - Kei-Car
- Daihatsu hijet Kei-Car
- Daihatsu canbus Kei-Car
Big Vehicles - Knee room
- Toyota Landcruiser 70 Has a very small console far away from knee box. Roomy.
- Subaru Forrester Has a annoying console, but gives more room then other console suvs, so 70% knee room
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 Console can be moved back credit
- Volvo xc30 console is retractable 75%, clear of the knee box. There is a floor console, it does poke into the ankles a little. Very wide seat
Small Vehicles - Knee Room
- Suzuki Swift Very small console, doesn’t block knees, but kinda pokes at ankles.
- Wuling AIR/Binguo EV - Very low console legs can go over, but slight risk of shifting gears
- Aion UT Floating half console for cup holding, leaving knee box clear.
What car without a console or lots of knee room do you know about?
My 2008 Toyota Sienna minivan has lots of legroom and a full floor between the front seats, including a removable center console. It’s a pretty sweet roadtrip vehicle. Super comfortable.
Stock photo:
Pickups with a [split] bench seat? Usually a regular cab solution to get a 3rd passenger
That would be ideal, I can’t find them anymore in the current year production lineup.
Not sure where you are or what the actual intent of the post is (meaning, probably average commuter cars), but there are still bench seats in US Ford F150s, at the least. All 3 cab configurations in XL or XLT trim (base, base+) offer a cloth 40/20/40 front seat under interior options. 40% of a bench each for driver and passenger, 20% in the middle for a flip-up armrest or very close friend. This is opposed by the other option listed for some, 40/console/40. But it looks like the bench locks you into the V8 and low-spec options. And a pickup.
Edit: if the Carry is on the list, then there’s probably vehicles like the Ford Transit as well. I haven’t looked in a while, but work vans often have a configuration that allows the drive to walk into the cargo area. The center console becomes the storage cubby though, so I’m not sure how it eats into knee space
Malaysia, but i’m glad to see F150s are still available with benches!
Ah yeah, totally different market than US/Canada and somewhat Mexico, the markets I’m familiar with
Mexico has many smaller cars but still supports “full-size” vehicles like the F-150 (but I can’t say I’ve ever seen F-250s or larger without being a proper hauling build)
Old Honda CRVs
That looks simply brilliant! So much space.
