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Are Roadsters just for small people?

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Coyote1

Coyote1

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I am finishing up a 74 TR6 that I restored to give to my Granddaughter. After a few test drives, I have decided that I really like driving this thing and want one for myself. Problem is, I'm too big to be comfortable in a TR. At 6'2"/230 lb. and size 10 1/2 shoes I need a shoehorn to get in. With the top up, I feel like a clown folded up in one of those small circus cars.
Is there a roadster that has a little more room than the TR?
 
Yep, 6' 3", 230 (size 13 shoes) and my TR3A has more than enough leg room.
 
There is a ton of room in a TR7 or a TR8. They are very comfortable by LBC standards. I know several guys in the 6'3" 300 pound range that own wedges. Only issue would be if you install a roll bar that doesn't allow seat travel all the way back. Non of that leaning forward to look up at a traffic light when the top is up in a wedge. Stags aren't too bad either. Forget about anything from MG. Midgets bring clown car to a new level.
 
I'm a bigger guy too and have no problems fitting into my '59 TR3. I had two of my buddies over this weekend (one 6' 3" and the other 6' 4") and neither had an issue with leg room.

My vote - get one!
 
Add the Jensen-Healey to the list of more room roadsters.
 
Tug...For sure you have attended the UBSCC British Car Show in your backyard in Woodland....and have seen a good number of us your size and larger! Is the problem you feel in getting into and out of the TR6 or more in the fact of how you feel while driving the car? If the problem is in getting in to the car you might try sitting down on the seat and then swing your feet in. Do the reverse in getting out. Much easier than the move most of us make getting into a Detroit Iron ride. Tons of leg room in my TR3A...but also find room in my friends TR6. Gil NoCal
 
My TR6 was a bit tight, at 6'1 until I replaced the seats. When I put in miata seats in my TR6, I was able to move the seats much further back, and i gained so much leg room that if I have the seat all the way back, I cant kick the firewall anymore. I think a lot of the 'size problems' with the TR6 are because of the seat position and angle, and the size of the steering wheel, rather than the actual amount of available space inside.

My TR7 had TONS of room, it was unbelievably spacious inside.
 
x2 on the TR3/4 for leg room. Footwear can also matter as some shoes add a lot of width. On one multi-day cruise I snapped a shot of some of the shoe choices -- quite a variety but all trying to get conmfortable with the small pedal spacing:

DrivingShoes.jpg


I wear a pair of wrestling shoes for long drives (2nd from the left in pic). Added bonus is that if anyone wants to wrestle I have a distinct advantage.
 
I'm 6'2" 235 size 11.5 shoes and ingress/egress with the 6/250 isn't a big deal. But both have smaller than stock steering wheels which seems to make a huge difference. I hadn't given ingress/egress much thought (other than those days when my old cranky legs were stiff) until I drove the 4a with a stock wheel for the first time. Besides being a bear to get in/out of, that car was barely driveable and marginally unsafe for me. A constant effort had to be made to keep my thighs clear of the bottom of the wheel. That car is gone and while I will definitely own another 4a someday, I can't see driving any of the 4/250/6 bunch with a stock diameter wheel. My old TR8 had Recaros in it and that was wasn't the most comfortable car I've ever driven.
 
Geo Hahn said:
x2 on the TR3/4 for leg room. Footwear can also matter as some shoes add a lot of width. On one multi-day cruise I snapped a shot of some of the shoe choices -- quite a variety but all trying to get conmfortable with the small pedal spacing:

DrivingShoes.jpg


I wear a pair of wrestling shoes for long drives (2nd from the left in pic). Added bonus is that if anyone wants to wrestle I have a distinct advantage.
Click to expand...

I've seen better legs in a bucket of chicken.


Sorry, just had to do it.
 
Geo Hahn said:
x2 on the TR3/4 for leg room. Footwear can also matter as some shoes add a lot of width...
Click to expand...
Funny thing about footwear and adding width to your feet...

For Father's Day a couple of years ago, my son got me an introduction to racing at the Skip Barber School at Lime Rock. After the classroom session, we went out to get into the cars. They showed us how to get into the formula cars we would be driving. I followed instructions and got myself in OK, but when I felt around for the pedals, my right foot would hit the brake and throttle at the same time, and my left foot hit the clutch and dead pedal at the same time. I thought to myself, "I ain't gonna be able to drive this thing!" :wall: I called one of the instructors over, told him the situation, where upon he said, "Let's see what's going on in here" as he loosened the dzus fasteners and pulled the nose of the car off. "Aha," he said, "I see what the problem is, your feet are too big!" He pulled off my shoes, and I spent the next hour racing around Lime Rock with only my socks on. :driving: :laugh:
 
Wow, great to here I'm not alone. I had thought about the steering wheel change. That seems to be a big problem when getting in and out. It also sits right against my leg once I'm in.
Any suggestions as to size, manufacturer, etc.
 
Fact is, these LBC roadsters simply weren't make for big guys. I'm 6'2", about 200 lbs. with size 12 1/2 shoes. Despite that, I currently drive a '74 MG Midget which actually has more leg room than my GT6. I don't drive it on long trips, the longest drive so far was about 2 hours each way to a car show in Williamsburg. Not bad, really, but I wouldn't want to drive such distances every day.

If the seats are properly restored and in good condition, it really helps. IF your seats aren't in good nick it adds to driver fatigue tremendously.

Tough decision, really. Drive a few and decide. Like the guys said above, a TR-3 is roomy compared to most of these roadsters.

Good luck, let us know . . .
 
6'6" here and I drive a TR3A with a few mods: I had a thinner seat bottom made and I made a smaller dimmer switch bracket (I had the really clunky one discussed in a recent thread).
John
 
At 6'2" 200 I'm quite at home in my 6.

Since its a 75 I have no dimmer switch on the floor so left leg has unlimited room. Right leg not so good, but after 26 years I'm kinda used to it...

This talk of TR3 room is a total revelation:I have sat in two and the right leg had the same distance as my six, but the huge wheel and low beam switch put my knees in my armpits.

Relocating that floor switch and a smaller wheel would be musts for me to fit a 3. Both owners insisted the seats were at the back of their travel, now with this discussion I'm wondering...

Cheers,
 
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