Seating & Visibility

The SRX seats five people and follows the common practice of having a large cargo area at the expense of backseat room. I didn't have enough legroom to sit behind a driver of my height (6-foot-1), and headroom felt cramped. Also, the rear seats don't slide forward and back, which might have solved the cargo-versus-passenger tradeoff.

Up front, there's a manually extending seat bottom that offers more support for your thighs. It works better than a lot of powered ones, and it's a nice touch for us longer-legged sorts. More cars should offer this feature.

Visibility to the sides and behind is poor because, as the roof slopes downward, the bottom sills of the rear windows slope up, making the rearmost window vestigial. This is more common these days among passenger cars, but it's a bit more of a hazard in the higher-riding SRX: Low-slung cars can creep in "below" you. You have to really make sure you have your mirrors set properly — more so than in other vehicles I've driven. It's a true blind spot.

    See also:

    Ultrasonic Parking Assist
    If available, the Ultrasonic Front and Rear Parking Assist (UFRPA) system assists the driver with parking and avoiding objects. UFRPA operates at speeds less than 8 km/h (5 mph). The sensors on th ...

    Engine Air Cleaner/Filter
    The engine air cleaner/filter is in the engine compartment on the driver side of the vehicle, near the front. See Engine Compartment Overview for more information on location. ...

    Parking Brake
    The vehicle has an Electric Parking Brake (EPB). The switch for the EPB is in the center console. The EPB can always be activated, even if the ignition is off. To avoid draining the battery, ...