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:

    Wiper Arm Assembly Protection
    When using an automatic car wash, move the windshield wiper lever to OFF. This disables the automatic Rainsense windshield wipers and/or rear wiper. With Rainsense, if the transmission is in N (Ne ...

    Driving on Wet Roads
    Rain and wet roads can reduce vehicle traction and affect your ability to stop and accelerate. Always drive slower in these types of driving conditions and avoid driving through large puddles ...

    Cargo Management System (Wagon Only)
    Press the bottom of the load floor handle assembly to lift the top on the handle. Pull up on the handle to open the cargo management system. The cover can be opened to two positions to ...