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:

    Automatic Transmission
    The shift lever is located on the center console between the front seats. There are several different positions for the shift lever. P (Park): This position locks the rear wheels. Use this ...

    Instrument Panel Illumination Control
    The brightness of the instrument panel lights and steering wheel controls can be adjusted. (Instrument Panel Brightness): Move and hold the thumbwheel up or down to brighten or dim the lights ...

    Easy Exit Driver Seat
    This feature moves the seat rearward allowing the driver more room to exit the vehicle. To activate, place the ignition in OFF and open the driver door. If the driver door is already open, placin ...