Roomiest Cart, Best Seats for Bigger Riders
 

So I did a search before posting this and didn't find any threads that discussed this or at least the search function could find:

We're looking at both new & used carts and want to know from people's experience what's the best cart both for roominess and ability to carry/propel bigger riders. I'm a (very) ex-football player, more wide than tall, my wife has very long legs so wide for me, legroom for her. I read a good thread that discussed buying expensive aftermarket seats being a good idea for making a long ride possible, any brands better than others? Better for larger riders? Just point me in the right direction and I'll do my own comparison shopping from there.

Thanks, Jim

We have both a gas Yamaha and Club Car. Without a doubt the Yamaha is roomier, especially legroom wise. My wife is about 5' 2" and much prefers the tighter fit in the Club Car and I am over 6' tall and very much prefer the extra leg room in the Yamaha. I also find the Club Car more difficult to get into and out of when driving as there is not much room between the steering wheel and the seat. The Club Car is OK for just a drive, but I never would take it golfing when I have to get in and out of the cart often. Also, when I drive the Yamaha I have very good vision since I am looking right between the roof line and the seam in the fold down windshield, but when I am driving the Club Car I have to duck my head a little bit or the roofline takes away some of my field of vision. When it comes time for us to buy a new cart, I will go straight to Carts and Clubs of Ocala and get a Yamaha Quiet-Tech, it's the only cart I would even consider.

As far as aftermarket seats, they make a huge difference and are worth every penny in my opinion. Different seats fit peoples body types differently, so I would recommend going to a couple of golf cart dealers and sitting in the various seating options until you find the one that fits you the best. Good luck.

OP, you should be able check golf cart widths on the various company websites, but I am guessing these are either standardized or limited by law, so getting wider seats may very well be limited to the width of the golf cart. IMHO, seats with the thin pipe type arm rests may get you some additional width, the padded ones we have cut down on seating width. I would suggest a trip to each of the major golf cart dealers for a fit test, then look at the alternatives to see if they offer better seating options.

I hope you find what you are looking for.

Good point on the width of seats. One thing I would add is that if you are wide, and especially have wide shoulders, then the bucket type seats might be too narrow for you. The El Tigre bucket seats in our Yamaha are too narrow for my shoulders. Our Club Car has Ultimate seats, which are a a very soft padded bench style seat, which does not constrain my shoulders like the bucket seats. Every type of seat fits a different body type, it is best to try the seats before buying. We have a friend with a Yamaha Quiet tech and I am not sure what brand of seat he has in the cart, but that is the seat that will be in our next cart, it's more comfortable than the seats in our cars.

Thanks for all the good information. I was leaning towards Yamaha already so that's probably the route we'll go new or used. Good advice on the seats, especially since I have very wide shoulders. You are all great resources here, thanks again!

Hey Roadrunner, I feel your pain, I'm 6'8" and a pretty big guy. After trying on different carts for size and legroom, I went with a new Yamaha quiet tech from Carts and Clubs in Ocala. They have many different seat/color options to customize the cart and were able to tilt the steering column up about an inch, and that makes a huge difference. My left knee still hangs out, but I'm careful not to be too close to passing traffic. Good Luck.

You definitely should get a BENCH seat rather than bucket seats. The back could be split, but the seat should be one piece. Some of these are luxurious. Here are some examples of a top brand: Pages Archive - El Tigre Custom Golf Cart Seats | Golf Cart Seats. I like the Panther seats, myself, but they wouldn’t work for you.

Check out the Atomic electric carts. The 4 seater has a lot of room and the seat back tilts and is adjustable. It is air conditioned, heated, quiet and comfortable

Contact Susan P. at The Village Discount Golf she will be able to help you answer and if she doesn't have the answers for you she research and find out. 313-492-4439

Interesting comments and question from you, this is definitely a business opportunity for some golf Cart company to make a slightly bigger seat and size of cart

Gem

My hubby and I are just like you, Roadrunner; he’s wide and I have long legs. Thinking we might get a second cart, we test drove the Atomic carts yesterday and found them to very tight. Like putting on a tight sweater. Hard to even reach the seat belts. Worse, my head still hurts from when we hit a bump and the impact bashed the side of my head into the side frame, which was only an inch away. For the price, you can do better. Our lithium EZGO Freedom RXV Elite is much roomier, so we may just get another one if we can find a dealer who treats us well. No AC or heat, but with the breeze when driving we haven’t needed AC and zipping the enclosure is all we’ve needed for chilly days. I recommend a bench seat versus the more confining buckets, as well. Not only is a bench more comfortable, it gives you more legroom because it doesn’t stick out in front like many bucket seats do, making it easier to work the floor pedals. Best of all, the lithium battery we chose (4.2) can take us from the far north part of TV down to Everglades recreation center and back on a single charge. And we LOVE that lithium requires zero maintenance — no gas, no oil, no tune-ups, no batteries to top off with water — just plug the cart in whenever you want for any amount of time, long or short, no damage done. Great torque for getting up hills, plenty of power for heavy loads. We leave gas powered carts way behind.
Good luck in finding the best cart for you.

Par car?
 

No one has mentioned the Par Car. It looks larger and roomier - is it really? Does anyone have any experience or comments about the Par Car?

Where did you buy it?

We have the El Tigre Texas Sportster High Back Bucket seats in our Yamaha and if I had to do it again I would get different seats. They are way to narrow for my shoulders. And wow, I can’t believe the price. We paid $900 for the seats about 6 years ago and now they are $1,899.

My wife's father was 6'8" too which is where she got her height from!

That's good advice about the bench seat, plus riding around on it will be like my first car with bench seats when we dated in high school.

Thanks, that's one of the places we were going to check out and I'll ask for Susan.

Please...this is exactly what we went thur this week. Bought a used Clubcar at Wholesale golf carts, when we tested it,the key was in the on postion and it had beautiful bucket seats.so just hit the pedal and go.
Once its home I was about to drive it.....mind you im not a small women and I have short legs and arms and a appropriate size chest....I tried to put the key in...I could not reach the ignition..I had a 5''gap! I literally had to lay on the seat and reach under the wheel. Which would not work with a passenger.
We contacted Wholesale and they switched out the seat with a bench one....free of charge-very nice of them.
So yes, the bench is much roomier-could even put the pooch between us.

Another advantage of bench style seats is that there is space between the two seats. That is important real estate in our golf cart because that’s where our Border Collie rides.

My wife definitely wants a Lithium powered electric and it's good to hear that the EZGO fits you and your husband with similar room requirements. I've noticed how much room some of the aftermarket bucket seats take up and after reading the comments here will definitely go with a bench seat bottom. I'm considering a used gas model until we're there full time in a few years, but like you if we got what we considered a good deal at a dealer we'd likely go ahead and pay for a Lithium electric. Let us know if you find such a dealer so we can go there too!

Thanks, Jim

I have short legs so when I went golf cart shopping my priority was to get seats that move forward, just like in a car. Not all golf carts come like that. I paid extra for the convenience and boy am I glad I did. I drive my cart a lot so the comfort was well worth the price. Just another thing to look for. And yes I have a Yamaha but I think they all come as an option.

I'm not sure your going to find what you look for. It's a cart. For an xxl there just not going to be cozy. Tiger seats are the best . Sold aftermarket. Ar cart used to be a little taller

When you say large what do you mean. I’m 6’5” 330#s and my wife is5’7”, I know better than to say her weight. We have a 2013 Yamaha Drive and have plenty of room.

I resemble that remark (at least the weight part) my wife is taller but as far as weight we won't be going there either!!:)

At 6 feet, 280 I am comfortable in our Yamaha gas cart. We have upgraded seats but might upgrade them some more as a 4-6 hour ride can get uncomfortable by the end. Go with the roll down sides as anything hard sided might feel too tight. Enjoy.

I had the front set adjusted by removing more foam by an auto body shop on 441 just past the Mexican Restaurant and then had some custom work done on the steering column by an independent guy who did the cutting and fabrication after he constructed someone Lanai in our neighborhood. It turned out great. Then I installed a steering wheel with the bottom of the wheel flat instead of the wheel being a perfect circle.

Then I used smaller plates and ate 6 small meals every day and drank lots of water and deprived myself of NOTHING. The combo of everything gave me a great outcome. PM me if I can help you a little more. I can do better with the names of the people who did the work for me I think. It's been a while but if you need it I'll look.

What about those egg-shaped carts that are sold and serviced by Chrysler dealers? They’re ugly IMHO, but they are roomy.

We visited several golf cart places from Ocala to Leesburg and the west side of TV. That helped us decide exactly what we wanted. When we went back to that place mentioned above, ready to purchase, the owner/manager actually did his best to try and talk us out of what we wanted. SO, we came back TV shop in Brownwood, with all of our 'likes, dislikes, and don't wants, and designed our own. It's a Yamaha, and we love it (we were able to get an excellerator extension so I could easily reach the petal!

I think you are referring to the Polaris Gems. Those have a really wide wheel base and are very problematic to drive on the narrower paths in the northern sections of the Villages.

Do not know what brand of seats I have but can tell you I am very disappointed in my seats. I am 6'4 and weigh 235 lbs and have a Yamaha Quietech. Upgraded seats are bench type seat with arm rests on sides and middle with minimal bolstering on the sides.

On flats cart is OK. When on a side hill(playing golf) if the side arm rest is up I can almost slide out of the cart. This did not happen when I had the factory Yamaha seats on the cart. Now, while playing golf, I have to put the arm rest up and down in order to avoid possibility of sliding out of the cart.

Take your time in buying seats. Hopefully you could test them in real life situations as opposed to testing them in a store.

Older Golf Cart
 

What ever you do, stay away for ParCar.