What Sort Of Car Has The Perfect Driving Position? The Answer Might Surprise You

A perfect driving position can make an ordinary car cracking to drive, just as a badly thought-out position can almost spoil a great car.

Examples, you say? Take the humdrum Kia Picanto. Nothing special about the spec, but unlike most city cars, you can shift the seat fairly low, pull the steering wheel back to your chest, and drive the little rascal like a miniature touring car.

On the other hand, there's the Suzuki Swift Sport. Revvy engine, clickety gearbox, hilarious chassis. But, you sit way too high and bolt upright, like you're crammed into a budget airline flight. It almost blows the whole deal.

I always reckoned that to be fun, a car needs to let you sit as close to the road as possible, with legs aimed almost straight at the pedals, and the steering wheel tucked up above your lap. BMW has always done that so well. So has Porsche. Good drivers' car brands.

But the more low-riding machines I try, the more I spot the obvious flaw. Sitting super-low is great for centre of gravity, but it can be difficult to position your car and attack a good bit of road.

Crossover sales have boomed, partly because they're easier to get into for much of the world's spoiled, ageing population. But there is another up side. Engineers can make the very best ones handle like hot hatches, and when you team that set-up with a proper view out, over the top of hedges, walls and other cars, you're not just safer. I reckon, point-to-point, cross country, you're faster.

You're committing to overtakes sooner, or bailing in good time. You're spotting those road imperfections just a tad quicker and setting your trajectory up to miss the obstacle. These are things you can do in, say, a Juke Nismo or BMW X6 that you just can't quite as well in a Boxster or RS Clio. Say what you like about crossovers taking over, but will anyone argue that a well-driven one is just about the fastest thing across British roads?

With that in mind, watch out for new machines in 2014 like the Porsche Macan, Juke Nismo RS, BMW X5 M and Merc GLA45 AMG. Not even a McLaren P1 would see which way they'd gone...