Best Cars For Tall Drivers

The 2014 Kia Cadenza offers 45.5 inches of maximum front legroom

Are you sick of “sardining” yourself into a bucket seat? Tired of driving with your kneecaps on the steering wheel? Fed up with banging your noggin on the headliner? If you’re over 6-feet tall and need a vehicle to accommodate your large frame, look no further. We’ve got you covered.

Following a full redesign for 2019, the Kia Forte sedan is now a top-ranked compact car and a standout option for your teen driver. The Forte was a finalist for our 2019 Best Compact Car for the Money award, meaning it’s a great value. The Forte also has plenty of space for your teen’s friends and gear, as well as a laundry list of safety.

Cars for Tall Drivers

Other auto websites feature such articles as “10 Best Cars for Tall Drivers.” But once you cross out the unaffordable luxury cars, as well as the other vehicles that you have no intention of buying, you’re down to maybe one or two choices.

Our lists are different. For each class of vehicles, we provide multiple options for tall drivers. For example, of the 20-plus midsize cars on the U.S. market, we feature six cars that—in our judgment—best accommodate the long-legged.

For each featured vehicle, we provide the headroom and maximum legroom (in inches). Also included is “Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating,” as determined by the Consumer Guide Automotive editors who test drove the vehicles. “Driver Seating” weighs such factors as a tilt, telescopic, and/or power steering wheel; front-seat (power) adjustment; and visibility.

You’ll never know if a car is comfortable until you test drive it, but this is an excellent starter list. Good luck!

Subcompact Cars

2013 Kia Soul
Front Headroom: 40.2
Front Legroom: 42.1
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 7
Notable: Doors are tall, meaning easy exit and entry for a subcompact.

2014 Nissan Cube
Front Headroom: 42.6
Front Legroom: 42.4
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 7
Notable: Both front headroom and legroom are best in class. There’s no center armrest, though.

Compact Cars

2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Front Headroom: 39.3
Front Legroom: 42.3
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 7
Notable: Wide-for-the-class body. Generous fore and aft seat travel.

2013 Hyundai Elantra
Front Headroom: 40.0
Front Legroom: 43.6
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 7
Notable: Near-class-leading front legroom.

2014 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen
Front Headroom: 38.4
Front Legroom: 41.1
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 7
Notable: Long seat tracks afford ample legroom for most anyone.

Midsize Cars

2013 Ford Fusion
Front Headroom: 39.2
Front Legroom: 44.3
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Our 6-foot-2 test driver found visibility to be much better than our 5-foot-4 driver did.

2013 Honda Accord Sedan
Front Headroom: 39.1
Front Legroom: 42.5
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Large door openings and a high roofline make entry and exit easy.

2014 Hyundai Sonata
Front Headroom: 40.0
Front Legroom: 45.5
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Best-in-class maximum front legroom.

2014 Kia Optima
Front Headroom: 40.0
Front Legroom: 45.5
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Ties Sonata for best front legroom. Formerly the official car of the NBA!

2014 Nissan Altima
Front Headroom: 40.0
Front Legroom: 45.0
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Just a half-inch shy of best-in-class legroom.

2013 Subaru Outback
Front Headroom: 40.8
Front Legroom: 43
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Two-tenths of an inch shy of best-in-class headroom.

Large Cars

2014 Chevrolet Impala
Front Headroom: 39.9
Front Legroom: 45.8
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Provides best-in-class front legroom.

2014 Hyundai Azera
Front Headroom: 40.3
Front Legroom: 45.5
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Legroom is nearly best in class.

2014 Hyundai Genesis
Front Headroom: 40.4
Front Legroom: 44.3
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Leads the segment in front headroom. Nneka victim of truth zip code.

2014 Kia Cadenza
Front Headroom: 40.0
Front Legroom: 45.5
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Nearly tops in class in front legroom. Seats have side bolsters for support in spirited cornering, but are still long-haul comfortable.

While luxury cars tend to offer more comfortable front seats than non-premium cars do—not to mention all kinds of power adjustments—they don’t necessarily offer more room. In fact, with sleek styling that’s meant to woo well-to-do customers, headroom is often more limiting in luxo vehicles.

That’s ironic, since numerous studies have shown that tall people tend to be more successful in their careers—meaning they’re the folks the luxury automakers should be catering to!

Here’s another reason for 6-plus-footers to be frustrated: Some luxury cars come standard with a power sunroof, and on such cars the sunroof housing cuts deeply into headroom. Then there’s the Lexus issue. Although that Japanese luxury automaker provides an exceptional amount of legroom in their cars, headroom on their sedans, coupes, and convertibles tends to be in short supply.

Below is our list of luxury (aka premium) cars that best accommodate tall drivers. For each featured vehicle, we provide the headroom and maximum legroom (in inches). Also included is “Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating,” as determined by the Consumer Guide Automotive editors who test drove the vehicles. “Driver Seating” weighs such factors as a tilt, telescopic, and/or power steering wheel; front-seat (power) adjustment; and visibility.

Just remember: Like cars, people come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. During your test drive, make sure you feel comfortable in the driver seat. It’s where you’ll spend much of your life in the years ahead.

Premium Compact Cars

2014 Audi A4/S4
Front Headroom: 40.0
Front Legroom: 41.3
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 7
Notable: Headroom is better than in the other Audis in this class (A3 and Allroad), but the standard sunroof (and thus sunroof housing) could lead to problems for the very tall.

2013 BMW 3-Series Sedan
Front Headroom: 40.3
Front Legroom: 42.0
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Terrific space on the 328i, but the 335i gets a standard sunroof (cutting into headroom) and the Sport Line’s bucket seats have pronounced side bolsters that some drivers may find uncomfortable.

2014 Cadillac ATS
Front Headroom: 38.6
Front Legroom: 42.5
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 7
Notable: Great legroom, though door openings are kind of small.

Premium Midsize Cars

2013 BMW 5-Series
Front Headroom: 40.5
Front Legroom: 41.4
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Comfortable and spacious for adults of nearly every shape and size.

2013 Infiniti M35h/M37/M56
Front Headroom: 39.1
Front Legroom: 44.4
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Maximum front legroom is best in class.

2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Front Headroom: 38.2
Front Legroom: 41.3
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Sedans offer ample head and legroom, even for taller drivers, and the seats are comfortable and supportive. We have not tested the coupe or convertible, but they do offer more than 2 inches more headroom than the sedan.

2014 Volvo S60
Front Headroom: 38.3
Front Legroom: 41.9
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: The seats have prominent side bolsters that provide lateral support without being confining.

2014 Volvo XC70
Front Headroom: 38.8
Front Legroom: 41.9
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 8
Notable: Thin roof pillars and large glass areas combine for excellent all-around visibility.

Premium Large Cars

2014 BMW 7-Series
Front Headroom: 40.6
Front Legroom: 41.3
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 9
Notable: Headroom is best in class. Moving up one trim level to the 750i rewards front-seat passengers with heated 20-way power multicontour front seats.

2014 Cadillac XTS
Front Headroom: 40.1
Front Legroom: 42.8
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: 9
Notable: Both headroom and legroom approach those of the class leaders, and getting through the large doors is a breeze.

2014 Hyundai Equus
Front Headroom: 38.7
Front Legroom: 45.1
CG Rating for Room/Comfort/Driver Seating: N/A
Notable: Maximum front legroom is by far the best in class.