Any more adjustable headrests available as aftermarket for the T6.1?

[Mehdime]

My wife finds the headrest on the front seats of the T6.1 California very uncomfortable. Too upright. On our previous car, you could adjust the headrests and move them forwards and backwards. But it doesn't seem the case here.

Now I may be missing something because a search here didn't reveal anything. And I imagine that my wife can't possibly be the only person on the planet who has this issue. Yet, I've not seen it discussed before (or I'm not using the right search terms). But any idea? Are there aftermarket headsets that would work better?

 

[Malky]

I have exactly the same question. For some reason last week on a longer drive they annoyed me so much I turned them around. Not ideal, now too far the other way, but meant I could have my head in a more natural position. I've found the angle of the backseat makes a difference to how they feel, as I'm always adjusting it to spin the chair round, might make sense why sometimes they feel very uncomfortable.
I'm going to check the other VWs I have Passats and Golf to see if either fit! The Passat B7 one moves in and out as you mentioned above. I couldn't believe the California didn't have any adjustment apart from height!

 

[Mehdime]

I have exactly the same question. For some reason last week on a longer drive they annoyed me so much I turned them around. Not ideal, now too far the other way, but meant I could have my head in a more natural position. I've found the angle of the backseat makes a difference to how they feel, as I'm always adjusting it to spin the chair round, might make sense why sometimes they feel very uncomfortable.
I'm going to check the other VWs I have Passats and Golf to see if either fit! The Passat B7 one moves in and out as you mentioned above. I couldn't believe the California didn't have any adjustment apart from height!

Didn’t even realise you could turn them around. Thank! Will give that a go to start with.

Please let us know here if you find any headrest that works. I couldn’t find anything at all when googling. Which I find odd as it’s hard to believe that no-one else would have the same issue.

 

[vbk1975]

Didn’t even realise you could turn them around. Thank! Will give that a go to start with.

Please let us know here if you find any headrest that works. I couldn’t find anything at all when googling. Which I find odd as it’s hard to believe that no-one else would have the same issue.

It is unfortunate that they are uncomfortable, but worth remembering they are primarily designed to be Head Restraints and their position and design is to prevent excessive neck movement backwards in a crash, esp. from a the rear collision.

They have definitely become bigger over the last while in many cars and lots of cars have them designed so they can't be removed in the front as the crash tests become more demanding.

Of course it is personal choice, but I don't think the safety part of it is very clear.

A

 

[WelshGas]

My wife finds the headrest on the front seats of the T6.1 California very uncomfortable. Too upright. On our previous car, you could adjust the headrests and move them forwards and backwards. But it doesn't seem the case here.

Now I may be missing something because a search here didn't reveal anything. And I imagine that my wife can't possibly be the only person on the planet who has this issue. Yet, I've not seen it discussed before (or I'm not using the right search terms). But any idea? Are there aftermarket headsets that would work better?

I have exactly the same question. For some reason last week on a longer drive they annoyed me so much I turned them around. Not ideal, now too far the other way, but meant I could have my head in a more natural position. I've found the angle of the backseat makes a difference to how they feel, as I'm always adjusting it to spin the chair round, might make sense why sometimes they feel very uncomfortable.
I'm going to check the other VWs I have Passats and Golf to see if either fit! The Passat B7 one moves in and out as you mentioned above. I couldn't believe the California didn't have any adjustment apart from height!

How about a Headrest Bolster Cushion?
Click on Google link below.

Google Search

 

[Mehdime]

How about a Headrest Bolster Cushion?
Click on Google link below.

Google Search

Never heard of that. Looks interesting. I’ll show that to my wife to see if that might be something to try. Thanks!

 

[Malky]

I agree safety is paramount, but these headrests look like the headrests you had in cars in the 90s no adjustment at all. This feels like a hangover from being based on a Commercial transporter van. I note the new California has similar adjustable headrests as my 2012 Passat!. They move front/rear using a button on the side.

 

[ArunAlec]

I’ve been puzzled by the “headrest” design and still can’t work out what they’d be like in an accident. I assume the main function is to give some protection in the event of an accident, to stop the head being thrown back. Although these would do that I think they’d push the head forward so far that they’d cause serious neck injury.

 

[WelshGas]

I’ve been puzzled by the “headrest” design and still can’t work out what they’d be like in an accident. I assume the main function is to give some protection in the event of an accident, to stop the head being thrown back. Although these would do that I think they’d push the head forward so far that they’d cause serious neck injury.

The neck anatomy allows movement forward until chin meets sternum without damage but not rearward movement without damage.

 

[Perfectos]

Other headrests will probably fit.

The key bit is the distance between the post centres and the diameter of the two posts.

I imagine the centres / diameters are common between VW models.

Edit: not so ^^^^^^:

[GUIDE] Which headrest matches my seat?

Mini-guide to headrests, since I just had a question asked about it... What's a skinny headrest? What's the difference between this and a normal one? The T5 headrests were "fat", then late T5 they launched skinnier ones. The exception is the Caravelle which has fat adjustable headrests even...

www.t6forum.com

 

[ArunAlec]

The neck anatomy allows movement forward until chin meets sternum without damage but not rearward movement without damage.

I was hoping you’d have the answer! Thanks.
I think I might need to start going to Yoga!

 

[WelshGas]

I was hoping you’d have the answer! Thanks.
I think I might need to start going to Yoga!

Interesting fact.

Royal Air Force (RAF) transport aircraft often feature a rear-facing seating configuration for passengers. While some modern RAF troop and VIP transport fleets (such as the Airbus A330 Voyager) utilize mostly forward-facing seating, backward-facing seats have historically been standard practice across many of their military transport planes.
For example, on historic RAF workhorses like the Vickers VC10, all passenger seats faced the rear of the aircraft.
The main reasons the RAF uses rear-facing seating on military transports include:

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• • Superior Crash Safety: Backward-facing seats distribute the immense deceleration forces of a crash across the passenger's entire back and shoulders, rather than straining the neck and chest against a harness.
  • Protection from Flying Debris: Facing backward protects passengers from being struck by loose items that are propelled forward during sudden stops or turbulent landings.
  
  Commercial airlines won't change the layout because of the belief that the public would perceive that the airline that did was less safe than those that didn't change.