Before venturing off-road, here are a few tips for your seating position.
1. GET YOUR SET UP HIGH
Firstly get your seat up higher than what you are used to. This will give you better visibility on the trails and tracks. When out on the main road, it's better to sit low with your vision projected further down the road. But when driving off-road, you need to shorten your vision span and look for the tree roots and rocks just a few metres in front of you.
2. GET FURTHER FORWARD
Get your seat a further forward. This allows your left foot to be firmly on the footrest for balance whilst keeping your heel on the ground.
3. KEEP YOUR HEEL ON THE GROUND
Being balanced means that your foot is on the break, and your heel is on the ground, but more importantly, your throttle usage should be nice and smooth.
With your heel down, any bumps you go over, mean you're nice and balanced, and you can be nice and smooth with your throttle inputs.
4. BACK OF THE SEAT UPRIGHT | HEADREST ADJUSTED
Remember, when sitting close to the wheel, you have the back of the seat nice and upright. Have your headrest adjusted, and make sure your hands are at nine and three on the wheel.
5. NEVER PUT YOUR HAND INSIDE THE WHEEL
One thing to be sure of is never to put your hand inside the wheel and don't lock your thumbs in either because a little strike on a rock or a tree root can certainly break your thumb.
6. PULL THE SEATBELT FOR PRETENSION
Make sure that you give the seatbelt a nice pull to give you some pretension that will hold you back in your seat and keep you nice and balanced.
7. ALWAYS DRIVE WITH YOUR WINDOW UP
Lastly, make sure where possible to have your window up. Your arm or even your head in an incident could end up outside the vehicle. The safest way is to keep your window up at all times.
Be sure to consider these key tips before venturing off-road in your Mazda BT-50.
