10 Top Vehicles with a Front Bench Seat

2016 Chevrolet Silverado Realtree ・ Photo by Chevrolet Media

Vehicles with front bench seats used to be the norm on U.S. roads. Now, not so much. Except for a smattering of body-on-frame trucks and SUVs—and the odd work van—the switch to a front row of individual bucket seats is essentially complete. Also, the standard for today’s so-called “bench seats” is more of a split 40/20/40 configuration, in which the middle spot is more of a part-time jump seat. So it’s not like sitting on the sprawling, couch-like accommodations typically associated with bench seats of the past. Still, when you need space for the maximum number of passengers, finding a way to fit three across in the front row sure comes in handy no matter how it happens. 

2016 Ford F-150

Keeping in mind that the whole point of vehicles with front bench seats is to deliver three-across front seating, most shoppers will want as much room as possible to make all occupants as comfortable as possible. The 2016 Ford F-150 helps with a great combination of front shoulder room (as measured from interior door panel to interior door panel at shoulder height) and hip room (measured, obviously, at the height of the hips). In fact, the F-150’s 66.7 inches of the former is unbeaten here, and it has the second largest amount of hip room, with a generous 62.5 inches. As a bonus, the Ford’s middle seat can fold down to form a center armrest, with cupholders, when not in use.

Photo by Nissan USA

2016 Ram 1500

The 2016 RAM 1500 has the most hip room among vehicles with front bench seats, with 62.9 inches, and its shoulder room is a healthy 66 inches. The Ram also checks off the boxes for added fold-down functionality when the center jump seat isn’t carrying a passenger, while further matching its pickup rivals by providing three front-row seating positions in all cab styles: regular, quad, and crew configurations. That said, now’s a good time to remind customers that front bench seats, in the vehicles here, aren’t furnished for the most premium trim levels. A premium cloth 40/20/40 setup, featuring a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, is standard on the boldly styled Big Horn Edition.

2016 Toyota Tundra

The 2016 Toyota Tundra may not be as popular as some of the other full-size pickups, but it does offer more interior cabin width than most of them. For example, in terms of shoulder room, only the F-150 can equal the Tundra’s 66.7 inches, and when it comes to hip room, only two vehicles have more than its 62 inches (the Ford and the Ram). The Tundra has vehicles with front bench seats for all of its cab styles, too, and it’s important to remember that the truck’s rear seating, for both of its four-door configurations, will fold up for added cargo versatility. Customers can look for the bench seats in the Tundra’s SR and SR5 trim levels.

Photo by Nissan USA

2016 Chevrolet Silverado

The Bowtie brand takes a surprisingly premium approach to putting three occupants up front: The 2016 Chevrolet Silverado, unlike the previous vehicles with front bench seats, has a rather luxurious 40/20/40 setup for its up-level LTZ trims. Those come complete with leather appointments and 10-way power adjustments for the driver and outboard front passenger, and those folks also benefit from a power reclining functionality and both heated cushions and seatbacks. Meanwhile, even the standard seating package can convert the middle spot to a storage-friendly fold-down armrest. The Silverado’s bench seats are standard for many of the truck’s numerous special editions, from the sporty Rally trucks and camo-covered Realtree edition to the stealthy-looking Black Out Silverado and more.

Photo by General Motors

2016 GMC Sierra

The 2016 GMC Sierra shares the same 60.7 inches of hip room and 66 inches of shoulder room as its corporate cousin from Chevrolet—the Silverado—and as you might expect, it also supplies a leather-appointed front bench seat with outboard heating, power adjustability, and memory. GMC does have to keep up with its premium, Professional Grade positioning after all. Moreover, the Sierra also serves up GM’s Safety Alert Seat as part of the truck’s 40/20/40 front bench configuration. This feature complements the Sierra’s high-tech driver-assistance measures—like lane-keeping assistance and forward-collision alert—with an added warning function that vibrates the driver’s seat on whatever side a potential problem is detected. (Note: The range-topping Denali is not among the vehicles with front bench seats.)

Photo by Nissan USA

2016 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban

The thing about the vehicles with front bench seats we’ve covered so far is that, even though they allow three people to sit up front, the most those entries can hold is six occupants, since they only come with up to two rows of seating. The 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe—and its extended-length sibling, the 2016 Chevrolet Suburban—are three-row SUVs that can carry up to nine people. In the front, the bench seats get 60.8 inches of hip room, which is a tick more than in the Silverado’s front bench seat, along with 64.8 inches of shoulder room. Both the Tahoe and Suburban can be tricked out with top Chevy technologies, too, including a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.

Photo by Chevrolet

2016 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL

Dimensionally, the 2016 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL have the same interior measurements as the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, including some of the largest cargo capacities of any vehicles with front bench seats. Thus, even with nine occupants—starting with three up front—the Yukon XL and Suburban still have 39.3 cubic feet of cargo space behind the last row. With the second and third rows folded, the cargo capacity for each can expand to up to 121.1 cubic feet. Shoppers should note, however, that for both the GMC and Chevy SUVs, it’s the front buckets that are standard, and the split 40/20/40 bench is optional. And like the GMC Sierra Denali, the Denali SUVs do not offer the front bench.

Photo by General Motors

2017 Nissan Titan XD

The all-new 2017 Nissan Titan XD is noticeably bigger on the outside than your basic full-size pickup, and that numbers advantage certainly carries over to the truck’s available turbodiesel V8 engine—which enables a max towing grade of more than 12,000 lbs. No other light-duty truck can pull more, and that was a crucial factor when Autobytel experts voted to name the Titan their "2016 Pickup of the Year." On the other hand, its front-row shoulder room of 63.6 inches does trail in the segment, despite a nicely competitive 60.8 inches of front hip room. Nissan is expected to provide vehicles with front bench seats for S and SV grades, in all three cab configurations, with the Titan Crew Cab leading the way.

Photo by Nissan

2016 Ram ProMaster

As tastes change in the commercial marketplace, finding vehicles with front bench seats for van customers has gotten difficult as well. The 2016 Ram ProMaster is a rare exception to the rule, thanks to what the brand says is a “front-seat arrangement” that “can comfortably accommodate three people.” For fleet-friendly versatility, the middle seat also folds forward so that the seatback can act as a storage compartment or small work table. The ProMaster’s Fiat-influenced design also creates plenty of headroom for that front row, though Ram engineers have specifically fine-tuned the vehicle for U.S. customers.

Photo by Ram Trucks

2013 Chevrolet Impala

Customers who prefer cars as their vehicles with front bench seats will have to try their luck with pre-owned choices, the most recent of which was the 2013 Chevrolet Impala. This was the final model year for the previous-generation Impala, so it doesn’t have the newest Bowtie connectivity features, but it does have 56.4 inches of front hip room, and 58.7 inches of front shoulder room, so that three occupants can ride in the first row. Further, the 2013 Impala makes for an interesting comparison with today’s version, at least for powertrains: The older car packs a standard 300 horsepower, 30 mpg powertrain; the 2016 model, with an available 305 horsepower engine, reaches 28 mpg.

Photo by Chevrolet