Sharp Makai-type inequalities for the best Poincar\'e-Sobolev constants

Given a bounded convex open set $\Omega\subseteq \mathbb R^N$, we prove that the Poincar\'e-Sobolev constants $\lambda_{p,q}(\Omega)$ can be bounded from below by the $p$-power of the ratio between the perimeter of $\Omega$ and a suitable power of its volume, with an optimal constant which is explicitly given. This generalises an old result for torsional rigidity due to Makai when $N=2$. The proof relies on new geometric optimal bounds for the Lebesgue norms of the distance function from the boundary which are of independent interest. These results allow us to give a complete picture of the sharp inequalities for $\lambda_{p,q}(\Omega)$ in terms of suitable powers of perimeter, inradius and volume of $\Omega$.