Took a look at a Fiesta this weekend (I'm thinking bad thoughts about replacing my Grand Marquis). Sat in it, and that pretty much ended the chances of me coming home with it. It has the same seats in it the Fusion did when my wife and I looked at them in 08. Ultimately, we ended up spending considerably more to get an equivalent Mazda 6.

The headrests are jammed forward considerably, and are only height adjustable, not able to be rolled forward or backward at all. This isn't a huge probem for me or most others, since the typical person has their seat leaned back and head tilted forward a bit. It just means that you're always making contact with the headrest. However, my wife actually sits up pretty much straight in a car, instead of slouching. This means her head hits the headrest before her upper back hits the seat. She was very uncomfortable after a few minutes of test driving the Fusion a few years ago.

Guess if the new car fever doesn't pass, I'll have to check out the Mazda2, and a Fiat 500 when they finally come out.

I love my Mazda 3 seats

I was really never a fan of any of ford's seats, but I HATE how ford has the strong desire to give a minivan a fun for it's money in terms of lofty seat heights in nearly all it's US models, no matter how sporty; enough with the "command seating" BS!...

I find the seats in my Fiesta very comfortable. I believe the head rest thing has something to do with new federal regulations. You probably will find that in any 2011 car.

I had two 08 Fusion and have a 10 Fusion. Put around 60k between the cars and have no complaints. Not great but comfortable and no problems on 12 hours drives from FL to VA.

The 2006 Malibu I had was awful. I couldnt sit in it for more than an hour without serious back pain.

I think it really depends on the individual. The best non aftermarket or exotic seats Ive sat in are 02-04 WRX seats.

I drove my mother's Marquis for an hour drive.

First time I ever got butt cramps sitting in a Barcalounger.

FMVSS202A is the regulation that is pushing headrests forward. In a lower cost car they are fixed. On higher end cars you may find active headrests that are farther from your head, but move forward during an impact.

I just sat in a Fiesta over the weekend as well at the car show. The interior was a LOT uglier than the Mazda 2. The seats and overall ergonomics and materials of the Mazda 2 was very impressive. Even the back seat knee room was comparable to the 3.

The seats in the Mazdaspeed 3 were the best seats I sat in of all the cars at the show.

Overall, I was really impressed with the packaging of the Mazda2. Roomy enough, good ergo, not ugly, priced right.

My wife makes any car we buy meet the pony tail test...If she cannot sit comfortably with a pony tail coming off the back of her head it is a No-Go even in the showroom.

Ford has been putting the tipped forward headrests in their cars for quite some time...They look like Volvo has been designing the seats...To me the mustang headrests are so high that they block your vision to the sides and rear.

SVreX wrote: I drove my mother's Marquis for an hour drive. First time I ever got butt cramps sitting in a Barcalounger.

I heard that. I think its more comfy for the passengers than the driver. I have to fidget around in it on a longer drive in order to not cramp up.

DeadSkunk wrote: FMVSS202A is the regulation that is pushing headrests forward. In a lower cost car they are fixed. On higher end cars you may find active headrests that are farther from your head, but move forward during an impact.

I'll have to keep that in mind. My wife is going to be annoyed about this. Of course, it probably just means she'll keep the 6 until it dies, and it'll have to be our trip car.

Blitzed306 wrote: I love my Mazda 3 seats

Almost bought one instead of the 6 back in 2008. We could get a better deal on the 6, and we both didn't need the speeding/reckless driving tickets we'd rack up in the 3. I'd like to think I've matured enough to own one now

Not exactly on topic....but years ago I noticed that everyone else who had a SVT contour seemed to be complaining about their driver's seat rocking back and forth. Then, mine started to do the same thing. The local dealers here in Cincinnati were just horrible and treated me terribly when I asked them to replace it under warranty. So I got pissed, looked up the name of their business agent and took them to small claims court. The Business Agent who showed up was a woman and unfortunately the judge was a woman and I think they had some sort of ya-ya sisterhood in effect. The judge said, "Has there been a recall on these seats" and the business agent said, "no judge". The judge responded by saying, "Well, there must not be a problem then" and then dismissed the case even after I explained that manufacturers don't tend to eagerly order recalls. But that was her logic... When I was out of town on business, I took the car to a small local dealer, after remarking that he doesn't see many SVT contours, he promptly and courteously replaced the seat track without even hesitating. Took me years to even consider buying another ford.

In general, yes, I find Ford seats uncomfortable, and I really don't like their leather. In contrast, I find most GM seats very comfortable.

I've noticed that tipped-forward headrest in a car and found it very uncomfortable. I just don't remember which car...

The two worst seats, and these two were so bad they've stuck in my memory, were a Neon I drove about an hour to see if I liked it and my back hurt when I got there. Never drove another one.

2 car was my mom's Corvette. I don't know if I could have adjusted it to make it more comfortable or not, but hated those too.

Like someone else said, it all depends on the person/body type I guess.

Keep in mind that there are only 3 or 4 seat suppliers in North America. The designing is mostly done by the suppliers,so a blanket statement about a particular OEM having poor designs is probably not accurate. The GM seat you like/dislike may come from the same supplier as the Ford seat you like/dislike. Seat comfort is very subjective and is 80% driven by the cushion and 20% by the back. Unfortunately the nice design from the supplier is subject to tweeking by project managers with "calibrated butts" who will change a spec because they personally don't like the feel of the seat.I've seen foam specs changed days before the start of production.Been there,done that.

I've had, probably, 20 sets of Swift GT seats, and the set in my son's car is by far the most comfortable I've seen. We have a few from the same model year, but they're not even close. I would have thought they'd all be the same.

The most comfortable seats I've ever had were in my 00 Z24 - after I swapped in a new driver's seat from the wreckers. The guy I bought it from was about 300 lbs, and that thing was flat when i got it.

DeadSkunk wrote: Keep in mind that there are only 3 or 4 seat suppliers in North America. The designing is mostly done by the suppliers,so a blanket statement about a particular OEM having poor designs is probably not accurate. The GM seat you like/dislike may come from the same supplier as the Ford seat you like/dislike. Seat comfort is very subjective and is 80% driven by the cushion and 20% by the back. Unfortunately the nice design from the supplier is subject to tweeking by project managers with "calibrated butts" who will change a spec because they personally don't like the feel of the seat.I've seen foam specs changed days before the start of production.Been there,done that.

Yes, but the OEM has to approve of the design, so while two seats from two OEM's may be the same supplier, that doesn't mean they offer the same comfort. Also, not all seats come from North America.

But they can, and are designed to a comfort level. The tweeking will screw up the comfort pretty quickly. That tweeking normally happens months after the design was approved and involves changing the foam firmness more than anything else. Obviously, my comments apply to domestically made seats for US and foreign brands, not for cars assembled overseas, although many of those use the very same seating suppliers.The other thing that has to be considered is the interaction between the seat and the car's suspension. I saw one comfort test of a BMW seat installed in a Chrysler and suddenly,the seats weren't so comfortable because of the softer vehicle suspension..

My wife's old Lincoln had the most comfortble seats in any car I've ever owned. Not for sporty use, but long distance travel. The old company Ford pickups I drove (think bench seat with no back support) had the worst seats ever!!!!!

eastsidemav wrote:

Blitzed306 wrote: I love my Mazda 3 seats

Almost bought one instead of the 6 back in 2008. We could get a better deal on the 6, and we both didn't need the speeding/reckless driving tickets we'd rack up in the 3. I'd like to think I've matured enough to own one now

My first Mazda 3 was sold to me based on the seats.... and wanting to sit in the speed 3 to check out the seats is the reason I now own THAT car. I've owned two Fords (89 Escort, 95 Taurus) and collectively they have had the worse seats on earth, but that can be blamed on the fact that each of those cars was 15 years old when I acquired them, therefore, the seats were dead. I hate HATE the seats in the wifes' Cooper S- to the point that I almost refuse to drive it. I say almost, because anyone that's driven one knows they're a hoot to drive. She had a rental Ford Focus once, and its seats were terrible.... I've kinda found I hate most American car seats. Pontiac from the mid 90's was the WORST IMO.

My wife still complains about the seats in my Skoda, and I got rid of that car in the mid 90's.

DeadSkunk wrote: FMVSS202A is the regulation that is pushing headrests forward. In a lower cost car they are fixed. On higher end cars you may find active headrests that are farther from your head, but move forward during an impact.

The Kia Rondo has active headrests, perhaps other Kia/Hyundai products do as well?

It isn't just Ford. Most car seats suck. The best I've ever had were in a VW Passat, the worst was the bench seat in my Tundra.

The european mfgs seem to make a better seat for long trips. Volvo and VW/Audi stand out as memorable "Hey, these seats are awesome!". BMW is a mixed bag - the seats in the wife's E46 and my old E36 M3 were great. The seats in my E30 & E28 were just OK.

My Chebby 2500s seats are somewhere between average and good. They feel awesome for the first 2-3hrs and then my back starts to ache.

My friend's WRX STi might as well have come with a milk crate. His 80s Rabbit's are great. Its a crapshoot apparently.

As was mentioned above, the head rest thing is definitely from FMVSS. most people don't realize how close your head has to be to the rest to do any good. We've gotten used to a comfortable head rest position that is in fact unsafe.