Most comfortable seats I've ever sat in were in my 99 and 00 Z24's. They fit me perfectly.
Most comfortable seats I've ever sat in were in my 99 and 00 Z24's. They fit me perfectly.
I love my 09 WRX factory seats. BY FAR the best long-trip seats in any car I've ever owned. They fit me perfectly, with the right shape and support. I can go 5-6 hours in them and get out with no stiffness or discomfort. And that's in a car with a fairly stiff street suspension. Also very supportive for spirited driving.
Another vote for the Swedes. My XC90 will deliver me a thousand miles down the road in a day, and I won't even notice.
They are NOT race seats, though.
Civic Si, most generations that I've sat in. My '04 seats weigh 43 lbs. with slider. Older generations get lighter.
I drove 1100 miles in one stint coming back from the Challenge. I have a sore back 90% of the time, but it was fine all day in my MINI seats. That surprised me a little.
B13 SE-Rs have very comfortable seats, too.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: All BMW sport seats.
This. It may take 20 minutes or more to get a manual set of BMW Sports configured exactly the way you want them… but once you do, you could drive all day and feel great doing it.
DeadSkunk wrote: I drove 1100 miles in one stint coming back from the Challenge. I have a sore back 90% of the time, but it was fine all day in my MINI seats. That surprised me a little.
Funny. I generally don't have back problems, but the seats in the ex's '03 MCS would murder my back after about an hour. Of course part of the problem is she and I are roughly the same height, but she has slightly longer legs. For short stints I can drive her cars without adjusting the seats. Unfortunately, I would usually forget this during longer stints and after an hour start swearing...
I would put MINI R56 sport seats in everything I own if I could afford it. The airbags price them out of my budget and I haven't had much luck picking up seats with the bags already deployed.
Every Volvo I've sat in.
I really liked the Lear Siegler buckets in my Fiero too.
Shawn
The recaros in my 320is. I loved them.
Seats are a very personal thing. I think the most "comfy" factory seats I've driven were in a Honda Pilot doing a very long road trip. When it comes to sports/hot hatchback/other vehicles, there are ZERO seats that I would give a passing grade to - Integra, CRX, Civic, Celica, Legacy, Impreza, Camaro, Corolla, and Camry seats - they are all equally horrible things for anything but short trips. E36 BMW and older 240 Volvos and cars from the '70s and 80's with bench seats are slightly better. But most especially horrible was the split bench seats in my 98 Tacoma extended cab - whoever designed those should have been forced to sit on them for the rest of their life and given no medical aid...
I took the "lemons" and made the sweetest lemonade you ever tasted though, which was also partially a function of the Tacoma not having and adjustable steering column as well. Junked the factory torture device for a Recaro Trend Ergonomic seat...the most comfortable seat I've EVER had the pleasure to sit in. Plus the side benefit of lowering the seating position (some 4") to more of a proper sporty driving position with perfect heel-toe positioning. If the Recaro Trend Ergonomic seat wouldn't raise the driving position, I'd put in my FRS in a heartbeat...the stock FRS driver's seat ergonomics is getting on my nerves!
Best thing is to find a seat you love and keep it, transferring it as needed between vehicles! Hunt has been on since nearly day one for a new driver's seat for the FRS, and is extremely difficult because I really need to lower the seat height ~2" to get the seating position perfect...and the factory seats are already ridiculously low. Basically there is no other option besides Bride (Stradia II or GIAS II) for a reclineable drivers seat with better ergonomics and a lower seating position - and I'm about to the point of breaking to fork over the money needed for a Bride Stradia II...
The '10-'14 speed3 has the best bucket I've ever used. Lower it all the way fix the back just right and adjust the wheel and move the whole seat to just the right spot. Perfectly comfy and holds me in better than any other stock seat I've used.
Everyone saying they like the wrx seats.. I've never really been uncomfortable in my 06 wrx tr seats, but they are Defiantly to wide for me. First real road trip in August ( San Diego to Canada ) so we will see how much I still like them. However my wrx is a limited and is suppose to have leather but the previous owner decided otherwise....
It was mentioned in the first post, but I love my ST Recaros.
A really bizarre one is the mid '00s Sebring. A friend of mine has a convertible one and I was surprised at how decent they were when I rode in it once.
the seats that were in my old 850 were nniiiceee very comfy. I am currently sitting on the seat from my old 318ti. When I scrapped the car, I kept the passenger seat (which had been sat in for all of 5 hours in the 7 years I owned the car) and turned it into a desk chair. that was how much I liked that seat
Mr_Clutch42 wrote: So far, the most comfortable seat I have driven in is one from a late 10th generation Ford Thunderbird. It almost seems like the engineers designed those seats just for me. Sitting in them feels like a thin slice of heaven.
I'll second this. Long distance driving in my 95 T-Bird was easy. I have not had a car since that was as comfortable to sit in and drive for long stretches at a time.
foxtrapper wrote: Most over rated seats imo, Volvo. Especially the 850 and 70 series. Seem designed by the same people who design seats for airplanes. I would not want to take one on a cross country jaunt.
Have you ever taken a long trip in them? I put thousands of miles on my 850 in long trips and never got uncomfortable. Not even after 9 hours straight ending at 3am was I displeased with the seat. They're not cushy, plush Roadmaster seats that feel like sinking into a couch, they're ergonomically excellent long term seats.
Hasbro wrote: Civic Si, most generations that I've sat in. My '04 seats weigh 43 lbs. with slider. Older generations get lighter.
My '99s are horrible.
I was coming in here to say anything that isn't in a Civic.
Volvo unquestionably wins this. Anyone who's had an 850 can attest to it. The Bonneville SSEi was a fairly close second for me.
Worst seats...my NC Miata. They were gawd awful, nearly made me sell the car shortly after I bought it due to the back pain I had at first.
Seats in the original 240Z. I've spent many ten or more hour day in them. I also like the low position so your feet are in front of you and your legs are stretched out.
A friend of mine bought a pair from a wreck. He had them recovered and stand alone bases built for them. They are now the primary seats in his music listening room. He never owned a Z, he just loved the seats.
This would be a perfect thread for some old guy to wander by and say, "Well, son, theres an ass for every chair!"
The only redeeming feature the 91 Lincoln Continental that my wife owned was the seats. I've never been in any I recall being better. Not sporty mind you, but a trip from SC to FLA was like butta.
The leather seats in my 99 4runner are pretty good too.
dculberson wrote:foxtrapper wrote: Most over rated seats imo, Volvo. Especially the 850 and 70 series. Seem designed by the same people who design seats for airplanes. I would not want to take one on a cross country jaunt.Have you ever taken a long trip in them? I put thousands of miles on my 850 in long trips and never got uncomfortable. Not even after 9 hours straight ending at 3am was I displeased with the seat. They're not cushy, plush Roadmaster seats that feel like sinking into a couch, they're ergonomically excellent long term seats.
I try to avoid it, as does the wife, but yes.
The headrests curve forward, with no adjustment. You will sit there with your chin down against your chest and look out at the world through your eyebrows. Unless you recline the seat so far back your head is in the rear door.
Crank the lumbar support all the way up, and you just barely reach inadequate. The seat backs have the basic curve of a good slouch.
The side bolsters roll your shoulders inwards.
It's like they were designed to fit 80 year old women suffering from osteoporosis. There is just no way to sit upright with good posture in those seats.
Wife and I both get out of the car with groans and find ourselves doing stretching exercises to recover. For longer trips, we've been known to take the old Toyota truck, it's far more comfortable.
V70 seat, showing what I'm talking about:
Another vote for 240Z seats: back in the day, I picked my uncle up at the Toronto airport in his 240Z. He had flown in from Australia, and his back had been hurting since somewhere over the Pacific. (Even writing that makes me cringe.) Anyway, we gently lowered him into the Z and started to drive home. He was out of pain by the time we were out of the airport.
Having said that, I have no idea how those seats hold up over 40 years.
foxtrapper wrote:dculberson wrote:I try to avoid it, as does the wife, but yes. 1. The headrests curve forward, with no adjustment. You *will* sit there with your chin down against your chest and look out at the world through your eyebrows. Unless you recline the seat so far back your head is in the rear door. 2. Crank the lumbar support all the way up, and you just barely reach inadequate. The seat backs have the basic curve of a good slouch. 3. The side bolsters roll your shoulders inwards. It's like they were designed to fit 80 year old women suffering from osteoporosis. There is just no way to sit upright with good posture in those seats. Wife and I both get out of the car with groans and find ourselves doing stretching exercises to recover. For longer trips, we've been known to take the old Toyota truck, it's far more comfortable. V70 seat, showing what I'm talking about:foxtrapper wrote: Most over rated seats imo, Volvo. Especially the 850 and 70 series. Seem designed by the same people who design seats for airplanes. I would not want to take one on a cross country jaunt.Have you ever taken a long trip in them? I put thousands of miles on my 850 in long trips and never got uncomfortable. Not even after 9 hours straight ending at 3am was I displeased with the seat. They're not cushy, plush Roadmaster seats that feel like sinking into a couch, they're ergonomically excellent long term seats.
Funny, yep, that's the same basic seat I'm talking about. In my old car:
The funny part is lots of people find them extremely comfortable, including me. One person being shaped such that they find them uncomfortable I can understand but a couple is surprising. I have good posture, too. Chalk it up to "different folks," I guess.
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