Latest Intel Available? Painful Seats

I'm getting a little annoyed at sitting on a cushion that's on top of seat bottom. Took it away last night and started CURSING immediately while sitting on plain seat.
So I'm going to have a new, small wedge cushion cut and put it between the OEM seat, then hopefully put the GT brand cover on. Hopefully it will fit and stay in place under there.

 

hycam leather was especially comfortable on the 1300 miles to florida. offset steering was barely noticeable.

 

If you can not get comfortable in your Prius seats as time goes by just suck it up and buy a larger more comfortable car. I think that is the only way you are going to fix your problem.

 

2015 Camry / Hybrid? For me, at 6'2" tall, the answer is .... Absolutely not!

 

I'm using a very, very inexpensive lumbar solution that has worked well for me for the past several months when paired with some decent seat covers. I'm 6' 3" and about 215lb. My wife is 5' 3" and we both found the front seats were uncomfortable during a ~1,000 mi long weekend trip just a few months after we bought our 2013 Prius. During my hour-long commute the driver seat didn't bother me, but it did during that multi-hour drive.

I was going to pay several hundred dollars to add an aftermaket lumbar support to both front seats along with aftermarket seat heaters until my wife found these...

These lumbar supports easily fit underneath the Coverking Space Mesh seat covers that I bought from AutoAnything. Most people would never know they're there. From an appearance standpoint I personally think seat covers are necessary if using these lumbar supports, but others might not mind.
Coverking Spacer Mesh Seat Covers - Best Price & Free Shipping on Cover King Spacer Mesh Car Seat Covers

The lumbar supports are underneath the seat covers in this photo...


I was concerned the wire frame of the lumbar supports would put excess wear and tear against the seat covers, but there's no sign of that after about 4 months. I'm confident it won't be a problem.

At only $4.44/seat a person can't really go wrong to try these out, especially before adding seat covers too. I already had the seat covers, because I quickly realized the OEM seat fabric seemed to quickly stain. An unexpected bonus was to discover it's easier to get in/out of the car and get comfortable with these seat covers too. They don't have as much friction as the OEM fabric and enable me to slide in/out easier regardless of what clothing I'm wearing. I didn't find the OEM fabric objectionable, but these seat covers definitely add that improvement in addition to protecting the seats' fabric.

BTW, lighting on the mesh seat cover fabric played with the coloration of the passenger seat in this photo. The passenger seat cover is the same consistent light grey color even though it looks like the upper portion of the seat back and headrest are darker than the rest of the grey portion.

 

I purchased a set of used leather prius seats off a prius v for my prius 2, as the cloth seats were killing my back as well. Same story with the leather power seats - they are just leather skins, on the seat cushioning - and the lack there of -

i'm nearing my patience point for this car, as all my other cars have factory recaros, and i've never experienced hot spots and pangs of back ache with these cars which are all lowered and stiff -

I've finally made my last hurrah to save my Prius, and have ordered a Recaro Sport Topline in Vinyl Black and Suede. These are made to order so i will come back and post updates in about 3-5 weeks. I had to order from Carid - a gen 3 prius flat seating bracket - and I am curious to see if these will mate up perfectly, as the stock prius seat does not bolt down in a even pattern.

Good luck with your pain - i've tried everything and have determined its the seat anatomy - the natural S curve of the spine is not retained - and combined with a steering rack that is way too short and does not pull towards the driver, enough, causes an unnatural seating position.

I shall report back - hopefully this will fix the backache, which is to the point where I need to stretch for about 10 minutes after any drive more than 30 minutes.

 

The seat has never worked so well for me either in Prius (liftback). Doesn't hurt my back, but I feel sort of squeezed between the seat bottom cushion and the seatback (too small an angle). Leaning the seatback back just makes the stupid wheel that much farther away. Too much tilt in seat bottom at low height settings. Front edge of seat cushion does not lower very much towards the floorboard. Backrest kinda sucks too, no lumbar curve and no shoulder support.
Misjudged it, shouldn't have bought it.

One of Toyota's 5 design principles for the Prius from the beginning was to offer a high seating position to allow easier entry and exit from the car. (There was a lengthy document linked somewhere on this site. Was a bit stunned to see that as 1 of 5 main design tenets) They had a fixed high seating position in 2nd gen Prius with no height adjustment. Then they put in height adjustment in 3rd gen, but mainly the butt area of bottom cushion lowers while the front edge of cushion stays high. measure the drop from the cushion to floorboard in Prius, compared to some other sedans, it's definitely on the high side.

Almost up to 4 years ownership with it, never been good, after homebuilt cushions, back pads, legrest box, and more.

In many Toyotas with manual adjustable driver's seats (Rav4 LE, XLE, Prius liftback, v, most Corollas), they allow the butt area of the seat bottom to lower, but the front edge of the cushion does not lower as much. The seat ends up with a lot of tilt back, driver must lean back extra, and in Prius with scant telescope of steering wheel, it's a hell of a reach to it. Personally I would never buy another car that does not have a good tilt adjust for the seat bottom cushion and a generous sized cushion. And I'm through with buying small cars, only US midsized 190" length will do.

I will be selling mine within a year and very likely moving on to a 9th gen Accord sedan EX-L conventional. I don't drive enough miles a year (9k) to be miserable in a Prius while getting 50 something MPG. Not worth it. Besides the seat, all the hard plastics, weirdo dashboard and drive quality is not so good IMO anyway.

I'll have a look at 4th gen Prius, but being 6'2" tall, I doubt it's going to satisfy. Even a Camry hybrid seemed like the next step and I gave it even a couple rental tries, but with my long legs, Camry's short, narrow seat bottom cushions just do not satisfy. I wasn't all crazy about the way Camry hybrid drove anyway.

Good luck with the Recaro seat.

 

I think when you get to that point you need to suck it up and trade cars. That's what I did. I bought a new Avalon. It fits my rear a little better. Not perfect, but better.

 

I've invested quite a bit into my sound system so in trying to power thru under the whole 'daily project car' idea. Yeah I feel the same way - if this last attempt does not work most likely I will jump into a volt or i3. As I get older, I realize how important spinal health is and that it affects my whole body and mind after enduring enough discomfort.


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'all my other cars have factory recaro's' the prius must have been quite a step-down when you test drove it.

 

Indeed, I actually didn't test drive the car, as I needed a practical daily asap as my other cars were getting me in hot water with the law (speeding allegedly) and modified parts were killing the bank.

I will admit, once a week on Sunday I need to take out my other cars and hoon or I become severely depressed (love me my traditional fi gas cars)


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OK, no more pain!!! I have had my Prius a year. I went to Relax the Back on purchase the Sacroease by McCarty's and instant relief. I was ready to pay $500 but lucked out with $180. I got the seat and back combo. I am not dreading my car anymore. Don't get the cushioned one.

 

Ohhhhhh man the seat is here and is being installed now along with a plus rear swap. I'm so pumped. Will report back with better pictures and some seat time


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It helps to understand the attributes of the Prius seat that cause discomfort. There are at least three:

1. Curvature - The Prius seatback has a very pronounced curvature that may not match up well with your particular back curvature. Ignoring this problem can cause chronic back pain. This problem is compounded by attribute no. 2 below.
   
   
2. Hardness - The seat bottom and seatback pads are hard when new and stay hard for a very long time. This hardness causes painful pressure points.
   
   
3. Size - The seat bottom and seatback are dimensionally small compared to the typical American male.

Problems 1 & 2 can be addressed and corrected. The best solution I have come up with is to add additional foam between the seat pad and seat cover to make the seat softer, and alter the curvature of the seatback if that is a problem. Cushions on the top of the seat cover rarely work, keep you from feeling heat from heated seats, and are a nuisance to deal with. I have posted a few posts and threads showing how to add additional foam that have worked well for me. The latest is:

How to Install Foam to Improve 2010 Prius Seatback Comfort | PriusChat

Unfortunately, the only real solution for problem no. 3 is to replace the entire seat or car.

 

Sweet! Recaro is in - and I am happy to report immediately the weird pressure in my wrist, shoulder, thighs and neck are completely gone. Only gripe is that the planted tree seat base is an inch higher than I'd like, but because the seat adjusts tilt while simultaneously lowering or lifting the tailbone area, the seating posture is still very comfortable even if it is an inch higher than I'd like. Vent function is so amazing, this is the first time I've worn business attire on a hot day and when I stepped out of my car my bottom was cold. I could get used to this....

It's weird sitting in the car, and having it feel solid, simply because I'm not hanging onto the streering wheel for dear life during corners - and I'm not referring to the lack of bolstering in the stock seats, but rather the soft plush padding in the oem seats that I liken to a waterbed. Take a corner, side opposite the corner will deflate with the oem seats.

Added a rear sway too and the car is less resistant to roll, but nothing life changing.

As for seat comfort. If you guys drive like me 36k/year it might be a worthwhile investment. Totally love my car again








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If you have back problems, I'm not sure any seat change will totally get rid of that. The best seats in the business are likely going to be from top end European luxury cars that have 18+ adjustments. Such as BMW comfort seats ($5,000+ option). So short of buying a top end car, there's not much you can do except add stuff to the seat like cushions and such.

These seats are great though. I love them so far. They're also rated by the IIHS as Excellent in three categories. That doesn't mean they're necessarily comfortable but that they're shaped to support your body well in a rear collision. Particularly the neck.

 

Wow, just wow.

Great job and best seats available.. We are all wondering the same thing how much and please post link to where to order.

 

Okay. So I ordered the planted seat bracket online, $140. I am not going to lie. It does not mate up perfectly to the stock mounting points and sits a bit too high as shown in the pictures. I would not recommend this route if I had to do it again. Also the bracket, because it binds when bolted down, does not sit completely level based on my phone compass. I am taking the seat off the bracket this weekend, and will try lowering the original base by an inch while making sure it sits level. So those interested you might want to call your local machine shop and have them fabricate one.

Seat is the Sport Topline, vinyl with black suede option, ordered from sdtint/sdmototsports (ask for Travis) 1380 including sliders + 180 shipping from Recaro. Took 3 weeks for them to make them and deliver them to the shop

Hope this helps. The seat sitting posture actually makes the steering wheel at the right length - so I take back what I said about the oem wheel not pulling out closer to the driver. It's the oem seats unnatural sitting position that forces you to hunch over, losing that extra few inches from your back hunching to extending.

The seat dramatically transformed my day today. My body usually aches from stiffening my core during turns from the lack of seat support, but today I almost felt refreshed stepping out the car after a 300mile commute.


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Does the Recaro have a side airbag? Or did you give that up for comfort?

 

Gave it up for comfort unfortunately. Need to get a resistor to get rid of the airbag light


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