Seat comfort

I have a set in my Barcelona Red Baby, and I LOVE them. Very soft, Look Great!!, Not the most inexpensive, but well worth the cost for my taste!!

They are great in the winter, not hot in the summer. You should take a serious look at them!!

73 de Pat KK6PD

 

Just got back from a 400 mile round trip to Mendocino, became more familiar with the Prius strong points and some weak ones.

I would love to have a little more legroom, but if seat did slide back more, would need steering wheel to come closer too. Obviously telescopic wheel needed.

Went to Fremont Honda again, not to slam Toyota, but to learn why the Civic driver's seating seems so good. Hopefully Toyota will read this too.

The Civic driver's seat height adjuster is very functional - As the seat bottom lowers, it retains about the same tilt, but the bottom moves backward as it lowers. For very long legged driver's, it feels marvelous. Plus, lowering drive's body lowers the overall center of gravity to improve handling.

Civic seat in full back and down position does compromise the back seat legroom, but to me, that is ok. At least the driver is then happy.

The Prius driver seat only slides back marginally far, guaranteeing a lot of legspace behind the seat, but what does rear legspace matter if no one is sitting back there?

Size and shape of the Civic seat is really good for a small car. If Honda made a Civic hatchback, probably would have bought that. The Fit is too small for my long legs.

 

Aging, Globalization, Competition Come Into Play
The aging of the American population poses its own difficulties, particularly the boomers' move into their sixties. "Younger demographics like seats harder, but as you get into the middle of the baby boomers and older, they're used to having a very soft seat, and they've come to expect that of a vehicle," said Michael Steers, general manager of engineering design for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America. "Whether we think it's truly the best seat for them or not, in an ergonomic sense, isn't as important."



What?

Creating the Perfect Fit: New Car Seat Design -- Edmunds.com

 

Maybe this site would help others ....

http://www.drivingcomfort.com/index.cfm?SC=33154&KEYWORDS=seat%2Bcushion&FA=s&psr=1

 

I'm 6' 4" and I drove my 2008 Prius for 4 painful months before finding a solution.
I work in Columbus, OH and have a 2 hour commute. At the end of the ride I could barely walk. 2 bad knees and a terrible seat position. Too close to the dash and no thigh support. I contacted a local company that modifies vehicles for the handicapped.
They looked at the car and said it should be no problem to fix it. I made an appointment for the following week and dropped the car off on my way to work. I had a friend drop me off at the installers at 4pm. The seat had been adjusted.
They made 4 brackets that moved the seat back 4 inches total. On the front bracket instead of making bends to keep the seat flat, I asked if they could raise the seat 2 inches. The front bracket is a straight piece of steel. Now I can stretch my legs out straight and the thigh support is perfect. :bounce:
Now I can drive for more then 2 hours and be able to walk when I get out of the car.
Total cost, excluding all the extra pain pills, $280.
If you're in the Columbus area and need a good and (I think) cheap fix for the terrible seating position in your Prius. Contact Columbus Mobility Specialists, they're on the web.

 

epop,

Glad to see you found a handicap modifier to do the work. Before your post, I had only heard of one PriusChatter who successfully did this -- nyprius who found a handicap modifier in Billerica, MA (who also modifies cars for Boston Celtic players) to extend his seat rails 3 or 4 inches further back. Hearing nyprius' success story, other PriusChatters tried to do the same thing, but were unsuccessful for various reasons.

 

I'm glad that worked out for you. Thanks for posting.

How is the steering wheel distance now with hands on top of wheel?

Did this mod also lower your sitting height in the car?

 

I have the seat set at about 2-3 inches back.
My fingers just reach the top of the steering wheel, but I rarely drive in that position.
Normally about 3 & 9 o'clock with no problem reaching.
I have long arms but could see someone else needing a telescopic option.
If I put the seat all of the way back I just wave at the wheel.
The rear of the seat is at stock level.
The front is lifted about 2 inches.

 

Thanks for all your input, very helpful :rockon:

 

I took a careful look at the 2009 Prius, Corolla and Yaris seat bottoms today.

Unfortunately, the Prius seat is rounded off and flattened at the front edges. And very unfortunately, the seat bottom appears patterned after the Yaris liftback, Toyota's lowest cost car, which also lacks the height adjuster.

The Corolla/Matrix seat bottoms are not so rounded off at the front corners, there is much more of a supportive edge there. And for tall people, the height adjuster is the magic bullet as when titled down, thighs will 'marry up' with the front portion of seat bottom.

Let's hope the 2010 Prius seats will at least match the Corolla dimensions and features.

 

Gotta love a $6.24 decorative pillow on a clearance shelf at Target (regular price $24.99) ....

that just happens to be Gray.

I know my right leg appreciates the find.

 

the short story -

After 30 miles in the car, it appears the pillow pic'd below brings a major improvement in leg / seat comfort.



the long story -

Cars with a center console coming down from the dash often give a long driving leg something to rest against. The Prius with no center console and open space gives nothing to rest against.

If legs are firmly supported by the seat bottom, fine. My legs are long and mostly up and off the seat bottom creating a lot of strain in my right leg.

One must keep steady control of a gas pedal. It is certainly not like the solid footrest for a left foot. Trying to control the gas pedal without thigh support from the seat bottom is very tiring, uncomfortable, and tenses up my right leg.

Lucky there is a place to wedge a pillow between the armrest/cupholder console and the seat. My right leg feels mostly supported against that pillow.

It is not perfect. Not like sitting in a luxury seat with 'first class legroom', but the driving experience is improved.

 

I talked to a local place named Mobility Systems about modding to move the driver's seat back.

But, sitting in my car, it seems the shoulder belt harness (and maybe lap belt) would be lifted off my chest if 3 inches back for example.

How is the shoulder harness for you with the seat mod?

---------
The guy said they do nothing to the seat or the rails. What they do is remount the sliders in different location on the seat enabling it to slide maybe 3 in. back further.

 

Time to expand the waistline ... I mean, seat comfort thread

Had a seat bottom foam wedge cut, modified at home into T shape. Why a T shape? If the foam covers the side bolsters (part that comes up), it effectively narrows the seat.

Wedge tapers towards back, so I'm not much higher in the car.

Cost - $9 from foam factory. If it works over time, will go for custom fit in gray.



Also, beware of low-cost seat covers shown below. $40 from auto parts stores. Seat bottom is littered with 7 seams that feel like garbage to sit on half the time.



Front foam wedge idea below does not work very well after all.

 

I wonder if you can glue or stitch the wedge to the seat cover under side? I worry about these pieces of foam moving under the cover over time.
Thanks for the update.

 

I heard GT exactfit covers are really tight, so I doubt room underneath.

I'll let you know if I put a cheap seat cover to hide the ugly green foam, or how well it stays in place.

The small wedge at front of seat was a pain. Was always fidgeting with that. Past tense.

 

A custom seat cushion, $9 , cut at Bob's Foam Factory, Fremont, CA

1/4" base with wedge at front glued on.



Template for tech to work with



Seat cover ($40 / pair) put back into action. Generic covers have extra room for cushions to go underneath. Lot more lip on front edge of seat.



Notice cut-out for airbag. Wee bit raggedy, but should work.

 

Has anyone tried simply adding a lift to the front of the seat? Such as putting a spacer under the front mounts at the floor, and longer bolts through the floor.
This may be a dumb question as I have not taken a close look at the seat mount yet. I just bought my car this week.

 

Actually those seats on the web site do allow you to order the seat with inflatable lumbar support, so you can have a seat cover and lumbar support all in one!

 

If someone did unbolt the front seat rail brackets, then lifts up on them, it seems the rails and/or rear brackets might then deform and weaken.

Sometime I might talk to a shop about remounting the seat, but that type of work is so rare, I'm not motivated much to look into it.

The majority of shops will not modify OEM seat mounts 'for liability reasons' they say.