Warning: Gen III front seats are a torture device...

Just did 700 mile trip the weekend in 2012 Prius 4 very nice and supportive no problems

 

Will need to add the 3rd connector. non-power seat has 2 connectors one being the airbag wire.

Base seat lumbar area is about flat as a pancake. Beyond the seat, the steering wheel lack of tilt / tele, no place to rest right shin as found with standard console in all top selling sedans, and low door armrest are a nuisance.

to MPGnutcase, I think most will agree the full on power seat beats the 6-way mechanical.

 

Just drove 350 miles non stop , for me that a long ride
Anyway I found no comfort complaints with seat or steering

 

Between 29 June and 8 July, I made 4 trips, each 540 miles. Recovery from driving gets longer each trip. I've been car shopping...probably won't trade it away - but on some days it's tempting!

 

I'm thinking the upgraded Softex seats are better than cloth

 

can drive around town with little discomfort, going 9o miles to our lake house is miserable. we drove to florida recently, had to stop and buy pillows on the way there and was a little better, actually thought of stopping and trading it off on the way back...don't get me wrong I like the car, but mpg for me is the only thing that keeps it parked at my house.

 

2012 Four and Five Softex is 10-way adjustable power seat where cloth Two and Three and Persona Softex is only 6-way adjustable.

Goes like this for my 6'2" bod in non- power seat / wheel situation ....

1) Steering wheel has limited adjustment: Release the lever move it all around, clearly it doesn't adjust much, especially doesn't tilt down much nor pull close to taller drivers.

2) At low seat height, bottom cushion takes on lot of tilt, seatback becomes reclined* creating a deal breaker for decent reach to steering wheel unless one enjoys ghetto lean and stiff arming the wheel to steer (I don't plus, one can shatter arm and shoulder while steering straight arm in accident).

* If move seatback too far forward, feels awful. Need to hit minimum angle between seat bottom / back or else ... discomfort creeps in.

3) Because steering wheel doesn't tilt down much, taller driver (that's me) must raise seat up unusually high leaving about 2" between head and roofliner. Sitting higher which lessens tilt also brings seatback forward and allows much easier reach to steer.

4) Base, non-adjustable lumbar seat lacks lumbar support, but other than its lack of lumbar and tilt adjustment, I don't see a glaring problem with it.

I talked to a rep from Coach Auto Restyling, a place many of the Toyota dealers use for reupholstery, adding leather, anyhow, the guy said he's been in the industry 40 years. ...

said he gets requests all the time to add power seat instead of mechanical seat into cars. He knows the 2012+ Pruis has a power seat version, but in no way will he add one of those into a non-power seat Prius. Too much liability, said it would cost a fortune in testing after doing the work. He claimed the bolt pattern is different (surprising) and 'electronics' is different. ...

He also said I wouldn't find any aftermarket shop who would do the work.

Tall driver's in liftback without power seat -

If the steering wheel doesn't tilt down to you, you might want to try raising seat height up to it. I'm rolling with about 2 inches between head and roofliner since yesterday, but everything seems better.

And if you think the liftback is a bit off for tall people, have a look at Prius c. For me, appears Prius c seat and steering wheel belong in two different cars.

 

that's how I found my most comfortable position, seat way high and knees into the dash

 

I have custom lumbar support that I had it made at local dry cleaners (great alteration place). It's basically lumbar roll pillow type with right amount of cushion for me.
With the lumbar support pillow I tolerated PiP base seats for about 25k miles.
My average mph is about 21 for those 25k miles, as I drive client to client in NYC traffic.

These seats are literally killing the car, or at least Prius equipped without lumbar support.

I looked into installing custom seats with lumbar support, came across one installer's finished product.
It was okay, not great. He asked for $1.5k for whole car leather seats with front two with lumbar support (manual seats). Didn't really feel comfortable driving in those seats.
I drove PiP-A for 2 days, night and day difference for the seats.
If I can swap the seat out with some kind of lumbar support that's comfortable I don't mind forking up $$, otherwise I might just trade the car in.

I love the car, but seats gotta go! Not worth the back pain.

 

Most of my driving is very short less than 30 minutes in the car at a time. I also have the upgraded seats with adjust and lumbar.

I did make 1 long 2 hour drive and it was uncomfortable but bearable. The seats are OK not great. I have no complaints from passengers

 

I have found Toyota driver's seats (incl Prius) to move in an arc during height adjustment: Driver's seats move down, back and the bottom cushion (and seatback) tilt increases all simultaneously as it is lowered, whether mechanical or power adjustable.

I have felt excess weight on my lower back in low seat height settings due to so much tilt in seat bottom cushion*.

* In power seat, can lessen cushion tilt (flatten it out) with press of button

There is another car brand whose name starts with H. ....

Their driver's seats move down and back simultaneously during height adjustment, but the bottom cushion tilt or angle remains constant through the height range whether mechanical or power adjust. I believe this is a better approach and thus avoids too much tilt, weight on a lower back or problems with reaching the wheel.

Note: I've called and written to Toyota corp about it, but obviously they have their design methodology.

 

Several 3000km each way trips, no issue with gen II Prius seats in a base model.
When I say 3000km I mean that at least 1 way is covered in 2 days with little rest. Return journey is sight seeing time.

 

Hah! No more knee bumping flying buttress console. A one dollar and fifty cent addition .. Gotta have leg support: Best seat setup (considering reach to wheel) not providing quite enough.



.... can be adjusted. Ball is not going anywhere, snug fit. Room to plug in.

 

No more knee bumping the console ... take 2. All I need to do is add massage feature

Disclaimer: Use of device like shown below at your own risk



Color too light. Two tones of Gray in car.

 

Good idea!

 

Seems like it's the steering wheel lack of adjustment may be the problem not the seats????
What do you guys say?

 

* Power seat better than 6-way mechanical seat: Allows tilt adjustment

* Steering wheel tilt and telescopic adjustment quite limited

* I have to raise seat up maybe halfway cause wheel so high and far away. Lose leg support, so must use ball or board to rest right calf on to keep right knee from laying into console.

anyone else?

 

I say, I'd like to have some sort of zero here, what is actually the basis for setup in the seats, are the people that don't like the seats setting up incorrectly?, Slouching, leaning, not exactly sitting in a proper position...slouching?
I bet the seats are pretty near perfect but certain people don't understand proper positioning, here's a gleam from ???

Position yourself correctly in the seat itself. Make sure you sit straight and that your buttocks and back are square and completely squeezed into the seat. This helps to avoid backaches, possible back injuries and maintains awareness during long drives.

Just sayin...

 

Oh gee, thanks for that. Gosh, I had no idea I was supposed to sit up straight in the seat and not slouch. 5 years of driving in Prius cars and I never figured that simple fact out. Thank you so much, I can now declare Prius liftback seating near perfect.

Dude, it's so simple, take a tall person, simply slide driver's seat all the way back, lower all the way down, show me a photograph of anyone holding wheel at 10 and 2 o'clock without nearly straight arms, except for your pet Orangutan.

 

He' possibly unaware of your years of advocacy, focused on educating Toyota on ergonomics.

Honestly, you had more of my sympathy before you posted the picture of the adjustments it would take to allow you to drape your wrist over the wheel. To me, your legs didn't look cramped. All in all it looked pretty believable.