CortinaDave Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Is it me, or are car manufacturers progressively making cars less and less comfortable to sit in? For me the pinnacle of seat comfiness was the Mk5 cortina ghia. Mega padding and sink-in brilliance. These days it seems to be all about posture correcting and hard sore-back giving padding. I had a mk3 Mondeo ghia and the seats were harder than concrete. Have comfy seats in cars been outlawed or something? Junkman and eddyramrod 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twosmoke300 Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Totally agree.The best seats I have come across were in my old mk1 vectra. Could do 750 miles a day no problem.cars after about 2000 ish seem to be getting worse. Charlie Croker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordonbennet Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 No, its not you, its the fashion for everything must have a 'sporty' image, sitting on firm seats that hold you in place as you take M25 bends in the rush hour @ 1g is so necessary now. Love the seats in my 18 year old Benz, no wear or sagging of the seats and you can sit in them all day long without a twinge. If you plonk your numb arse into a luxo barge, eg Lexus 430/460 they're still the biz, not sure about the latest Volvos but they used to be excellent...worse i ever sat in was the first Vectra (so Two Smoke and i don't share arses.., couple of soddin orange boxes. Mind you, the trend for concrete springs isn't helping. Lord Sterling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twosmoke300 Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Ive always found vauxhalls good for the "larger gent" , seats go back miles and wide seats . Family have always had old vauxhalls (carltons esp) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derskine Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Volvo 340 seats are the bestThink it might be about cost and durability now, something harder is going to be more durable than something soft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince70 Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I find the the best seats to sit in are always old and French.. The best seats I've had for comfort are the seats in an old xantia and I also had some lovely comfy seats in a early Mk1 Laguna RTi, and even at around 15 years old both sets still looked as good as new.. The same can't be said for later French cars as I had a low mileage 4 year old Laguna II which the seats were just a mess of exploding foam and damaged bolsters.. But saying that everything on that car would either break or explode so at least the seats are consistent to the rest of the car.. I find Vag Group car seats extremely good when it comes to quality but are always a bit hard on the bum and back on long journeys. My seats on my 19 year old A4 are still like new and the seats on my 22 year old 80 are lovely but I did have a lower bolster repair on the drivers seat on that one as it has buckets and was just starting to go. Another comfy seat which wear well are Saab seats.. I had a set with bum warmers fitted in my 90 which was a high mileage car that was 20 odd years old and the seats looked as good as new and great on a long journey.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talbot928 Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Blame NCAP? 'Anti-submarining' seats that prevent the cushion from compressing... safer but uncomfortable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddyramrod Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 French seats used to be really really comfy, fit for any luxobarge. My 406, while an immeasurable improvement on any German seat I've ever encountered, actually wasn't as comfy as I might have expected. A 405 I sat in when they were young was much better. Mk5 Cortina was extremely good (mine was a GL) and I do like Cadillac and Buick perches too, lots of sink-in factor. Honourable mention for the Wedge Princess too, especially the HLS. The mk1 Granada had a good seat, but for me at least, the arrangement of everything else meant there wasn't a position I could get comfy in.The clear winner though has to be the Volvo 740. Even my current 940 isn't quite as good. My 740 was a GLE: heated, blue velour. Lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Absolutely agree. Peugeot 305/505 seats are fantastic and the best I've ever experienced, although strangely early BX seats I found acutely uncomfortable as the backs appeared to be concave! I quite like the Fabia as a modern car but the chairs in that are just flat slabs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Love the seats in my 18 year old Benz, no wear or sagging of the seats and you can sit in them all day long without a twinge... Same with the 300E. But even they are not as comfy as the squashy sofas from my first XM. Which I saved when I broke the rotting remains... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Station Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Nissan Z31 and Renault Fuego have the comfiest seats I've sat in. I don't like leather, and Z31 look hard but were so supportive and soft. Fuego was supportive and ridiculously spongey. All copycat modern hatchbacks have mega-hard seats which must have had the sponge of old days replaced with forged plastic and heavy duty, hard wearing carpet as fabric. +10000 for velour. eddyramrod and ed5000 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddyramrod Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I drive a van for my living, so I know about rubbish seats (which is a crime that deserves a thread of its own!). The single worst seat I have ever sat in/on, by a margin so wide you could fly a 747 through it doing barrel-rolls, was a 2004 BMW 530d. Which is supposed to be a luxobarge. It also had stupidly low-profile tyres on (as standard) and worse suspension than a collapsed Metro (a comparison I am qualified to make). Progress? No wonder I prefer old cars! chaseracer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooters Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 SaabXJ40Volvo 940citroen CX for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I drive a van for my living, so I know about rubbish seats (which is a crime that deserves a thread of its own!)Citroen Relay/Dispatch...? eddyramrod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratdat Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 My old '83 pov spec Pug 205 had super comfy seats that really held you in well as you ragged the life out of it's 1.1 down the back lanes.Another surprisingly comfy set of chairs belonged to the B12 Sunny Estate I had. The R16 wins hands down though. It's like driving around sitting on a squashy sofa. ed5000 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddyramrod Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Citroen Relay/Dispatch...? How did you guess! There's a vast range of other vans in my history, this is just the latest offender, and it isn't as bad as some! chaseracer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordonbennet Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Hmm, got to remember those proper old motors didn't sit on bloody silly elastic band tyres, and had compliant springs and damping. Don't suppose our old armchair seats would have been quite so good stuck in a modern hatch that you'd struggle to compress enough for a shocker bounce test. Whats the point of all this rock solid suspension anyway, one of the best cornering cars i had was a Diesel Renault 21 Savanna estate, you could take corners at beathtaking speeds without a moments problem, yet the springs were soft, the tyres high profile, the dampers squishy and the seats like a real sofa...so why do modern cars have to be so bloody backbreaking. eddyramrod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twosmoke300 Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 ive never found my boxer/ducato seats to be too bad , must just have a soft comfy ass. Worst car ive driven on a long trip was my old zx , super soft foam and down on the springs/ webbing after 100miles(which takes a long time in a 1.9d) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddyramrod Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 31 years ago (bloody hell I feel old now, typing that!) my mum bought a 1964 Hillman Super Minx, which I used to drive quite a lot. It was like driving a bed. A good bed! I really value a comfy seat so you won't be surprised when I say, I'd have a Super Minx tonight if I could. It was lovely. Squire_Dawson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wackywacerwill Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Smiley transit seats are alright, done miles in them with no complaints. My old one had the double arm rests too which are much missed. I'll wholeheartedly agree on the bogo spec 205 seats, they were good and the mk1 Clio is alright too. Cortina mk5 is great and mines a lowly L model. I was very disappointed with ma and pa's newish megane, hard springs and hard seats double wammy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Aren't central armrests GR99? I won't have a car without them COS I IZ WIIIIIDEBODY.... eddyramrod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean36014 Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 The leather, heated seats in my Rover 75 are fantastic. Drove from coventry to edinburgh with a dodgy back and could have easily carried on to john o groats. Also its on 16" 55 profile tyres yet has a lovely comfy ride which reminds me how much like my old P6 it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Croker Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I reckon Volvo 850 seats are up there with the best. Mk5 Cortina's were good too mind you the Mk4's must be the worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CortinaDave Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Mk4 cortina ghia seats were OK but the S trim I have is absolutely shit for the comfort factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Croker Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I always thought the S trim ones were more comfy for some reason. They seem to be of a different design to the others i.e more like a Mk5. v8 scania 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticvandan Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Rover p6 leather seats were the comfiest ive sat in,closely followed by 2cv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sterling Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I liked the seats in all my 800, comfy and inviting. Thought I must admit to preferring the late Mk2 (1996+) fluted leather seats, they seem to have quite a bit of soft spongyness in those fluted bits, the earlier model had flatted slab bits but were still fairly comfortable. I agree about old French chod having nice, soft, spongey seats. I also agree that moderns have a bias these days towards 'sportyness' they seem to have to have overly huge wheels, hard as rock suspension and hard bucket-style seats. Not everyone wants to drive on the edge all the time. eddyramrod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Same with the 300E. But even they are not as comfy as the squashy sofas from my first XM. Which I saved when I broke the rotting remains... I once did a straight six-hour drive in that Merc, and got out feeling like I'd only just clambered aboard. They don't 'feel' comfortable when you get in, but they don't hurt after hours at the wheel either. Citroen BX seats are good. I prefer the sports seats fitted to the upper-spec models as the tweed basic seats lack lumbar support. My wife doesn't like them though and always preferred the Mini's seats. She is a bit odd though. MINI seats are bloody awful but Saab 9-5 seats are good, as are those fitted to the 9000. I would very much like an opportunity to put Citroen SM seats to a duration test. chaseracer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squire_Dawson Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Most old car seats are good because they used proper springs or Dunlopillo. I rarely suffer aching or discomfort driving for long periods in an old car, but get back ache pretty badly in modern cars. I find you have to shift about a lot aswell. I don't think they are designed for comfort anymore, they don't look inviting at all. Even when I did an endurance rally in my old Morris Minor, and with the exception of coffee and lunch stops was driving from 6 am to 10 pm all day I didn't have much of a problem. eddyramrod 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 The leather, heated seats in my Rover 75 are fantastic. Drove from coventry to edinburgh with a dodgy back and could have easily carried on to john o groats. Also its on 16" 55 profile tyres yet has a lovely comfy ride which reminds me how much like my old P6 it was. Agree about the ride, it's fantastic. Didn't rate the leather chairs on mine though, too flat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now