I can't think of a German group car that I've been in which hasn't had hard seats. My father in law had a Golf and we also hired one to do a long journey in once and they both had hard seats. We went for a test drive in a Skoda Octavia 4x4 and after half an hour we couldn't wait to get back in our Freelander.
We changed my wife's car recently for a new Skoda Fabia and as that is only used for the daily 15 mile each way commute it's not too bad. We used it to go to the airport when we were going away this year and that was 150 miles, after 50 miles it was uncomfortable.
For long journeys and the winter we use my car, Honda CR-V, and that is still comfortable after a 400 mile plus drive as were the two Freelanders we had prior to that. We have rented SUVs in the US and they have seats like armchairs, really comfortable.
I have also seen on other forums complaints about BMW seats being hard. So are all German car seats hard and why?
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German seats hard? Yes and thank the lord for that.
9 hour stint in a Seat across France, 7 hours in VW to Scotland. Great seats, no backache at all.
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The Recaros in my mk4 Golf GTI are hard, but support in all the right places. The best seats of any car I've owned. The Recaro-a-likes in our GT TDI are much softer, and I would say no more or less firm than in any other car. Still very supportive though, but not a patch on the Recaros.
I don't necessarily agree that soft seats = lack of support. We drove our old Grand Scenic non-stop (fuel aside) from Hampshire to Northern Italy in 2008 without so much as a twinge. 13 and a bit hours. Beautiful seats (and ride).
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I've read about hard seats being good and soft seats being bad (for backs)
but I drove a Citroen AX to the Canary Islands & back via Portugal without a twinge,
I have heard of BMW drivers not being able to find a comfortable seating position.
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>> I have heard of BMW drivers not being able to find a comfortable seating position.
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I've heard people say that too, and I believe that there are people who genuinely cannot get comfortable in a BM.
However, my 3-series has excellent seats IMHO. They are the "standard" seats and seem to strike a perfect balance of firmness and comfort. (Much better than Mercs and Audis that I have sat in). The driving position is excellent, with a large range of adjustment of both seat and steering wheel.
In fact all of the BMW cars that I've had on loan from the dealer have had excellent seats - except once, when they palmed me off with a Mini (Yuck!)
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>>However, my 3-series has excellent seats<<
I had an old 320i for a few years, I drove it to London and back to Cornwall in one day once,
but I was comfortable enough,
Funnily enough, I used to suffer from a 'bad' back, leaning over car engines all day!
I suppose I tend to slouch in a car when I'm driving, maybe because its an auto, I'm 100% 'on the ball, but I just sort of drive with one hand on the s/wheel and let the car do the work :)
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>> I have heard of BMW drivers not being able to find a comfortable seating position.
I find the seats in my current car (BMW 320D touring) are very comfortable. However, my previous car, a Mercedes 200 Estate had the worst seats I've ever encountered. It was impossible to adjust the head restraint so that it did not force your neck forwards at normal inclinations of the seat back. I couldn't drive for more than 2 hours before the pain was too much to bear. Mercedes examined the car and found no error in the seats or head restraints - and they looked identical to other models. Maybe I'm just not shaped like a German?
By contrast, the best seats I ever had were in a 2001 Mondeo Ghia.
I covered over 100K miles in both the Mondeo and the Mercedes and 60K so far in the BMW. The Mondeo wins hands down for comfort.
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The few Merc seats I've looked at closely seem to have a very short squab.
A pal of mine had a BMW 635CSi years ago and the seats in that were rock hard.
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>> I drove a Citroen AX to the Canary Islands & back via Portugal without
>> a twinge
>>
That'll have been in the 'Amphibious' special edition model, no doubt.
Hard seats does not mean uncomfortable, just as soft seats doesn't mean comfortable. Dad's old DS 23EFi Pallas had the softest seats (and deepest carpet) ever, but sooo comfortable too. Whereas I had to sell my C4 Picasso after only 3 months as the (reasonably) soft seats gave me chronic back-ache. The harder setas on my E-class are very comfortable and I reckon it is the most comfortable car I have had for long drives.
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The main reason we find hard seats uncomfortable is that we get numb rears, neither of us have much padding in that area. :) Good lumbar support is essential for us though.
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The best way to get back or other trouble is by driving vehicles with seemingly soft, comfortable seats.
Firm, supportive seats mean long journeys can be accomplished with ease, as I know from various VW and Mercedes vehicles - in fact I would normally only buy a German model and this is an important part of the reasons for doing so.
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My wife has a bad back and hard seats make it worse. As long as the seats are soft but supportive and have a good lumbar support then an 8 hour journey is no problem.
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If comfort and support are a priority, then a Volvo ought to be on the shortlist. I've never driven one long-distance, but those who do say they're the best.
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Can't say I found either of my Volvos particularly comfortable Avant. OK for pottering about but I could never really find a good position in them for long hauls.
I find Ford ergonomics suit me, but of course we are all different.
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The seats in my Skoda Octavia are comfortable in the sense that I do not get back ache. But the seat bases seem amazingly tiny to me, smaller than SWMBO Getz. Previous VW group cars, 7 or so, again no back ache, but no obvious luxury.
But for obvious comfort, my Renault 18 took some beating. And my Austin Maxi and Marina seats; probably the only parts not to give me recurrent nightmares
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Going on my first reasonbly long trip on Sunday in my Subaru Legacy (Gloucestershire to Glasgow) so will update then but I am slightly concerned that the seat squab is quite short...
Also, it's not just seats that are important for comfort. Compliant suspension of the car also counts, hence the people reporting Frnech cars are comfortable in previous posts.
PS - Best seats I've ever had were in a year 2000 Saab 9-3
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Are all German car seats hard? - Zero
