Seat swap

Author
Discussion

corvus

Original Poster:

431 posts

152 months

Saturday 6th September 2014
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Been looking at some of these recently.

http://tinyurl.com/kd5hkcj

I don't find the standard seats in my Forester that great. No lumber support or side support when cornering and the squabs are short for my legs. Was wondering if anyone owns the above and can say they are comfortable. Even better would be if anyone has sat in both and can do a comparison. Apparently they can be swapped straight on to the Forester subframes, but I'm wondering if it's worth doing.

corvus

Original Poster:

431 posts

152 months

Sunday 7th September 2014
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Ved said:
You're better off putting some WRX seats in it.
OK, are they comfy for long trips?

corvus

Original Poster:

431 posts

152 months

Sunday 7th September 2014
quotequote all
peter8171 said:
Done trips from the Midlands to Scotland I'm my WRX with no discomfort, so I feel that they are good.
What year is your car?

corvus

Original Poster:

431 posts

152 months

Sunday 7th September 2014
quotequote all
peter8171 said:
It's a 2003 car which I've had since 2006! Only basic adjustment, but I found a comfortable position easily. If you can, best to try the seats in a WRX before committing as I've struggled to get comfortable in cars others found fine.
Yes - many people who have swapped seats on subaruforester.org reckon that the 03/04 seats are some of the best, but there's no substitute for trying them out, so I'll have to do that. Thanks.

corvus

Original Poster:

431 posts

152 months

Friday 3rd July 2015
quotequote all
Just to pick up again on this thread, I bought some 2001 WRX seats from Ebay and fitted them to the Forester. I found them hugely more supportive and comfortable than the Forester seats, but I do have a back problem that means I need more lumbar support. The drivers seat is a bit more worn, so I've also bought an inflatable lumbar support insert that goes into the back of the seat, which I'll fit this weekend.

If you do this, be aware that the seats sit very low on the floor. The subframe legs are much shorter, and the Forester subframes do not easily swap over, the bolt fixings are in different positions. I took mine to an upholsterer to have them modified to sit higher and recondition the drivers seat cushion.
With hindsight I should have had the subframes done by a metal fabricator, as the welds don't look that great to me. The airbag leads plugged straight into the Impreza seats, but I lose the heated option which I never used anyway.

But overall, a great improvement and that and the soundproofing were about the only things that I wasn't happy about on the car.