Most comfortable seats

[968csl]

I'm looking to change car soon, and would appreciate any thoughts on the most comfortable seats on a modern barge.
I ran 5 series bm's for 10 years,and the seats got progressively worse. I had volvos and saabs which were both great, but there are no volvos I would really like at present. Do you need to go for 7 series / A8 etc, or is there something I'm missing as a smaller car but with seats that are good for distances? I must be getting old! Any advice would be appreciated...

[Offendotron5000]

French cars usually have very comfortable seats, unfortunately they have no other redeeming features.

[Dog Star]

Stock answer: V70.

We are on our second. Better than armchairs.

[Phil Dicky]

Saab 9-5

[Baryonyx]

Loved the seats in my A8, they were the half leather and alcantara sports seats from the same generation S8. Supportive, plush, comfortable; they were fantastic to sit in. If I had scrapped the car, I would have kept one to make into an office chair!

Better than the seats in my Volvo S60!

[fatboy b]

Having had 3 BMWs and 3 Audis, the current XF takes some beating. But it is the Portfolio version, which has the all singing and dancing seats. The standard ones aren't as good.

[Baryonyx]

968csl said:

I ran 5 series bm's for 10 years,and the seats got progressively worse. I had volvos and saabs which were both great, but there are no volvos I would really like at present. Do you need to go for 7 series / A8 etc, or is there something I'm missing as a smaller car but with seats that are good for distances? I must be getting old! Any advice would be appreciated...

On the note of the BMW seats, I've never thought their seats were up to much after they dropped the Vader seats which you got in the 90's cars like the E36 M3. I've included a picture below. Most of their seats are naff and lack support, and the leather trimming can be extremely shoddy. Loads of the seats trimmed in black leather end up with a 'binbag' ripple effect on the base, it looks dreadful. The seats in the E60 5 series are a let down. Even the 7 Series has suffered. I remember being distinctly disappointed with the E38 seats, for instance. The standard seat is as flat as a pancake with very little support. The Comfort and Contour seats are a bit better, but still not exactly luxurious and, given their lack of support, you feel like you can flop around in them. I never did get to try the Active Seating option, but I've read it's not particularly pleasant anyway (a motor pumps and deflates two fluid filled bags in the seat to make the driver shift their weight and thus stay limber over longer drives). It was the same with the E65, better seats but not as good as the competition.

Try a Jaguar XJ, Audi A8 or Mercedes S Class of the same era and see how much better their seat are!



Good:

Edited by Baryonyx on Monday 28th April 19:31

[strummerville]

Dog Star said:

Stock answer: V70.

We are on our second. Better than armchairs.

Agreed, brilliant seats, also very adjustable driving position.

[strummerville]

Phil Dicky said:

Saab 9-5

Got one of these too. Seats are excellent but the driving position (in the manual at least) isn't that easy to get just right.

[T5R+]

S60/V70 2004-8 without a doubt.

If you can afford the fuel/service cost to rack up big miles (I do 30K/pa) then only trumped by S Class.

On a sidenote - a limited number of 5 series came with comfort seats. Never tried them so cannot vouch if good/bad.

[strummerville]

It amazes me that you can buy as an option 'comfort seats' on a BMW. Who the hell would have standard 'uncomfortable' ones, then?

[anonymous-user]

strummerville said:

Phil Dicky said:

Saab 9-5

Got one of these too. Seats are excellent but the driving position (in the manual at least) isn't that easy to get just right.

The saab seats are notoriously comfortable. They are a very common swap on classic VW campers too - I've had them in both and they are probably more comfy than my living room suite.

Re. The driving position - just get an auto. Very very comfy indeed. 400 miles are a pleasure.

[JakeT]

Comfort seats in an E39 5 series put everything to shame. Shame so few cars were ordered with them.

[anonymous-user]

My SAAB 9-3 was far worse quality than the average VAG offering, but its seats were great...

[epom]

I had many moons ago a colour concept Golf GTI (yellow) it had in it a set or Recaros which were just heavenly and to this day the nicest seats I've sat in.

[bestinshow]

Jimboka said:

My SAAB 9-3 was far worse quality than the average VAG offering, but its seats were great...

This

[Doofus]

Orthopaedic, heated and vented, massaging seats in my Mercedes

[morgrp]

Any Volvo from the 850 onwards generally have exceptional seats as do most Saabs. I guess seats are a subjective thing as everyone's arse is different - For me I've yet to find more comfortable than my C70 Volvo which basically has the same seats as a V70R of the same vintage. 8hours in one is no trouble at all

[slipstream 1985]

Offendotron5000 said:

French cars usually have very comfortable seats, unfortunately they have no other redeeming features.

yep cheap cars but both my xsara vts and pug 406 coupe have had the comfortable seats iv ever sat in.

[968csl]

Some good information, thanks guys.
I'd forgotten about the new shape Saab 9-5, and the V70 would be a good motorway car. The only issue with seats is that you cannot establish how good they are from a test drive / showroom visit, but you soon find out on a day covering 300 miles +.
Are the seats becoming less comfortable with the pretence of being sporty ( in many cars that are woefully underpowered but have big wheels! ) to tempt customers during the sale! I believe we have the same issue with suspension, where the fluidity and feel has been lost due to oversized wheels and hard suspension.
If there is a cheaper route than a German barge, I will try the Volvo / jaguar route and see how how that works out...
Thanks again chaps!