Big Andy

Volvo and SAAB traditionally always had good seats, having said that the ones in my IS are as comfortable as anything I've tried.

lamar411

My RX has great seats. I've been in a couple of long drives in BMW's and was not impressed. The seats were way to firm.

Rolexus600

My good friend had a late 90's Lincoln Continental. When you first sat down, the seats were so pillowy, you'd never want to leave.

We never went too far in that car so I can't comment but I've heard others say that the pillowiness of those seats gives way to severe discomfort on longer trips due to lack of adequate support.


Michael

IS-SV

For real long drives, I prefer MB seats, no back pain.

Lil4X

Back when car seating consisted of horsehair and steel springs, Volvo had superior seats - I even put a set into my '52 Dodge. In college I traded for a '61 Valiant and the first thing I did was go to the wrecking yard and pick up another pair of Volvo seats. The difference, even fifty years ago, was amazing.

Houston was a major port of entry for Volvo, and in the days before Ro-Ro ships, cars were offloaded by crane. To the benefit of local Volvo owners (and those of us who aspired to own a few critical parts), crane operators would occasionally drop one. My local wrecking yard got its share of brand new cars that were about 30" high. Lotsa usable parts there - brand new, too.

Years later, my wife worked for a large independent Volvo service shop and had driven Volvos for years . . . I guess I'm resigned to having another in our garage one day. After she went to work for another company, I became the Volvo mechanic . . . and quickly learned that off-the-shelf Volvo parts were EXPENSIVE - even when they were common Bosch bits. Qualified Volvo service was even more so. I used to tell her, "If you are going to pay for Mercedes maintenance, you should at least be driving one."

With her long history of back problems, I'm probably better off getting her on Volvo seats again rather than fight it . . .

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

My friend has a 90's Lincoln and it's so comfortable and squishy, so I'd say it's the most comfortable. I rode in another friend's 95 LS400 and it was pretty nice. Other than those two cars, most cars I've been in have hard seats.

ABC

I have some neck and back issues, so this is a good topic to see!

No matter what car I'm in, i bring along a lumbar pillow which helps me TREMENDOUSLY in any car I'm in. If i forget it, I'll roll up my jacket and put it behind me. Something like this (but one that is really thick and doesn't 'squish' very much):



The newer headrest are a big PITA to me as i like to have my head back a bit to help with posture. Most of the newer headrest force your head to the front a bit and it's very uncomfy for me and is horrible for posture.

As for cars I've personally sat in (and remember) with the best/worst seats...

- I really liked my old 1998 Altima seats.
- 2002 Maxima was nice
- My IS250 is average, not great but not horrible at all.
- Mid 2000's caravan is meh on comfort seats.
- Brand new Ford Fusion seats were horrible... Most notably the headrest.

ABC

BTW, good to hear Volvo had a chiro design their seats! I always wondered why seats/headrest weren't designed by people who understand posture and the benefits of proper from while sitting down.

Are the newer volvo seats still design by chiropractors? If so, i may have to go give them a look

bagwell

http://www.volvoblog.us/2009/02/17/m...-the-industry/

“The seats. You can’t talk about a Volvo without championing the seats as probably the industry’s most comfortable. You gotta wonder why all other automakers don’t simply copy ‘em,” said James Healey, USA Today in his C30 review.

I guess that says it all. Besides being known for safety, we make the best seats (that’s true – notice I left out ‘one of’) in the industry. It wasn’t always that way. The seats in my first Volvo, 1958 PV444, were terrible. No lumbar support and seat back reclining was a 10mm screw under the seat back frame. Painful was an understatement. At our office in Torrance, Ca. someone was scrapping a 164, I think a ‘69. Nice tan leather seats. I shoe horned them into my PV, but I had to slam the doors because the bolsters stuck out an inch or two. BUT, they were comfortable.

Our seats were so bad our Gunner Engellau President, asked Nils Bohlin, a Volvo engineer who invented 3-point seat belts, to sheppard in a new seat design. We couldn’t make seats to save our souls, so we wanted Nils and outside expertise for this project. Since seats should cradle people, and people have bad backs, we used orthopedic surgeons to help design seats.

Some cars have rock hard seats (like that’s suppose to keep you awake). Some are like sofas to keep you comfortable. We design our seats to help reduce driver fatigue. A tired driver is dangerous.

Our first advancement was the world’s first adjustable lumbar support. In 1964, all 122 sedans and 220 wagons came with this feature. Ok, the adjustment must have been really buried because it took a screwdriver to tweak it. A few years later we used a turn ****, much like we do today. The support was two rubber strips, each about 1 ¼” wide to provide a ‘give’ while driving. Also our seats were sprung not with metal coil springs but the same rubber strips, made by Pirelli. So, instead of pressure spots on your bottom, the strips created even pressure everywhere. I just called Irv Gordon, 2.7 million miles on his P1800, and asked how many times he’s had to replace those strips. “Only three times,” He said.

As we moved along, we added perforations to our seats, to make them more comfortable in hot climates, increased side bolsters for better lateral support and made the bottom seat frontal area from softer foam, to aid in thigh support without hurting blood circulation.

Check this photo of Nils Bohlin (1959), not much whiplash protection – none. Around 1967-8 we added a headrest that probably helped in rear impact, but was certainly better than nothing.


Nils Bohlin, inventor of 3-point seat belt who would later take the lead in designing safer, more comfortable Volvo seats. (Looks like a 1958 PV444)

As we moved into 240 series (1975) our head restraints got bigger, much better head/whiplash protection during rear impacts even though we had to deal with customer complaints about how it messed quaffed hair. In 1982, with our 240 series we introduced anti-submarining seat design for front and rear occupants. This, when used with seat belts, would help keep occupants from sliding under the belt.



In 1994, we achieved another world’s first with standard fitting side impact air bags in our cars. Rather than delete lumbar support because it’s adjustment **** was smack in the center of our airbag, we moved it to inboard of each seat. Amazing how many never notice this location and never adjust their lumbar support.

Our 1998 S80 featured whiplash protection technology for front seats. We also resisted temptation to have the rear seat head restraints retract into the rear seat back. Once down, no one puts them back up. In our cars, the head restraint tips forward, has good rear visibility AND it had to be popped back for anyone to sit there. Best sport was to pop them forward while my kids were sitting there.


Today, including the XC60, we stand behind, I mean sit on, seats with over 40 years of design perfection – sorry, couldn’t resist.

Squirrelz

Do some planks, it's better than crunches. Hold it for a minute and you're set.

oldcajun

Strangely enough, the most comfortable seats I have tried recently were in a Taurus SHO. The seating area is a perforated suede like material. There is a built-in massage system, and the cooling airflow is high enough to really feel it. I was surprised how much more comfortable the suede was than the leather in the Taurus Limited.
Steve

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

Volvo seats, every single one i have ever sat it is amazing. LX470 seats are close up there as well followed by older cadillacs and bmw 5 series

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

I have to go on record and say that the most comfortable seats I ever sat in were in my Lincoln Mark VIII LSC. I've actually thought about swappin them in the GS cause they are AWESOME! VERY plush mated with soft leather. No other Lincoln have those seats that I know of.

bad co

Replace your seats with a couch.

suislide

No particular order
1-SC300
2-S430
3-IS250
4-Mazda3 w/ Leather
5-95 Cadillac Fleetwood