For those with cooled seats.. Had it up to 3 today because it was hot as **** out.. I noticed that it only comes out of the front portion of the seat.. I turned the passenger side on as well and it only came out of the front portion of the seat (closest to the engine)

Normal operation for just the front to dispense cold air?

 

Mainly the front because the cooled air comes from the a/c

 

Sorry but you are somewhat wrong about this. There is one blower per seat and the intake nozzles are pointed toward the rear of the car. The blower supposed to blow air on all perforated surfaces of the seat. However, the perforated surfaces are partially blocked as one sat down on it. You are only feeling the air blowing through the front because that section isn't blocked.
Here are some tricks i have learned to maximize the cooling affect:
-make sure to direct the cool air down the the floor as well so that the intake nozzles will pick up the cooler air.
- occasionally shifting my butts around so air could blown through.
- when it is really hot out, i usually use a cheapo mesh lumbar support so my back is away from perforated surface.

Hope these help to answer your question.

 

The IS has ventilated seats, not cooled seats. I know that some people here like them, but I've always found them to be useless. I don't even bother turning them on anymore.

 

^Luckily I can feel the effects of my ventilated seats; it was nice today since it was 93 and like 100% humidity.

 

I used to feel the cold both on my back and bum as well but lately I've noticed by bum air on the drivers seat doesn't work when I'm sitting on it. If I lift myself up they all work fine.

 

I found this this picture of a ventilated seat. Maybe our seats have similar design and the "Distribution Layer" collapsed over time and not too much air get thru!

 

Interesting, I have never noticed any cool air on my back and I usually leave it on 3 during the summer. I wonder if there is a way to make that happen or possibly upgrade to a fan that moves more air. Mine is a 2007, not sure if the ventillated seats are the exact same design for 2010 or not.

 

Interesting opinion.

I live in Arizona and let me tell you that these cooled seats are worth every penny--especially when its 118 degrees outside!

 

I'm pretty sure there is no fan on the back on the 2IS (at least mine doesn't). The 3IS does have fan on the back. When I got one as a loaner, I feel air in the back which is very nice in the summer! I don't even use the ventilated seats in mine since there is no air in the back -- I do use it in the winter.

 

No, our cars only have ONE blower located under the seat. I used the picture to show the basic construction of a ventilated seat. Especially the foam layer which most likely collapsing and restricting or worst case blocking the airflow after being in service for a while.

 

Wow that's quite hot!

Since we're talking about cooling, there's a question I've been meaning to ask so I'll just ask it here instead of making a new thread:

I recently moved to a place with real summers, and call me paranoid but I'm always worried of my car ('12 IS350) overheating when driving around in 100 degree weather. So which of the following is less taxing on the car: 1) lowest ac temp & lowest fan speed, or 2) higher temp & higher fan speed?

 

Okay, you're paranoid.

Are you having trouble with the temperature climbing up higher than normal? If not, I think you are over-thinking it. Just set it to auto, and choose the temperature you like. The HVAC in the IS is very sophisticated, has a variable displacement compressor, and is linked to the engine management ECU, so if the computer wants to lessen the parasitic load of the compressor (when you floor the car, for example) it can do so by reducing system capacity. I've driven the car in 105+ degree temperatures in both South Carolina and New Jersey, and never had the slightest problem with overheating.

 

I always use mine out here in cali and I notice they come from my bottom and my lower back which is nice cuz some cars only put out through the bottom half.

 

yep, I'm in AZ and never have heat issues. Once the car register the outside temperature as 130 (forgot what day it was but there was a thread on here about how hot the car is) and there was no heat issues with the needle in the same spot as any other day. The AC was on Auto and full blast of cold air at the time.