I've had my MCCS since early summer and have been waiting for the seats to "break in", but I'm still finding them too firm. We took a 3 week car trip this fall and did not choose the Clubbie to drive. One of the reasons is the harsh ride. The car also has run-flat tires...the combination of the suspension, tires and seats makes the ride almost jarring. I'm focused on the seats because I find the "wings" on the seat bottom uncomfortable and also because the seat itself is pretty hard. I have the seat adjusted low (but not bottomed-out) to give me enough headroom and that makes me sit with my legs sort of straight-out instead of bent at the knee (like you would sit in a chair).

I picked the Clubbie because it's small and has lots of headroom. Sitting "on the floor", with the seat jammed against the back-stop, has been an issue my whole driving life. If the seat adjustment provides it, I like to rock the seat bottom back a bit, to give it a "nose-up" posture (not available in the Clubbie). I liked the Clubbie because the seat has a few pumps in the height adjuster and isn't against the back-stop when I have it adjusted the way I like it. It's one of the few small cars I test drove that was "roomy". (mostly I've driven pickup trucks, they are the most comfortable for me and allow me to sit more chair-like).

In the last couple of days, I've been taking my wallet out of my pocket (it's a very thin money clip, not a George Castanza wallet) and that helps take the pressure off that one spot.

For the record, I'm 6'1", about 210 lbs and 50 years old.

I read through the the thread about seat covers made out of the wetsuit material (the yellow/black seat cover thread). Adding some padding and then covering the seats is an option. I have the Lazer Blue Clubbie with a silver roof, so I could customize the seat colors. That would be cool.

I do plan to switch to regular tires at some point. I was initially hoping to wear out the RF tires before I replaced them, but I may not be that patient.

Any suggestions?

 

i have after driving pretty much 7 hours w/ about 3 of it the longest stretch.

but i have a bony butt i guess lol.

overall they are pretty firm, even after 30K miles.... i doubt theyll break in much more

 

I chose the Yellow/Black, but you can order in any color,
or they will mail you tiny swatches to choose from.



Memory Foam totally took care of my seat comfort concern, but if you have to 'cold-soak' your MINI,
frozen Memory Foam will be a brick for the first few minutes of your drive.

 

Hello,

I agree, the stock seats (ours are leatherette), are very firm, and we are looking at the wet okole seats to help out. How are they holding up for you?

 

I also have a bit of a problem with the wings on the seat bottom causing pressure on my thighs, I just put it down to me having a fat butt ........ (I'm 5'10, 190lbs or so....)

Anyway, I don't mind the firmness of the seat, but I think I need to get some more padding in the center to lift my legs off those wings as you put it. I doubt the Wet O seat covers are the answer you're looking for, other than looking cool.

I wish they used the same seats as in VW's, those just fit me a whole lot better....

 

If you read through the post by PILOTART, you'll see that he also covered his seats with a layer of memory foam before putting on the new skins. If you look at the pic he posted, you can't really see the wings on the seat bottom...that's because he covered the middle section with enough foam to raise it up....

So a combination of adding some foam in the right spots and a new seat skin might be the right combination.

 

I started carrying my wallet in my front pocket years ago to help with back pain. It worked for me. Ditching the run-flats and switching to smaller wheels improve the ride quality greatly, but some people want the big wheel/short sidewall look.

 

Did you go with standard or sport seats? I dunno if the standard ones "break in"? Anyone have standard seats? For your curiosity, I have a standard Clubman with sport seats. Ironically, another user on this site told me the sport seats were more comfortable than the standard ones so I tried them out. I wound up getting sport seats and don't regret it at all.

 

The Lounge Leather seats are not that firm, quite comfortable in my opinion. I hope the foam covers help you. I know ditching the run-flats will be a good decision too.

Regards,
Terry

 

I don't know! I didn't even know there was a seat choice. I visited the local Mini lot one day, picked out a car they had on the lot, came back a few days later and brought it home. It wasn't until after I had the car that I found this forum and later the Mini page where you could customize your car with all the options.

When people ask me what options I have, I say, "It's blue."

 

There is a difference between the standard and upgraded leather seats. I am not sure so much about difference in the firmness but when I was deciding on options for my MINI, I must have gone over two different Clubman's sitting in each seat about 5-10 times before I opted for the more expensive leather ones. There seems to be a slight difference between them in the contour of the sides of the seat. The high end leather seats have less of a contour on the sides which at least for me seemed more comfortable. Given that I was noticing this difference just sitting for the short time one visits a dealership, my thought was that it would be more noticeable when driving for a time. some may prefer the seats with more pronounced contour to the sides. So, this becomes a personal choice as to what feels good to you. Of course, there is the dough part as well that figures into this. I believe the premium leather costs about $1000 more.

 

I have the "leatherette" seats. I went home last night and looked at my paperwork. The car has most of the Premium package components and I don't have the Convenience package.

Hey, Pilotart - Did you use the glue (Ram-Tack) to glue down the foam to the seats themselves? I was wondering how permanent you expect your seat customization to be....

 

Well I for one love my firm 'sport package' tuscan leather covered seats in my Clubman (non-S). I had a 1992 Honda Civic Si with sport seats, and then in 1999 went to a normal Honda Civic, and hated the spongy soft seats.

My only issue is finding that sweet spot in the recline of the seat back. I've only had the car since September, so I'm still fiddling with exactly how I prefer the seat position. Sadly my wife also drives the car, so I have to constantly reposition everything

 

You know, right before getting my cooper I tried at the dealer (on a pretty cold day though):

leatherette: "meh, like I remembered back in '07, kinda thin"
leather: "meh, not cushy as I thought it would be! looks nice though"
cloth: "ah, comfy. but no thanks, don't want"
cloth/leather: "mmm a bit wierd but you get comfy and design"

Now, I weigh ~130, and actually now that I have the leatherette, I find it very form-fitting and suitable. Not soft for sure, but I'm liking it.

 

After 18 months they have held up very well.

Many cups of expresso strength coffee and other stains have been very easy to shampoo completely out using 'Wet-Suit' shampoo available from Wet Okole or your local Dive Shop.

Only used Ram-Tack to attach Memory Foam to Memory Foam.

If I were to buy a new Cabrio or something, I would remove my 'seat-system' leaving nearly new standard leatherette interior and transfer 'my-system' (including Euro Armrest) to the new car.

I see that 'Tempur-Pedic' guarantees their Memory Foam mattresses for twenty years and my experience after twenty-three years with dense foam mattresses with Memory Foam 'toppers' bears this life out.

__________________________________________________ ____________

I had missed the ability to 'tilt' the angle of the lower seat, it was easy to 'shim' the front of the seat tracks to achive the angle that was comfortable for me.

You need a T-40 Torx Wrench (bit for socket set, or angle tool like an Allen Wrench) the seat bolts are very long, giving a lot of lattitude for 'tilt' and you could buy longer torx bolts if your needs were extreme.

If you remove the seat (know the air-bag 'plug' warning) you will see that the tracks are only supported at the ends, so raising the front end of the tracks has no effect on the support for the seat tracks.

 

Pilotart - Great info, thanks for sharing. I do know about the airbag/seat removal issue and I'll be sure and disconnect the battery if I go that route.

Great idea about shimming the front of the seats. I could pull out those Torx bolts and slip a couple of washers underneath the rails and then put the bolts back....

Good to know that the seat covers have held up well. I may pull the trigger on covers for my car, given how well they have worked for you.

 

In the last couple of days, I've been taking my wallet out of my pocket (it's a very thin money clip, not a George Castanza wallet) and that helps take the pressure off that one spot.

The seats are fine and i suggest that folks take cars for test drives to check out this stuff before it turns to this.

 

We don't feed trolls here....

 

ummmm...who is the troll you are referring to? I quoted the original post and stated that i think the seats are just fine?

 

When I saw the OP's post, I wondered the same thing. Maybe he didn't like your last sentence?

 

dcgrid7 - Thought you were a troll.

Your low post count and attitude puts you in the potential troll category.