Thanks for the review. Please post again, after several days of use if you can!

 

Going back to my original comments... How comfortable was the seat itself when you have this in it? Did you feel ackward in it or uncomfortable in any way? I have always had an interest in A/C seats and enjoy them in my sisters Saab 9-5, but would only consider ordering this if the seat doesn't feel different. I get very hot very easily, and when I am showing up to see a client in dress clothes, the last thing I want is a sweaty back... I don't want to squirm around to get comfy the whole drive either though...

Drew

 

Understandable, and points well taken, too. As stated before, I'll let everyone know just how my new seat goes when it arrives. I have leatherette in my S and leather in the Cooper. I'm a big guy and during long hauls, my seatback seems superglued to my clothing by a sweat adhesive.

Jeff

 

Has anyone tried the wet okole seat covers? I'm hearing that the material used will cut down on the car seat heat.

 

Excellent. Very Scientific. Looking forward to the results of your longitudinal study.

 

I don't think they feel akward or uncomfortable. It's obviously not as comfortable as the mini seats. When I first sit down I notice the difference, but once I'm driving around I'm more comfortable now than I was when my back was all gross. I wish MINIs came with real cooled seats, but since they don't this is a pretty good alternative. Having the air circulation does get rid of that terrible "my clothes are sweaty and sticking to me" feeling.

As far as Wet Okale seat covers, we actually just ordered some for the back seat. We have a 80 pound dog who loves the car but I can't bear to let him dogify it! They take about 4 weeks to arrive because each set is custom made. If I like the ones we get for the back I may consider getting them for the front too. The leatherette seats are comfortable but they sure don't help with keeping you cool!

 

I'm thinking about ordering some for just the front seats, no colored piping though. I ordered some swatches and I did not like the color. When you get the seat covers, post how you feel about them and if they are comfortable/cool.

 

OKKKKKKKK...my review of the seat cooler. It should not be thought of as a replacement for a/c, although it DOES make the butt and lower back feel a lot cooler than not having a device like that. I used mine today for the first time and, although I am a big guy, I didn't sit far into the seat, but, rather, on the seat. It DOES NOT look ugly when installed and the straps do not seem to restrick the airbag system in the seats. The cooling fan has multiple cooling levels [thumb dial controlled]. DO NOT leave the seat plugged in your lighter socket when the car is not in use...even if the unit is switched to "OFF", as, to my dismay, there was SEVERE battery drain and I was lucky to get my car started for the ride home.

All in all though, I must admit, that for $50, it seems money well spent. On my 35 mile ride home from a BCD, after the car had sat all day in full sun...my face was being cooled by the a/c, but my behind and back were in an "ahhhhhh conditioning" of a different kind.

Of course, I am lauding this seat cooler as one who has an MCS coupe, and not a cabriolet. However, IMHO, if I owned a cabriolet, I'd be singing the praises of the solving of a MINI "wet back" problem for a pretty paltry sum.

Jeff

 

I'm interested that you experience battery drain, because I left mine plugged in over night without any issues. I'll be sure to unplug it from now on!

 

I also noticed that, for the first few minutes, it sounded/seemed as if a shard of plastic had gotten stuck in the fan. I fiddled around with it while driving...switching from full "on", to "off" a few times, and even tapped on the fan housing. Finally, about halfway home from a 35 mile return trip, it straightened out and I never had another problem.

 

My battery drain may have been caused by leaving the car in full sun all day...even with the unit switched "off". I guess ya never know about these things til you experience them.... On the bright side, however, when the car turned over and was running, there was this delightful cool breeze under my rearend and surging up my back...instant relief from a leatherette "hotseat".

 

Just ordered my for my MCSc here in Florida. Thanks for the reviews

 

The temperature and humidity are moving up around here again today, so I think I'm going for a ride this afternoon. I'm hoping to see if this seat keeps my back cool while I drive rather as opposed to trying to cool me down after a hot carshow day. If anything comes up differently, I'll let yall know.

 

that's odd that you experienced battery drain while the car was off
and the coolers were plugged into the ciggie lighter.

on my 05MCS, the cigerette lighter turns off when the car is shutdown.
do the other model years behave differently??

 

I THOUGHT I followed their usage directions exactly. However, when I went to start the car, there was nothing for 2-3 seconds [ and I thought to myself, "day-ummmmm", or something like that], and then the car buzzed, turned and started right up.

 

I don't think it was related to the seat cooler though. Maybe you left something else on? I've left mine plugged in several times overnight without difficulty.

 

I ALWAYS shut off my radio...I never leave it "on" to shut off automatically. Ditto with the lights. I KNOW it was the seat cooler, because I didn't install it until AFTER I had gotten to the carshow [THAT'S why I beg to differ to the person who said it is ugly...hell, it snuggles down into the seat itself]. It was plugged into the lighter plug, but the unit was "off"...or so I thought. Perhaps THAT is why the instructions say to UNPLUG it, AND to make sure it is turned off, too, before reusing it.

Oh well, no sense in beating a dead horse. The unit works very well for what it cost, and I've had no problems with it since then, althought it's a noisy lil thang [ya tend to notice these things in a closed up car---probably unnoticeable in a cabrio].

 

based on y'all recommendation, I've ordered myself one of the $50 coolers - my MCSC may not arrive for a month, but this should help keep me cool here in TX regardless.

 

The instructions say to turn the a/c on to the floor. I'm not at all sure if this will be effective in a cabrio, but it sure does make the air from those cooling tubes inside the seat almost frigid on my big butt, when that cold air is sucked thru that intake fan and onto my person.

 

sounds like fun

 

OK, I'm resurrecting this thread because hot weather is coming!

I'd like to hear some more thoughts/recommendations about the bum coolers. Are they worth it?

(Inquiring bums would like to know.)

 

I'm still on the fence about those seat coolers. They're not uncomfortable but they're not as comfortable as the seats themselves. However they do prevent a lot of back sweat (gross, I know, but it happens!) But I wouldn't describe them as "cooling" so much as "air-circulating" I don't know. We're driving cross country from Columbus to Portland, OR next week and maybe I'll have formed an opinion about them by then. It'll only have been a year since I got them...

 

Any info on the Wet Okole covers? Still trying to decide which product gets my money.

 

I have the seat coolers in my Z3 Roadster with Recaro seats. They are nice to have, but if I was to do this all over again I would have pushed for a larger set of fans to move the air more. Sometimes it is hard to tell they are working at all in really hot weather. I have had mine for 3 years.

 

Mishka,
A cabrio owner mentioned in this thread https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=86289
that the Wet Ololes seem to be cooler in the summer