From what I've read from reviews -- I think the comparison was to other sport cars --- The best description I hear is that you sit on them rather than in them. I haven't heard many owners compaining at all. My experience on test drives (different material surfaces) was they were fine. I'm not a reviewer of autos so my buns are not as finely tuned as theirs.

 

I agree, it's just too flat. There's two complaints I've read about the current sport seats -- from enthusiast drivers that want more side support, and from daily drivers that say the cushoning just isn't what it needs to be.

 

All the reason to have a cloth seats so I can swap them out with a decent set of Recaros. :-)

That said, my brother (who is significantly stouter than me) who owns an R32 can only stand about 2 hours in his Recaros - to me those seem like the perfect seats! He loves my R53 seats, I hate em - especially the english leather - it seems to pop you up even more than the cloth seats!

 

It doesn't look like there's going to be an answer on he US seats for a while -- I just hope it's not going to wicker.
At this point I'll be just happy to get any seat --
I'd hate to have to squat -- it's would be hard to clutch from that position --

 

The following article lists a comfortable seat as the #1 priority.

 

Some photos from Detroit show what the configurator shows, at least for the Lounge Leather -- smooth seat bottom, with ribs on the thigh part of the seat:

http://flickr.com/photos/xandashoots...7594472452423/

But the cloth seats, they show the Euro"hump".

http://flickr.com/photos/xandashoots...7594472452423/

Time will tell...

 

Somebody wanted to see what the 07 cloth seats with the checkerboard patter would look like. The yellow JCW prepped car at the Detroit show seems to have these. Link to photos:

http://www.outmotoring.com/photos/20...mini/index.htm

 

http://motoringfile.com/2007/01/14/t...otos/#comments


Looks like we may have our answer from the comments??

 

Hmm...I was expecting the checkerboard to be a blacker material..

 

Its definitely grey, but I must say that I like the look of the seats. I ordered cloth. I'm too cheap to get leather, and I have to say I can't bring myself to get the vinyl(leatherette). I'm old enough (cripes!) that all the cars my family had in my childhood had vinyl seats - they were hot and sticky. That included a hand-me-down 1969 Chevy Nova from my grandfather that I drove from 1984-1991. I can't bring myself to get them even though I think they look great.

You know we also had a vw bug for a while when I was a kid (white w/red interior) and that had perforated vinyl seats which were much more comfortable than our other cars.

Oh - realized I should really put these comments in the other thread - I'll post them over there.

 

Heheh.. I think it's awfully funny how the piece in the middle of the seat is called the 'CODPIECE' Personally I'm glad it's in there - it should assure that the seat is much more comfortable.

 

Yippeee! Looks like we have the seat mystery solved!!! Thanks every one -- that really had my cod in a bundle!

 

<<snort>><<cough>><dinner>><<outnose>>
<</endchoke>>

 

I'm not so sure, I've got (ahem) large legs, and deliberately went with the other seats to avoid it, after imagining my thighs going numb from it.

 

The comments of the Mini representative notwithstanding, I wonder whether that information is accurate. The word before has been that the U.S. market seats would be different from those from the U.K.

I'm not sure there will be a definitive answer until next month when the production cars arrive here.

 

Alright I hate the R50-R53 seats, thats right I said it.

 

NO COD!! But what will I have with my chips?!?

 

Gabe at Motoring File said we won't get the same seats because of weight sensors for the airbags. But these may not be the same seats as the European ones. The only thing you are going on is the center bolster - or "cod" - what does that mean anyway?

 

It looks to me like the seats at NAIAS are exactly the same as the ones in the euro press pics I've seen. I just compared them side by side. Wouldn't it be a bad thing for miniusa in a legal sense to show one type of seat and then actually have it produced with another one? I haven't seen any disclaimers. Is this techinally bait-and-switch??

I just really hope they aren't the seats from the R50/53. I agree with the other poster that those really suck.

 

I'm not a lawyer but I really don't think MINI is exposing itself to any law suits.
I do think it is interesting that the seats (cloth) at the NAIAS in one of the cars had the Check pattern. I do not think that pattern was available in Europe. Can someone varify this?
So if that is true isn't it a lot of trouble to recover the Euro seats with the US upholstery just for the show.
As a matter of fact it's even more confusing if that is the case.
If that was done I can only imagine that MINI wanted to show the better seats but with the US pattern rather than the seats we will be getting. I hope that isn't the case -- seems deceptive -- not illegial but pretty crappy, if that was the motivation.

 

I for one would not initiate a lawsuit. I'm just saying some jerk out there could possibly start one because of this issue. I'm not saying it would be sound legally, but people sue for all sorts of stupid stuff.

 

When I test drove the R50 and 53 I really did not mind the seats. The 53 had the checkmate seats and I thought they were nice. At least for a 15 minute drive.

 

Checkered Black Cloth is the standard upholstery for Cooper S in the UK. Cosmos Black Cloth is the standard upholstery for the Cooper in the UK. The latter is NOT offered in the US.

 

Here is the answer directly from ask-mini:

 

Thanks, that clears that up. (UK cloth that is)
I guess sometime before I take delivery a pic will show up.
I would be surprised if they are the same seats as the previous model. They were generally frowned upon by reviewers. I can not imagine MINI didn't make some changes. The configurator looks very simular.