Uncomfortable Drivers Seat Question - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

joshua6060 · 11-21-2005, 03:01 AM

Do any of you guys get uncomfortable in your Boxsters on long drives?
I have taken a few 3 and 4 hour drives in my new '01 Boxster and have found the seats to be come rather uncomfortable after a few hours of driving, particularly around the hips and lower back. I have played around with various seating positions, and I think its the seat itself that is too hard, Do you guys have any suggestions or thoughts or experiences that might help me out with this before I take this 8 hour drive for Thanksgiving????

11-21-2005, 04:20 AM

Try sitting in your favorite seat around your house for 8 hours. Still gonna hurt! It is difficult sitting in anything that long. Even for 3-4 hours. Part of it is just conditioning your body and getting used to sitting that long.

joshua6060 · 11-21-2005, 06:26 AM

I'm accustomed to sitting low, I drove a Mustang for 7 years. Which isn't as low as the Boxster but I'm pretty sure its the seat.

11-21-2005, 06:51 AM

I am pretty sure Tony Stewart is used to sitting low too, but after driving for 400-500 miles, he gets out of his $+10K seat, and is sore/uncomfortable too.

OK, maybe a poor comparision or a little far fetched!

Try changing the seat-back angle during your drive. And adjust the angle of the seat botton, to take more of the weight off your bottom and onto your hamstrings, by tilting it upwards.

Lastly, get out every 2-3 hours for some hydration and restroom break.

Don't forget to wash your hands...it's flu season!

Rail26 · 11-21-2005, 07:23 AM

I fly 7 hour missions in $22k seats. The tail end is not made to sit that long not matter what the seats are like. Great advice...get gas, take a brisk walk to the nasty gas station crapper and walk back to the car briskly and STRETCH! I find this helps.

Pilot2519j · 11-21-2005, 10:23 AM

Audi used to have an idiot light that would blink after 2 hours of driving to stretch your legs. With herniated disks and etc every 2 hours is a good target to strive for to relieve your back. Try it see how it works for you.

donv · 11-21-2005, 12:31 PM

I have a 2001 as well - and also find the basic Boxster seats are just plain uncomfortable for long trips (albeit great for spirited track driving)... my DD Subaru and GF's Mazda are both much better for longer rides. There is a way to modify the stock Boxster seats to add lumbar support that should make it better. I've not yet made the change to my car but plan to. There was a post here a couple of months ago about using a blood pressure cuff to add adjustable lumbar support; there is also an aftermarket part specifically designed to do the same thing but tailored to the seats. In the past I've used rolled up hand towels to achieve the same thing but in a temporary fashion. Give that a try to see if it will help and then explore the above more permanent solutions. Good luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshua6060

Do any of you guys get uncomfortable in your Boxsters on long drives?
I have taken a few 3 and 4 hour drives in my new '01 Boxster and have found the seats to be come rather uncomfortable after a few hours of driving, particularly around the hips and lower back. I have played around with various seating positions, and I think its the seat itself that is too hard, Do you guys have any suggestions or thoughts or experiences that might help me out with this before I take this 8 hour drive for Thanksgiving????

Biz-z Z · 11-26-2005, 06:10 PM

When I drive for more than 10 minutes, I've learned to take the my wallet out of my back pocket. I don't know if that will serve as a total cure in this instance, but I thought I'd pass it along.

threpwood · 11-28-2005, 08:45 AM

It's the suspension and the way the car handles that makes it difficult to drive for long time. The steering wheel, not to mention the seat, gives direct feedback from every bump and contours of the road. I think it's just the way boxsters are made. Maybe adjustable suspension will help.

RandallNeighbour · 11-28-2005, 10:09 AM

I drove my boxster for 4~6 hours nearly every day for 17 days this summer on vacation. Put 4200+ miles on the car. I developed a slight back pain which went away after we got home, despite the 2 hour leg and back stretching we did.

The car's seating and suspension is just not made for cross-country comfort driving.

Had I driven my 11 year old Lexus LS400, we would have been able to drive 8+ hours a day due to the ability to move one's legs and butt around in the car more frequently. My wife could have done far more of the driving as well as she's petrofied of shifting gears while entering freeways, followed closely by downshifting, or simply putting it in neutral and coasting with the brakes. Go figure.

The only reason we didn't take the Lexus is I wanted to drive Hwy 1 and through Yosemite in the boxster with the top down. It was worth all the discomfort and lack of luggage to do this! And believe it or not gentlemen, my wife packed one small duffle bag for 17 days and we only did laundry once. It can be done.

joshua6060 · 11-28-2005, 10:57 AM

Well Guys, I'm happy to report that I did make thru my 8 hour drive for Thanksgiving, I stopped every 2.5 to 3 hours for gas and made sure to take a quick strech while pumping, also, I used the cruise control for a good bit of the drive, that allowed me to move my legs and feet around a little more during the drive. On the drivers side, I did have a little fun around turns and up hills

cyclocross · 11-28-2005, 11:17 AM

My wife complains of lower back pain after short rides in my (our) 2001 Boxster. She has alleviated most of the problem with this seat cushion:

Seat Cushion - Orthopedic, Price: $35.99, Item #: 7006, from Stacks and Stacks Housewares

It fits perfectly on the Bosxter seat and the Navy color is a good match for Metropol Blue.

This uncomfortable seat issue may kill my chances to get a Carrera. However, my wife loves BMW seats so maybe there will be a M3 in the future!

70Sixter · 12-15-2005, 10:16 AM

I just made my first road trip in the Box. Coastal NC to Tampa Bay area in 11 hours. Return after two days, also in 11 hours. Became god parents in between! I had a comfortable trip, altho some of you had me worried. My li'l wife seemed okay in pass seat, but probably not quite as comfortable as I. Maybe cuz I got to drive.

BTW - 27.7 mpg from S Carolina gas stop to destination. 26.6 on return with an additional hour of back roads from I-95 to the coast. Cannot divulge average speed based on 5th Amendment!

Also surprised one piece of roller luggage fit in front trunk.

David Wildrick · 06-26-2008, 02:26 PM

I’ve owned a 2001 Boxster with standard manually adjusted seats for 3 years. After I drive for about an hour and a half my lower back starts killing me. I have no problems at all with the seats in my two Porsche 356C coupes (or my Sienna minivan).

The real problem is that the seat bottom cannot be tilted up and down, and it stays at a fixed angle that is well above the horizontal plane. This causes your lower back to be dropping into a hole, whether the entire seat is all the way up (& forward) or all the way down (& back).

As suggested by others on this forum, I have tried rolled up towels and 2 different kinds of lumbar cushions, both inflatable and noninflatable, without success.

Are there any other seats out there with adjustable seat bottoms that will fit an 01 Boxster?

Do full electric OEM Boxster seats have this adjustment?

Or are other seats out there that do it?
Thanks for any advice.
--Dave

rick3000 · 06-26-2008, 05:23 PM

I have had the same problem on 8+ hour road trips. After about 3-4 hours my lower back starts to hurt. I found a lumbar insert that I slides into my seat and it has a hand pump to inflate/deflate the lumbar support it makes road trips a lot more comfortable.
If you want the website where you can get it PM me.

Benny986 · 06-27-2008, 02:00 AM

the orig poster prob doesn't really care much any more, but....

not sure how it happened, but yeah, these seats suck, the seats in my audi are 1000x better.

the back is too narrow, it pushes you out in front of the seat back, instead of allowing you to sit in it.

i didn't find the seat bottoms that bad. it was just the seat back.

i replaced mine with a race seat, and its soooo comfy!

David Wildrick · 06-27-2008, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benny986

the orig poster prob doesn't really care much any more, but....

not sure how it happened, but yeah, these seats suck, the seats in my audi are 1000x better.

the back is too narrow, it pushes you out in front of the seat back, instead of allowing you to sit in it.

i didn't find the seat bottoms that bad. it was just the seat back.

i replaced mine with a race seat, and its soooo comfy!

Which race seat are you using? And have you ever taken a trip that took several hours in it?
Thanks,
Dave

Benny986 · 07-01-2008, 12:06 AM

sparco evo2... probably nothing over 1.5hours at a time.

but even when driving for 30-40 minutes in the OE seats, I felt uncomfortable, no longer with the sparco evo2.

i wasn't even planning on putting a seat into the porsche till i sat in my friends evo2, then i went out, 2 weekends later, and bought 4 seats.

2 for the p-car, and 2 for a GTi that my brother and I autox a lot.

LoveBunny · 07-05-2008, 09:17 PM

I got power seats because I'm short and needed them to adjust really well, and also I liked the lumbar support. I still find that my seats are not the most comfortable for distance driving, but I think it's because they are made to sort of keep you solid in the seat winding around curves and aren't designed for comfy cushy road trip driving. And I know this is too much info, but one thing I have noticed ever since I got this car is that I get a lot of wedgies when I drive!

2000SoCalBoxsterS · 07-07-2008, 11:35 AM

I never had a problem with my stock seats. My new seats are harder and do not recline but I was completely comfortable for the 2.5 hours drive to Pocono this past weekend.