Hi folks,

just wanted to see whether anyone else has had the same issue.

Basically I have owned my 2008 vRS Occy for just over 12 months now and am absolutely smitten with it.

Does everything that I want. ie Practical/Nippy/Reliable etc..

However, since owning the car myself and the wife and suffered from sore lower backs.

Never had the problem before having the car and both our symptoms and pain is similar.

Recently got back from Cornwall and covered a round trip of about 800 miles.

By the end of the trip we both had similar lower back pain. Mine is tolerable but the wife is having proper trouble.

Never had back trouble before. And I'm quite fit and strong for a 35 yr old bloke. The wife is 29.

I thought I saw something on these forums regarding vRS seats giving someone back trouble before but can't be sure.

I cannot think of anything else it could be.

Anyone else had this?

Cheers

Love and man hugs. :p

Eduardo

Don't the seats have lumbar adjustment? I'd have thought that they would have.

I must admit that when I was test driving a vRS I found the seats a bit uncomfortable, that's one of the reasons that I chose the Elegance over the vRS. They're miles more comfortable than the sports seats on the vRS.

Yes they do have lumbar support. Frankly I don't know what this is supposed to do exactly as nothing happens to the either seat when the dials are turned. I have tried turning it in both directions but noticed nothing in terms of comfort.

It does do something it causes the rear panel of the seat to come outwards & firm up the back panel around the lower back/kidney area. You need to be sitting in the seat to appreciate its function, you'll feel it firm up as you turn it.

The other way to do it is pop an old pillow in the seat.

My first Octavia (mk 1 GLX) gave me a sore lower back after long trips and changing the lumbar support made all the difference, I'm still kicking myself for finding that out around two weeks before I sold the car having driven around 20,000 miles before then.

John

I have seen discussions before about this. Have to say I've had no issues with mine (which has included running Dover to Provence in a single day) but then my back is probably different to yours!

If you really can't get on with it, there are companies who will bolster and re-cover seats to your specifications.

Yes they do have lumbar support. Frankly I don't know what this is supposed to do exactly as nothing happens to the either seat when the dials are turned. I have tried turning it in both directions but noticed nothing in terms of comfort.

I've read before that in most cases they are broken and indeed twiddling the dials achieves nothing

I don't suffer with lower back pain from the vRS seats (and I do suffer from lower back pain) but it's the seat base that I find a bit uncomfortable, the gap between the bolsters is a touch too narrow for my backside or there could be another explanation, but either way, I'm hoping that the leather ones in my new vRS (ready for collection later this week) might be a bit more comfortable.

Never had back problems with my two vRSs, but it did take a bit of fiddling around to set the seat up right. Since then I have found the seats comfortable.

'Interestingly' even though I am tall, I don't have the seats on the lowest setting. However for me this is more so the seat does not dig into the back of my thighs, rather than for back issues.

The vRS seats are great for me too, and I'm 6'3" so always have to watch my back. Yes, as everyone has said fiddle with the lumber support when you are sat in it to feel it come in and out against your lower back. Also, have you tried adjusting seat height/tilt and even steering wheel height/tilt as all of these when done in combination, even if they are relatively small adjustments, make a lot of difference to long-term comfort. Finally, I do remember some threads a while back saying that it was not uncommon for the wheel mechanism for the lumber support to become detached - if you really can't feel any difference in either front seat when sat in it and turning it then perhaps this has happend - its a very easy fix and I'm assuming unless you have high milage that you are still within the 3 year warranty period so it's something you could get checked at a dealer under warranty...

I've read before that in most cases they are broken and indeed twiddling the dials achieves nothing

I don't suffer with lower back pain from the vRS seats (and I do suffer from lower back pain) but it's the seat base that I find a bit uncomfortable, the gap between the bolsters is a touch too narrow for my backside or there could be another explanation, but either way, I'm hoping that the leather ones in my new vRS (ready for collection later this week) might be a bit more comfortable.

Point one I was glad to read as this thread was frightening me a bit as I am awaiting my vRS and it will be my first one., I too suffer with Lower back Pain ( Lumber Prolapse) so need as much comfort as possible..

Point Two I will be anxious to hear how the Leather goes for you as opposed to the standard vRS seats.

Yes they do have lumbar support. Frankly I don't know what this is supposed to do exactly as nothing happens to the either seat when the dials are turned. I have tried turning it in both directions but noticed nothing in terms of comfort.

If the knobs do nothing, then they are broken. They have been known to come broken from the factory, many owners dont notice this though, and the car goes many years with faulty lumbar adjustment. The usual cause is failure of a cheap plastic part in the adjustment mechanism, a guide on how to fix it is posted here and both vRS and non vRS seats have the same problem.

When you turn the knob you should feel a noticeable change at the lower back.

Both my wife and me now in our sixties and somewhat a-little overweight have not suffered any back/ lower back problems.

We have had the Fabia VRS now turned 5 years with no bucket seat problem apart from grunting climbing in/out. LOL

Perhaps we are lucky people in this reported back problem ????

Everyone is different so what fits one person may not fit another. Personally I find my vRS seats very comfortable. I'm now 5 months and well over 12000 miles into my Octavia ownership and have no problems with back pain. The worst car I ever had for that was a 2000 model year 3 series. No matter how I adjusted the drivers seat, I just could not get comfortable in that and always had back pain. When it was off the road for three weeks the Focus hire car that replaced it was slower, noisier and didn't handle quite as well, but I found it fantastic as my back pain disappeared only to return again when I got the BMW back

For me, the most comfortable seats were the ones in the Saab 9-3s that I had, closely followed by the vRS and the X-Type ones. They're the 3 models of car that I could spend hours in the seat and get out the other end feeling fine. Even so, in each of those cars I had to play a little bit when I first got them to get the car setup for me

Having back pain from a previous car accident I find the Vrs good for my back compared to the Saab 93 I used to drive.

I don't have any problem with the seats, I found the squab too long to start with but got used to it.

The wife hasn't found the VRS seats comfortable since getting pregnant.

Everyone is different so a seat that suits me might hurt you. Tried simple things like a lumbar cushion?

My wife has a bad lower back and she found the lumber support to be very good, so maybe they are broken in the OP's car? Come to think of it I couldn't feel a lot of difference when I was adjusting the passenger seat...

Aspman, get her to sit in the back!

I don't really fancy putting cushions and other accessories on the seats.

May pop into the local dealers for them to have a look at the adjusters to see if they are working okay.

Failing that I may have to sell it. Which is a real shame but long distance runs seem to be leaving us aching. :(

If you do then try an L&K or Elegance model instead. They have "normal" seats not sports seats which you may find much more comfortable.

I've read before that in most cases they are broken and indeed twiddling the dials achieves nothing

This might help... http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/115478-lumbar-support-broken/page__p__1451165__hl__lumbar%20AND%20support%20AND%20wire__fromsearch__1entry1451165

Think my driver's side has done this, as the passenger side definitely produces a 'feeling' when you twiddle the dial and mine doesn't :(

Other than that I find the seats VERY comfortable, much better than my (relatively low spec, mind you, and only 3 of them) previous cars.

Edited 29 June, 201015 yr by AdamR

Point Two I will be anxious to hear how the Leather goes for you as opposed to the standard vRS seats.

I have the full leather in my vRS, and my next door neighbour has just taken delivery of a vRS with the standard seats (you rarely see another vRS, and now we have two together!).

I had a quick sit in his car, and I got the impression that you sit 'deeper' into the standard seats than the full leather ones, almost that they had put more padding in the base of the leather seats.

It might have something to do with the offset pedals. I picked up my vRS a few weeks ago and wondered why I was sitting all twisted until I noticed that the footrest is where the clutch should be, the clutch is where the brake should be, and the brake is where the accelerator should be. Because the pedals are so offset to the right, I find my right thigh pressed uncomfortably against the right cushion. I didn't notice this during the test drive. Must have been because I was so excited about ordering my new car!

I visited the Skoda factory at MB with the SOC and saw that there were seats made by Johnson Controls at Coventry. It might be worth contacting them direct. I'm not sure if they make all the seats, there could be more than one supplier.

One of the few things I really liked on the Superb that I had as a courtesy car when my vRS is in for service was the different lumber support control. Rather than a wheel to turn, in the same place was a lever that you could turn through 90 degrees from fully on to fully off. It was really easy and quick to adjust, and reading the thread about broken mechanisms in the Octy I wonder if this will be something Skoda will transfer to it at some point....

This article on the BBC website may be of interest to some of you .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6187080.stm

Steve W