Tried an Audi A3 today - had electronic lumbar support control - great!

The lever on the SKoda only raises the seat, it's not proper lumbar support. 

14 hours ago, guitarman001 said:

Is there lumbar support adjustment on petrol Octavia elegance seats?

All models except for the S have lumbar support on both front seats.

4 hours ago, guitarman001 said:

Tried an Audi A3 today - had electronic lumbar support control - great!

The lever on the SKoda only raises the seat, it's not proper lumbar support. 

Are you sure you've got the right lever? There's one on the base of the seat to raise and lower it, and another half way down the back of the seat for lumbar adjustment. Or have you got the electrically adjustable seats option?

No electric seats.

Hmmmmmmmmm.... I'll have to check again, I must be missing this lever...

Found it!

It does make a slight difference, not height adjustable though

Find mine not too bad, and I've owned comfortable cars in the past - Saab, Xantia, American-style Honda...

 

Only gripe is - and this seems to be the case for every VW group car I've been in as a front seat passenger / driver - is that there seems to be tough plastic sides to the seat base, which if you get off the seat incorrectly can catch you.

I find mine ,SE MkIII, very adjustable and comfortable. As good as my previous Elegance MkII FL. The column offset? is not a problem for me. The brake and clutch pedals seem equally spread about the steering column which looks central to me. The accelerator pedal is reached easily without discomfort. I've had many weird and painful set ups in the past and recent VW/Skoda is not one.

I had no problems with the Mk2 but the first longish trip I did in our then new Mk3 involving a 3 hours straight drive was extremely painful and had me crawling from the car bent over like the old man I am.

Our base model mk3 had no lumbar support adjustment so I had to resort to pillows/wedges/etc and that improved things a lot.

Three years down the track and I have no problems with long journeys and no additional lumbar support required now so it all a bit of a black art and all experiences largely personal.

Core strength exercise and stretching have help manage my incipient inherited back issues. Unfortunately my athletic son is suffering the family curse but is going to have a spine fusion which I have very strong doubts about.

5 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

I had no problems with the Mk2 but the first longish trip I did in our then new Mk3 involving a 3 hours straight drive was extremely painful and had me crawling from the car bent over like the old man I am.

Our base model mk3 had no lumbar support adjustment so I had to resort to pillows/wedges/etc and that improved things a lot.

Three years down the track and I have no problems with long journeys and no additional lumbar support required now so it all a bit of a black art and all experiences largely personal.

Core strength exercise and stretching have help manage my incipient inherited back issues. Unfortunately my athletic son is suffering the family curse but is going to have a spine fusion which I have very strong doubts about.

had a 5 hour drive home when i picked up the car at the dealer. when i came home i was numb in my legs and my back was hurting as hell.

now after one and a half year i sort of getting used to the seats but they are still giving me some pain on long drives but not the "in bed and painkillers kind of pain"

i have standard seats with leather and regret not choosing the electric seats.

I have a octy mk3 elegance and find it very comfortable. Take time to adjust your seat, steering wheel and mirrors properly! Sounds daft really but most people actually don't! I get occasional bad back but have been fine driving from West Wales to Cambridge 6hrs with a couple of short breaks, and some other 4hr journeys.

I too am / was struggling with the Octy 3 seats in my SE L. After investigation, it seems the Alacantara is a much firmer material then the cloth version and this causes me not to sit snugly in the back rest. This i noticed by sitting in the seat with the seat cover removed, proving at least for my body frame the cover material to be the issue.

 

I had test drove the SE clothe seats which were fantastic and had extra budget left so went for an upgrade to SE L without trying out the Alacantara seats first (would assume going up in luxury can only improve things). I felt the difference at the very first minute I sat in the new car.

 

I resorted to modding my current seat, took of the seat back cover and raised the lumbar support mechanism and its much better now . Took about 30 minutes, just need a strong side cutter and small cable ties.

It's not so much the seat for me...

 

I can feel every vibration from the road surface.

 

I do need a few new tyres but I'm hesitant incase they don't solve it. I'm sure my old Focus and my wife's Mokka are nice to sit in, in that you don't feel road vibration traveling up your spine. It all seems well decoupled... I wonder if it's the suspension? 

 

Or maybe I've had a bad few weeks.. bit perhaps too much of a coincidence I've had a niggly back since I got the car. 

 

Update!

Drove our 10+ year old fiesta and it has far less vibration bring transmitted to the wheel and seats. Far less. Also less rumble, as detailed in the "low frequency boom" thread. 

Now I'm wondering.. is it the suspension or can change of tyres help this? 

 

It must sound like I'm hating the car but that's not the case. Having alleviated some of the noise issues, I want this fixed too.

 

You get a high spec for the money but I'd rather they got the basics right and we had fewer gizmos - what do do you reckon.... New tyres? Saying that... The fiesta tyres are pretty old. 

 

Fyi the fiesta seats are cloth. It's like sitting on your couch at home, next to no vibrations. Octavia seats are alacantra. 

Edited 4 May, 20179 yr by guitarman001

It's fairly harsh going over speed bumps, I think it's just a stiff suspension. 

 

The manual lumbar support, not height adjustable. I'm sure it transmits the shocks straight to the spine. While the seats are nice, they're not overly padded.

Edited 5 May, 20179 yr by guitarman001

What size wheels tyres do you have also tyre pressures. My dad is usualky first to complain about ride quality but is fine in my Octavia with alacantara and 17" wheels 225/45 17 91 load tyres. If you have XL tyres they will be stronger/less supple.

 

A 10yr old fiesta is going to have well worn in/soft suspension!

I also have 17" and I think I inflated to recommended 2.3 bar or so? I would have to check. 

Think mine are ZR tyres currently. 

Two are old, I think needs re-alignment and caber adjustment, and one has a nail in. Sounds bad but I'm not sure that's enough to describe the ride. Will keep experimenting with seat position, lumbar support etc. 

 

Tried a cushion behind my back - immediately felt better but also strange (pushed my lower back too far forward) so got rid. 

Oooooooww!!

I don't know what's caused the back pain but for certain , after I've driven a while, I can feel every bump and it makes it worse. I've never had this before. What I'm hoping is the pain goes away and that's that... And that it's not down to stiff suspension or something else. 

Fingers crossed for my back....!

Not sure whether a change of tyres would help this.

Lumbar support mechanism in case you want to have a go at raising or lowering it. There's only 2 tabs on top which hooks on to the metal seat wires.

So you can adjust the height? Hmm..

 

 

@lickspeed50 how do you take the covering off the seat to access that..!?

I don't own a mk3, but this is a major issue for me with modern cars.

 

My problem is not with the seats themselves, rather the pedal offset which plays havoc with the lower back and knees. In my experience, cars of European, esp. German origin are the worst culprits for this.

 

Hardly surprising as they are primarily  designed for the lhd market. They will often be compromised as the engine internals are not reversed for the rhd  market as with the steering wheel and pedals.

 

This has ultimately put me off purchasing Audi, Mercs and the like as every one of them has a terrible rhd driving position which would definitely trouble my already dodgy knees. Especially the manual variants. 

 

It seems only cars from the countries such as here and Japan fare better in this department. 

I do notice myself leaning to the left as I sit... you know, so I'm at that angle where my leg is nearly straight when onto the accelerator. 

Hmmm, I never thought about this until I read this thread. Defo Japanese I'll be trying next time. 

Still... years to go with this yet... need to get the back of the seat - will look into it later on.

This is an interesting document of pedal steering wheel offsets http://www.car-seat-data.co.uk/carsurvey-intro.htm Octavia's seem to be very good. Saying Japanese makes are good seems unhelpful as apparently mitsubishi are not so good!

 

Just having your foot on or off the left foot rest can alter your bodies position. Or how twisted your right leg is when resting/planting the accelerator.

 

Hope you can sort the problem though, maybe a physical therapist could give some pointers for better seat positioning? Worth a try.

29 minutes ago, amwphotos said:

This is an interesting document of pedal steering wheel offsets http://www.car-seat-data.co.uk/carsurvey-intro.htm Octavia's seem to be very good. Saying Japanese makes are good seems unhelpful as apparently mitsubishi are not so good!

 

Just having your foot on or off the left foot rest can alter your bodies position. Or how twisted your right leg is when resting/planting the accelerator.

 

Hope you can sort the problem though, maybe a physical therapist could give some pointers for better seat positioning? Worth a try.

 

One outlier != "unhelpful"

 

Your link, although informative, is not current, as the many models appear to be from around 10 years ago. The OP appears to be commenting on a contemporary car, as am l.

 

Take a seat in a recent rhd A4, C-class or 3-series, look at the centre of the seat then look how that aligns with the steering wheel, then look how they align with the pedals. In particular, the manual versions. If you've never noticed, you will be surprised how misaligned they are.

 

This misalignment over the course of months and years is enough to cause the driver back and knee problems, particularly if they are driving regularly for hours at a time.

Just spent 6 days driving across Belgium and Hollands accumulating just over 700 miles. Although the pedals are slightly offset, I did not have any comfort issues whilst driving, except with being a bit stiff when getting out the car after a couple of hours on the motorway. I am only 5ft 6 so maybe being closer to the pedals means the offset pedals is less apararent to me? 

I don't know if lumbar support is too great an idea in cars. Maybe for static office chairs... but in a car where everything is vibrating... is it just adding extra vibration to your back? Better to have a well padded and properly-shaped seat? I *think* the pain is less when I'm not using the lumbar support..

11 hours ago, Fr0d said:

 

One outlier != "unhelpful"

 

Your link, although informative, is not current, as the many models appear to be from around 10 years ago. The OP appears to be commenting on a contemporary car, as am l.

 

Take a seat in a recent rhd A4, C-class or 3-series, look at the centre of the seat then look how that aligns with the steering wheel, then look how they align with the pedals. In particular, the manual versions. If you've never noticed, you will be surprised how misaligned they are.

 

This misalignment over the course of months and years is enough to cause the driver back and knee problems, particularly if they are driving regularly for hours at a time.

Just saying there is variability across all manufacturers, you can't just say eastern good, European bad. Worst car ever: rover metro and that was British. Drove it practically diagonally.

 

I have never noticed any offset in my Octavia 3.

 

Threadbare: closer you are to pedals the more exaggerated the angle would be.

 

Guitarman001 I also have the lumbar support wound right out of the way. But each to their own.

Edited 8 May, 20179 yr by amwphotos
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