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159 seats - back killer!

8K views 31 replies 18 participants last post by  smudge_don 
#1 ·
Anyone else find the TI seats in the 159 gives them backache?

I have had many cars, and doesn't matter how I adjust this one... two hours into a drive and I am in crippling back pain :(

Tried various angles and positions... not sure what I can do about it really.

I do a lot of miles, so I will have to do something. Don't want to have to sell it cause the seats kill me!
 
#2 ·
I find them pretty comfortable now, but they're a pain to re adjust for me if Mrs. z has been driving it.
I had a GT and those seats were very comfortable.
I spent a couple of weeks getting the seats just right when I got it. Slight angle/height change made all the difference.
 
#10 ·
Yea, I think it is a personal thing. The seats are lovely... just killing me!
I had a Navara pick-up before this and they were very basic seats, but I never had a twinge of back pain in those.
Tried all the lumbar adjustments etc. I fear I am going to have to disgrace the interior of my 159 with a Halfords back support thingy
 
#13 ·
BTW:
About a year ago I was starting to get backache in the Brera. I played around with all the adjustments, but to no avail.
After some time I remembered that 3 month before the backache started the locking mechanism of the back of my office chair had broken, which made the chairback bouncy like on some of these "healthy chairs". I had ignored that at the time and simply adjusted my sitting posture (thinking that it might actually be healthier that way) and then forgot about it.
But then I repaired the office chair to make the chairback firm again and during the next weeks the backache faded away - newer to return.
 
#14 ·
159 seats a bit of a Marmite thing.
Hated the seats that were in my 159 TBi Elegante.
Would go as far as to say they were the worst I have ever experienced (or maybe on a par with a 164 Super I had years ago).
It wasn't a back issue for me. Seat base was too narrow with excessively firm and high side bolsters which cut into the thighs. Twenty minutes or more of driving would lead to numb feet and pins and needles.
Glad to say the leather and micro fibre seats in the Giulietta Veloce I replaced the 159 with are fantastic.
 
#16 ·
No photo - might sort one out later.
If I have the base tilted up so that it supports my thighs, but far enough back to keep my knees under the steering wheel, then I cannot push the clutch down fully (and I am over 6'2").
So I have to have the seat tilted down a bit. I have the lumbar support fully out (tried it in) and the back has to be at the right angle to keep me a decent distance from the wheel.
Its odd and I have never had backache before in a car. My shoulders feel all tense as well, so I am certainly not sitting right.
The pressure feels like it is at the base of my spine - almost like the seat is too hard.
Seat warmer helps, but that is not a fix.
Two hours of driving and my shoulders ache, lower back is killing me and a pain down the back of my thigh... so I will have to sort it out.
I think I will just have to play with the positions and add a pad or something
 
#18 ·
Did you ever get a comfortable position in your car. I have had by 159 TI a couple of weeks, think it is fantastic apart from I can't quite get comfortable in the seats. Same sort of thing you are describing pain in the lower back but get mine after just a few minutes of driving so think I have fundamentally got the seat wrong! The seats feel really comfortable when I first get in, but when I start depressing the clutch I find I get some pain almost immediately.
 
#17 ·
Cant you pull out the front under knee support and lift or extend the steering column to get it right?

I'm under 6', the rear is up slightly off the bottom with the front higher than the back so I naturally slide into the seat and my thighs are supported. the backrest is inclined so that my wrists can sit on top of the steering wheel with my shoulders still touching the seat. I have the leccy seats though, which are micro adjustable.

The only issue I get is that I sit so far 'inside' the seat that getting out after a long journey can strain my back!

I take it the lumbar is well adjusted? on most seats I have it fully out, but on the Ti this is way too far and intrusive and pushes you out the seat.
 
#19 ·
No. Never have got comfortable. I have done a few thousand miles now, and after a couple of hours driving I am in crippling pain - never had leg pains like it. I have to stop, get out and walk around for ten minutes.
I have tried the seat, steering wheel etc in all positions... I just can't cure it.
Its almost like the seat is too hard on my lower spine.

Anyway... I think it might be goodbye TI... can't have a car that cripples me, and I am not ****ting around trying to change the seats.
Shame..... LOVE the car itself.
 
#24 ·
Took me two weeks to get comfortable, but they are fantastic now! Got two memory settings sorted now - one for motorway cruising and one for spirited b road stuff. The seats aren't as supportive as those in my old VXR, but they're so much comfier.

For the record, I'm a smurf at 5'9" and suffer with a bad back :)
 
#25 ·
I have tried the lower lumbar support adjustment (the side knob)... its just not going to get any better.
Some people like the seats, and some people don't.... its one of those things.
I have driven up and down the UK over the last month and tried the seat forward, back, up, down, in, out, with cushion, with padded back pad. There are no more combinations to try.
Its just one of those things
 
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