Date:         Wed, 10 Sep 2003 06:59:05 -0500
Reply-To:     John Rodgers <j_rodgers@CHARTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Rodgers <j_rodgers@CHARTER.NET>
Subject:      Re: seats
Comments: To: Alex Towner <altowner@COMCAST.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <003001c3775c$d80af840$207c3d18@ne1.client2.attbi.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

I don't know about the other years and models of Vanagons or Westy's, 
but my 85 GL and now 88 GL have very comfortable seats. When I drove 
down the Alaska Highway moving to the Deep South - Alabama - I made the 
entire journey right by myself, driving 12 hours a day. The seats gave 
such good support that I was able to drive that many hours per day 
without to much discomfort by the end of the day. I found that for 
myself,  placing a thin pillow on the seat bottom, pushed well back so 
my buttocks were squarely on the pillow, helped a lot. Otherwise by the 
end of the day, my tailbone was sore. With that little adjustment, it 
was a great ride and a great journey. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Regards,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Alex Towner wrote:

>In my opinion the Vanagon seats, while not the worst in the world, are some of the worst VW has used in the past 20 years. With VW car seats I feel like I'm sitting snugly in them as opposed to on them in a Vanagon. The backrest doesn't cradle the body but instead pushes in all the wrong places. The most significant failing of the Vanagon seats is that the bottoms don't angle up at the front. The result is no under-thigh support for anyone of above average height. This places most of your weight on your rump, right at the base of the spine rather than spreading weight across the legs and giving your back a break. Sitting over the front wheels exacerbates the problem. When sitting in my van I can slide my hand between the middle point of my thighs and the end of the seat with no resistance; the seat is so flat that my legs are barely even touching. I have added spacers to the front of my seat to raise it over an inch, and this mitigates but does not eliminate the problem. As others have mentioned, the lack of a fully reclining backrest like VW cars have prevents a roadside nap. VW cars have a recline mechanism which is infinitely adjustable via a knob; you can get exactly the position you want.
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>One solution worth mentioning: Recaro makes adapter brackets for the Vanagon. This allows the mounting of their seats with only a few bolts and no modifications. So those of you out there with Jetta 16Vs (stock Recaros) that are ready for the crusher can let your seats live on in the van. The large side bolsters on these seats would hinder ingress and egress (a problem alluded to by another list member). On the plus side, they have a rubber suspension system in the seat base which provides some "give" when the van strikes a bump. Also, you can easily stack washers between the seat and its bracket to alter the height and angle of the base.
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>The best seats Volkswagen ever made? I vote for the nice bolstered velour gems found in many Sciroccos. Terrific support and comfortable all day.

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