Rear Seats - Seating Comfort?

[superdoc]

Just discovered the forum - thanks.

Spent a couple of hours on the central coast (NSW) checking out the Grenadier. Apart from the possibility of the smashing the paintwork if you have a ladder on the back and close the doors in the wrong order, the main concern I had was with the rear seating potentially being very uncomfortable on long trips.

Don't know if they were 'dummy' seats, but I found when sitting in them they were quite firm and  ones body is forced into a  bolt upright position at 90deg, like one was sitting on an inflexible wooden chair. They felt really uncomfortable to me and if that is how the production model is to be it doesn't auger well for sitting in the back on a long journey, especially if one had a bit of a back issue (a huge number of the adult population).

I've owned Toyota 4wd, range rover and currently 25yr old supremely comfortable Disco TDI. In e.g the Prado which one of my mates drives, one can even slide the rear set back/front and recline the back.

The local Grenadier guys didn't seem that interested in my comments, they just said "Well Recaro have been making seats for a long time........."

Has anyone else paid attention to the rear seats?

 

[AZGrenadier]

That is interesting, I have always thought that the rear seats looked like exactly what you describe.  The fronts seem to have some contour but certainly not the rears.  Looking forward to seeing in person.

 

[Tazzieman]

back on a long journey, especially if one had a bit of a back issue (a huge number of the adult population).

I've owned Toyota 4wd, range rover and currently 25yr old supremely comfortable Disco TDI.

I've got a 95 Disco , my word they are comfortable cars! Only my 928 is comfortabler!

 

[Paachi]

So I am from the school of thought that a slightly firm seat, when new, bodes well for support and holds up long term. I recently had the opportunity to sit in some Scheel Mann Vario seats. Granted these were uber adjustable and contoured seats but the cushion was very very firm. Initially it was a pain but over time it actually supported my posture very well. In comparison a Toyota Camry seat which was very cushy and plush felt great for short bursts but over a longer journey it lacked any kind of support and killed my posture. 
Of course I’d caveat this by saying every person is unique and I am a big guy @220 lbs with a poor lower back.

I fully agree on the angle though. Bang erect 90 degrees is uncomfortable. Just pushed back a tad bit at 100-110 is spot on for me. 
The most comfy factory seats have to be the ones that come in Porsches. I have tried older ones like Turbo seats in an air cooled 911 from the 80s, the really vintage Scheel 70s seats and the modern 911, Cayenne and Macan 14-18 way adjustable seats. They all fit me perfectly 

 

[superdoc]

Just received this email from Grenadier Customer Support:

We apologise for the delay in getting back to you, we are a little busier than usual, so thank you for bearing with us

Your feed back will be forwarded onto the correct team, please be advised that the 2B Prototype 4x4 is still to have final touches made before production starts.

I do know that the Grenadier has Eight-way Manually adjustable driver & passenger seats but I have passed your feed back on to the production team.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to get in contact. 

Kind regards

Its interesting really that the problems/issues with the car are not so much the body, under pinnings, front seats, instrumentation, but from the front seats back. I've raised the seats issue re comfort but they have also been raised many times in regard to not being able to lay them flat. The technology to do this is as old as the hills and its not that people haven't mentioned it to Grenadier. Also the battery placement is odd, maybe space wise that has something to do with it.  Maybe a flurry of emails from this forums members are in order > Grenadier?

I'd even settle for a split seat which folds down flat say 2/3 of the width. My beloved 1997 Disco has the same problem  as the Grenadier in terms of folding down - won't go flat, though of course subsequent models can I understand.

 

[PL1]

I remember in one of the Grenadier videos, they said in the commercial version of the station wagon, the rear seats were a few MM further forward and the seat back more upright.  It's possible that's the configuration you saw? 
In the configurator web site, it looks like the rear seats are a 60:40 split.
Screen shot attached. 
 

 

[superdoc]

Interesting thanks, they are re-scheduling a further test ride for us in I think Jan/Feb next year so will pay close attention to this.

 

[Spjnr]

Yeah the utility trim and the passenger trim have different rear seat positions. I'll opt for the utility trim, but shouldn't think it'd be hard to fab up some brackets to recline the rear bench somewhat

 

[Marsbilda]

When we went for a ride this issue was raised and we were assured that this rear seat was not the finished article.
I think we could all see that in these test vehicle’s many areas were not quite ready for consumers.
in my mind I am very happy to cut a little slack to the prototypes.
when we see the fine work which has gone into the engine, gear box, suspension etc I think they will get the seats right.
cheers jh

 

[Ineos4]

For the Australian market, the rear split seats should be 30/40/30 so you can remove the 40 split and put your car fridge in the main compartment instead of in the boot/rear. That way for the hot summers in Oz you can still keep the full boot available for all your camping gear. 4 adults in the car is more than enough, as you'll never have 5 4x4ing.

moved SB

 

[Ineos4]

I had the same issue when I had the shotgun ride at Hanging Rock. I was lucky to ride in the front and the rear as I  wanted to see what it would be like to ride in the rear as well.

The marketing guy wasnt actually interested in my feedback either, and I thought that was the whole point of the chance to see and ride in car.

For the Australian market, the rear split seats should be 30/40/30 so you can remove the 40 split and put your car fridge in the main compartment instead of in the boot/rear. That way for the hot summers in Oz you can still keep the full boot available for all your camping gear. 4 adults in the car is more than enough, as you'll never have 5 4x4ing

 

[Red pepper]

For the Australian market, the rear split seats should be 30/40/30 so you can remove the 40 split and put your car by fridge in the main compartment instead of in the boot/rear. That way for the hot summers in Oz you can still keep the full boot available for all your camping gear. 4 adults in the car is more than enough, as you'll never have 5 4x4ing

I agree, it could be really good idea
 

 

[PL1]

There are 2 interior options in the Build Your Own.  Leather seating, and the cloth & leatherette (I guess) seats.  The couple of pictures posted look like the leather interior, so I wonder if the rear seat split is different for the 2 seating options.  
I didn't try the leather interior when I did my build, but I'll try it in the weekend to see if I get anything different in the rear seat split..

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

Great idea on the “captains chair” approach for the rear seats.

Given these are Recaro seats, I’m wondering how they attach and if there will be an easy option to make the adjustment (I.e how proprietary the fixing of the seats are) — for example, can we buy a couple of front buckets and put them in the back?

 

[PL1]

Not a bad idea, but would they fold flat?  The seat back and headrest are probably too tall, but I like your thinking.

 

[Ineos4]

Not a bad idea, but would they fold flat?  The seat back and headrest are probably too tall, but I like your thinking.

if you can remove the middle seat (eg the 40 of the 30/40/30 split seats) completely (back & bottom) then you don't need to fold it.  I have a Nissan Pathfinder R51, you can fold the seats flat and it's 180cm long (internally behind the driver/front passenger) and its perfectly flat in the back.  Or I can take out the seat completely which i've also done and sit the 40L Engel fridge in the space.   The fridge sits lower in the rear space, meaning you can open it easily as well, by being butted into the 2 other seats, it provides stability/ by almost locking it into position. I understand there is electronics/ spare battery space issues (Maybe) but if it's managed differently then you could still have the space battery under one of the rear passengers and maybe the electronics under the other passenger.  It just increases the versatility of the rear passenger configuration a touch more & maybe without too much cost.  We've been told it might cost an extra $1k for a rear seat, I'd pay $2k to have the ability to put the car fridge in the middle & have the ability to have 2 adults in the rear (not on top of each other shoulder to shoulder.  It gives more space to adult passengers in the rear), allows you to rest your arms on the top of the fridge and would increase the overall comfort of the drive as well

 

[grenadierguy]

I like the idea of 30/40/30. But they have already said it's 60/40, or at least that's what is in every photo and the configuration. The vehicle is not wide enough for 30/40/30. They are doing 60/40, which means the middle seat is just 20. So there wouldn't be enough room for the dream fridge, and I'd prefer the two main seats at comfy size.