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Test drove a new Jetta, seats no good

4132 Views 12 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  volsfan0911, 
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There was something weird about the headrests, it felt as if the headrests were pushing my head forward. Is it just me or does anyone else have this problem? The rest of the seat was comfortable. The vinyl felt great, nothing like vinyl that I remember.
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S
Fine for me but I've had people complain. I think it's the anti whiplast seat design. You have to adjust the seat back.
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2nd the good vinyl. No problem here. It's just the way the seat is.
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FYI, you can swap the seats from a GTI or GLI into the car. VW seats from the same generation almost always bolt into other cars from the same generation.
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pizzaboyz said:
FYI, you can swap the seats from a GTI or GLI into the car. VW seats from the same generation almost always bolt into other cars from the same generation.
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Too expensive. If I end up getting one I'll just have to get used to it. The rear seats seemed a little worse.
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S
Say, that's an idea!

I have a 2009 TDI Jetta and one of the things I am not so happy with is the half power seat ( only the seatback, how useless! ). I would like to able to raise the front of the seat for thigh support without lowering the whole seat into the floorpan. That needs a ful power seat with the multile adjustments.

One thing I have been warned of is disturbing safety arrangements with a seat that has different airbag integration. Perhaps if I get a 2009 seat, that would not be such a factor. Of course, cost is the other problem. Any ideas for compatability with 2009, safety and lower cost? Or should I consider just forgetting staying VW and go with aftermarket, Recarro or the like?

Any one done any of the above and have reports or information, sources, please?

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I think any mkv Golf/Rabbit/Jetta seat should work. They all had side air bags and should bolt in. The only thing is that the GTI plaid interior doesn't match the leatherette! More is explained in this source: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?&id=3459940

You might also need to reset the airbag controller and the cable might have a different connector since there may have been different parts.

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/index.php/VW_Golf_(1K)_Airbag
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V
I thought the Jetta TDI seats were great. But I WANT the headrests pushing up against the back of my head - that's the whole point IMHO. That way you can relax your neck, have your head in the correct position and enjoy no neck muscle fatigue. Plus, as I work at one of the level I shock/trauma centers in Baltimore (Hopkins) you WANT the headrest limiting rearward movement of your cervical spine (a.k.a. whiplash) after impact in a severe frontal impact. The forward-most point of the headrest is designed to be at the middle (rearward most sticking out) point of your skull.
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If the headrests are the problem, why not just replace them with headrests from the CC, Passat, Eos, or Golf? I'm sure you can just pop in something a little more comfortable, rather than write-off the seats.
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volsfan0911 said:
I thought the Jetta TDI seats were great. But I WANT the headrests pushing up against the back of my head - that's the whole point IMHO. That way you can relax your neck, have your head in the correct position and enjoy no neck muscle fatigue. Plus, as I work at one of the level I shock/trauma centers in Baltimore (Hopkins) you WANT the headrest limiting rearward movement of your cervical spine (a.k.a. whiplash) after impact in a severe frontal impact. The forward-most point of the headrest is designed to be at the middle (rearward most sticking out) point of your skull.
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Yes, it makes sense but I thought whiplash was the head jerking forward and back. I think the newer Jetta/Golf are introducing active headrests which follow your head, that seems to make more sense.
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I haven't had any trouble with the seats and no complaints from the back either. My Subaru exhibits this trait though, so I know what you mean.
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I haven't any issues with this and no complaints from the back either. My Subaru exhibits this trait though, so I know exactly what you mean. Sportwagen is fine though.
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tutstye said:
Yes, it makes sense but I thought whiplash was the head jerking forward and back. I think the newer Jetta/Golf are introducing active headrests which follow your head, that seems to make more sense.
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Whiplash (a.k.a. cervical hyperextension, etc.) is exactly that. You're driving at 30 mph, hit something in front of you (e.g. another car) and decelerate VERY rapidly. In English, you go from 30 mph to 0 mph almost instantly. Problem is Newton was correct and "an object in motion tends to stay in motion....". This means YOU are still going forward when the car has suddenly stopped. So your body mass gets slammed into the seat belt (hopefully you're wearing one!) and gets stopped as well. But the human head weighs about 17-18 lbs (think bowling ball) and is on top of this wonderfully flexible thing called your neck. Therefore, as it is not restrained by the seat belt, it's still moving forward even after everything else has stopped (decelerated). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton's_laws_of_motion So, this bowling ball on top of your flexible neck is still going forward very fast. Your neck muscles are not up to this task being designed and used to just holding 18 pounds or so straight up. Now they're being asked to keep 80 pounds or more of force in check. No can do. So your head flies forward, and then deceleration + airbag exploding at your face around 100 mph comes into play. The rest of your body is strapped into a seat but your head goes whipping forward until good 'ole Newton finally catches up and then is suddenly thrown backwards with great force.

Active headrests are designed to limit that backwards whipping force by moving forward after impact to keep rearward motion of your head to a minimum. Great stuff and highly recommended! If you don't have active headrests, the best thing you can do is make sure your non-active headrest is at the correct height to catch your noggin at the shortest distance traveled going backwards and thereby limit the whiplash.

Sorry for the physics lession - hope I explained above fairly clearly. :)
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