Replacing Gen 2 Front Seat - I Offer Some Side Airbag Clarification

Replacing Prius Front Seat - Side Airbag Clarification (Gen 2)

I have been yet another unfortunate person who purchased a Gen II Prius, only to find the front seats extremely, extremely uncomfortable and painful.

So I've been researching my options - one suggested option is completely replacing the front seat with an aftermarket one, like a Recaro seat, which evidentally some people have done.

One thing that was repeated a lot, and concerned me, was that the side airbag is mounted in the side of the seat - if you replace the seat, you lose the side airbag. When I called Recaro (well, actually a distributor of theirs) they claimed that the bigger side bolsters on the side mean you don't need to the side airbag as much so "it functions normally". Frankly, I felt kind like "Wth are you talking about? If the airbag is no longer in the car, it's not going to "function normally".

The guy finally clarified that there's 2 side airbags - one in the seat itself, one that's the side curtain airbag in the frame of the car. I took a look at the iihs crash test pic, and it appears that he might be right -



I appears that there's 2 airbags - one that comes out of the seat by your shoulder (the smaller, slightly more pinkish one that's kinda attached to the seat), and the other (the side curtain airbag) that drops from the ceiling and protects your head.

While I'm not saying that a seat with good side bolsters is actually as good as the built in airbag (well I have no idea), at least the idea seems like it might make *some* sense.

And being that I was seriously contemplating replacing the seat despite losing the side airbags (I started to think about it - I've never been hit from the side in my entire time driving, none of my other cars had side airbags, and I'd lose about $4k trading my car and I have no idea what I'd buy instead, as I'm otherwise pretty happy with the car...) it's kind of a relief to know that I wouldn't completely be losing the side airbags.

I just thought this info might be useful for anyone else contemplating the same thing.

P.S. Recaro has a picture of a seat on their website with a side airbag built in. I forgot to mention that I asked about it specifically while I was on the phone - the guy I talked to said they do make one, but they don't sell it in the US, they only sell it elsewhere (he specifically mentioned Germany) because liability laws over there are different than here in the US.

 

If you're interested, I added a "P.S." section about seats with a side airbag to my original comment.

 

Thanks for the added info. I found someone through Recaro who supposedly knows the info I'd need to move the sensor and everything.

However - *sigh* - they claim that the seat wouldn't be any lower than the existing seat, which is half of the reason to replace it. They also said that replacing the drivers seat is an hour or two of work (if I remember right), but it's 8 hours of work to replace the passenger seat, including removing parts from the original passenger seat - and 8 hours was the quote for someone experienced who had already done it several times.

I appreciate all the info, but I don't have a welding torch, etc to do all the work of putting a Corolla seat in. Not to mention actually finding a Corrola seat...sounds like a project that could go on and on for months trying to track one down.

Again, I appreciate your comments. If you have any thoughts feel free to post. I'm getting pretty frustated - not sure if I'm going to replace the seat, or just sell the whole piece of crap car.

 

Agree. It's the hardest foam I've seen on a seat. Foam in the 2010 model (base one at least) isn't any better. It's also right on the edge (though just barely ok) of being to narrow for me.

I agree about it being short, but since it's short I don't know that having extra lip in the middle of my thigh would be a good thing.

Yeah. I can't believe those idiots couldn't fix this in all the years they made the car. As someone (maybe you) said - they did it in frickin' Corolla seats, what kind of crack are they smoking?

It's not a problem for me while driving (long torso, shorter legs) but it was a problem for my friend sitting in the passenger seat. It is rediculous though - I'd like to be able to use that space in the back for more legroom if I want for the 99% of the time there's no one in the back seat, thanks.

Actually, I disagree with you here. My 2009 at least has a curve for "lumbar support" in the drivers seat. No lumbar support in the passenger seat.

In a recent trip where I was able to switch off driving with someone, I found this made the passenger seat more comfortable. It's hard to say for sure as you don't have to grab the steering wheel as a passenger, but I actually found a comfortable position in the passenger seat.

Actually, that led me to figure out how to sit in the drivers seat without nearly as much pain. Basically, I hunch my upper back forward a little and keep the rest of my back completely straight and supported by my back muscles, not relying on the seat for much support. I think some of exercise of the "core" muscles helps.

Shouldn't have to do exercises to sit in a car comfortably, though.

Yeah. I've been trying to figure this one out - my old car didn't have a telescoping steering wheel and it was fine.

I think they put the dash lower and farther away from you than in a regular sedan, and that contributes to the lack of telescoping steering being a big issue.

I disagree with you here. One of my favorite things about the 2009 Prius was that the headrests weren't the new-style stab-you-in-the-back-of-the-head-constantly ones.

I drove a Toyota RAV4 for an entire week a couple of years ago (rental) and no matter what I did, never quite got comfortable with the headrest. It was always there, I was always aware of it, pushing against the back of my head, keeping my head farther forward than was comfortable.

Haven't noticed that.

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Civic hybrid? Yes, probably. My friend has one of the older body style ones (the less sleek, but more open style) and I've *never* had an issue with the seats in it.

I don't know about the latest Honda Insight, though. I didn't even test drive one because it got such universally terrible reviews on everything about it. But when I saw one in a dealership, it looked like headroom in general might be an issue, even with a better more adjustable seat.

 

I sat in one in a dealer recently when I went in to get my plates.

I agree that things like height adjustment and being designed for someone taller and wider was definitely better.

But it still has the rock-hard foam in it, though. And as you mentioned, even telescoped all the way out the steering wheel still felt like it might be a little to far away. It also had a pretty "cheap and crappy" feel to it, though I'm not saying that's worse than the Gen II seats.

I do not know, maybe I'll try renting a Gen III one at one point or something just to make sure. But I just didn't like it's more enclosed, boxy, cavelike feel on the inside. I'm not a huge fan of the exterior styling, but I could live with it easy. It's the interior that gets me.

Some people have said the Gen II Prius is a "bubble", a "go kart", it's "to cutesy". With the Gen II, I can see what they're saying but it's fine. I laugh it, I refer to the car as my "go kart", I always think of it in a fun, happy way.

But the Gen III takes those attributes and makes them moreso. While the visibility out of the Gen II Prius is decent but not great, they went and made it worse in the Gen III. Like, you could actually see out the drivers side sail window in the Gen II. Not so in the Gen III. The blind spot for the rear pillars is also noticeably bigger and wider. And while the Gen II has a mix of "bubble" and "airy, open" feel to it, the smaller windows and sweeping center console thing remove the "airy, open" feel and just leave the "bubble" feeling.

I hear that Hyundai may be coming out with a Prius competitor, and also that Honda plans to revamp it's Insight substantially.

Just my thoughts.

 

They could have copied the Corolla seat and made most driver's much happier.

I couldn't possibly agree more. It really pisses me off. The only thing that ticks me off more was that I didn't realize how uncomfortable the seat when I test rode the car.

It just wasn't designed with someone 6"0 or taller in mind. From the height of the front seats, to the curving of the fronts seats, to the headroom in the back (though that's a common thing with other cars).

I feel like I have a right to say this being that I own one - that front seat is a piece of crap.

 

I'm 6"0. I have a longer-than-average torso, also leads to shorter than average legs. Not anything I ever noticed while standing next to anyone or anything, but way before the Prius I noticed that my friends who were also 6"0 could sit in the back seat of cars fine, while I (in the seat next to them) would hit my head on the ceiling and be pretty cramped.

The seat bottom doesn't seem great, but it's not my problem. My problem is that my lower back gets...compressed? Heck, I don't know, I just know my lower back would hurt like hell (like the spine specifically) after riding in the car. As I mentioned, I've figured out a specific way to sit in the seat with the upper part of my back bent forward and the rest of my back being completely straight and supported entirely by my back muscles. Or at least that's the best I can describe it. A lot less "completely painful", but it's certainly not "comfortable" either.

Other issues are strange annoying strains in my neck and shoulders. Those aren't as bad, and I think are combination of the high seat (always trying to duck to look under the mirror), and the far-away position of the steering wheel. (I did flip the mirror, as well as pushing it up. However, I found that with it completely out of my way I couldn't actually see out the back of the vehicle, the roofline in the back is to low, so I had to lower it back down a little).

I don't feel like I'm looking over the hood to much, but I do feel like I'm way to high in the car. In fact, some random bum on a corner while I was waiting at a stop sign even said I looked to tall for my car. Kinda random. When I was parked in front of a store with glass, I could see my reflection and that's how I looked - like I was slammed into a to-small car.

No one sitting next to me in the car has ever really commented though, and I don't feel like it's a problem there. (And believe me, if I looked silly several of my friends would be more than happy to point it out.)

I'm definitely having trouble seeing the upper stoplights at a stop. Just today I was in the left turn lane, looking at the lower light. It turned green, I figured I would have to wait for the oncoming cars to go through. They all stopped. I then ducked my head down to look at the other lights and realized the left turn light was on for me. Couldn't see it just sitting at the light though.

You've found that the reach to the steering wheel is better with a lower seat?