I am the owner of a nice C4 which I want to sell and replace with C6. The problem I have is with the seats on the C6 which seem to be the same poor design as the C5. I don't have the greatest back and quite frankly my C4 seats are more comfortable than the C5s and C6s seats I 've sat in. Where the seat back meets the horizontal seat cushion, it forms an extreme curve which arches my back too far forward - not good for me

Options I have explored with a C5 (I want a C6!) was a replacement Corbeau seat. However, I give up alot of power adjustments which I really need. Scratch that.

I know there are Recaros and other really expensive replacements for the C6 seats but I'm at the limts of my budget just to get into the car.

One thing I have noticed with these seats is the cushion on the seat tends to collapse with relatviley low mileage. So here's my question....

Has anyone built up or modified the C6 seat so that the back contour is less extreme. Perhaps build up the horizontal seat cushion so you sit higher? Or trim off some of the back padding to temper the curve?
I'm not an interior guy so I don't know whats do-able or not.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

thanks
Flatbush862

 

I asked questions at a trim shop I've used a few times. Was told at least by the young man that does most of the work that he could do a LOT with changing the padding,adding contour or less etc. with a factory seat and seat cover. I keep meaning to take mine to him and let him have a go at it. Inquire with a reputable trim shop if you have one in your area.

 

Sir,

I came up from a C4 and I definitely agree that the C4 Sport seats rocked!

I was very disappointed the 09 seats and I took it to a local upholsterer to have it built up. When he pointed out all the tares and ware in the leather I ordered the GM upgrade kit for the 2012 seats and I have been very pleased with them. No, they are still not as good as the C4, but much better. I suggest that you look at some 2012 C6's with the nicer seats and see if you think you can live with those. If not, maybe a local to you interior guy can reinforce the padding and the material inside the seat. Might help out for a couple hundred $.

If you find a nice earlier C6, PartsTaxi.com here will sell you the upgrade kit. GM does not use the best materials so if you want better leather there are other more expensive alternatives. Some on this forum have done the upgrade themselves with the GM kit. I knew it was beyond my expertise and it was worth the $500 to have a professional do it.

Search the forum and you will find the threads.

 

I too moved up from a C4 Vert to a 2013 1LT and find the seats in the C6 very uncomfortable. The seat bottom cushion bolsters press against the outside of my thighs which becomes very painful after 15 minutes or so. I'm hoping the foam in the bolsters breaks down as many forum members reported.

 

Seat comfort is a personal thing. I don't like the C4 seats, but just love the C6 ones. If we all had the same size bodies, we would all fit the same size seat. The design is right for the average 5'9" 190# male.

The choice is simple. Either change your body or change the seat.

 

I agree i think its subjective. I fit great into my C6 seats. But I don't have any experience with other corvette seats.

 

I agree the C4 seats were pretty good. My 89 had the base seats and I logged 14 hour days on a road trip from Phoenix to Fairbanks with no discomfort. The C5 I had was equipped with the base seats. Not the best for spirited driving but OK for the long run. The C6 seats are an improvement over the C5 but still lack some of the lateral support the C4 had.

 

Call an Orthopedic's office. Ask them if they know of an upholstery shop that specializes in people with back problems.I remembering reading of such a shop,I just don't remember where.He also made seats for Race Car drivers.rod:flag :

 

I had a trim shop work-over my C6 seats - yes, the C4 seats were VASTLY superior - cost was only $60 - and made tremendous difference.

Now, at 108K miles I just had the driver's seat re-worked: new reinforced foam for seat bottom, new foam for seat back, and new cover for seat bottom. Feels better, but I made the mistake of sitting in a C4 two days ago and went wishing for C4 seats in my C6.

I have 108K miles in my C6.... I had 500,000+ miles in C4s, so, yes, I do have a basis for comparison...

 

The early C4 seats were great. However, a lot of people complained about them since the bottom bolsters cupped a person's butt quite tightly. C5 resolved that issue by pretty much eliminating the bottom bolsters and that was carried on in the C6.

The C5/C6 seat bottom foam eventually slides down into the seat frame which makes the seat skin flabby. There is an aftermarket foam replacement that is sold by some forum vendors and there is an aftermarket reinforcement kit that adds super firm foam blocks under the stock foam and pushes it up out of the frame to its original position. The reinforcement kits run about $40 each. I added those to my car and they improved the seat bottom considerably. As for the curve of the seat back where it meets the seat bottom if you don't like that you will have to have some custom foam made as a large number of seat designs (no matter what maker curve inward that way so the lumbar portion of the back is pushed outward when you are sitting in the seat properly (butt shoved all the way back and the lumbar area pushed forward). If you have the sport seats you can push the lumbar area even further forward by inflating the cushion which is mounted several inches above the seat bottom.

Bill

 

I've already done the $40.00 upgrade kit to my drivers seat. It helped but still is poor. I looked into 'other' seats. To have side air bags and seat heaters etc. your talking thousands of dollars. To do the 2012 upgrade is $1000 plus per seat and was told it really wasn't that much of a improvement and not worth the money. SO I'm going to get mine to the trim shop and see what they can do. You'd think with the cost of these cars the seats would be a bit better quality.

 

I recently moved from a 96 coupe LT1 to a 2013 GS 3LT. I'm tall (6'3" and 'slender'). After about a week, my lower back started to bother me. I've played around with the different seat adjustments. I think I'm close to finding the 'right' spot. For me I raised the butt area (rear) of the seat. I'm so used to lowering the seat as far as it will go to accommodate my head and eye level. The seat ‘as is’ was wanting to throw my butt downward and back as in a bucket seat environment. I think when you factor in that the seat itself is new and the leather is fairly stiff, this all made for some lower back pain. When I brought the butt up a bit, it leveled the seating area to where the weight (?) is shifted. I’m still playing with the lumbar for it still feels somewhat hard. The funny thing was that the seat in the 96, as I described it to my wife, was ”like an old catcher mitt.” It just felt natural. I hope the C6 seat will work itself out. The butt raise has certainly helped. Good luck. Back pain while driving sucks. I gave up a Miata a few years back for it almost crippled me.

 

I had the same problem.

Long story short: Best solution I found was the $40 kit. Huge improvement for me! You might also need new seat-bottom foam (it's easily damaged by the seat's suspension wires).

$40 Rebuild/Upgrade Kit:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...-kits-jwm.html

$69 Seat bottom foam:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...9-shipped.html

Related thread:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...foam-help.html

Helpful DIY tips:

 

On our 3LT 2006 and now 2009, lowering the rear of the seat cushion all the way will actually allow it to touch the floor. Every bump in the road gets transmitted through the compressed form, right into your spine. Took me a while to understand why the bumps gave me a sore back.

 

Before I installed the $40 kit, I tried a tempur-pedic butt pad.


http://www.thebetterbackstore.net/Te...atCushion.html

Perfect fit for my 09 1LT seat. Adds about 2" in height.

But for me, the $40 kit was a much better fix.

 

All very good suggestions. Sounds like my plan will be the $40 or $69 upgrade kit(s) with the $89 cushion. I have one of the cushions and they work very well.

I'll talk to an upholstery guy about integrating all with some addtional contouring of the seat back. Should work out.

Thanks all for comments.

Flatbush862