Ventilated Seat Surprise
 

I took delivery of my RM 3LT at NCM back in November, so using the ventilated seat function was not high on my priority list. When I finally got around to it, I confirmed what others on CF have observed, namely, that the performance of the ventilated seats is underwhelming, to say the least. I had never felt any ventilation benefit regardless of fan speed. However, this afternoon it was 92* out when I made a run to the store. For no particular reason I switched my A/C setting from outside air to recirculate. I was delighted to feel cool air on my back for the first time and was very comfortable while I was out. The ventilated seats on my C8 aren't quite as effective as my wife's GV80 but they are now performing up to the expectations I had when I placed my order last year.

I got mine in January and have only recently gotten to use them. And I agree - it was a pleasant surprise. Will be great for the upcoming Texas summer.

IIRC, the intake is at the bottom of the seats so having the A/C direct some air to the footwell may help. They haven't done much when driving top down.

Now we are in to the 90s here in Florida, I can feel it.

My Silverado ones seem to do better than I have observed in my C8 . I’ll try recirculate next time and see if it helps . I hear the fan but so far felt very little from them . At least now I know I’m not the only one that felt they weren’t doing much . Thanks for the info

Not surprised that using recirculated air would make the ventilated seats feel they were working better. Good that you were able to enjoy that feature on your car.

Also depends on what you're wearing! Yep light shirt and shorts allow you to feel the small amount of air flow. And colder the cabin air the more you'll feel! The fans are small and flow is low!

I agree.
There are times it seems to function better than other days. But could be better. I'm spoiled by our F250 AC seats so when I jump in the the C8 it's a let down. About to swap to race seats so that feature will be gone soon.

The ventilated seat system performance is the same all the time. It's just circulating the air in the cabin at whatever temp you have set. You feel it when your backside is hotter than cabin temp or perspiring.

It's a lot like how a breeze feels a lot cooler when you're sweaty, or when you enter a building cooled by AC on a hot summer day outside. Once your body normalizes to the indoor temp, it doesn't feel as cool as when you entered, and may not feel it at all.

When you no longer feel it, that means it has done its job. But leaving it on will keep your backside comfortable and dry.

In addition to the recirculate, try opening the lower (heater) vents in addition to the center vents. To me this helps alot.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...44ac10833b.jpg

I have never had this feature on a car, so I was not sure what to expect. We rented an Explorer last week that had both heated and cooled seats. The cooled seats definitely worked, I felt dramatically cooler air coming through the seat. So what I am wondering is if the Ford version works the same as the C8, where it is just "ventilated" with cabin air, or does Ford do it differently, with dedicated ducted AC air sent through the seat? And if it is the latter, then why wouldn't Chevy do that too? Seems like a no-brainer on a convertible.

Our F250 and X5 both have AC directly ducted seats. It gets cold. I can’t even run them on coldest setting it’s that good. Our X5 even has heated and cooled drink holders. I’m sure in the C8 with the low profile car and seats there’s no room to run such an luxury item.

Same as it’s always been for any Vette with cooled seats; set to recirculate, floors vents open and that’s about as good as it gets!

^^^
Yep, the C7 vented seats (pic below) were designed by Lear in Italy who also make seats for other high end sports cars. Need to be thin and light weight not like an SUV!

C7 SEATS HAD 3 SMALL FANS THAT BLOW COLD AIR FROM WHATEVER IS ON THE FLOOR TO YOUR REAR AND BACK. NO SEPARATE AC DUCTS.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...6a1ada4882.jpg

Yea that's how it was in the Explorer, worked extremely well. Too bad, I think having those extreme cooled seats would be a game changer for me using the HTC more often.

^^^
Hmm, can't you put the top up?? Works OK in my Coupe when the seats are hot! Just takes a little time for the floor to get cold. Can direct it there to help!