Sliding around in the leather seats?

[Liberty1]

Hey guys, just wondering...

How are the leather seats in the Camaro when it comes to comfort and grip? I read a MotorTrend article from last month's issue saying that if you're not big and bulky you will be sliding around in the seat...

I'm only 5'6 and weight 150, so should I expect to have a difficult time sitting in the Camaro?

Thanks!

[camarossrs2150]

put a towel on the seat .it also protects the leather .i notice every time i get in the car my jeans rub the side of the seat . over time you will get a wear mark happened on my vet ..

[Vash]

I doubt it will be an issue for you.

[Matrix]

Originally Posted by Liberty1

Hey guys, just wondering...

How are the leather seats in the Camaro when it comes to comfort and grip? I read a MotorTrend article from last month's issue saying that if you're not big and bulky you will be sliding around in the seat...

I'm only 5'6 and weight 150, so should I expect to have a difficult time sitting in the Camaro?

Thanks!

Thats cos the driver from Mtrend creamed his pants when he sat in the Camaro! LOL!

Serioiusly im the same height and weight as you and I am having NO problems at all.

Got me thinking about putting a towel down on the seat to prevent wear tho.

[2010SSRS]

matter of fact, the leather is soft and the seats are cushy. unles u Armorall them, you'll have no issues

[DDustiNN]

I've never had this problem with leather seats, and I'm about the same size as you. Wear your seatbelt, and you should be fine

Sometimes when I put stuff in the back seat, it may slide around a bit though...

[Liberty1]

Thanks for the input, guys!

I might consider a black towel on my black leather seats; When it gets up to the 100s in St. Louis, those leather seats will literally cause burn damage to your leg if the sun is on them for a good few hours.

[Indpowr]

GM is known for only using leather on certian parts of the seat. This is why the side bolster wears more.

I have never put down a towel nor will I, it's a car use it.

[bballplaya210]

I sat in a 2SS at the dealership yesterday and I expected the seats to be huge because of that article, but they certainly didn't seem to be abnormally large. For reference, I'm 6'2" and around 170-175 lbs. They aren't really bucket seats that hug you either though. My s2000 seats keep me from moving anywhere, but I would imagine in the Camaro if you are taking turns going pretty fast, you would move slightly.

[stovt001]

There isn't any bolstering to speak of. The leather itself was grippy enough (for "leather"), but the seats' shape is just one tiny step above a bench seat. I'm 5-8 and 140 lbs, and I could have fit my (admittedly skinny) wife in the driver's seat with me. OK that is a bit of an exaggeration but really, the seats are awful as far as sportiness is concerned. I've brought this up before but besides you and me apparently everyone on this site is only concerned about drag racing and cruising and will never turn the car at speed. They rave about the comfort though, as though that were the only thing that mattered. Even if you're wide, the bolsters won't do much because not only is the seat wide, the bolstering isn't very deep so you'll just go over it. If you intend to really drive the car around turns, you'll either need a seat upgrade or a different car. This is one issue that is causing me to reconsider the car. (obviously not a dealbreaker since it can be fixed by swapping in real sport seats, but when taken with my other concerns...). I'm still waiting for GM to do the right thing and give us a Z28 based on the original heritage for the model and offer proper seating in that model.

[fbodfather]

some thoughts: (.....yes, I'm prejudiced....)

....just got back from a couple of trips in "Thor" -- and one thing I note: It's a pleasure to drive this car for long periods of time because:

>Seats are very comfortable - designed to be that way
>Quietness at 70mph -- a lot of other sports cars have a lot of road noise and that wears on you after a couple of hours
>As many have already pointed out - the car gets incredible attention.

Now -- as to the seat leather. Someone made comments about only certain portions of the seat being real leather - and that's correct. Most manufacturers do not finish every surface of the seat in leather (in fact I can only think of a few and they are very high-line cars) -- most cars utilize lleather only on 'seating surfaces' -- The bolsters are, indeed leather - the 'facing' surfaces of the bolster, that is.

Denim is one of leather's biggest enemies -- it's very abrasive -- and even moreso when rivets are involved. I know of several people who use seat covers simply because they want the finish to remain "show ready"


I've driven the new Camaro on Road Courses -- now -- I'm 6' 2" and 'uncomfortably north of 200 pounds....and provided that I have the seat adjusted correctly, I find that the seat is very supportive.

By "adjusted properly:"

Get in - adjust the overall height of the seat - and then place your hands at 10 and 2 (...just for adjusting the seat) -- and move the seat fore or aft until your shoulder blades are firmly pressed to the seatback. (if they aren't you're sitting too far back.) We had similar complaints about 4th gen seats causing 'back pains' -- and while I won't claim that we solved all of those with problems, many people -- once doing what I propose above -- sent me notes saying along the lines of "...while I thought it felt awfully close to the steering wheel - I now feel more comfortable driving and no more back pain..."

Are the seats in the new Camaro set up specifically for road courses? No -- because most people will never, in a million years, take their Camaros on a road course - or drive at high speeds on winding roads. That said, while comfort and refinement were prime considerations, we also took into consideration that it IS a performance car -- and thus, I think you'll find the seats do a very good job over a variety of conditions.

[2SSJIM]

Originally Posted by fbodfather

some thoughts: (.....yes, I'm prejudiced....)

....just got back from a couple of trips in "Thor" -- and one thing I note: It's a pleasure to drive this car for long periods of time because:

>Seats are very comfortable - designed to be that way
>Quietness at 70mph -- a lot of other sports cars have a lot of road noise and that wears on you after a couple of hours
>As many have already pointed out - the car gets incredible attention.

Now -- as to the seat leather. Someone made comments about only certain portions of the seat being real leather - and that's correct. Most manufacturers do not finish every surface of the seat in leather (in fact I can only think of a few and they are very high-line cars) -- most cars utilize lleather only on 'seating surfaces' -- The bolsters are, indeed leather - the 'facing' surfaces of the bolster, that is.

Denim is one of leather's biggest enemies -- it's very abrasive -- and even moreso when rivets are involved. I know of several people who use seat covers simply because they want the finish to remain "show ready"


I've driven the new Camaro on Road Courses -- now -- I'm 6' 2" and 'uncomfortably north of 200 pounds....and provided that I have the seat adjusted correctly, I find that the seat is very supportive.

By "adjusted properly:"

Get in - adjust the overall height of the seat - and then place your hands at 10 and 2 (...just for adjusting the seat) -- and move the seat fore or aft until your shoulder blades are firmly pressed to the seatback. (if they aren't you're sitting too far back.) We had similar complaints about 4th gen seats causing 'back pains' -- and while I won't claim that we solved all of those with problems, many people -- once doing what I propose above -- sent me notes saying along the lines of "...while I thought it felt awfully close to the steering wheel - I now feel more comfortable driving and no more back pain..."

Are the seats in the new Camaro set up specifically for road courses? No -- because most people will never, in a million years, take their Camaros on a road course - or drive at high speeds on winding roads. That said, while comfort and refinement were prime considerations, we also took into consideration that it IS a performance car -- and thus, I think you'll find the seats do a very good job over a variety of conditions.

I'm going to try that seat positioning idea on all my cars. I agree with you that most of Camaro owners will never run this car on aroad course.... drag race it from a stop light..... I can see most doing it. I love the looks of this car and when I get to drive mine... (hopefully this week), I know I will love the performance as well. Now if there happens to be something that doesn't suite me just right..... I'll change it to what I want but so far the Camaro's I sat in and looked over... I have no issues with!

[Jamie Mac]

Originally Posted by Liberty1

Hey guys, just wondering...

How are the leather seats in the Camaro when it comes to comfort and grip? I read a MotorTrend article from last month's issue saying that if you're not big and bulky you will be sliding around in the seat...

I'm only 5'6 and weight 150, so should I expect to have a difficult time sitting in the Camaro?

Thanks!

Great. Just great. Now MotorTrend is calling me a fatass cause I'm not sliding around in the seats. They didn't have my picture too did they?

[stovt001]

In fairness, I should note that I have bad knees, so extended bracing against the dead pedal and center dash really hurts. So having seats that will actually support me instead of making me support myself on the dead pedal and center dash is very important to me. That said, I live in northern Los Angeles, so I have some of the finest driving roads in the world at my disposal. I don't drive them "at high speed" per se, but I do drive with, how shall I say this...more enthusiasm than the guys in the SUVs going camping and such. And such roads, while in abundance in my area, are not entirely unique to northern Los Angeles. I really don't think it is unreasonable at all to expect a performance car to be driven aggressively on these roads by a significant percentage of buyers. If you didn't expect people to drive them aggressively in turns, why did you fit such an excellent suspension to the car? You could have saved time and money by fitting any old setup then. Chevrolet made a point to position this as a thoroughly modern, whole-package performance car. So why pretend it is a Buick when it comes to the seats? The 370Z, Mustang, Genesis Coupe, heck even the Challenger, which couldn't turn quickly if it was put on banked tracks, have sporty, bolstered seats. Now I don't expect full racing-ready Recaros on all models, but the Cobalt SS and CTS-V were given Recaros. So why put quasi-bench seats in the Camaro SS? Mazda put very aggressive Recaros in the RX-8 R3 model. Seats like that would go perfectly in the Mustang GT Track Pack fighting Z28 Chevrolet should be working on.

Edit: Fbodfather is right about denim being pure murder on leather and "leather" surfaces. If you wear it often, consider cloth or a seat cover.