Quote:
Originally Posted by rvoll
I'm also in the 70+ age range. Believe it or not, sticking with the non-PP wheels, tires, suspension AND using a good gel pillow for my wife (who weighs less than 100 lbs), works best. It turns out that the thin padding on the seats transfers the jarring and when that is subdued, the ride seems a lot smoother. I'm thinking about having extra padding put in the bottom of the seat. We actually have a similar problem in our SUV, believe it or not, and she uses the cushion there as well.
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I trialled a couple of gel cushions and one does exactly what I wanted. The jarring and jiggly ride now feels nicely damped so much so that I think everyone should give it a try. All it cost was $20 Australian and I know I could have spent a heap on spring/damper experimentation and maybe never have got it to feel right. I reckon the o.e. seats could have been tuned by the makers to much better match the suspension. The feeling I get is that the wheels are more stuck on the road even though the suspension is the same and I am inclined to throw the car around more.
The tradeoff is a feeling of being perched up on the seat rather than down in it and not located by it as much resulting in a a slight feeling of wallowing and body roll which you would expect. I have lowered the seat to the max to compensate and got used to it quickly. Previously I had the seat raised about 40mm.
The cushion I like is 430 X 330 X 60 mm and quite heavy due to a generous bag of gel inside a cover of quite soft 30 mm foam both top and bottom and around the sides. It is not memory foam. My feeling is that is the gel that is doing most of the work. Maybe getting rid of the foam and just using the bag in your seat would do the trick and be better than adding extra padding. Widthwise it is a perfect snug fit between the side bolsters but I will be trimming the foam to fit back between the seat-back bolsters. It could do with an hollow for the wedding tackle too and maybe a little foam off the front as it presses on the back of my thighs up by the knees. At $20 I can afford experimenting.