For me, I had to move the steering wheel lower and forward a little bit. Also you can move your headrest forward/backward as well.

I dont use the lumbar support anymore. Unless its for a long drive, the recaros dont bother me at all. Im 5'8 180

 

I ended up raising my seat up quite a bit and pushed in the steering wheel a little bit. I do keep the head rest as far rearward as possible (not ratcheted forwards). Just trying to get rid of the lower back pinch and middle back aches. I also go to a chiropractor fwiw, and he was saying to use minimal lumbar or as little as needed so I dont push my vertebrae more forwards than natural.

 

Everyone is different, you just have to play around with the various settings and positions until it fits 'right' for you. That's why two people never have the same positions on their vehicles. Sounds like you are hampered by your bad back so the ideal position for your body may not work because of the back issues, and that may cause a long term problem in getting a good fit for your Recaros.

 

Its like it changed over night.. I am only 34 and exercise a few times a week (I am sure it would help if I were to go more often). The chairs we have at my office also suck.

I am going to keep the seat set higher up for now and see if I can get used to it. The good part is that after a drive last night I came home to chop up some veggies and had the most perfect posture while standing in the kitchen. LOL.

 

I hate that the front and rear of the seat don't move independently. The up or down in just a single button and doesn't work for me at all. (5'11'' 185) I think my legs are longer than normal and my arms are a bit short or something. If my legs are comfortable my arms are too far stretched and if my arms are comfortable then I feel like my knees are at my chest.

 

Thats what I am trying to work around.. its odd to me they didnt allow the front and rear to adjust independently.

 

Like others have noted, i ended up shimming back of the seat up about 1/2" + long bolts.

 

I recall reading that someone used some washers for it, but how long do the bolts have to be? I know they are grade 8, but also dont know the thread and pitch. I might have to end up doing this if I cant adapt myself to the seat. I love the seat otherwise and hated sitting in the ST1 seats when I checked those out before the ST3.

 

Remove stock bolt, match thread pattern and add to length of bolt what you add in washers.

 

You mean where the seat is attached in the front?

 

I'm still trying to find my sweet spot. And my one gripe is that we can't adjust these seats more. My wife's Sante FÈ allows me to dial the seat in "just so" I wonder why they couldn't put more controls on our seats. Especially since they're so aggressive.


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Where is this lumbar support everyone on here is talking about? I have ST3 seats and I've never found a lumbar lever

 

Not sure what year you have but on the '16, the circular button (front/rear adjustment) is right behind the recline

 

My problem is that my left leg feels like its pushing the seat down quite a bit when pushing the clutch in, then feels like I really have control my leg "rebound" and feels like the seat keeps pushing back on my leg. Especially when starting to let clutch back out. My wife had a SE and I could not even drive it though with they way my ankle was positioned and no telescoping column. So the seat and pedal position I like way more. Not sure I want to go lower to help the clutch leg as I feel like I'm riding on the ground. Trying to get use to it as I have it set.

 

I finally found mine about 2 months ago, I took it for an oil change yesterday and the tech moved my seat
the struggle of refinding that perfect spot is now back and its frustrating, Im considering telling the dealer to not touch the seat when moving the car the next time I get something done

 

The 2016 ST3 seat cushions are much softer than 2013-15. I sat in a 2016 on the weekend and I have to admit it felt more comfortable as you sink in a bit as opposed to sitting on the firm padding of my 2015.

 

my 13 st3 seats look like day i bought the car and just as fkn hard.

 

I find these seats stay preserved very well not because the leather is high quality but because the padding is so firm it barely wrinkles or stretches.

 

I just put the seat as low as it would go.. if I cant get it set by the weekend ill be shimming up the rear.

When I would take my GTI in for service I would tell them every time to just move the seat back if they needed to adjust anything and not to touch the recline or height. I had a 04 TSX for a short while before it became the most unreliable car I had ever owned.. one day the porter at Acura decided that for his 25 second long drive he needed to get the seat just perfect for him. He adjusted the height, recline, moved the seat forward and moved the steering wheel. I mean, really???

 

LOL sounds like me. Efferyving vust ve phervekt. Steering wheel closer to chest, low and comfortable for the arms to reach and hold at 9 and 3 - but will impede on entry/exit of vehicle unless flat bottom steering wheel. Seat position for good support, lumbar all the way, legs comfortable in reaching all pedals.

 

Im 6,4 230lbs so I'm a big guy. When I bought the car I was 240ish and the seats were too snug. Now? Their almost perfect in the lumbar spots. Another 5 lbs or so and I'll be loaded right in.

I'm bigger than you so my adjustments are likely useless to you, but i have my head rest back, my wheel out and the seat in the floor and an inch or so from the back. Trust me, I thought I bought the wrong car for the first little while but the seats eventually broke in. And my wife? Still finds it a tad stiff, but she says the fun factor outshines the comfort. My wife got over it.

These cars are horribly uncomfortable. For the first little while anyway.


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My seats broke in nicely around 8000 miles, now with 11000 miles it was perfect and someone had to move the seat. Well I had it close to the floor with slight lumbar adjument and now I moved the seat up higher than before and it seemed to help. But I think I messed up my back jumpseating for work (as training) for almost 5 hours. My chiropractor helped a lot last week and ill just have to go see him sooner than later.

 

Always has been a gripe of mine, these frigging seats... When you have the sweet spot they are awesome, then some prat moves them (normally a Ford Tech). All this technology in this car and they couldn't be bothered with memory seats... :serious:

 

Now that is something I would have gladly paid for...

 

My last 3 Ford's no memory seats... 13 GT premium, no memory, 15 GT premium, no memory, found out it was an option with the "premier" trim after I bought it, fml... 16 ST3 no memory, wife's Escape titanium HAS memory seats wtf... It took me a month to get the seat just right. I also wish the rake was adjustable, still a little too much pressure on the hamstring when shifting than I would prefer. But if I lower the whole seat then I feel to low. Glad I'm not the only one with these gripes lol.

 

I agree.. I like the seat low but then feel too low for some reason and then when I raise it up I feel like I am in a truck. I did a little research and found that you have to have motors that are memory capable or something like that and then wire all of that together to a switch (too much of a PITA). Finding a 4 door car that is fun to drive is hard enough as it is. Then add in the other variable of wanting a manual transmission and your search just got even smaller. Want memory seats with that? Yeah goodluck. Maybe itll become an option on every car like backup cameras are now (probably not since thats a "safety thing). When I had my '04 TSX 6speed I loved those seats, and wanted to have a little bit of rake but having the seat almost level is the most comfortable for me. I might be buying some shims today or tomorrow and raising up the rear of the seat.

I've only had my car for two weeks and I wish I could lower the seats more. I like to sit low in the car and I currently have my seat as low as the adjustment will allow, but I still feel like I'm sitting very high up in the car (and I'm only average height - 179cm). I don't suppose there's any way to modify the seat to go lower is there?

I think there is by getting lower seat rails.. use google to search this site because I believe Ive come across it in my search for shimming up the rear of the seat (never found much at all for that either).

 

I've had my 2016 with Recaros for a month now, just ticked over 1,500 KMS.

The driver side was TIGHT round my waist at first but has loosened up noticeably already.

Love the seats

 

I've only had my car for two weeks and I wish I could lower the seats more. I like to sit low in the car and I currently have my seat as low as the adjustment will allow, but I still feel like I'm sitting very high up in the car (and I'm only average height - 179cm). I don't suppose there's any way to modify the seat to go lower is there?

 

Just went to Homedepot and bought metric 10x1.5 and imperial 3/8x16 bolts in 1.5", 1.75" and 2" lengths along with a lot of washers and lock washers. Time to go play with my seat :-|.

So the 3/8x16 bolts wouldnt really screw in easily.. I think the thread is just slightly off but the metric bolts work fine. The problem (I wasnt aware of this till after installing the bolts) is that grade 8.8 metric is more like grade 5 imperial. Home Depot didnt have anything but 8 or 8.8. SO I just ordered 10mm x 1.5mm x 40mm bolts along with larger washers. Once those are here in a few days ill re-do what Ive already done.

Basically what I did was loosen my front two bolts to allow some play in the seat rails to raise up the rear of the rails and thus raising up the rear of the seat to cancel out some of the rake in the seat bottom. I ended up using electrical tape to tape up 3 of the washers to act as a shim and I would guess those 3 washers came in at just under 1/2". I tested the seat out but unless I am driving I cant really tell a difference...Ive got to sit for more than 15 minutes and see how it feels.

Since those bolts are effectively grade 5 bolts I just ordered some of the same size bolts, but grade 10.9, online along with some larger diameter washers. Hopefully this will help someone find what they are looking for if they want to do the same thing, or not, whateva.

 

OP, how's this going for you? I'm thinking of doing the same cause the rake of these seats is just too extreme for me.

Any chance you could post a list of the hardware you wound up using?

 

Remember those bolts hold you in a crash. they really really REALLY need to be 'at minimum' the strength required..
And maybe MORE since they are extended from the point they are in the floor.
The longer fulcrum of the bolt sticking up being an extra half inch is a LOT of leverage considering the forces in a crash.

And I too hate the idiots who move the steering wheel for that thirty second drive at the dealer for service.
Otherwise I find my seat/wheel to be perfect.. Though the center stack could get a little thinner so my knee could move slightly over..

 

The longer fulcrum of the bolt sticking up being an extra half inch is a LOT of leverage considering the forces in a crash.

Oh yeah, my thoughts too. Been trying to picture how much of an angle the rear anchors will be at, and if it would be too much strain. 1/2" might be too much, but I'm no engineer. Would love if OP could post up some pics!