Seat is too firm, need advices

[Sccoaire]

Hi... bought a 2010 Mazda3 GT Sport from a friend a year ago. Now, I had a 2008 Mazda3 GS up until 2010 and the fabric bucket seat was awesome. I could drive for hours no problem. I then switched to a KIA Sorento and the fabric seat was very comfortable; drove from AB to QC! I was excited to get the 2010 Mazda3 GT with leather seats, top of the line stuff! It's fine driving in town, but more than an hour and my bums and hamstrings start to ache something serious, getting worse the longer I keep driving. Those seats are super firm.

I first bought a sheep skin cover; it didn't make a difference about the firmness but the leather is a lot more comfortable on hot or cold days. Then I tried multiple seat covers from Canadian Tires; they don't make a difference (actually some make it worse).

What can I do?? Seems ridiculous to buy a different car just for this issue. I searched the web and various forums with all sorts of keywords, and I really can't find a solution. I'm hoping someone here can help me out with a valuable input.

I stopped by a specialty car seat store in town... the guy said he could open up the seat and replace the foam with softer stuff, but he wasn't sure what would happen with the leather, if it would start to crack or make folds. His estimate was $200 per seat.

How big of a deal is it to change a seat, say if I was willing to buy a cloth bucket seat like they have in the GS models? The one I have now is electric with memory positions.

Thanks all.

[Kiyomi]

offer up to trade seats with someone as someone might want leather.

[loki]

Grow some booty

[Captain Mazda]

offer up to trade seats with someone as someone might want leather.

^this

I'll trade my 2011 GX seats for your leather @Sccoaire as long as they're clean and not cracked.

[TheMAN]

that's probably not a solution
he liked his genwon cloth seats but now he has a genpu with leather... the car is a lot different, and so are the seats

[Girds]

that's probably not a solution
he liked his genwon cloth seats but now he has a genpu with leather... the car is a lot different, and so are the seats

Actually seat swap is pretty easy I've seen some one on here swap leather seats instead of cloth iirc

[silverstarmazda]

its possible to just swap the leather and cloth covers that are on the seats. when we add aftermarket leather (option) to one of our clothed units, we just unwrap and re-wrap the seat. the cloth covers are just discarded (however we do keep a few just in case of showroom accidents)

another option is to pull off the leather cover and add a layer of foam.

[Jenuine]

I feel your pain. lol the second gen seats are uncomfortable on really long drives. Try a gel cushion, I got one from Canadian Tire and it made a huge difference.

[TheMAN]

Actually seat swap is pretty easy I've seen some one on here swap leather seats instead of cloth iirc

that's NOT THE ISSUE
the issue is, he had a 1st gen which had seats that fit him better than the 2nd gen
it's not the seating surface material, it's the cushion and shape of the seat! Swapping from genpu leather to genpu cloth seats isn't really going to solve the problem!

[Sccoaire]

Thanks for everyone's feedback. Changing the seat seems like it would be a viable option. I'll have to read up on that... what's compatible and what's not. I don't know about the 1st gen vs the 2nd gen. All I know is that I was at the dealership nearby last week for servicing and I checked out the 2015 models... the cloth seat is not nearly as firm as the leather seats in my 2010. Boy that seat felt comfortable.

[Sccoaire]

I feel your pain. lol the second gen seats are uncomfortable on really long drives. Try a gel cushion, I got one from Canadian Tire and it made a huge difference.

This http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/ge...-0321419p.html I bought and tried, doesn't help. It's not really a "gel" cover though... It's just rubber squares. Glad it helped you though.

[staax]

I did a cloth to leather swap in my gen 2, so did @Reddie1337 - he was a big help.

If you get seats from another car that has power and heated seats it will be a direct plug n play swap.

If you get seats from a GX, the plugs are different and you'll need to do a bit of wiring.

It is best to also grab the plug from a GX, and in return give your plug to the other car. This will involve you cutting and reattaching wires.

But I do agree the leather seats are a lot firmer than the cloth in the Gen2s.

[Sccoaire]

I did a cloth to leather swap in my gen 2, so did @Reddie1337 - he was a big help.

If you get seats from another car that has power and heated seats it will be a direct plug n play swap.

If you get seats from a GX, the plugs are different and you'll need to do a bit of wiring.

It is best to also grab the plug from a GX, and in return give your plug to the other car. This will involve you cutting and reattaching wires.

But I do agree the leather seats are a lot firmer than the cloth in the Gen2s.

Thanks for this info. So swapping seats on a 2nd gen Mazda3 between the GS and GT is a direct swap, but with a GX the plug is different, if I understand correctly?

[staax]

Some GS and all GTs will be a direct plug and play swap for a 2010.

GS equipped with heated and power seats will have same plug.

GS without heated or powered seats use the same plug as the GX.

Another important thing to note is the number of airbag sensors... I'm not positive... But I believe the 2010's had 2 airbag sensors (maybe the 2011's too) but I know for a fact that the 2012+ have 4 air bag sensors.

Plugs could be identical, but the wires will not be there.

Your quickest and easiest swap would be a 2010 (or possibly 2011) GS with heated and power seats.

Your second longer but easy option would be to just swap the cushions only... Not sure what this is like... But any year/model gen 2 would work.

But I did mention Reddie who will be able to confirm this for ya!

[staax]

Also to add:


If you like I can take a picture of my harness...

I still have the factory plug that came with my GX. From there I pulled the seats from the donor car and also took that harness with me.

I simply used tap connectors to connect my GX harness to that of the GS harness.

This way if I ever decide to go back to cloth, manual, non heated seats I could do so by simply using the stock harness and removing the tap connectors.


Cant remember... But does the GT have a power passenger seat too?

If not then that will be a direct plug and play... The only wiring and harness swaps you will need to worry about is the driver side.