CarThrottle Asks: What Are The Most Comfortable Seats?

This question is inspired by one of Sajeev Mehta's latest "Piston Slap" articles on The Truth About Cars.  It's a darn good question, too.  Most people when talking about cars will refer to things like suspension tuning, power output, features, visibility... but they'll skip over one of the most important things when it comes to what makes a car good daily driver: the seats.

Around town, for short distances, seats aren't that important.  They hold your butt up off the floor, allow you to grab the primary controls with a minimal of stretching, and you sort of forget about them.  But there's almost nothing more important when it comes to enthusiastic driving or long road trips than how comfortable the seats are.  Bad seats in a great car still equals a bad road trip vehicle - this is a criticism I've seen leveled at the first-generation Audi A8 quite a few times.  The original Ford Focus was a cool, fun-to-drive car rendered almost useless for long road trips by seats that qualify more as torture devices than seats.

On the other hand, great seats in an unexciting car can tend to stand out.  My first car (Volvo 850 sedan) wasn't exciting to drive, but it did have some of the best seats around.  Sure, the fuel mileage wasn't great, but you could drive for 6 hours straight without back pain.

So what are the best seats?  Or, at least the best ones you've sat in?  I've driven a lot of cars, but there are two pairs of seats that stand out in my mind.  First has got to be the Recaro-designed thrones in the front of a 93-97 Saab 9000 Aero.  For one thing, they're gorgeous:

I've literally never sat in a chair more comfortable anywhere; that includes living room furniture, benches, stadium and movie theatre seats, anything.  They've got plenty of lateral support for the legs and torso, an actual full-length headrest that supports the head and neck adequately, buttery-soft leather, all the adjustments you need to get them just right - oh, and fires-of-hell-hot seat heaters.  I mean, it is a Saab.  I thought about putting a pair of them in the front of my C900, but I realized they don't fold since the 9000 is a 5-door.

My other favorites are the optional "natural leather" seats in the 03-08 Volvo S60R/V70R AWD.  The standard seats have the same cushioning and bolsters, but the natural leather is both gorgeous to look at, and super-smooth - also thicker than normal, so it'll stay nice longer than normal.  You just sink down directly into the center of these suckers, it's like a vacation from the real world.  Totally apart from the badass, 300bhp AWD drivetrain - the seats alone are a darn good reason to get an S60R.

I think it's just that the Swedes have a knack for making good seats.  But that's how I see it.  What's your favorite throne to park your keister in?  Leave a comment in the box below!