hate the seats
 

Hi,
I just got my 2006 A3 2.0 DSG w/ premium package in March of this year. I love the car, but think the seat bottoms are absurdly small and uncomfortable. To make matters worse, the seats are mounted slightly off center compared to the steering wheel (away from the doors) so that essentially I'm sitting with half of my left buttock and thigh on the left bolster when I'm driving. Now I'm not a big guy with a large bottom, I can't imagine how any bigger person can fit on those seats. It's getting to be actually painful if I drive more than 15 minutes.
Am I the only person who thinks this?
Could I have a lemon? I noticed the manufactured date was Aug of 05, so the car was on the dealer lot for a long time.
Finally, can anyone suggest an appropriate after market seat to replace my oem?

Thanks

RE: hate the seats
 

Maybe one side of your bum is bigger than the other. Heh heh, sorry, couldn't resist.

The seats are fine. The problem is that the dead pedal is closer to the seat than on many other cars. You can try taking it off to get that extra 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch of leg room, but it will look weird. Or you will just get used to bending your left knee a little bit more, as I did, in just over a month.

If you have DSG, you can also place just the toes and ball of your left foot on the dead pedal, with your left heel off and touching the carpet, especially if you are wearing any shoe with a heel.

If you think you have it bad, at least be glad you did not get the Sport Package, the front seats have even deeper bolsters.

RE: hate the seats
 

i have the same problem!!!! i just got the car and my ass hurts from driving it! i weigh 170 lbs so i am by no means over sized. wtf!

RE: hate the seats
 

I have an 08 with the S-line seats. I noticed myself sitting on the left bolster a lot. I agree that the seat is offset a little more than I would like. An inch closer to the door would be perfect. Though it's not that bad. Wonder if the offset is same on the S-line and Premium.

RE: hate the seats
 

I haven't noticed any offset in my '06 Sport.

I do wish that the dead pedal was farther away and that there was a touch more lumbar support (I may add after-market lumbar adjusters), but I was quite comfortable driving 2000 miles in ten days when we recently vacationed in the Canadian Rockies.

RE: hate the seats
 

I would agree, my 08 does not seam offset to me. The S-Line seats are wonderful and I feel have great lumbar support once adjusted. The dead pedal does stink though [:@]

RE: hate the seats
 

WOW! I never noticed a problem and I have an 06 Sport(s-line) and the only thing I wish I had was the adjustable lumbar that the later models got. And just so you all know I'm 6'2" and 200lbs. It puts me in a great driving position. I do know that mentaly people feal they need to have the left foot stationed on the dead pedal but that just slides you to the right. Its position is actually desind for the manual people to keep there foot from resting past the clutch making for easier heal toe style driving.
My fix for you all would be sit in the seat properly and find out its actually comfortable that way.

RE: hate the seats
 

RE: the seats. The alignment to pedals and steering wheel, dead pedal are fine for me.

Specific to the seats I wish two things; that the bottom cushion's rear tilt could be adjustable for recline. I like the rearmost of the bottom cushion to be low with my knees up. Which leads me to suggest that the bottomcushion have an extenablelower thigh/knee support which would stick out from the bottom cushion to support the back of my knees.

Other wise I love the sport seats for how they envelope and provide upper back support. I like the slight curve forward of the upper back and the forward tilt of the headrest.

RE: hate the seats
 

twiceaudi;
You'll get used to it. You may also want to adjust your seating position as someone else has pointed out. It took me about a week to get used to the center console rubbing against my right knee - now I don't even notice it. And when I end up in a rental - it feels weird.
Then of course, I do have a clutch - which kind of forces me away from the dead pedal.
Welcome aboard.

RE: hate the seats
 

I'm 6' 225Lbs and Have a 2006 A3DSG 2/Sport seats. In a perfect world they would be 1/2" wider and 1" deeper, and have more tilt on the bottom. I sat in a premium package car and the first thing I noticed is that the seats were way too soft, especially at the front. Even though they were larger and electric, I couldn't get as comfortable as in the sport seats, even with their higher and narrower bolster.

That said, Recaro makes a "RECARO Ergomed ES" that is not part of their racing series. It's electric, adjustable every way, and does not have super-high cushion bolsters. Speedware Motorsports in Redmond, WA makes A3 mounting brackets for Recaros (they used my car as a fit model and told me, "Well, you won't be buying any seats from us anytime soon" as a compliment for how good they thought the OEM Sport seats are.) So you may want check that out, or try an '06 Sport or S-Line car and see if those seats fit you better and look for a set used.