Make Elise S2 seats more comfy?

[Badger02]

Hi,

So I collected my new 2008 S2 Elise yesterday and absolutely love it, apart from the seats which as is no surprise are not particularly comfortable.

I am not sure what seats are fitted, I've heard about Probax seats, but there is nothing on mine to indicate what make they are. Photo attached.

Can anyone advise, and more importantly can anyone advise a way of making them more comfortable, though I'm not looking to rip them out and spending a grand or even more on new padded seats. I would even consider a padded seat cover from Halfords or something similar.

Thanks for any advice.

Badger

[RichEuropaS]

They look the same as mine in my Europa S, apart from mine are all leather. We find them very comfortable and have driven to the Alps. However,  our suspension is a little softer and that may help. 🤔

[Elisemadray]

AS the seats are very different to what you are used to they may seem odd, but they do offer an excellent Driving position so I'm sure given a chance and a good drive you will find them more comfortable than you now think  

[MrWill]

The earlier s1 and s2 seats have adjustable lumber support which is pumped up via a bladder at the side of the seat.  I find the s2 seatssuper comfy so you may consider retro fitting if nothing else works out

Alternatively I found this in the archives

 

[Jonathan E]

They’ll be probax. Probax  is a material(foam) that Lotus use as the cushion in the seats, it’s actually a sort of memory foam. The seats you have there are from the more luxurious end of the Elise spectrum take a look at a S1 original seat for a comparison but I found those to be pretty comfortable too, I can’t offer a way to make them more comfortable, I’d have thought adding more padding would be detrimental to the driving physics of the car? I’d give them a bit of time, perhaps you’ll get used to them?

[Badger02]

Hi, they are Probax, i found the labels stitched onto the sides once I looked properly.

Am looking into just adding a cushion, with some straps to fix to the seat - I have a friend who is pretty handy with fabrics, upholstery etc

Also, in discussions with Allon White Sports Cars, they offer various options on refurbishing elise seats, could be a case of replacing the foam in the seats which may have collapsed over the years.

[hartleyj]

Hi. You don't say what mileage the car has done, but it looks as if the driver's seat has quite a but of wear, compared to the pass seat which looks quite fresh - nothing unusual there as we've all found, passengers bring weight and slow the car down somewhat!

It might just need a bit more padding. I found the Probax seats in my old 111R (2006) very comfy, we went all over, Spain x2, Italy etc etc. Give it a little longer. Allon White's trim shop gets good reviews. PJS Sportscars in Burton on Trent have a trimmer they use, so while he's not on site, it might be worth popping in to see what the options are.

[Stik]

you've just got to wait until the seats form your body into the correct shape

[marky_p72]

When I got my first Lotus over 7yrs ago, '07 Elise (Probax) I found it uncomfortable and tried using a cushion at first, but got fed up with that after a short while, and eventually actually found the seats comfy and no problem doing 'all-dayers' (eg 300 mile track days).

[kayj_prod]

On 16/03/2021 at 12:03, Badger02 said:

Also, in discussions with Allon White Sports Cars, they offer various options on refurbishing elise seats, could be a case of replacing the foam in the seats which may have collapsed over the years.

Hi Badger, I had my seats in my old S1 re-upholstered by Allon White. The seats were a rare perforated red leather, but were pre-Probax. Allon White managed to re-use the original leather whilst installing Probax shaping underneath and replacing the lumber support bladder. 

It made a world of difference... I drove my car from the UK up to near enough Trondheim in Norway and back soon after, so I consider that a thorough test!

I have the same seats as yours in my S2 Exige... there is something to be said for getting used to a seat that has no adjustment. I have thought about having them re-upholstered too, but I'm reluctant to go down the dead cow route these days... that's not to say I wouldn't if I saw some nice used ones come up. (Seats, not cows.)

[Eric]

Hey, that was me!  Perfecting that lumbar support was made easier by having access to some Recaros (aka finest car seats on the planet), and precisely modelling the ProBax lumbar area on Recaro's.

The end result was startlingly good.  Full days of driving (literally hundreds of miles) and not a single back ache at all.  With the ProBax in their unmodified state, I'd get hideous sciatica after every short trip!!

In fact, I've done the same mod on every Elise / Exige variant I've owned over the last 14 years - all 7 of 'em.

[BillyB]

I find Probax seats pretty poor tbh, lacking both support and comfort. For longer journeys (over an hour) I put a small piece of foam behind the small of my back for some lumbar support. But I find most car seats uncomfortable (so it is the lack of lateral support I actually object to more).