Mazda 323F on a 51 plate.
Lovely car, but damned uncomfortable to drive. I have added lots of additional foam to the front setas, both the seat and back, but it is still causing pain to the lower of my back. I am now considering the fact that I may have to sell the car on, after only 2 months ownership which I am reluctant to do, but firstly, does anyone now if the seats of any other car will fit? The car seems to share lots of parts with the Toyota Corolla, and it doesnt seem dissimilar in design either, likewise wiht the Nissan Alemera. Any help and advice would be very much appreciated.
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Surprised to hear that. I'm 6'1" , 14 stone and find the wifes 51 reg 323F GSI very comfortable.
Think the Ford Focus is similar , Ford owning a large chunk of Mazda.
Trading the car for something else is probably a good idea after a long test drive.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Has the car got offset pedals to the seats? This can sometimes contribute to back problems.
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DD - I think its due to the lack of general lumbar support, I am in the process of stuffing various pieces of foam into the back of the seat to firm things up, but I did think the that accelerator pedal was a bit close to the brake pedal, I guess there is nothing I can do about that?
I get the problem after about 45 mins in the car, it seems worse when I'm motorway driving as I am am sitting completely still. I really want to get this sorted as its a great looking car and really quick being a 2.0 ltr 16v Turbo diesel.
I have tried various seat cover supports but none really do the trick, as I say it tends to be when I am doing motorway driving.
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The Mazda is a great car and too good to sell on because the seats lack lumber support.
As someone who suffers considerable lower back problems, I can thoroughly recommend Recaro, who will definitely have something to solve your problem.
www.recaro-seats.co.uk/healthneeds.asp
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Thanks Dude, you're right, the car is fantastic, it only long journeys that give me trouble, but as I do a lot of mileage each week, I will check out recaro. Thanks.
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- BMDUBYA - let us know how you get on with Recaro, I know they are not cheap, but I had one for more than 10 years that I transferred to several cars without any problems and had superb lumber support.
My daughter has a new Mazda 3, which is a superb car, but that too has seats that do not provide adequate lumber support.
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Very strange I run a 99 1.5 glx and have no similar probs even last year touring round Scotland.
Maybe the dealer could help?
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I have a problem with recaro, the seats in my Mazda have airbags in the side so removal makes things difficult, doesn't it?
The dealer hasn't been able to help, hmmm "useless", unfortunately.
mrs BMDUBYA also finds it uncomfortable on long journeys too:-(
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Removing the existing seats isn't difficult, airbags will be connected by a standard connector.
Your dealers service department should be able to advise the procedure for disconnecting the airbags prior to removing the seat (might have to disconnect the battery or remove a fuse before touching the connector).
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Have you tried adjusting the angle of the seat back? I've found with my Yaris that having the seat bolt upright (as far as it will go) helps a lot with back ache. It feels a bit unnatural at first, but you soon get used to it.
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I have a similar problem with my 323 and have tried the lumbar support roll you can buy at Halfords. I went for the firm/densely padded one and on reflection would have been better of getting the softer one. Don't know if you've already thought of this, but it might be worth a shot - lot cheaper than Recaro.
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Thanks to everyone for their repies. So far I have tried a seat lumbar support from Halfords, I am ow experimenting with pakcing foam into the back of the seat, luckily the Mazda 323 has an unzippable back on the seat which makes it easy to get access.
The only other thing I thought of is getting a second hand seat from another make of car, ford springs to mind along with nissan and toyota which seam to share numerous components, but if I disconnect the air bag in the seat, will I have to permanently disable the air bag sensor via the ECU??
pete, sorry to hear about your problems with your 323, I totally sympathise.
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Hi Everyone, well after about three months trying to rectify the seating issue, I have managed to sort this out, for me anyway, but I thought I would share with all of you that suffer. What I did was to unzip the back cover of the seat, there you will find a 'mesh' that supports your back, which is held in place with 6 springs, you need to remove the two srings that are at the very top of the seat, its difficult to see them but they are there, secondly what I did was to put a piece of foam about 5 cm in width right down the centre of the seat to support my spine which is held in place by the 'mesh'. This has really improved things for me, and I now love driving the car again. Good luck.
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