So here is my dilemma, I have a 2006 wrx limited wagon and I drive a lot for work. I love the heated seats and I really don't want to give them up but I really really want to figure out a more comfortable option for the fronts. I have tossed around the idea of 2010+ wrx limited seats ( assuming they would probably bolt up and work well with the existing wiring for heated seats) but I'm not sure how large of a comfort factor I will gain over the stock 2006 seats. My question is does anyone have any experience with companies around the cities that could re-pad and re-cover the stock 06 seats with a larger amount of higher quality foam and leather? Does anyone else have any recommendations that might share in my picky-ness for the 2006 seats being a little stiff / uncomfortable.? About a year ago I decided to dabble in the Audi game. I bought a 2004 S4 ( which turned out to be a bad idea with all the issues the 04 had) and I absolutely loved the stock Recaros that came in the car. Very nice and squishy and also had a good amount of bolster to keep you in place, and of course they were heated. Now I know its hard to compare wrx seats to a car that was originally almost 60 g's but I just wanted to give you and idea of what I had in mind. All opinions or options are welcome! Thanks!
I have no experience with them, but you could check out the upholstery shop in Golden Valley, north side of 55, just west of 100. In the same building as Acme Electronics.
rick and dicks auto aupholster i hear does good work. It will cost you though. I got a couple rough quotes on my 60/40 rear splits and they wanted 700+ At that price you should just buy new seats I then decided to just man up and do it myself. I just finished reupholstering my rear seats last week. Did the entire thing myself. First time touching a sewing machine. It turned out WAY better then I expected (i wasnt expecting much haha) but I learned alot on the way. If you want some pointers i can give you a run down on what i did and what i would do differently I was going to make a thread about it on here, but i havent found time to take pics yet
This time of year I'd call some marine upholstery shops if you're thinking of repadding and reupholstering. I'd imagine you could get some off season deals. If you're going aftermarket, one thing to consider is the side airbags and whether insurance will care in the event of a claim. I've had some carriers that do and others that don't/didn't. That said, you could call up Jim at motorportseats in Burnsville (http://www.motorsportseats.com/). Great guy to work with and he usually has a few seats on hand that you could try out. He carries and has access to more than just motorsports seats like the name would imply. Modding the stock heater hardware to fit aftermarket seats is a very doable weekend project. He might also have some additional recommendations for you.
Innnnnnnteeerrresting.. feel free to send me some pics if you want and maybe any pointers you have. When I owned my 1990 300zx TT, I recovered every interior piece with really nice black alcantera, but I never dove as deep to wip out the sewing machine to do the seats ( they were already leather ) I would be interested in seeing the finished product. Very cool! I will give Jim a call and see what he thinks. His shop is sort of on my way to work / lunch break so maybe I can make a trip out and see what kind of deal I can work up. I was going to get a hold of a few friends in the boat business to see where they would have recomendations for upholstry places as well. Good call. Thanks and keep the recommendations comings!
I would look into buying seats from another Subaru first. It will likely be cheaper. Here are some ideas... 04-07 STI seats, will bolt up, very comfy, not sure if the fabric is compatible with heaters 02-03 WRX seats, will bolt up, comfy (depending on your height), big bolstering, can take heaters. 03-08 Forester seats, will bolt up, softer than wrx seats. 08+ STI seats, not sure if they bolt up, very comfy, should be able to take heaters 08+ WRX seats, not sure if they bolt up, very comfy, can take heaters
