Does anybody have the same issues with lack of lower back support because the backrest curves away from the body where it meets the bottom seat cushion? Any solutions besides springing for a $3k pair of Milanos (which does not see like a particularly brilliant idea since I'm leasing the car). Haven't seen a set of seats that caused so much backache since those in a 97 Altima.

 

You set the lumbar support, right? There's a manual lever on the right side of the driver seat (the upright part).

 

Yep, of course. I am talking about the area below where the lumbar comes out, where the back and the bottom cushions meet.

 

I have a pretty bad back... Had surgery 4 years ago, and currently re-herniated 2 discs... And I think the G Coupe seats are the most comfortable seats I've sat in my whole life. My coworker (who also has a herniated disc) agrees

Maybe you just need to play with the adjustments more. I'm thinking your chair isn't reclined enough, or is reclined too much. And what angle do you have your lower seat at? According to my doctor, the angle of your seat bottom is pretty important when it comes to back pain... Do you keep your wallet in your back pocket? When you sit, and you extend your arms out, what part of your arms/hand touches the steering wheel? If you sit too far back, you can put a lot of strain on your lower back...

 

avs007,
My seat is set up as follows:
bottom cushion
- back end (where it meets the seatback) close to maximum down
- front end close to maximum up
back cushion
- straightish, but I've experimented with most reasonable settings
distance to steering wheel
- enought to get me about 120-130 degree angle in the elbow, so kind of further back as I'm about 6'-1"

The thing is that I use roughly the same setup in every car I drive, from 9-3 to E-Class to Accord to Citroen C5. And despite sometimes spending up to 15 hours straight behind the wheel never have this backache that I got from 97 Altima and the G after only a couple of hours.

Oh, and just to clarify - it's not the lumbar area that's hurting, it's the "tail bone" right underneath it.

 

This will have nothing to do with cars, but this is the discussion I had when I was talking to my doctor about egonomocal chairs for my work after I had surgery, we were talking about seat bottoms. It sounds like you are angling your bottom seat cushion,because you are tall, and need support under your knees. However, angling the front higher than the rear, (especially at the max settings like you described), is what I believe is causing your pain. My old ergonomical chair I set that way as well, because I thought it would be comfortable, but that caused me pain in my tailbone if I sat too long. The doctor said when you are sitting, your knees are not supposed to be higher than your hips, which I think they are in your case. It sounds like this is a situation where a telescoping wheel is really what you need, so you can sit farther back? I know with me, I can't adjust all the seats the same, because my wife's TL has a shallow floor, such that if I set the seat the same, I can't reach the steering wheel comfortably.