Decent Seats for a 110 Defender

Hi - Im sure someone would have gone through this already (so please refer to threads) but I am looking for some decent seats for my 110 that I can fit to give me a bit of comfort but ideally some electric memory leather seats - I loved the seats in my 2009 RRS but I would expect they need the vehicle's computer/CAN to operate as they set the mirrors etc from memory - Im looking for self-contained ECU like the classic range rovers. Happy to consider other makes but prefer to come from a LR vehicle if poss. Is the P38 a viable option? PS Its got nothing behind the front seats to don't need to worry about rear bulkhead etc.Thankx CC

I fitted SAAB seats from I think a 99 and they were to bulky, to high under the legs, to wide and little space to move around.
So went back to the original seats.

Duke851 said:

I fitted SAAB seats from I think a 99 and they were to bulky, to high under the legs, to wide and little space to move around.
So went back to the original seats.

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Thanks - thats pretty useful as I thought someone had said they'd used saab seats
I have been looking on line and the point you've made about the height under the legs could be an issue for accomodating tall and short people so I have been looking att he BMW ones that have a decent rise/fall
I've also been looking at the ISRI 4 points (despite the subframe height) - but they are just silly expensive

chopperchappie said:

Hi - Im sure someone would have gone through this already (so please refer to threads) but I am looking for some decent seats for my 110 that I can fit to give me a bit of comfort but ideally some electric memory leather seats - I loved the seats in my 2009 RRS but I would expect they need the vehicle's computer/CAN to operate as they set the mirrors etc from memory - Im looking for self-contained ECU like the classic range rovers. Happy to consider other makes but prefer to come from a LR vehicle if poss. Is the P38 a viable option? PS Its got nothing behind the front seats to don't need to worry about rear bulkhead etc.Thankx CC

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Best seats in a 110 are Defender seats IMO. Nothing else will really fit. Defender seats should be comfy too, very comfy. If they aren't, maybe they are old and worn.

Not sure why you'd want memory seats in the Defender. There is almost no need to move the seat for different height drivers, and if you do it is only click or two on the slider.

Duke851 said:

I fitted SAAB seats from I think a 99 and they were to bulky, to high under the legs, to wide and little space to move around.
So went back to the original seats.

Click to expand...

300bhp/ton said:

Best seats in a 110 are Defender seats IMO. Nothing else will really fit. Defender seats should be comfy too, very comfy. If they aren't, maybe they are old and worn.

Not sure why you'd want memory seats in the Defender. There is almost no need to move the seat for different height drivers, and if you do it is only click or two on the slider.

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I am also going to recommend refurbishing the original seats. When in good condition they are very comfortable. If the comfort issue is the seating position rather than the actual comfort of the seat that is something that you just need to get used to and cannot change. A defender is more like a van than a car and as such you need to sit more upright (like a dining chair) than the laying position you get in a car (like a recliner), even if you fit larger "more comfortable" seats the actual seating position will not change. Similar with the position some of the fundamental aspects of the vehicle limit the seating choices. The cab area is not big neither wide nor distance form dash/steering-wheel/pedals etc, electric seats tend to be larger than the standard seats which causes issue with width and distance from the steering wheel. You also don't say what age your defender is but for any age you will need access to the under seat boxes, older models for the battery and newer models for the ecu's, this is something else that you are very likely to lose if you fit no standard seats which will make future work far more difficult.
The only upgraded seats people seem to have fitted with relatively few problems around size seem to be from an rx8, which I think also allows access to the underseat boxes but part of the reason for that is they are quite a small seat similar to the standard ones. this is not a modification I have done but have read plenty of threads where others have, a quick forum search will show several people who have.

300bhp/ton said:

Best seats in a 110 are Defender seats IMO. Nothing else will really fit. Defender seats should be comfy too, very comfy. If they aren't, maybe they are old and worn.

Not sure why you'd want memory seats in the Defender. There is almost no need to move the seat for different height drivers, and if you do it is only click or two on the slider.

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Mine is ex-MoD V8 so has the stupid flip up/down half back seats - but it actually didnt come with any at all - so they need to be replaced with something so just looking for advice - as per Duke851 and yourself and from my own experience, getting something that works is tricky.
I am 6ft2in plus and my wife is about 5ft7in both of us hate the "normal" position of Defender seats - Even with the skinny MoD seat backs I dont have enough legroom and the Mrs is too low in the seat
Obviously theres lots of aftermarket Defender seat raiser/extenders so I can't be the only one!
Personally I'm not a fan of vinyl seats on a hot day - and I know that doesnt happen often but....
As I mentioned theres no rear bulkhead so I'm not even sute the skinny pressed metal frame would do anything in an accident other than collapse backwards
I've seen a few options on fleabay but really difficult to tell if they would be a pain to fit and most of them are 3-500 miles away - as they would be!
I hope to do a lot of miles once its finished and therefore want to be able to get out after 3-400 miles and not feel like I just got a kicking
It would be nice if they were latterally supportive (?) for those occasional bouncing around a field moments
Thats it really - I need something and if I'm going to spend a few hundred quid plus I'm open to looking if theres something thats more comfortable - but would consider something like Puma seats

I had heard RX7/RX8 seats work (but they seem to be in limited supply and reasonably expensive) and was thinking along the lines of a smaller car like a sports or small hatchback (Polo GTI maybe) - good point about the under seat access maybe the 3 door versions would be better if they flip forward and slide all the way forward to allow rear seat passengers to get in - good catch!!

After looking at many expensive methods of lifting the seat rails with fancy brackets and spacers, way too expensive for me.
I used large flat washers to lift the rails enough to clear the lip and give some front to back adjustment, this gave me enough height to slide the seat all the way back and the steering wheel and peddles are in a better position for driving after adjusting the front down slightly.
I wonder if by using washers there is a possibility of redrilling the seat box and or the rails so you can get that perfect front to back position ?

I also found that the SAAB seats had a high pad either side of the seat pad, this was such a pain when sliding in and out because unlike a sports seat I found you are lifting your body up and can't but slide in as opposed to down and into the seat.

So while I've looked at car when out and about, I'm looking at a pair of Corbeau seats, that have the lower side padding but the comfort.
When I do buy I want them right as I am planning on many months of use.

I shaped a metal plate in the original seat so support the foam instead of the rubber strapping that allows my back to be shaped the wrong way, leading to lower back pain.
So this has made a huge improvement to comfort.

chopperchappie said:

Mine is ex-MoD V8 so has the stupid flip up/down half back seats - but it actually didnt come with any at all - so they need to be replaced with something so just looking for advice - as per Duke851 and yourself and from my own experience, getting something that works is tricky.
I am 6ft2in plus and my wife is about 5ft7in both of us hate the "normal" position of Defender seats - Even with the skinny MoD seat backs I dont have enough legroom and the Mrs is too low in the seat
Obviously theres lots of aftermarket Defender seat raiser/extenders so I can't be the only one!
Personally I'm not a fan of vinyl seats on a hot day - and I know that doesnt happen often but....
As I mentioned theres no rear bulkhead so I'm not even sute the skinny pressed metal frame would do anything in an accident other than collapse backwards
I've seen a few options on fleabay but really difficult to tell if they would be a pain to fit and most of them are 3-500 miles away - as they would be!
I hope to do a lot of miles once its finished and therefore want to be able to get out after 3-400 miles and not feel like I just got a kicking
It would be nice if they were latterally supportive (?) for those occasional bouncing around a field moments
Thats it really - I need something and if I'm going to spend a few hundred quid plus I'm open to looking if theres something thats more comfortable - but would consider something like Puma seats

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What has been done to the bulkhead exactly? Do you have any photos?

I honestly can't see you getting more room with any other type of seat vs a standard Defender type seat. Anything else will take up more room and give you less space.

I also don't believe your 5' 7" wife sits too low either. As that is above the average height of a human male! I'm shorter and have no issues looking out.

I was going to put e46 M sport seats in mine as so comfy. I now think I’d ruin the bolsters and be driven nuts by removing the seat each time I want to work on stuff to get to battery!!

chopperchappie said:

am 6ft2in plus and my wife is about 5ft7in both of us hate the "normal" position of Defender seats

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The normal defender driving position is something that you need to get used to because imo you cannot drive one in any other position. As i said earlier you need to think of it more like a van, look at the seating position in a transit, it is the same, you are sat upright and high rather than reclined and laying down. It is also something that once you are used to and not trying to fight Is very comfortable. I am at the point now where i will adjust car driving positions to be as close to the defender as I can because it what i am used to and what is comfortable for me. If you have only just started driving a defender you will be in the same position but the other way around and it is not possible to adapt the defender driving position to be closer to a car.

chopperchappie said:

I hope to do a lot of miles once its finished and therefore want to be able to get out after 3-400 miles and not feel like I just got a kicking

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I do a lot of miles in my defender, it currently has 330k on the clock and I do between 6-12 hundred miles a week in it. I have also done several trips through Europe and Morocco, the largest of which I did 7k miles in two weeks to around and back from Morocco bouncing around the desert. I will however say the standard seats are only comfortable if it good condition it is easy for them to become very uncomfortable when they are worn. I replace the seat bases about every 50-60k to keep it comfortable but they are very comfortable and design to be the correct size and work with the defender interior and cab. If you currently have the small military seats I would get a second hand set of standard seats (in fabric not the vynl you do not like, similar to this: link), some new seat bases (link) and fit them (very quick and easy 4 bolts per seat). This will allow you to trial some good condition standard seats, and if you still do not like them you will be able to sell them on for what you paid so you are not meaningfully out of pocket.

Duke851 said:

I also found that the SAAB seats had a high pad either side of the seat pad, this was such a pain when sliding in and out because unlike a sports seat I found you are lifting your body up and can't but slide in as opposed to down and into the seat.

Click to expand...

resto_d1 said:

I was going to put e46 M sport seats in mine as so comfy. I now think I’d ruin the bolsters and be driven nuts by removing the seat each time I want to work on stuff to get to battery!!

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This is also something that needs to be considered carefully when looking at seats. Most car seats, and definitely sports seats are designed so that you lower yourself into them as the car is lower than you are. A defender seat is designed to climb up into similar to hgv/van seats, because of this they tend to have flatter bases and side bolsters to allow you to twist and slide in and out. If you fit a heavily padded sports or bucket style seats you would need to climb up and then lower yourself into it and the reverse this when getting out. This will very quickly become tiresome and result in increased wear to the exit side seat bolsters and seat pads.

l fitted Puma cloth seats in my 110 TD5
They are superb and better than the part leather Puma XS ones.
l use the 110 all day every day and have no complaints at all with these seats, l bought them new "take off" from Twisted Automotive.
They don't match the TD5 County trim but l think they still look OK.

As suggested above l used spacers to raise them at the rear a little, as l found this gives an improvement in comfort.

Bet they cost ya!!! I need to upgrade mine at some point but like you it’ll be fender seats again I should think! Or I do the whole retrim seat jobby. Seats are way down on the list though lol.

Op, If you did want bm seats, you could go se trim but I see zero gain over fender seats in doing that.

300bhp/ton said:

What has been done to the bulkhead exactly? Do you have any photos?

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It never had one - I'll try and get photos
Loving the Puma seats they look well comfy and the trick with the washers (but I dont think thats needed on mine - need to remind myself - I might be lying (I mean mis-remembering)) !!
In the meantime I've managed to get some Audi A1 S-Line seats locally so they are nice and compact and flip forward and they are height adjustable by about 4-5"
I was looking at the RX8s but as mentioned limited supply - there are a couple interesting but they are too far away even though quite well priced
CC

@chopperchappie , RX8 seats are the way to go. They can be found in mint condition for very little money, I bought mine for only £150 the pair, full leather and only 50k use; they look brand new...just be a little patient and you'll find a good set. You have to make some modifications to the seat rails and add steel under rails. This is an easy mod. Search the forum for RX8 seats, there are a couple of good threads on the mod procedure.

Note: last year I found mine completely by accident on Gumtree

v8250 said:

@chopperchappie , RX8 seats are the way to go. They can be found in mint condition for very little money, I bought mine for only £150 the pair, full leather and only 50k use; they look brand new...just be a little patient and you'll find a good set. You have to make some modifications to the seat rails and add steel under rails. This is an easy mod. Search the forum for RX8 seats, there are a couple of good threads on the mod procedure.

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Hi @v8250
I might end up going that RX8 way in the end but I think that I'll try the A1 seats first as they are local and new if they dont work I'll post why and probably put them in the back.
I am concerned they'll bee too small for my height/width.
But did you get electric RX8s and do they just need 12v or something more complicated?
CC

I am 6' 2" and I find the RX8 seats pretty comfortable, even with the tub bulkhead still fitted. One word of warning though if you do fit them- be careful with the wiring of the electrics- if you get this wrong, the side air bags could deploy. I completely removed mine and refitted the original covers.