Msgm1

Can you help with this basic question:
(1) heated seat is both the back and the seat bottom?
(2) cooled seat is just the seat bottom not the back?

LexVan

1) Correct.
2) Incorrect. I can feel seat ventilation in the back too. Clothing type and conditions dependent.

Al.Fresco

^^^ What he said.

Msgm1

Ah interesting!

I guess I must have a fault as I can’t feel the back of the seat cooling.

Does it still cool when the a/c in the car is off ie driving with the roof down but still selecting seat cooling?

Al.Fresco

Yes.

Al.Fresco

They suck air vs blow so try holding a peace of paper on the seat back and see if it sticks. Never tried it but seems like a potentially good test. Try it vs your passenger seat.

LexVan

You don't have a fault. The system has limitations. Clothing fabric type and weather conditions (temp and humidity) play a big role.

I have a cabriolet. Drive often in hot humid weather. They work. Far better than without.

You should add location below your avatar. That might tell us a lot, too.

GKGEIGER

I didn't know that! I will say I can feel mine more with the top up then with it down.

JW911

They are ventilated, not cooled. They pull in ambient air. So if you are cranking the A/C they work better. But a convertible with top down and 80 degrees out still works decently as there's good airflow beneath your body.

Jack F

Maybe try a tissue up against the seat back and see if it stays. It might not from all the holes but can’t hurt. Check one out at the local dealer to verify performance.

3Series

Compared to room cooling:

1. Central AC
2. Window Unit
3. Box Fan
4. Personal Electric Fan
5. Hand Held Fan (LOL)
6. Nothing.

Seat ventilation is like a personal electric fan. Most folks new to seat ventilation, it think AC is blown out from the holes in the seat. I know I did. As the other person said, it sucks air in and its not conditioned.

CaymanSinAR

It is awful hot and humid here. How I like to use ventilated seats in my Boxster/911 is to set the bottom and middle vents to blow. Having the foot vents blowing cold air means colder air below the seats to be picked up and applied to your back.

I haven't experienced one yet, but Mazda's new ventilated seats operate differently. Rather than blowing air against you they suck air away from you. I can't remember if it was C&D or Motor Trend, but one of them said that method works better in humid conditions than the systems that blow air.

chuckbdc

Porsche vented seats pull air in the perforations and vent it out to the floor under the seats. With windows up, AC on (so that the air in the car is cool), the effect is very noticeable on back and bottom.

SLC Tortfeasor

Seat ventilation was a huge "must have" for me when I was shopping. But it doesn't cool me off nearly as well as I'd hoped and expected. If I had it to do over again, I would definitely not let it be such a major factor in my purchase decision.

Bob Z.

Porsche has ventilated seats and my wife's Lincoln has cooled seats, which blow vice suck.