Can I put Gen 4 Seats in a 2016 Model S?

[Silverdarter]

The 2016 Model S I'm about to buy currently has Gen 3 seats and I'm finding them uncomfortable around the middle of the top of my back. I sat in what I believe are the Gen 4 seats in a Raven and they felt better - I noticed they had a slightly different design around that area, so perhaps something was improved. If I installed Gen 4 seats into the 2016 Model S, would they work?

Either way, overall the seats from these generations are not amazingly comfortable and I wonder if anyone knows of any other solutions please? Does re-upholstering them help?

Many thanks in advance!

Alex

 

[Ostrichsak]

our 2017 has the middle seats in the pics and are pretty comfy even on long trips.

These are easily my favorite Model S seats for long trips. The 2021+ seats feel really nice for the shorter sits I've given them but I haven't yet had a chance to test drive them for a longer trip. IMO the Premium seats (third seat in that image) are my favorite around town which is the bulk of our driving. Once I take a longer trip in them my legs start to go numb a couple/few hours in.

The one longer trip I took of about 14hrs (not including charge stops which were as brief as possible) in the Premium seats was miserable and borderline dangerous. I've said previously though that if you're average to below average size frame you likely may not experience these seats the same way. The side and lower bolsters are too aggressive and rigid to fit all size humans.

It's damn near as bad as the Gallardo seats I sat in back in the day where my back didn't make contact with the seat back and my butt didn't make contact with the seat bottom. I literally sat on and against the side bolsters and it was nearly instant pain & numbness in my legs. I then had to humor the salesperson as they told me how I could "simply" have different seats put in. My response: If I'm paying nearly $200k the seat should just fit w/o having to drop thousands more for a new seat. Eff that noise. I digress.

I really like the Premium seat for the reasons they changed it but it's just not for longer trips if you're a bigger human. I'm not huge either so I'm not sure how some of my gigantic friends get by owning these cars. Whenever we go out-of-state we take the older 2016.5 P90D with the Next Gen seats as it's far more comfortable. We've got a new Model Y incoming (just got the VIN assigned this morning in fact) and I'm curious how the seats and suspension will feel on longer trips. It's funny how your needs in an automobile shift as you age. lol

 

[Georgesb2]

Update: Now I've also modified a Model X / S seat and learned a great deal.


I've been modifying Tesla seats for a year and a half now. But up until now it was all Model 3 / Y.

The newer Tesla seat bottoms all have serious problems for a larger person.
Tesla started to use the same seat frame on all models around 2017. The problem is that the seat frame metal is just too narrow at the rear. If you have a larger frame, wider hip bones than smaller humans, you will find pain on longer trips. The earlier Tesla Model S / X on the newer 2017-2021 frames had a wire loop on the outside of the frame added. The Model 3 / Y didn't have that wire loop attached but uses the same metal frame. But more recently, 2022 and up, Tesla moved the metal wire loop frame (again this applies to Model X / S only) to inside the foam, instead of attached to the metal frame on the outside of the frame and outside of the foam. This is a disaster. They effectively narrowed the seat even further, within the same metal frame. I estimated that that change reduced the width of the rear seating room for the back of the hips and butt as much as 3 inches! For larger framed person the hips will press into that more narrow width metal frame. Making this seat design in the Model X and presumably S, actually worse than the Model 3 / Y for a larger person!

I'm rebuilding a newer 22 Model X seat right now that had the metal frame built inside the foam base. I modify a 2017-2020 Model S seat foam, without the internal metal frame, to fit inside the 2022 and up seat faux leather cover. I also add some dense foam to the bottom of the OEM cushion. This way you get the wider space you need without that wire frame inside. And you get more foam for more suspension.

I've made additional changes to the Model 3 / Y seat that might also apply to the Model S / X.

I removed the OEM lumbar. It's simply too little and too low. It actually shoves the top of the hip bone forward, making the back in the exact wrong position to protect the lower spine. Then I add a piece of foam horizontally higher, where my lumbar wants the support. I added a smaller foam vertically to prevent my back from “caving into” the upper. I also bent the headrest backwards.

The total effect of all my changes are a good posture for the bigger person. More seat suspension to protect the back from road bumps and jolts. Good lumbar support where it should be. Good upper back positioning. Good head positioning on top of the spine and not bent forwards. But the biggest change is no more pain from pressing into the metal, be it the metal inside the foam or the actual metal seat base that the foam sets down low inside of.