We travel with a family of five in our Model 3. There is enough room to fit 5 with luggage but I find it hard to find a comfortable position on the rear seat as it seems designed for two. If you sit on the outside your back is not supported evenly as you end up on the side support. In the middle you sit a bit higher as the rear seat has a middle support bump to give sideway support designed for two bottoms and not three. Can you please share your experiences and how you get comfortable with three using cushions, special seat adjusters or maybe even retrofit aftermarket seats?
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How to get comfortable with 3 adults on the rear seat
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ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Buy a bigger car? There’s not really any magic solution to this. Three adults across in a compact sedan is never going to be comfortable for a long trip.
Thanks for stating the obvious. The other 50 weeks of the year I commute alone and I could buy a smaller car. The Model 3 is the car I have and is the best compromise for our needs.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Sometimes obvious questions warrant obvious answers. You can’t make the car bigger. I suppose you could find some custom upholstery shop to redo the back seat into a flat bench for some eye-watering cost and with questionable results, but it’s hard to see that as anything but throwing good money after bad.
That's true.
I find rear seats to be borderline for 2 adults (OK for 2 kids).
I see no realistic way to make that space comfortable for 3 adults, unless they are super small, and the time they are expected to occupy the rear seats is relatively short.
I don't see how you can achieve your stated goals. This is akin to asking how to make 2 adults comfortable in the back of a 911. It's just not going to happen.
Just squeeze the 3 smallest humans into the back seat, and drive as fast as you can to minimize the duration of their discomfort!
HTH,
a
wow, surprised on how unsupportive these answers are. Sure, can't make the care any bigger than it is but...
- one tip would be to set the front seats to the highest position possible. Obviously, it has to be comfortable and safe for the driver, but perhaps they are ok with a little higher. They can try. This will leave more room for the rear passengers to put their feet. Everybody thinks of pushing the front seat forward, especially of the passenger, but not many people think of putting the front seats higher. You can adjust the steering column to adjust for a higher driving position as a driver as well. Obviously, the less high your feet are, the more they can slide under the front seats, so rear seat passengers could even try taking their shoes off, lol
- I doubt you have a super early model 3. But the v1 seats (up to vin 25k) 2nd row bottom cushions are super thin and prove even less thigh support. V2 2nd row bottom cushions are thicker and provide more support. Tesla can swap them out for $500 + labor or you can attempt to do it yourself with a used car part. Downside is that v2 seats don't fold as flat, but it's still ok in my opinion. See this video
- There is a bit of a difference between bottom cushions of the 2nd row in the mY vs m3. mY's middle 'seat' is wider. I don't think it feels different and I don't know if you can put a mY bottom rear seat cushion in a m3, but you could look into it. Main difference between a m3 and my rear seats is that mY bottom cushion is about 15" of the ground vs m3 12" See this helpful video
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- that last video also says that the m3 2nd row is more comfortable than the mY. I just came from the Tesla showroom and tested them back to back and did not perceive any difference in the bottom cushion. The back support is uncomfortable in both. Even a tad worse in the Y in my opinion but don't know why. If you are willing to invest some $$, you could perhaps find a way to make that back support for the middle seat softer (bottom of the mid arm rest). I don't know if it is possible at all. I wouldn't know who or where to ask but I would go to a custom car shop (that makes hotrods and the like) and see if that is a little project they could tack on. It might be ridiculously expense for what it is, but on the other hand, another, upgrading to a bigger car will be way more expensive. The hotrod shop might even have ideas to make the bottom cushion more comfortable (e.g. make the front part even higher?). There might be after market mods for the rear seat, idk, would obviously be way cheaper
This reminds me of when we went skiing in our Prius II with 2 adults, 3 kids + car seats + 5 sets of skis, chains, food, clothes,... I bought a XXL Thule box and bars and a specific set of luggage to maximize usage. That extra gear was easily $1500 but avoided a $5-$10k car upgrade, so it was a no brainer in my mind.
- one tip would be to set the front seats to the highest position possible. Obviously, it has to be comfortable and safe for the driver, but perhaps they are ok with a little higher. They can try. This will leave more room for the rear passengers to put their feet. Everybody thinks of pushing the front seat forward, especially of the passenger, but not many people think of putting the front seats higher. You can adjust the steering column to adjust for a higher driving position as a driver as well. Obviously, the less high your feet are, the more they can slide under the front seats, so rear seat passengers could even try taking their shoes off, lol
- I doubt you have a super early model 3. But the v1 seats (up to vin 25k) 2nd row bottom cushions are super thin and prove even less thigh support. V2 2nd row bottom cushions are thicker and provide more support. Tesla can swap them out for $500 + labor or you can attempt to do it yourself with a used car part. Downside is that v2 seats don't fold as flat, but it's still ok in my opinion. See this video
- that last video also says that the m3 2nd row is more comfortable than the mY. I just came from the Tesla showroom and tested them back to back and did not perceive any difference in the bottom cushion. The back support is uncomfortable in both. Even a tad worse in the Y in my opinion but don't know why. If you are willing to invest some $$, you could perhaps find a way to make that back support for the middle seat softer (bottom of the mid arm rest). I don't know if it is possible at all. I wouldn't know who or where to ask but I would go to a custom car shop (that makes hotrods and the like) and see if that is a little project they could tack on. It might be ridiculously expense for what it is, but on the other hand, another, upgrading to a bigger car will be way more expensive. The hotrod shop might even have ideas to make the bottom cushion more comfortable (e.g. make the front part even higher?). There might be after market mods for the rear seat, idk, would obviously be way cheaper
This reminds me of when we went skiing in our Prius II with 2 adults, 3 kids + car seats + 5 sets of skis, chains, food, clothes,... I bought a XXL Thule box and bars and a specific set of luggage to maximize usage. That extra gear was easily $1500 but avoided a $5-$10k car upgrade, so it was a no brainer in my mind.
This guy had a problem with his front seat
I regret my Model Y purchase because of seat comfort and seating position problems And users recommended "Consider consulting with a professional automotive upholsterer or a specialized seat modification company"
That is what I would recommend for you. A hotrod shop might subcontract this out to a specialist like that, so they might have some referrals. I know a guy who spent $30k interior upgrade on a $20k car, because of an edge use case, so it can get very pricy, but anything is possible and I doubt you'd have to spend that much to get more comfortable
Lindenwood
Active Member
OP,
You might see if an uppholstery shop can make you some inserts to place over the seats and seat backs to flatten them out. This might lessen the perception that the outer passengers are “off center,” but would certainly be significantly cheaper than modifying the OEM seats.
You might see if an uppholstery shop can make you some inserts to place over the seats and seat backs to flatten them out. This might lessen the perception that the outer passengers are “off center,” but would certainly be significantly cheaper than modifying the OEM seats.
Did I misread it or this the original poster got banned? So all this might be a mute point, but we just did a test drive of '23 3 vs Y with 3 people in the back and it seemed to me that the different shape off the bottom cushion of the Y vs the 3 squishes the rear seat passengers more together in the center for the 3. I haven't measured it to verify it all. Might be a subtle marketing ploy of Tesla to give the impression that the Y has a bigger 2nd row vs the 3 although the objective dimensions say otherwise. idk. Our lesson is that we doubt we'll take the Y for road trips vs our minivan, so a 3 is enough for us as an around town car
other option could be memory foam boosters seats for adults (available on amazon etc) . That will be way cheaper then having your bottom bench customized. They are like $40/piece so you even can try to modify them so they give you exactly the support you need/want. I might try one just to sit higher and get more thigh support
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