Unless they make the drivers seat and passenger seat differently, there's absolutely variance in their manufacturing process. My driver's seat's bolsters are super super stiff and dig into my thighs, the passenger seat bolsters are very soft and comfortable. It literally feels like 2x higher density foam. Does anyone else find one seat more comfortable than the other?
As for a fix, I would love tesla to replace the seat cushion, but I'm skeptical they'd do anything, it's probably "in spec".
As sort of hacky fix, I wonder if you could pull the seat cover tighter over the sides of the seat. I noticed that if I sort of pull the seat cover tighter over the sides by just pulling it with my fingers, it helps, but only for as long as I'm pulling. I think what's going on here is seat cover is pulling the bolster down and out a bit. I wonder if this cover could be latched deeper under the seat so it's tighter?
I have a fix and information.
My brand new M3P really began to hurt after the first long ride. I am a bit larger in frame than the average bear. I'm 6'1” and 250 lbs with large hip bones.
At first it was the narrow hard wings that hurt me. But this hurt feeling expanded to not liking riding in the car a great deal any more than an hour. Over time, it was like memory and it hurt in shorter and shorter time.
I bought complete seat systems and studied them and studied the differences between “good” seats and “bad” seats.
All the Tesla models in recent times use the same or similar seats. The metal pans are identical. The Tesla seats use a foam that's far too soft. The seat sits too deep in a metal frame with essentially zero springs. Since the seat is deep into the frame, the wings / bolsters are actually up against the metal frame.
On my model 3, I replaced the foam with a more dense foam that is also higher. What a difference!
I basically swapped for a foam from a car that never hurt driving all day.
Problem solved.
This was a lot of work and time. Putting another foam in, while using the standard OEM Tesla “leather” seat cover was very difficult. I had to come up with some creative solutions.
But it was worth it.
No pain from the wings / bolsters as they are now totally soft and above the metal, genuine suspension in the seat, no shock over bumps. Much better back. I haven't tested yet for a 3 hour drive but I'm loving every second in this revised seat and look forward to sitting in it.
George Borrelli
2022 Tesla Model 3 P
Crystal River, Florida