Almost any car can be equipped with heated seats these days. But ventilated front seats are still limited to luxury vehicles, and a small selection at that. Our Infiniti FX50 has them, though, and they're standard. I've been trying out the cooling function for the past few days. Turn the seat climate knob to one of three "blue" points and a fan underneath the seat blows air through the seat's perforated leather upholstery.
The "blow" description is actually my best guess; it's really hard to determine whether the fan is pulling or blowing air because the effect is quite faint. It does work -- after about 30 seconds of it on, your backside will start to feel cooler, especially if you're sweaty. But the seats aren't actually using air-conditioned air -- it's more like how you feel cooler when you stand in front of a regular fan.
Our Infiniti's seat ventilation is a nice feature, but the overall temperature change you get isn't nearly as much as what happens with seat heaters.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
misterfusion says:
08:35 AM, 07/10/09
I can't wait for the day this feature trickles-down to "regular" cars. Seems like it would cool me off a lot faster (and more efficiently) than just blasting the a/c. I can guarantee I'd use this feature more than the seat heater, no matter where I lived.
dougtheeng says:
09:01 AM, 07/10/09
I've never sat in ventilated seats before. I'm very curious to try it.
bkochuk says:
09:05 AM, 07/10/09
my friend's Lexus has it. it's a nice touch.
deagle13 says:
09:07 AM, 07/10/09
My wife's Enclave has venthillated front seats. They were awesome on our recent trip across the CA and AZ desert to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Definitely a feature that's well worth the money if you live in the sun belt.
chavis10 says:
09:19 AM, 07/10/09
Saab 9-5 had this feature way back in '99. Back then, such luxury items were considered "gizmos" and not useful since BMW did no choose to offer such niceties.
robs249 says:
09:31 AM, 07/10/09
My best friends Escalade has them. Works great, especially when leaving the gym.
carfreak8394 says:
09:52 AM, 07/10/09
I rode in a Lexus LS430 with the cooled seats, and they worked very well. Living in Florida, this would be a great feature to have. Hopefully, it will trickle down to cheaper cars eventually.
toye says:
10:03 AM, 07/10/09
My Genesis has it this feature on the Driver's seat and I must say it is a nice feature. When the car has been in the sun it takes about 1-2 minutes for one to feel the coolness arrive on your backside and only 30 seconds if the car had been sitting undercover or in shade. Once it cools I usually set down to the least coolest setting. Living in Florida it's a nice feature
carfreak8394 says:
10:13 AM, 07/10/09
toye,
Where in Florida do you live?
Maybe I've seen your Genesis around.
:P
DLu says:
10:13 AM, 07/10/09
Drove an ES350 a couple of years back that had this -- not always needed up in Boston, but works surprisingly well.
firstwagon says:
10:16 AM, 07/10/09
Sounds like a neat feature. Good step to making leather as comfortable as cloth seats.
cx7lover says:
10:20 AM, 07/10/09
The Volvo S80 DEFINITLY has air conditioned air coming through the seats.
roar02ram says:
10:44 AM, 07/10/09
chavis - tough to believe that Saab came out with that first.
jstandefer says:
11:03 AM, 07/10/09
I test drove a Dodge Ram a couple of months ago that had cooled seats. I know you can also find them in the F-150, Expedition, and new Taurus... and of course the whole Lincoln line. Ford seems to really like the feature. This is a feature I would have really liked in my Miatas.
chavis10 says:
11:32 AM, 07/10/09
"chavis - tough to believe that Saab came out with that first."
Why is it tough to believe? You don't have to take my word for it, go look it up. Ventilated, massaging and adaptive seats were all around at least 10 years ago (from GM no less) but were universally panned as being distractions and gimmicks. Oh how times have changed...
toye says:
11:59 AM, 07/10/09
carfreak
I live in Fort Lauderdale and drive a silver 3.8 Genesis with wings on front and back
trentor says:
12:08 PM, 07/10/09
That would be a bit of heaven inside a car. I never use the heated seats in my G35, even on the 2 days it gets below freezing here in Dallas. I would use ventilated seats 75% of the year though.
trentor says:
12:10 PM, 07/10/09
jstandefer - Yes, this should be a standard feature on all convertibles. I would have loved this on my 350z roadster much more than I would in my G35. I still want it though. badly.
brn says:
01:00 PM, 07/10/09
Heck, moving from my leather to cloth seats would make a big difference. Leather is supportive and easy to clean, but it's hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
eblock2 says:
01:28 PM, 07/10/09
Toyota Avalon is probably the cheapest way to get ventilated seats.
mercedesfan says:
02:59 PM, 07/10/09
Chavis is actually correct. Saab was the first to introduce both venitlated seats and whiplash protective headrests, both way back in 1998. Adaptive (mid-1990's) and massaging (1999) seats were courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.
Getting back on topic, my car has ventilated seats and I actually don't use the feature that much anymore. When I first got the car I used them all the time because I thought they were so neat, and they actually do a pretty good job of cooling your backside, but I just don't really think about them anymore unless the car has been really hot.
jeffal says:
03:36 PM, 07/10/09
They're called "ventilated" seats. Not "air-conditioned" seats.
dalaw says:
04:48 PM, 07/10/09
I was heading back to LA from Vegas and my back was sweaty despite having the a/c on. Wish I had cooled seats.
mopar424 says:
04:56 PM, 07/10/09
Nissan had adaptive seats in the 80's. That 'exclusive' list of vehicles with vent/AC seats is getting bigger. A good portion of Edmunds' LT fleet have them now.
trentor says:
09:48 PM, 07/10/09
mercedesfan -
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you don't live in the south. If you were in Dallas you'd definitely use it. a LOT.
roar02ram says:
09:09 AM, 07/11/09
Whoops - didn't write that well. I knew that Saab was first (in the 9-5...that's still around...). You'd just never guess that Saab was first from the looks of their lineup now.
Just like Direct Injection engines - the first sold in the US was in the Isuzu Axiom. Don't think many people would get that one right, either.