Seats?

[ravenish]

Seriously considering a V12V at the moment -

But am interested in your opinions on whether lightweight seats or full leather seats are better? And why?

Cheers,
Michael

[Zod]

For track, lightweight seats. For road use, the normal ones. I have the normal ones. I had fixed seats in my M3 CSL and they were good, but hard work on a long trip.

[Adam2S]

This question has been done several times over already, so get that search button pressed!

Anyway - I have to disagree with Zod, the lightwieght seats are miles better for road use too if you ask me. I could never get comfy in the sports seats in my V8V and often had numb legs after long journeys. The lightweight seats are vastly superior, and extreemly comfortable and supportive unless you are of a very large frame. They dont have the optiong of being heated and are hugely expensive to retrofit however so either spec them new, or buy a car with them already fitted.

I would not buy another Aston without them now, and certainly wouldnt entertain a V12V without them.

By the way the lightweight seats are available in half leather/alcantara or full leather too...

Edited by Adam2S on Monday 26th September 18:53

[Jockman]

Adam2S said:

...They dont have the optiong of being heated...

Would I be correct in thinking they cannot have side airbags attached, or am I confusing them with the sports seats ?

[Adam2S]

Jockman said:

Would I be correct in thinking they cannot have side airbags attached, or am I confusing them with the sports seats ?

Yup correct, no side airbags in the lightweight seats either (they also dont support ISOFIX child seats and you cannot disable the passenger side airbag either - but these are pretty trivial issues as a V12V is hardly a suitable baby chariot).

There are only 2 types of seat :

Sports (often refered to as "normal")

• 8 way adjustment
• full leather trim
• painted silver-grey backs
• electronic lumbar adjustment
• side airbags
• optional 3 position memory
• optional heating
• optional ISOFIX

Lightweight (often refered to as "buckets" or "carbon fibre buckets")

• 6 way adjustment
• half alcantara/leather or full leather trim
• carbon fibre / kevlar construction with visible carbon fibre seatbacks
• manual lumbar adjustment (two moveable velcro cushions inside seatbacks)
• 17kg weight saving over sports seats
• optional 3 position memory

[krisdelta]

Adam2S said:

Anyway - I have to disagree with Zod, the lightwieght seats are miles better for road use too if you ask me. I could never get comfy in the sports seats in my V8V and often had numb legs after long journeys.

Edited by Adam2S on Monday 26th September 18:53

The OP now officially has a reason to test drive both options Result!

I recall that EVO ran a Roadster with the lightweight seats with mixed feedback - may be worth a trawl on their website.

Cheers

Kris

[jonby]

As others have said, loads of posts on this subject, they stir a lot of passion !

So I won't give my full thoughts which can be found elsewhere, suffice to say I'm a big fan, do little track work and have done multiple 500 mile per day trips in the lightweight seats

I'm generalising, but the general consensus with regards to lack of additional airbags from those that have the lightweights, perhaps tinged by how much we love them, is it doesn't matter. In the US, it was raised as the biggest downside of the lightweights

One very minor correction to the previous post though, unless the V12V is different to the V8V, memory is not optional - it comes as standard with the lightweight seats

[Adam2S]

jonby said:

One very minor correction to the previous post though, unless the V12V is different to the V8V, memory is not optional - it comes as standard with the lightweight seats

It is different, memory seats is std on the V12V but memory seats is a stand alone feature. The V12V therefore has either lightweight seats with memory or sports seats with memory.

I believe the V8 and V8S can be ordered with lightweight seats without the memory option.

Edited by Adam2S on Monday 26th September 20:22

[AMGreg]

The general consensus is for the sports seats. It does come down to personal preference and you definitely need to test them yourself. I actually preferred the standard seats for comfort.

[KarlFranz]

Correction, in the US it doesn't matter. The lightweight seats are not available.

[Zod]

I needed switchable passenger airbag in any case because my five and two year old sons are enthusiastic passengers.

[spiralp]

I agree with Zod. I have just got back from a 3,000 mile trip to Italy and the seats in my V8V were perfect for both me and my wife. We could easily cover 500 miles in a day without any discomfort. Before the Vantage I had an M3 CSL and my wife hated the seats - on a trip to Le Mans she was in serious discomfort, although I was OK driving. I think you (and your partner) need to try them out to see how you feel.

[Colesie]

As others have said, it's completely down to personal preference. Having seen some lengthy threads on this subject the majority who have had extended experience of the lightweight seats seem to prefer them. I personally find them significantly better than the sports seats in my '07 V8 for both support and long distance comfort. I always felt I was sitting "on" the sports seats and I could never get them set up to give me decent shoulder support.

You're just going to have to test drive with both and go with your preference.

[Tony V12V]

Adam2S said:

This question has been done several times over already, so get that search button pressed!

Anyway - I have to disagree with Zod, the lightwieght seats are miles better for road use too if you ask me. I could never get comfy in the sports seats in my V8V and often had numb legs after long journeys. The lightweight seats are vastly superior, and extreemly comfortable and supportive unless you are of a very large frame. They dont have the optiong of being heated and are hugely expensive to retrofit however so either spec them new, or buy a car with them already fitted.

I would not buy another Aston without them now, and certainly wouldnt entertain a V12V without them.

By the way the lightweight seats are available in half leather/alcantara or full leather too...

Edited by Adam2S on Monday 26th September 18:53

+1 same thoughts exactly

[michael gould]

KarlFranz said:

Correction, in the US it doesn't matter. The lightweight seats are not available.

Is that because our American cousins couldn't fit in them

[Tony V12V]

michael gould said:

KarlFranz said:

Correction, in the US it doesn't matter. The lightweight seats are not available.

Is that because our American cousins couldn't fit in them

[Cipo]

Not sure if anyone mentioned heated seats? Not sure if you will need them where you are, this may also be a factor in your decision making

[ravenish]

Thanks very much for the inputs, much appreciated.

I personally think that the normal seats (not bucket ones) look more luxurious on an Aston and suits it more than bucket seats (no offence at all - perhaps just personal taste!) But I just wonder what the majority of the Aston owners in the UK take as regards to the choice of seats.

On a side note, I'm not sure if this has been answered before - but do you pay VAT on 2nd hand cars in the UK (AMs specifically of course)?
Say a 2nd/3rd hand AM is selling at a dealership, and is asking for 100k pounds (subject to haggling of course) - does that include the VAT price? Or would the actual price (excluding VAT for shipping purposes) be 100k x 0.8 [20% VAT] = 80k?

I ask this because I know the unregistered/brand new cars are normally listed with VAT but I am not sure if the 2nd hand ones do. Under my impression, the 2nd hand prices should include VAT too, but I heard conflicting information elsewhere. Would just like to confirm which is the correct version.

Cheers.

[steveatesh]

ravenish said:

Thanks very much for the inputs, much appreciated.

I personally think that the normal seats (not bucket ones) look more luxurious on an Aston and suits it more than bucket seats (no offence at all - perhaps just personal taste!) But I just wonder what the majority of the Aston owners in the UK take as regards to the choice of seats.

On a side note, I'm not sure if this has been answered before - but do you pay VAT on 2nd hand cars in the UK (AMs specifically of course)?
Say a 2nd/3rd hand AM is selling at a dealership, and is asking for 100k pounds (subject to haggling of course) - does that include the VAT price? Or would the actual price (excluding VAT for shipping purposes) be 100k x 0.8 [20% VAT] = 80k?

I ask this because I know the unregistered/brand new cars are normally listed with VAT but I am not sure if the 2nd hand ones do. Under my impression, the 2nd hand prices should include VAT too, but I heard conflicting information elsewhere. Would just like to confirm which is the correct version.

Cheers.

This will answer your question on VAT on used cars:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Happy reading

[ravenish]

steveatesh said:

This will answer your question on VAT on used cars:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Happy reading

Thanks for the link.


I have read through it - but still don't quite understand. So if a 2nd hand AM is marked at 100k pounds, does it mean the VAT is already included in that 100k pounds (ie. the original price is 80k + 20k (VAT))? Or does it depend on the car? But what is the usual case if I refer to any dealer sales in the PH Classified sessions?