Replacing Front Passenger Seat on the Genesis

[mcginnpm]

There are three types of people in this World- Those that "make" things happen, those that "watch" things happen and those that say "What happened?"

Completely off topic but, GripperDon, being the "rocket scientist" that you are, you might recognize flyboy2's quote. While not completely accurate as written, this was supposedly said by CDR Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 Mission Commander, when commenting on the topic of success..."There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen."

 

[crupp]

CW for you to bring up something so trite deserves a trite response. Go spend $25K more and get a Mercedes. I personally think the passenger seat is more comfortable then the drivers seat-- 110K miles? Put a queen bed in the trunk. It's big enough.

Lets watch this. Personal opinions are certainly encouraged but not at the expense of holding an intelligent conversation. There are more effective ways of voicing your opinions, please use them.

 

[Disaster]

My wife and I do a lot of traveling and we split the driving 50/50. I have read much about the Hyundai Genesis and went for a test drive today with high hopes of purchasing one at our local dealship. We came away from our visit very disappointed with the front passenger seat. We could not believe that for a vehicle as nice as the Genesis, Hyundai did not have an option to add the same controls found on the driver seat to the passenger seat. Basically, the passenger seat base moves forward and backward. Most luxury sedans give you an option to have the same seat controls on the driver and passenger seats.

Question: Is it possible to install with controls a driver seat on the passenger side of the Genesis? Has anyone ever tried this?

I know, I know! What a crazy idea! Not if two people plan to put 100,000 miles on the car over the next 4-5 years.

Thanks for your help.

As others have mentioned, Hyundai made cost decisions with this car to give them a cost advantage in this category. I imagine the logic of not including the fancier controls, on the passenger side is the same logic used by other manufacturers who offer more controls on the driver side than the passenger side....the passenger has less need for them. The passenger doesn't need to be in a specific position relative to the pedals and steering wheel, therefore adjustability is less of an issue. Personally, I don't miss them and would rather have the money in my pocket.

I also agree, that the best solution (albeit expensive) would be importing the Korean parts (assuming they have full adjustments.) It would be a nightmare to modify the driver seat...the controls wouldn't even be on the correct side.

 

[Rey]

It is "possible" to graft a driver's seat motor adjustment mechanism to the passenger seat. No doubt that the motor adjustment mechanism is obtainable as a separate part. These parts do fail sometimes and manufacturers usually do not require ordering an entire new seat for replacement. But, it will be expensive. In time there will be wrecked Genesis available for parts; and you might be able to find the part even now through a nationwide salvage service. Used, the part will be a fraction of new price. Once you install the motor mechanism you will have to move the controls from the left to the right side of the seat. All this will take creativity, time and money.

You can do some modifications to the seat that will make it more comfortable. The seat can be shimmed on its track a bit. Again, this will take some creativity. There was a thread some time ago about raising the seat. I suggested that the seat could be raised somewhat on washer shims. One member wrote suggesting that any modification to the seat mounting was dangerous. Not really. The member may have thought that the seatbelt harness is attached to the seats. It's not. It is attached with heavy bolts to the body. All the seat bolts do is hold the seat to the car body, and their attachment construction reflects this. The seat track is held by four 14mm "unrated" nuts and bolts. There is room to add about 1/4" of washers underneath nuts/bolts to raise the seat without compromising thread coverage. I did this and it made a minor difference in seat height.
My next project will be to examine just how the passenger seat is attached to its track. There may be room for more shims between the track and the seat itself.
Further modifications may require longer bolts than OEM; and I intend to err on the side of caution using structurally-rated bolts and nuts. Most hardware store fasteners are unrated, and some auto parts stores carry rated fasteners.

 

[DavidNJ]

The short answer is no, but hopefully corrected on the 2011. By using a seat without ventilation and full power adjustment Hyundai saved maybe $100-150 per car. Remember, all the engineering was already done. The parts themselves are pretty cheap in quantity. They already had to use the perforated leather to match the driver's seat.

They will have the fully adjustable seat in the Equus, so it is possible.

 

[Navion 49]

I am new to this site and have not been able to find out how to start a new thread. Can anyone please provide some guidance on this point?
Thx.

 

[dg_moore]

I am new to this site and have not been able to find out how to start a new thread. Can anyone please provide some guidance on this point?
Thx.

Go to the top of the forum (like the sedan forum: http://www.genesisowners.com/hyundai-genesis-forum/forumdisplay.php?f=11) and you'll see a New Thread button at the top left, above the Threads In Forum listing.

 

[DavidNJ]

Interesting...compression is up to 13:1 (from 11.3), power down to 169 (from 198). Must be a very interesting camshaft. The dynamic compression is probably around 8:1 in both, but the expansion ratio is obviously higher for the hybrid. Probably where all of the additional 4 highway mpg came from.

They avoided the power sucking CVT that everyone else is using. I wonder if that is part of the advantage. I imagine they have an option to use an 8-speed instead of a 6-speed in the future.

Battery is in the trunk, but only 2 cu. ft. smaller. Maybe the new technology makes it better than its competitors here. All the hybrids except the Prius have very compromised trunks.

Still to be seen is whether the rear seat folds down to expand the trunk. All of the competitors except the Prius lose that feature. The battery is a bit smaller here, but still appears to be in a location that would block trunk access to the rear seat area.

My guess is will have a base price of $29,995 and one option package that raises it to $31,995.

My question is...what would it be like if they bagged the electric propulsion and just turned off the engine at idle. My guess is 200 pounds lighter and probably 30/35 or better in mileage for maybe $5k less to build. If they did variable lift and timing (it only does variable timing now) they may have been able to keep the high expansion ratio get 30/38 or something like that.

Some more aggressive engineering with carbon fiber body panels, more aluminum and CF structure, and tighter control on weight of components (e.g. higher grade steel allowing lighter crank, rods, etc.) may have shaved 200# off raising city mileage another 2mpg and improving handling.

 

[nearwater]

^ ?? Posted in the wrong thread, maybe?

Dan

 

[DavidNJ]

Yup...I wondered what happened to it!

Sonata Hybrid.

______________________________

Help support this site so it can continue supporting you!

 

[Himetro]

I've got the same problem, my wife hates the passenger seat, just got the car yesterday and she's not happy. You know that that means. Is this just a matter of getting a driver seat motor and installing it in the passenger seat? I know you'd have to increase the movement of the controls but I just want it to be able to go up and down.

 

[Bocatrip]

Fortunately, Hyundai listens to its customers. 2011?

 

[JDC]

My wife and I do a lot of traveling and we split the driving 50/50.

Question: Is it possible to install with controls a driver seat on the passenger side of the Genesis? Has anyone ever tried this?


Thanks for your help.

You know, as long as you can find a seat with controls that you can match mount wise into the car, sure you can put one in. The controls and motors are all in the seat and mount system.

Good luck.

 

[fun2drive]

Ah here we are in 2010 waiting on what the updates will be for the sedan.
I was told when they came out that the passenger seat would be cooled like the drivers seat, just wait for next year. This in late 2008.

Hyundia listens to its owners.
Really?
I don't see much evidence of that at all.
However this is hardly unique to Hyundia as this is true of BMW and other makes too.

My wife likes the car and we only waited until now because we were told at the dealership that they should have this in the 2011 models. Updates online here don't support that.

Looking at an Avalon which my wife really doesn't like that much and didn't much like the way Toyota handled the recall issue but it does have heated and cooled seats and now a back up camera.

I am a patient guy but she needs a car in the fall when the 2011 models become available. I can't think I am the only one that feels this way about product improvements...

 

[nearwater]

Ah here we are in 2010 waiting on what the updates will be for the sedan.
I was told when they came out that the passenger seat would be cooled like the drivers seat, just wait for next year. This in late 2008.

Hyundia listens to its owners.
Really?
I don't see much evidence of that at all.
However this is hardly unique to Hyundia as this is true of BMW and other makes too.

My wife likes the car and we only waited until now because we were told at the dealership that they should have this in the 2011 models. Updates online here don't support that.

Looking at an Avalon which my wife really doesn't like that much and didn't much like the way Toyota handled the recall issue but it does have heated and cooled seats and now a back up camera.

I am a patient guy but she needs a car in the fall when the 2011 models become available. I can't think I am the only one that feels this way about product improvements...

Many owners including me are with you on this one.
I mean, come on.. cheaper Buicks have both front cooling seats.
As a matter of fact, I don't think I've seen any other car that has cooled seats on the driver's side only.
How much more could it cost Hyundai to add a cooling feature for the passenger's seat?
They added Active cruise control + electronic parking brake for about $800 for the '10 MYs.
$100 max?

Dan

 

[ASHDUMP]

I used the cooling seat feature yesturday! It was nice!

 

[Gambler]

I guess we're not that picky, my wife's first time in the passenger seat she got a big smile on her face and said, "YES! a power passenger seat!" A lot of modern cars don't have any kind of power passenger seat. Anybody will agree that the Genesis is a great stab at the luxury/performance market. But to maintain their target price they had to limit features somewhere. I also think the increase of $100 in cost for this is an underestimation.