The New Next-Gen Subaru Crosstrek Seats Will Be A Game-Changing Upgrade

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Subaru says the 2024 Crosstrek has redesigned seats that have a medical benefit. Here's how they improved the new Crosstrek seats for maximum comfort and hit a home run for its customers.

How comfortable are the new 2024 Subaru Crosstrek seats? Subaru Corporation says they are completely redesigned for maximum riding comfort and used a medical approach in the redesign. So how did they make the seats the best?

Subaru Corporation Technology Headquarters Development Department Manager Masayoshi Saito says he was initially involved in the advanced development of the next-generation Crosstrek's dynamic performance and was working on development to improve ride comfort, mainly on the suspension.

He says, "If we pursue ride comfort, shouldn't we focus more on the seat that the customer touches first? So he took a medical approach and looked at the human body and how it assorts vibration from the car's suspension.

Saito says, "To create a comfortable seat, we first needed to know in detail what was going on with the human skeleton on the side of the seat."

At Gunma University, near Tokyo, Subaru started a joint course and enlisted the cooperation of a professor from the Faculty of Medicine, who gave them advice that if they could reduce the movement of the pelvis of the occupants, we could reduce body sway and improve ride comfort.

Based on medical advice regarding the human musculoskeletal system, Subaru used sensors and cameras to measure the movement of various parts of the human body, such as the legs, waist, upper body, and head, during driving.

As a result of the extensive study, Subaru found that the left and right shaking of the pelvis was transmitted to the upper body and even to the head. Shaking of the head leads to swaying of vision and swaying of the semicircular canals that control the sense of balance, which leads to deterioration of ride comfort, such as fatigue and sickness.

When engineers made a prototype seat, compared it with a conventional seat, and tested it with a vibrating machine, they found that the vibration level of both side-to-side sway and roll in the direction of rotation had decreased by nearly 40 percent.

Engineers put the remodeled seats in a next-generation Crosstrek, and the model equipped with the new seat was evaluated as providing less driver fatigue, especially during long-distance driving.

Subaru spent the time and money to hit a home run with the next-generation 2024 Crosstrek seats. As a result, you can drive further off the grid with the new subcompact SUV.

You Might Also LikeSee Why The Subaru Crosstrek Is Now A One Of A Kind Small SUV

Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role working with every major car brand. He is an accredited member of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press. Check out Subaru Report, where he covers all of the Japanese automaker's models. More stories can be found on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

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Photo credit: Subaru USA

Submitted by Greg Iverson (not verified) on March 10, 2023 - 12:00PM

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Does anyone know how (and if it is advisable) to buy a new Subaru in Canada for taking back to the US? The Canadian 2024 Crosstrek will offer a heated steering wheel, but not in America, and I really can't do without that here in Wisconsin. Would it be cost-effective?

Submitted by Dana (not verified) on March 11, 2023 - 5:49PM

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I find the Subaru comfort issue for me is the gas pedal spot is uncomfortable because the transmission tunnel sticks in too far. It forces my right foot toes inwards uncomfortably.

But yeah.. also my wife's 2019 Forester touring is meh. The 2017 Forester was the worst.. super firm and not deep enough. The 2019 is still too firm but has more cushion and feels deeper for more leg support. On my 2019 WRX the seating position literally has my pointy butt cheeks as the only contact with the seat. There are permenant seat depressions in the shape of my cheeks. If I adjust the seat for proper thigh support then I cannot push the clutch all the way in comfortably

Submitted by Mikey (not verified) on March 12, 2023 - 8:22PM

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I got excited reading the headlines but it seems that they haven't actually done anything to make the seat more comfortable just vibrate less. So my head will still be pushed uncomfortably forward and my whole back will be rounded so that when I get out of my car after a couple hour drive I'll be unable to stand up straight.

Submitted by Sadie (not verified) on December 24, 2023 - 3:44PM

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That is all smoke and mirrors as you are looking at upholstery, so sit in them and then really see for yourself. I have a 2024 and the seat is the MOST UNCOMFORTABLE SEAT I have ever sat in other than my grandfather's Plymouth back in the 50's!

I am so disappointed and there are a few other items I would like to talk about like having to take off your warm gloves to start the heat that is nothing to brag about.