Q for those of you with heated seats…

[dj_efk]

This is definitely a first world problem!! But my heated seat is slow to kick in on a cold start even with the regulator set to 6 (max) - and even then I can feel the heating action can be intermittent, especially at night and on short journeys (on long journeys there’s no issue that I can detect, although I would then have them set to “2” or perhaps “3” at most.

I have just accepted that this is normal so far - thinking that the car is designed to do this in order to regulate electrical load demands (charging the battery after a cold start, lights, climate etc.) - but is that the experience of others here?

Just wondering if this actually is not normal and could therefore be related to my heated rear window and mirrors not functioning too (or indeed I may actually have two seperate issues).

 

[Dave M]

The original platinum leather seats used to warm up lovely on a winters morning after only a mile or so of driving David. My cloth heated seats are nowhere near as efficient and they too sometimes feel "patchy". My wife's T Roc seats get warmed up really quickly and I end up turning them off because they are too hot. I suppose it firstly may depend on the amount of wear degradation in the heater pads on older cars and advances in technology for the new.

 

[dj_efk]

<sigh>

I do wish Hilary had kept those lovely platinum heated & lumbar SE seats you had in the car Dave. No doubt whoever has the car they were in now doesn’t appreciate them like you did or I would!

 

[Dave M]

Absolutely .

 

[Skipton01]

My Mk2 TT seats are bone-meltingly warm. I would prefer the seat to be around level 5, but the backrest to remain a 6, but this can't be done I don't think.

 

[PlasticMac]

My Mk2 TT seats are bone-meltingly warm. I would prefer the seat to be around level 5, but the backrest to remain a 6, but this can't be done I don't think.

My Mk1 TT seats are almost instant too.
Mac.

 

[Evans78]

Across a range of different VAG cars over the years, I too have noticed differences in how quickly they heat up.

Current A2 heats up without too much issue. A 2008 Mk5 Golf Gti used to take quite a long time. More modern stuff heats up really quite quickly.

 

[Erlingtheyounger]

My sport twist leather seats in Tonka get warm within 2 minutes. When it’s cold I tend to run them at 4 which is very comfortable

 

[PlasticMac]

Across a range of different VAG cars over the years, I too have noticed differences in how quickly they heat up.

Current A2 heats up without too much issue. A 2008 Mk5 Golf Gti used to take quite a long time. More modern stuff heats up really quite quickly.

My Mk1 TT is not modern, but heats up quickly.
It may be that the thermistor, that controls the power applied to the heater pads, is on the blink, saying it's warmer than it actually is, or the Climate Controller is faulty, as the power controller is in there. It varies the frequency of the 12 volt pulses applied to the pad. More pulses, more heat.
Mac.

 

[Buchanan DTR]

I hate you all

 

[dj_efk]

My sport twist leather seats in Tonka get warm within 2 minutes. When it’s cold I tend to run them at 4 which is very comfortable

4 is very warm! I just did a 145 mile journey and to be fair the seat did warm up within a few minutes - but only in terms of taking the edge of the cold at first, then slowly warming up from there - I had it on 4 but had to turn it down eventually.

Anyway the consensus here appears to be to lower my expectations a little - the seats work and that’s the important thing.

 

[depronman]

My retro fitted but original A2 leather sports seats heat up to the point that you can feel it through jeans, a shirt & huddy and a jacket withing a mile when set to 6, you are turning 6 to 3 or 4 max after 5 or 6 miles and in the winter normally set to 2 on a long journey.
The Leather seats in my A5 Cab only have 1, 2 or 3 and will not stay on 3 for more than about 10 mins when they change to 2. 3 is hot in about the same time as the A2 but do get slightly hotter, 2 is a little too hot for a long journey and 1 is a little too cold in the winter. I don't see the A5's 3 setting as progress compared to the A2 which had 6 settings and was some 15 years older in terms of design

Paul

 

[jonjo]

does anyone fancy measuring the resistance of their elements to keep this thread hot? I’ve got 12-15 ohms on the base and around 45 ohms on the back. Not finished installing but interested to know if it’s worth fighting the hog rings to upgrade the elements.