Any ideas on improving thigh support in CX-5 Touring?

ehead

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Mazda CX-5 Touring
This is my first post, so hi everyone.

Recently I bought a 2016.5 CX-5 Touring after much deliberation and so far I'm happy with everything except one thing... I wish it came with the GT's 8-way seat control so I could get a better front to back tilt to the seat giving me better thigh support.

I actually had the chance to get a 2015 CX-5 Grand Touring with just 15,000 miles on it for a $1000 cheaper but I opted for the newer Touring. It was honestly a hard choice and I think I went with the new model just because of sheer car shopping exhaustion and the sales tactics of the Mazda salesman.

Anyway... the Grand Touring seemed to have a slightly nicer ride to it and I thought it was the wheels, but finally I think I figured out it due to a lack of thigh support in the Touring (that's the extra dimension you get in the powerseat with the GT).

It seems like this should be easy to fix but it's more challenging that I would have thought.

Some of my ideas:

Get an aftermarket seat cover and cut a foam wedge to put at the end of the seat? Might not fit perfect because seat covers are usually a tight fit. The foam might also slide around.

I though of trying to take the Mazda seat cover off and slip something under it. Don't know if this is possible.

I looked around for a wedge shaped seat cushion and found a couple but I'm not sure if I'm happy with them. It's also clear from the photos they intend the fat part of the wedge to be at your butt, not your thighs.

Is it possible to upgrade the Touring seat system to an 8-way control?

Anyone have any ideas or links to a descent seat cushion or seat cover? I'm surprised there are not covers out there that add more thigh support.
 
It's amazing how the same subjects keep coming up on this forum. This topic was covered years ago when the CX-5 first came out. A lot of people (including myself!) were caught off guard as to just how important those "extra 2" seat adjustments actually are going from the Touring to the Grand Touring. Anyway, my solution was to shim up the front of the driver's seat track about 3/4" (as best I can recall) and install a longer bolt to accommodate the extra height created by the washers I used. It helped; didn't solve it completely.
 
Find the seat you want in a wreck. You can swap the outer covering. (Check Ebay and you will see full sets of covers so you can see how easy it is.

Two cautions disconnect the battery so you don't accidentally upset a air bag.

Check the seat you are about to buy very carefully. Depending on the way the car came to its end, the seat could have been damaged by the drivers weight.

It can be done, I have done it with a number of cars. (SAAB, VW and Audi.)
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

@paris1, I think I found your old thread (http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...n-for-Uncomfortable-Seats-Aftermarket-Leather)

I looked under my seat and it looks like each side of the front of the seat is bolted into the track with 2 funny looking bolts that look totally flat to me. I guess those are the torx head bolts? I should probably take a picture and upload it.

I googled around on your idea and found a thread where someone did something similar with a Nissan and used nylon spaces (they look like fat plastic washers). I may give this a go. If I do I may PM you if you don't mind.

I'm also thinking of just custom cutting a foam wedge and then putting a seat cover on it. I think I need a seat cover anyways as I can really trash a drivers seat.
 
So as you can see in the first pic, it looks like I got about 5/8" lift at the front of the seat track with the washers and longer bolt. I gave up trying to find another torx head bolt and just used the highest spec hex head I could find.

The other two pix are of a wedge cushion I use occasionally when my sciatica flares up. I use it with the thick part at the rear, but you could reverse it as I have done in one photo to give you a little more thigh boost. It's a bit lumpy looking because I modified the foam inside to better suit my needs, but they from a local foam shop (see upper left of linked page) as one nicely cut wedge and they sell the nice black cover too. The shape fits well within the bolsters of the CX-5's seat. http://www.foam-futon.com/comfort.html
 

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