Installed 1st Gen Mazdaspeed seats in 1st Gen Mazda5

I'm looking seriously at doing this, even found a good deal on seats that I can pick up this weekend, but I have a couple of questions:

Are the Speed3 seat bottoms longer than the 5 bases? I think I've isolated the comfort problem I have with my 5 to a total lack of any support under my lower thighs, from the combination of the seat being too low in the front and being too short front to back. I know people have raised the bases up in the front, and I'll probably be doing that whether I keep the stock seats or switch to the Speed3 ones, but I think it would really help me more if the seating surface was longer/deeper, too.

Thanks! I've reached a point where I'm thinking about selling the 5 because my knees hurt every time I drive it, and I don't really want to do that!
The base itself isn't longer, but the cushion is and sits a little higher in the front. Raising the front with washers is a great idea and one that I may still do. For me the seats are so much more comfortable than the stock ones.

how tall are you loosenut? i'm 6ft and find at the lowest and farthest back the stock seats sit me far too close and high, so if anything i would like to swap in the speed3 seats using their bases so i can be a little lower. i will be driving my 5 a lot more and as it stands now its very uncomfortable for me for anything more than 30minutes. i've always liked the speed3 seats so finding this thread today was great!
I'm 6' 1" and sit with the seat all the way down and about next to rearmost position (1 click up) this leaves about 2" between my knees and lower dash which is a comfortable seating position for me. Modifications would have to be made to the speed3 tracks to bolt into the five. I actually feel like I have more room in my 5 than I do in my wife's CX9.

I still think the seats were the best investment I've made in the vehicle.
 
I picked up a lovely set of black Speed3 seats this weekend. :) Got a hell of a deal, too. I can't wait to get them installed!

The bottom cushions only measure about 1-1.5 inches longer than the ones in the 5, but they certainly feel much longer! I think they'll really help. (cabpatch)

I'll post up installed picks when I make it happen. I'll also be installing seat heaters in them before I put them in. :D

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Very nice, Foolish. I think you'll be happy with them. Looking forward to the completed pics.
 
I got the driver's side seat in tonight. I'll report back tomorrow with driving impressions and a few notes about the install to supplement the original post.

Picture! :D

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Looking good! :)

What do you think you'll do without the right side arm rest?

When I first got my 5, I thought about making some sort of cover for the center console pit that would act as an arm rest. However, that pit sure is far back.
 
Wow Foolish, you waste no time. Looks good!

Thanks! ...and thank you for the inspirational and instructional post!

I know you said you used the 5 base because it was taller and the 5 has a higher dash, hood, etc. and because it has a heat duct under the seats. I also recall that you didn't actually try to fit the 3 base in the 5, but I did. It turns out that the 3 base wouldn't work in the 5 anyway, because the 5 base has 4 bolts that go down into the floor but the 3 has 3 that go down into the floor and one that goes horizontally into the transmission tunnel.

Looking good! :)

What do you think you'll do without the right side arm rest?

When I first got my 5, I thought about making some sort of cover for the center console pit that would act as an arm rest. However, that pit sure is far back.

I'm seriously considering making some kind of "plug" for the center console bucket and putting a padded arm rest on top of that. We'll see. :)
 
Well, apparently in spite of the earlier comment that I waste no time, it took me another two months to get around to installing the passenger seat!

20160117_124357-X2.jpg


It went well enough. Again the majority of the time spent was actually in getting the Speed3 seat taken apart enough to get the seat heater pads installed. Now I just need to figure out where to pull power from, so I can actually hook up the heaters and be able to use them when the time comes! It's supposed to snow like mad here this weekend, meaning I'm likely to leave the Miata at home and use the 5 as my snow-mobile, so it would be nice to have working seat heaters in there. The trouble is, I'll need to get the 5 in the garage to do the install, and by the time I have time on Saturday, that will mean putting one or both of the other cars out in the snow while I'm working on making the 5 suitable to drive in the snow!

I also raised the front of the driver's seat to try to address the thigh support issues I've been having with this car. The longer base of the Speed3 seats seems to help, but I think raising the front will help more. I bought longer bolts to replace the front bolts that hold the seat pan to the base/sliders. Here's the original bolt next to the replacement and the stack of washers I used to raise the seat:
20160117_164407-L.jpg


...All in place:
20160117_165239-XL.jpg


The gap between the seat bottom and the plastic trim give a good idea how much It raised the front of the seat:
20160117_173225-X2.jpg


The fit of the passenger side, for comparison:
20160117_173249-X2.jpg


I haven't had much seat time in the 5 since I did the install, but it certainly feels like an improvement from a short test drive around the neighborhood.

I'll probably drive it to work on Friday, and if the snow hits like they're saying, I may end up with more than enough time behind the wheel getting home that evening! ...Perhaps I'll wire up those seat heaters tonight! :)
 
can you swap the rails to install the speed 3 seats without having to take them apart like in the OP ?
 
can you swap the rails to install the speed 3 seats without having to take them apart like in the OP ?

Nope! As I mentioned before:

It turns out that the 3 base wouldn't work in the 5 anyway, because the 5 base has 4 bolts that go down into the floor but the 3 has 3 that go down into the floor and one that goes horizontally into the transmission tunnel.

Wired in the seat heaters tonight! Toasty! :)
 
there is no bolts that separate just the rail ? not the whole base ... but the rails ?!

ohhh man
 
there is no bolts that separate just the rail ? not the whole base ... but the rails ?!

ohhh man

Well.... I don't know. I didn't try anything like that. Swapping out the seat pan and just using the stock base from the 5 was really not that big of a deal, so I didn't bother trying to reinvent the wheel on this one. I guess if you could separate the rails somehow and slide the complete 3 seat into the complete 5 base, that would be a little less work.
 
Looks great Foolish! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do mine.

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with it so far. I'll drive it to work tomorrow and should have a better feel for it after that!

Thank you for the write-up! I wouldn't have figured out that this was possible on my own. (thumb)
 
there is no bolts that separate just the rail ? not the whole base ... but the rails ?!

ohhh man

There are very large rivets holding the feet to sliders/frame that I was not inclined to attempt to remove. Someone with more motivation than I had might attempt to drill those out to swap just the feet. I'm talking very large rivets though.
 
tl;dr Foolish, do you know what year mz3 seats you used? You installed them into your 2nd gen ('10) ?

To anyone who might know: Are there mz3(or other) heated seats, in all black, leather, that will work with this mod? (Bonus points if it doesn't have MAZDASPEED or whatever badged on them.)

What kind of prices are you all seeing for the seats?

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long:

I picked up a mz5 recently (09 GT), and I'm already looking to sell it because of its uncomfortable seats. (Well, many reasons, but this is the final nail in the coffin.) (I'm 5'8, 130lbs and the seat base only goes up 50% of my femur.) Anyways, its ruining my knees and is uncomfortable for any length of time.


I was looking around for a marine/auto upholstery pro to extend the seat base cushions, attached either by using heavy duty snap-buttons, or zipper, or even sewed on, when I came across this thread.

Seriously considering this, however, not looking forward to spending upwards of 1000$ (cdn) just to make the seats acceptable. Debating on cutting my losses on the mz5 vs investing in modifications for non-terrible seat bases.

Worst part is, I really enjoy the lumbar/back/neck support. Its just the 12"(hyperbole(?)) seat base.

Last bonus question: Is a 2009 a 1st gen or second? 1st gen refresh, '2008.5" kind of thing?


Thanks! I'm pretty happy with it so far. I'll drive it to work tomorrow and should have a better feel for it after that!

Thank you for the write-up! I wouldn't have figured out that this was possible on my own. (thumb)
 
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tl;dr Foolish, do you know what year mz3 seats you used? You installed them into your 2nd gen ('10) ?

The seats were from a 1st Generation ('07-'09) MazdaSpeed3. It is my understanding that 2nd gen Speed3 seats are the same as other 2nd gen Mazda3 seats.

Last bonus question: Is a 2009 a 1st gen or second? 1st gen refresh, '2008.5" kind of thing?

2010 was the last year of the 1st Gen Mazda5. You can most easily identify 1st from 2nd gen by the big swooshes carved into the sides (2nd gen) or by the taillights. 1st Gen are up high next to the rear window, 2nd gen are horizontal, under the rear window, and look like they came off of the Mazda3.


Funny this thread came up again now. I just got back from a family vacation that involved a 6-hour + drive from DC-NC and back. The seats were phenomenal over all those hours on the road! :D

What do you think you'll do without the right side arm rest?

Strangely, neither I, or my wife, noticed the missing arm rests, even over AAAAAALLLLLL of those many, many, miles of road trip! :D
 
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Funny this thread came up again now. I just got back from a family vacation that involved a 6-hour + drive from DC-NC and back. The seats were phenomenal over all those hours on the road! :D



Strangely, neither I, or my wife, noticed the missing arm rests, even over AAAAAALLLLLL of those many, many, miles of road trip! :D

Foolish, I'm happy you find the seats as comfortable on long trips as I do. Probably even more so since you have the front of the cushion raised up. Even without that I still find them to be a huge improvement over stock.

I thought I would miss the armrests when I first did the swap but it became clear very quickly that I wouldn't after I'd driven it just a few times.
 
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