Next-Gen Rear Seat - Headroom?

Shew · May 21, 2015

Tesla is ready to install my next-gen rear seats.

I like the next-gen seats - but I'm worried about losing additional headroom. With the current seats there is limited headroom - especially as I don't have the sunroof that adds more headroom.

Does anyone know if the next-gen rear seats increase or decrease headroom?

P85D | Delivered 12/18/14

manielli · May 21, 2015

As far as I know the rear seats do not change when you get the next gen seats. Also on the Tesla website when you choose next gen seats it doesn't show any difference in the renders. I was also at Tesla 2 days ago and I checked out a new model S with next gen seats. The rear seats were identical to mine, as I compared them side by side.

Shew said:
Tesla is ready to install my next-gen rear seats.

I like the next-gen seats - but I'm worried about loosing additional headroom. With the current seats there is limited headroom - especially as I don't have the sunroof that adds more headroom.

Does anyone know if the next-gen rear seats increase or decrease headroom?

P85D | Delivered 12/18/14

travwill · May 21, 2015

Shew said:
Tesla is ready to install my next-gen rear seats.

I like the next-gen seats - but I'm worried about loosing additional headroom. With the current seats there is limited headroom - especially as I don't have the sunroof that adds more headroom.

Does anyone know if the next-gen rear seats increase or decrease headroom?

P85D | Delivered 12/18/14

Yeah, there was entire threads in Jan 2015, about the conflict on them changing the rear seats. They started just giving people the next gen front seats and old gen back seats without notification. Blew up a bit. At this point if you have ordered, you are paying the $2500 upgrade on seats for the next gen front seats only like the rest of us. The rear seats are all the same now.

Shew · May 21, 2015

travwill said:
Yeah, there was entire threads in Jan 2015, about the conflict on them changing the rear seats. They started just giving people the next gen front seats and old gen back seats without notification. Blew up a bit. At this point if you have ordered, you are paying the $2500 upgrade on seats for the next gen front seats only like the rest of us. The rear seats are all the same now.

Yes - agreed and understood.

My case is a little different - I had one of the first P85Ds and ordered the next-gen seats with it. So I paid for both front and back next-gen seats but only the fronts were installed on delivery.

Now my rear next-gen seats have arrived - and before I install them I wanted to make sure I'm not loosing a lot of headroom.

Does anyone know if I will lose headroom?

benjiejr · May 21, 2015

Shew said:
Does anyone know if I will lose headroom?

Had mine installed today and it seems like there may be just a slight difference in headroom. I have the pano roof and I am 6' tall. I had a cap on and it just barely touched the roof edge (not the pano glass; there was some clearance to the pano glass). Without the hat I barely clear it depending on how I hold my head. The seat in the middle probably has more clearance since it's only pano glass above.

In any case, I really like the Next Gen seats - front and back!

Firewired · May 21, 2015

Ben, did they do the install locally or take the car to Austin? Spoke to Carlos earlier, no word on mine yet.

Mr X · May 21, 2015

The head rests on the rear seats are bigger and provide less visibility than the old seats...

But they do have more support so there are +'s and -'s

sandpiper · May 22, 2015

Mr X said:
The head rests on the rear seats are bigger and provide less visibility than the old seats...

But they do have more support so there are +'s and -'s

I agree, but the visibility behind the old seats was pretty poor anyhow. I've started to get more accustomed to using the backup camera.

Shew · May 22, 2015

benjiejr said:
Had mine installed today and it seems like there may be just a slight difference in headroom. I have the pano roof and I am 6' tall. I had a cap on and it just barely touched the roof edge (not the pano glass; there was some clearance to the pano glass). Without the hat I barely clear it depending on how I hold my head. The seat in the middle probably has more clearance since it's only pano glass above.

In any case, I really like the Next Gen seats - front and back!

Thanks BenjieJr - that was exactly what I was looking for.

Sounds like it is essentially no change in height and provides better support and match for the fronts. Saw several posts with comments about the rear window being more occluded - but I mostly rely on the review view camera so not an issue for me.

Appreciate the data.

benjiejr · May 22, 2015

Firewired said:
Ben, did they do the install locally or take the car to Austin? Spoke to Carlos earlier, no word on mine yet.

Hey Rich! They took it on a trailer to Austin. Picked up at 7:30am and brought it back to me at 9pm. They looked at a few other minor issues that I had saved up but I believe most of the time spent was on the seat installation. Good luck on getting your seats! I expect you should get a call very soon.

DieAbetic · May 22, 2015

If the Next-Gen seats are the same as the Executive rear seats, then yes there is definitely some loss of headroom in the back compared to my textile seats. Even mentioned it to a Tesla employee and he acknowledged the extra cushion on those back seats reduces head room.

SSK · May 22, 2015

I tried the Next-Gen seats back to back with my 2013 P85+ seats, and the NG seats had better headroom than the seats in my old P85.

Shew · May 24, 2015

SSK said:
I tried the Next-Gen seats back to back with my 2013 P85+ seats, and the NG seats had better headroom than the seats in my old P85.

Awesome - that is great to hear. Thank you.

Based on all the feedback here, the fact that my kids like the new seats better, and a discussion with the Seattle service manager, I've scheduled the installation of the new seats.

One additional point, that I have not seen elsewhere, came from the service manager... He said just be aware that the next-gen back is a little thicker so this means that the angle of the seat when folded down is slightly more elevated - it is about one inch higher. To put this in perspective the seats are already at angle when folded down so you are not losing fold flat - but it probably goes from something like 3" above flat to 4".

Cyclone · May 24, 2015

Just to mention, you cannot compare the headrests on next gen rears to those of 2012 - mid-2014 rear headrests. In mid-2014, standard rear seats got the new improved whiplash protection headrests. So even without next gen seats, the headrests are different in the rear on new cars compared to older cars. This says nothing about headroom for the Op, but rear visibility is the same with or without next gen rears on newer cars.

Shew · May 25, 2015

Cyclone said:
Just to mention, you cannot compare the headrests on next gen tears to the headrests of 2012 - mid-2014 headrests. In mid-2014, standard rear seats got the new improved whiplash protection headrests. So even without next ten seats, the headrests are different in the rear on new cars compared to older cars. This says nothing about headroom for the Op, but rear visibility is the same with or without next gen rears on newer cars.

Thanks - that is good to know.

Makes the decision to install next-gen rears even easier. With this additional data it now sounds like the only downside to the next-gen rear seats is that they have slightly more of an incline when folded down.

electrish · May 26, 2015

My car was delivered with regular seats (front and rear) and Tesla installed the next-generation seats last week.
If memory serves me well, the headroom is not much different in comparison. However, I have a Pano roof, which obviously creates more space.
I took some before and after photos, trying to maintain similar angles, that may be of interest to you.

I love my NG seats, as they provide much better support. Some of my regular rear passengers have mentioned though that leg room may be slightly reduced now.
You are correct that the new seats don't fold down as much as the older ones, but I don't think to a significant degree; there's obviously the step-up, since both types of seats don't fold down to create a flat surface.
Of note, the rear visibility is similar to my older seats, since the middle headrest is smaller:

This photo war taken from about shoulder height just to demonstrate the difference in the headrests. Visibility through the mirror is better than this, even though not generous, obviously.
I took an additional photo to show how close the back headrests are to the roof, which you may be able to use to compare to your older seats to get an idea about the final position of your head in the back of the car:

Again, I have a Pano roof, which probably renders comparisons very difficult.

Joules Verne · May 26, 2015

Why is it that on the Design Studio, the upgrade to the NG seats does not result in the rear seats changing?

This led me to believe the NG upgrade was for the front seats only. Did I get that wrong?
Clearly your photos show front and back are different.

Cyclone · May 26, 2015

Joe Electric said:
Why is it that on the Design Studio, the upgrade to the NG seats does not result in the rear seats changing?

This led me to believe the NG upgrade was for the front seats only. Did I get that wrong?
Clearly your photos show front and back are different.

There was a brief period of time the Design Studio charged $3,500 (instead of $2,500) for NG seats and included both fronts and rears. The Op ordered inside this window.

Joules Verne · May 26, 2015

Ah, that explains it. Thanks!

wayner · May 27, 2015

Does anyone find the NG seats too snug, especially if you are a widebody? I am 5'9" and 210lbs and if I was any heavier the sides on the back part of the seat would be too snug.

Next-Gen Rear Seat - Headroom?

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