Our IS250 AWD has the heated and ventilated front seats. Gotta say, the heating function works great, but the ventilation feature is completely useless. Even on high, the ventilation system in the seats does virtually nothing to cool the seat. It's been 85-100 degrees where I live, with high humidity, and those ventilators are way out of their league.

For comparison, my Lincoln LS has true cooled seats, and they're great! In two minutes, the seat is cool and comfy!

Anybody have thoughts or comments on this feature?

 

I agree......heated works great, but otherwise worthless option. It was 113 here yesterday and with the AC on high, split level, the seats did not do what I had hoped they would have done.

 

turn ur climate control to dual setting (front/foot).... then use ur ventilated seats.... it will be dramtic cooler as its drawing the colder ac air from the foot area

 

cooling seats are not that bad. not the same as heating them...but they do work at little. i'm satisfied because i call feel the circulation.

 

The key word is ventilated seats and not cooled seats... There is no cooling element in the seats, so if your cabin is warm, it won't do anything for you. A lot depends on what you're wearing too. If I'm wearing jeans I can't really feel them working. If however i'm wearing slacks, or thinner denim I can definatly tell they're on.

 

Good tip, I'll try that!

 

I agree, they work "average" at best. But the AC is so good in this car that it helps a lot, especially using the tip as above.

 

I think most people that complain about the ventilation are expecting their *** cheeks to be chilled - that's not what ventilated seats do. At the very least they will prevent your backside from sweating or sticking to the seat. In ideal conditions (thin, breathable-fabric pants and keeping cabin temps very cool) they chill my butt as much as I could ask for.

As others have mentioned, clothing and cabin temp conditions are big factors in the vents' ability to cool your huevos down.

 

Coming from a car (Inifniti M45) with actual air-conditioned seats, I expected the IS's ventilated seats to be punk. But I'm finding here in toasty Texas that they do a pretty darn good job.

As the cabin cools down, the air drawn through the seats naturally gets cooler, and after awhile the air flowing through them is about as cool as my Infiniti's were. And after all, the really air-conditioned seats can make you feel like you just spilled a glass of ice water in your lap if you max them out, and are not as comfortable as you might think. I kept my Infiniti's on about half power, while I keep the IS on "3".

 

The seat heaters are adequate, similar in performance to the ones in my old Maxima, but not even close to the ones in my Audi, which were as powerful as a heating pad on the higher settings.

I've found the ventilated seats, on the other hand, completely useless. During that critical 10 minutes between when you start the car and when the air conditioning has cooled the cabin, they blow a stream of air that is so weak as to be practically imperceptible, which is probably a good thing, because the tiny bit that does come out is super-heated by passing through my black seats.

 

That's what I do, and it sucks.

 

I'm looking in to a better, more powerful fan. While this will not make the seat any 'cooler' it will help move more air.

 

Funny,

My seats work just fine. I live in South Florida were it is hot and humid and they work just fine. I dont' even put my air cond. on floor setting and they blow cold almost instantly.

Mebbe I just have a sensitive butt, who knows...

 

My wife calls it the coochie cooler. I rate the ventilated seats as ok. If you get the ambient temperature in the cabin down using A/C they work suprisingly well since they recirculate the air from the cabin to the seat.

 

I like it so much!!