Leather heated seats take FOREVER compare to cloth

[buyingconstant7]

Has anyone driven a cloth equipped mk7(Golf or GTI, doesn't matter) and a leather equipped one and noticed a huge difference in warm up times with the heated seats? I'm apprenticing at a local VW dealer and a lot of the used cars are ex-rental base Golfs and I do get to drive some with leather and whatnot and notice that in the cold, the leather seats take a good 5-10 minutes before you can even start to feel the heat, while the cloth is only a few seconds. When it's really cold this is a huge deal.

 

[athos56]

My GTI is the first car I've owned with heated seats and it's ruined me, I could never own a car without them again.

 

[Apw36]

I can tell a difference between the leather in a GTI and the leatherette in a golf. I wish the leather wasn't so darn cold.

 

[TheWombat]

I imagine the industrial grade hides they use in these seats (instead of, you know, the nice soft leather in more pricey upscale cars) is the culprit. It's probably thick as a soccer ball or something.

 

[pricej6361]

Leather is a piss poor thermal conductor. It actually resists heat, so when you sit down the leather will be colder against your body and take longer to warm up because it doesn't absorb your body heat nor the heat from the warmer as quickly as cloth. Leather car seats are also sealed to protect against moisture, but that also aids in the resistance of heat.

Short version, your leather seats get colder and stay colder longer, and take longer to heat up than cloth.

 

[CosmosMpower]

My GTI is the first car I've owned with heated seats and it's ruined me, I could never own a car without them again.

Wait till you try a car with heated seats and a heated steering wheel

 

[Jovian]

Wait till you try a car with heated seats and a heated steering wheel

My initial reaction is why the hell would I want a heated stearing wheel and then I thought about it more.... damnit..

 

[nabwong]

Wait till you try a car with heated seats and a heated steering wheel

Is there a heated steering for the mk7?

 

[local]

Wait till you try a car with heated seats and a heated steering wheel

i had a rental with a heated steering wheel and it blew my mind. seemed gimmicky until i experienced it.. now i need it in my life

 

[Bullet Bob]

My last 5 cars have had seat heaters, including my current GTI with cloth seats. I'm in a colder part of North Carolina, but I've never used the darn things, except when passengers mistakenly turn mine on with theirs.

 

[jcarl126]

My gf loves heated seats. And I hated the leather that came in my SE gti... Too sweaty!! So, after a swap it's now got the heated cloth and neither of us are looking back. The cloth heats up WAY faster than the leather for her and keeps me nice and cool

 

[Wrath And Tears]

My last 5 cars have had seat heaters, including my current GTI with cloth seats. I'm in a colder part of North Carolina, but I've never used the darn things, except when passengers mistakenly turn mine on with theirs.

Interesting. Where I'm at temps drop to high 20's at the coldest, but I still use my heated seats everyday. Even when it's not cold enough to use them, I still turn mine on to help warm up my muscles and body before I start work. Before I had them there were multiple days where I wasn't warmed up enough and would go to do something and pull a muscle or what have you.

Edit: I also have a sweatshirt with heating elements powered off a power pack. I wear it during the mornings until the shop is warmed up enough to go without, or I start doing some work that makes me sweat. I also have a normal sweatshirt that I wear (I say sweatshirt, but I mean zip-up hoodie).

 

[Gibberoni]

I love them, but you are right. My wife has a Jetta with the "Leather" seats and those are nice and hot by the time we exit our complex. With the GTI we need to be driving for a good 5-7 minutes before you can even feel it.

A good excuse for her to drive on cold days

 

[Oldschoolmk7]

The Clark plaid warms my bum up nicely!

 

[Finglonga]

Cloth seats don't need heating. Leather seats need both heating and cooling as they are either freezing cold in the winter or magma hot in the summer. The heating cooling is pointless for that anyway unless you start the car and wait for them to do their thing. My last few cars had leather but the GTI, I chose cloth and so glad I did, I doubt I would choose the leather option again.