Interior Exterior
Q:
So,,, is it safe to say that no one is going to sell me there 2006 ProBax seats out of there new 2006 lotus .
I'm thinking that I'll have to hit the dealer.
Bring your wallet... on second thought, bring along a friend's wallet too.
A:
Yes ,, i'll bet there not going to be cheap, wish i could find a wrecked lotus with nice seats in it. It very hard to find good seats that will fit nice into a Pantera, Lots of the racing seats will fit but they really are and look to big in the car.
A:
Somebody on SELOC (the British Lotus site www.seloc.org) was saying that the factory would retrofit seats with Probax. COuld you find some cheap 2nd hand ones and get the factory to do it then ship to the US ?
Just a thought
A:
I have been following the ProBax seat thing because I want them for my '05 Elise.
Question -- Is anyone here sure they have actually sat in a ProBax seat? I saw a news item on the NuBax web site that "Lotus would use the ProBax seat in the Elise and Exige from October 2006 onwards."
I know the '06 seat has more padding and no lumbar bladder, but is it actually ProBax yet? I have heard the ProBax seat will have a ProBax logo on it. My dealer says their '06 Elise seats do not have the logo.
The dealer lists the ProBax seat as a part for the '06 Elise, but cannot order it yet.
A:
mike, take a close look at the pictures of my exige at
http://www.moremonkey.com/exige/
particulary the last couple of pictures.
also heres the lotus press release
http://www.grouplotus.com/mediactr/p...ad.php?pid=249
A:
charliex - OK, I am convinced you have ProBax seats! I see the logo! Now my question is why my dealer can't see it. My dealer is in St. Louis, 210 miles away, but I may have to run over there to see what gives.
I had heard the Elise seats were the same as '05 with different padding. The Exige seats have the shoulder harness cutouts. Have you seen the '06 Elise seats?
You mentioned earlier that the ProBax seats are very comfortable. I have seen a couple of comments that the '06 seats are more padded and a little more comfortable than the '05s and a couple of reviews that sing high praises for the ProBax. My '05 seat is not uncomfortable to me, but after an hour or so in the seat, my back is getting very tired. My lumbar support hits me too high and does not spread the pressure properly. If the ProBax seat can reduce my back fatigue on longer dirves, it will be worth what ever it costs. Can you elaborate on your seats?
A:
i'd agree, the 05 seats were definetely ok for a short while, but after a few hours driving ( i drove up the 5 from los angeles to san fran and back) and lower back definetely was aching.
i dropped off my elise and about 30-40 mins later i was in my exige, with about a 50 minute drive home and back, so i really was able to feel the difference, as soon as i sat in them i noticed how different they are, i did about 200 miles on sunday, in hot weather and i had no discomfort.
lotus claims that blood flow is increased 30% with the probax, this would mean cooler and comfort with less fatigue, well for sure, my buddy case has driven my elise quite a bit (all the way to tahoe) and he'll probably drive down to crystal cove, so he can give you another perspective too.
however do note, that i had touring leather seats in the elise and non touring cloth seats in the exige, this may help with the lower temperatures.
lotus lists them elsewhere too
http://www.grouplotus.com/car/car_tech_specs.php?id=1
its possible that early cars didn't get the seats, it happens, lotus is a parts bin driven company they often ship different bits, but i'd say thats a stretch in this case, i think its more probable the dealer is mistaken.
pm bmw1 on here and ask him, or call south bay , they have 06s in stock
i have seen the 06 seats but i honestly couldn't say for sure, and i don't want to spread FUD, i searched google and i saw lots of press releases and such with comments saying both the elise and exige have probax, as well as lotus web site, and a couple of the pictures i saw of the touring elise did not have the harness holes, and it looked like i saw the pobax tag, but small pictures, and things change, so best to ask someone who would know for sure, and that'd be abe at south bay (bmw1) as well as any of the 06 owners on here, there mut be some!
cheers
A:
I have an 06 Elise and it came with ProBax seats. Says so on a little tag sticking out from the side of the seat. Well, I have not tried the 05 seats but I'm disappointed in these. My main problem is the lack of lumbar support. I have had to purchase an exterior lumbar support pad and while it works, I'm not too happy about having to do that. It also pushes me a bit further forward. I'm going to try to get an upholstery shop to sew in additional lumbar support. I read Lotus's press release and frankly I'm not sure where all this comes from. I have seats in my M100 that have much better built in lumbar support than the Probax seat. I would think it would be awesome that they added lumbar blow up bladder in the Probax seat. The seat cushion is fine and overall feel is fine. I even considered getting the dealer to swap me out 05 seats so I could have the lumbar blow up thing. But, I convinced myself that the 06 seat is better. Its still not optimal for me though. I have yet to actually sit in an 05 seat so I don't know how it would be. Sounds like various folks think it hits them too high on the back. Guess you can't have everything.
Scott
A:
My '06 defintely has the ProBax seats... just ran out to the garage and took a few pictures.
I have put a couple hundred miles on an '05 Elise and about 800 miles on my '06. The new seats make a big difference for me (I am 6' 6" and about 250 lbs). The '05 seats just felt more narrow and not as supportive in the butt and upper thighs. Just a short amount of time would cause a fair amount of pain in my outside hip joints. With the '06 seats I have experienced none of this. Just as Scott pointed out, I too miss the lumbar bladder. I am planning on adding lumbar support using either an after market lumbar bladder (something like http://www.seats4cars.com/products/lumbar.htm) or lumbar support foam.
-Brian
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lotus sell a lumbar pad, i don't know if its specific to a particular seat, i just recall seeing it while i was poking about on the uk site earlier today.
cheers
A:
Thanks to all on the further info and pics on the ProBax seats. I am thinking that if I go with new seats, I will go with cloth, though I am still hoping for an upgrade "kit". I am also interested in the comments about lack of lumbar with the ProBax. I know the intent with the ProBax was to do away with the need. I will follow up later today with my St. Louis dealer.
A:
for your information -
as i understand it, the "probax" seat are built on the same shell as the "old seats" so nothing changes dimensionaly, just the new padding.
A:
I am also interested in the comments about lack of lumbar with the ProBax.
The Probax seats initially "feel" like they lack lumbar support but are actually quite comfortable. When I first got my car I thought the the lumbar support was bad but after driving it a bit they are just perfect. I taken several 5+ hour drives in my car and have never had any back problems. In fact one of my passengers who drives a Lexus commented on how comfortable the seat was.
A:
Brian, thanks for the, uh, support on the lack of lumbar support . In any case, I guess it depends on how you feel. I have not driven my car that much without a lumbar pad that I bought at "Relax the Back". I just had to get a pad because I couldn't really take it without it. I guess it depends on how good or bad your back is. In my case, I have always had a weak back and really need the extra support. I figured there had to be a lumbar device built in and I'm glad you found it (seats4cars.com). Any idea if it can be added to this seat? I plan on sending an email to my dealer on this as well.
Charlie - someone up here just bought the Lotus lumbar pad. From the looks of it, its not a lumbar pad in the traditional sense. I didn't like it. It is way to big and tall. It pushes you quite a bit far forward. I hadn't seen the picture of it ahead of time but the dealer told me that they had expected it to be smaller from the picture. The version I saw seemed like it was about 2' high (a rather large 'pad').
Scott
A:
for your information -
as i understand it, the "probax" seat are built on the same shell as the "old seats" so nothing changes dimensionaly, just the new padding.
Yeah, that is why I was saying the '05 "felt more narrow", it is my understanding too that the shell is supposed to be the same. I have been intending to measure the flare on the lower portion of the seats to see if there is a measurable difference. It may well be that the padding is just thicker and thus places my hips higher, but interestingly my headroom doesn't seem to have been reduced. Of course it could also be slight variances in productions runs of the shells and I just got lucky with a slightly more flared seat. Obviously everyone's size is different (I am on the very outside edge of this for an Elise) and each person will have a different experience. The only real way to know is to go spend some time in one.
I am just happy that I can squeeze myself in... Would hate to think I would have to miss out on all this fun!!!
A:
Thank you Baysailor for posting pic, They are the seats I need for my Pantera,,, ProBax w/o lotus logo / Black.
NICE
A:
Hmmm. Well if the driver is actually sitting taller, one might have marginally better ingress/egress too.
That's true. My 5' 2" wife uses a Better back Store seat cushion to elevate her just a bit in our '05. She says it makes it lots easier to get in and out, as well as makes it more comfy for her on longer drives. I imagine the extra padding in the ProBax would do the same.
Tom
A:
Do I hear that other owners may want them too ????
GROUP BUY, Maybe we can get a lower price if we buy in bulk
A:
I decided that I should go to the horse's mouth so I spoke to someone at Nubax in the UK today. The woman there was very kind and took the time to educate me about the Nubax seat. She said that they had done some testing of the new seat at Lotus (Hethel) with 60 individuals. More than 95% of them found the new seat more supportive including one individual with chronic back pain. One thing that she pointed out to me was that the support here is in the bottom and also the backside of the seat. The bottom tilts the pelvis forward and is critical to support for the back. She also mentioned that quite a lot of folks do not realize that the seats that they have been sitting on are actually doing the opposite of what is intended in order to support one's back. She was saying that the seat itself is designed to give a more natural curvature to one's spine but that it takes getting used to. She recommended I try it for a longer stint. I plan on doing that. She also mentioned that it should be ok to modify the inside of the seat to give it more support in the lumbar region (about 1/3 of the way up) but that she really encouraged me to try it out for a longer time.
Scott
A:
Did she say anything about Sales ??? Price ? ,, can we buy from Nubax ? Do you have the phone #