The Kia Rondo has them as well, but yes, you have a point. My 9-3 has heated cloth and I really appreciate it, and it’s not possible to get cloth at all on some luxury cars, just leather/leatherette (bad) or leather/alcantara/suede (worse).

Yeah, cloth is cold, but cold leather is far, far worse. And hot cloth is nothing like the feel of sun-kissed leather seats. I’m very glad long shorts are in fashion.

Next improvement will logically be two different settings for each seat….cool for the bum, but warm for the back, ya know, for after the workout….whoops, maybe I should have patented that idea before putting it out on this blog….

Here in Georgia, cooled seats would probably be even more useful. My cousing recently bought a new Lincoln MKZ and I love the climate controlled seats…good thing since the car is black inside and out!

I’m very glad that I skipped the optional leather in my Mazda3 Touring (unlike the Grand Touring, they were the non-heated variety). The problem is compounded by the fact that black is the only interior color available if you want leather…ouch!

And here I was thinking a sportbike stock seat for 4+ hours wasn’t as bad as everyone says….

Just stick with cloth and everything will be fine. Just as comfy, doesn’t burn your thighs, and holds you far better than cowskin. What’s not to love?

Truth. I like leather seats in principle and they resist spills and stains well, but it’s true that, for long-distance comfort a good cloth seat wins every time.

A nice compromise, if one must, is something like the hybrid cloth/leather seats in my 9-3SE: leather trim on the outside and back, cloth in the middle. This allows the look of leather, but allows more comfort where you actually sit. Plus, cloth doesn’t deform with use.

Another nice option is the YES fabric in most Chryslers and/or that odd weave in the Escape Hybrid. They breathe well, but aren’t as lint-happy as cloth and seem much more durable–even if they look really cheap.

The worst is suede: it has all the worst attributes of cloth and leather: hot, wears badly yet also grips clothes and accumulates lint.

Maybe if I drove shirtless…

Just stick with cloth and everything will be fine. Just as comfy, doesn’t burn your thighs, and holds you far better than cowskin. What’s not to love?

My personal favorite option is glassroofs, especially if merging with windshields. The impression of space it gives is just plain fantastic. Only issue, it’s heavy; top-heavy. Hopefully they will soon be made out of plexiglass or equivalent.

Seriously, I think cooled seats are one of the better, more useful newish car luxury gadgets of (relatively) late, way better than rearview cameras, infra-red vision projection (although that’s cool as a technology in a car in itself) and that other thing best described as a package of extra height, weight and usually four wheel drive.

It’s probably healthy for you (and your concentration) as well, stimulating blood flow to the brain instead of the skin etc. Maybe some follow up on that on TTAC would be nice.

“Ha ha! Oh granpappy,” they will say, “whysoever didn’t you have the holo-salesman add seat coolers in your hovercar when you were younger? Didn’t your jumpsuit cling and feel uncomfortable with sweat?”

And I will look at them knowingly from my hoverrascal and just shake my head. “Come, Futurebob, let’s play blurnsball and forget all about the many discomforts of my youth.”

seoultrain: You can get them as part of the Luxury package on the IS250 for about 35K combined, or a pinch more on the IS350/ES350 lux pkg.

edit: found that you can get it on the top-of-the-line Avalon at $36k. Also Lexus ES at similar price.