Roadster headrest issue?
 

Hey all!

Both headrests in my touring roadster are a little wobbly at any height setting and when I press my head back into them I can feel the posts poking me in my upper back...is this a common design flaw or is something abnormal on my seats that I should point out to my dealer?

Thanks!!

Hey,

I get the same thing in my roadster. I don't notice it all that much in my seat (I don't push back on the head rest much), but I do notice it when I don't have a passenger, and the passenger headrest rattles a bit. Let me know though if you find something out about this being a fixable problem.

I checked my roadster's headrests against those of my Acura TSX, and while the Z's rests are somewhat more "wobbly," it's not at all excessive IMO, and I cannnot imagine how the headrest posts could possibly 'poke me in the back.' That said, the "headrests" are actually head restraints (to protect against whiplash/neck-head injuries in a crash); they aren't intended for resting one's head.

Yeah, I understand that headrests are a safety feature, which is why I'm concerned about them being unstable and poking me in the back. I've owned 13 cars and I've never had any others with headrests that were anything less than completely secure in their mounts - moving them back and forth would result in the entire seatback moving, whereas in the Z I get a good 1" of forward and backward movement of the headrests.

The poking me in the back thing is the result of them pivoting at their mounts - rearward force on the headrests results in forward pressure from their rods from within the seats. All I can think is that a typical seat has a rigid channel that these rods go into, but the Z roadster just has them floating loosely in the seatbacks amongst the foam, secured only by the mounts. Imagine what these things would do to your back during a collision with the full force of your head with momentum!

Not good, and I'll talk to the dealer.

Thanks, guys!

It's the same thing on the base 370z. I didn't notice it until 7 months after I bought it when my cousin ask me what is wrong with the seat.

Well, I checked my headrests again after your more detailed explanation; and I now understand your concern. You're right...the design is "not good," but I doubt that there's anything your dealer will do to remedy the situation. Still...please keep us posted.

It's my understanding that they are designed that way to provide the extra protection to your neck/back/head. When you're hit from the rear, the weight of your back/neck/head will be assisted by the lower part of the headrest that you feel in your back on up to the top of the headrest.

That is part of the active restraint system for the headrests and is explained in the manual.

I'm familiar with active head restraints, including those from Nissan on a 2005 Murano SE I owned, and the behavior I'm describing is well outside of the norm for seats with this feature (it's also beyond what the 370z manual documents).

I will definitely bring this up at my dealer and update this post when I have more information.

Thanks again guys!

Fidlay... well, I can say that I know exactly what you are talking about when you say you "feel the posts poking you in the back" when you press your head back. I just got my 30ZR and I noticed this right away, when I was arching my back trying to adjust myself in the seat. It would seem that the 370ZR seats are rather flexible in this sense. I was rather surprised to feel this sensation and it made me feel like the seats were cheap. Though I think the seats look amazing and look to be high quality. I though perhaps this had to do maybe with the perforated mesh inner section of the leather seats in the Touring model which is there for the heated and cooling seats (I am assuming you might have that model and those seats as well?). Thought maybe that inner section of the seat needs to be more flexible to allow the cooling and heating system to work more effectively. I am not noticing this problem much anymore as I am 6ft tall and I have my seat adjusted back so the head rest basically sits against the roll bar behind it so that I really can't push the headrest back any further to cause the flex. Like Vifferman mention, I don't think the dealer will do much for you as it appears this is how the seats were designed but I will be curious to hear if you spoke with them about it.

I'm on Z number 3 & I've experienced this to some degree on each one...oddly enough the least on my 03 base. I don't think it is anything to be concerned about.

The drivers side headrest felt wobbly when I got my z and looking at it you could tell that it was at a different angle than the passenger side. Took it to the dealer and it was loose, they fixed it and it's fine now.

Any updates on the issue? I just noticed the same thing on my 2011 touring Z, while driving home I rest me head back on the headrest and notice I'm being poked on the back. This seems like it could really be a real issue if you happen to get hit from behind. May cause a back injury?