Car seats, like the vehicles themselves, are available in a variety of materials with a wide range of manual and electronic controls. My old 1977 Dodge Aspen, for instance, had a front row bench seat that moved as one, like a faux-brocade couch on rails. It had no ventilation, no heat, and definitely no massaging functions. Automobile seating has come a long way since then.
The first production car with optional heated seats was the 1966 Cadillac DeVille, and massaging seats came along decades later in 2000 Mercedes-Benz and Cadillac models. Bentley, however, has taken the spa-like cabin to the next level with its available “airline seat specification” setup; the British brand says its super-deluxe airline seat specification is a world first.
This $11,000 option in the extended wheelbase version (EWB) of the Bentayga includes not just heat, but cooling, massage, recline, and small trays that fold out like those on a commercial airline. This SUV’s seats even have sensors that predict that you’re about to start sweating even before you know it yourself and preemptively adjusts the temperature.
Here’s how they work.
First class seats
When travelers on an airplane upgrade to business or first class, they gain a significant amount of legroom and space around their seat. Bentley chose to call this Bentayga EWB setup “airline seat specification” to drive home the message that this is a roomy, first-class experience. As soon as you sit down, the sheer number of positioning options is dizzying: The rear seats can be adjusted 22 ways, not including the rear footrest behind the front passenger seat.
Steve James, the head of interior design for Bentley, has been developing seating for the luxury brand since 2006. His first task when he joined Bentley was to come up with the initial concept for the seats in Bentley’s then-new flagship model, the Mulsanne. While the uber-luxurious Mulsanne model…
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