Went on a road trip last week in my wife's early build 2004 VDP, which I understand has "Sport" seats (16 way adjustable w/heat) identical to the XJR. Others have found the seat bottoms to be uncomfortably hard, but to me (6 foot and 176 lbs and thin in the bottom) it was unbearable - after driving for 2 hours on the way home I had sciatica pain (nothing in rear pockets).

While I'll take a high density foam cushion on the next trip, was curious whether Jaguar had ever moved to address this issue and/or soften the seat bottom? I think the later XJ8 added the seat piping found on the earlier VDP so am hoping to find something worth updating to.

I read here somewhere that the seat bolts were special due to the aluminum chassis and might be one use, but have not been able to relocate that post.

 

Don't forget that Sport models and all XJRs have the "Sport" air springs. These are harder than the "Comfort" ones. The difference is in the volume of the air spring, the Sport ones having a smaller volume. So if you don't like the Sport ones, you can swap them for Comfort, (until you work out the cost of doing so !!!).

IMHO Jaguar made a complete boo-boo of the X350 suspension, it is far harsher than previous models and has lost that ride quality that Jaguars were once so famous for. They also did not need to have air springs all round, as the X351 proves, which has air only on the rear springs.

 

Thanks Fraser, was wondering primarily about the seats found a pair of 06 xj8 ones but don't know if they'd be any softer. I think the VDP has the softer air springs.

 

I drove a family member's XJ351 (2013 XJL) for two hours 3 weeks ago, and the front seat bottom seemed much softer than my X350 (2005 VDP) seat cushion. Since the VDP X350 had the soft suspension, I don't find it harsh, though the seat bottoms are on the firm side. I do not know if the X358 cars had softer seats, but the X351 base model certainly does.