Power seats refer to the front seats of any vehicle that can be adjusted using one or several small
motors. You control these motors by shifting some small switches or a joystick like button. Some vehicles may
have only the driver seat powered but it is very common in high end vehicles for both the driver and passenger
seats to be powered.
One of the benefits of power seats is the amount of positions the seats can be adjusted to. Conventional
front seats were adjusted by using levers that allow you to make fore and aft (forward and backward) adjustments
to the seat. Another lever is used to control the backrest allowing you to move it forward and backward. Power
seats can have up to 22 different positions.
This image shows three power seat switches located at the side of the seat for adjusting:
* The fore and aft positioning of the seat
* The up and down positioning of the front and rear of the seat
* The position of the backrest and
* The lumbar support.
With these settings you have the fore and aft positing of the seat, you can raise or lower the entire seat,
raise or lower the front of the seat, control the positioning of the backrest, control the lumbar support and other
ergonomic settings the seat can offer.
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Another benefit is that the motors move the seat so you don't have to physically move it yourself and they are
powerful enough to move the seat while you sit in it. The motors adjust the seats at a comfortable rate, not too fast
or too slow for most people's preference.
Power seats have provided the platform for an improvement in luxury seating by way of
memory seats as it is easy to apply a memory function to electronically adjusted seats.
They can easily be adjusted while driving as the switches are easily accessed as they are usually placed in an
ergonomical or easy to reach area. The controls can be found on the outer side of the seats, the center console or on
the door.
Power seats can add more comfort and luxury to a vehicle as the switches for anything electronically adjustable
can be placed almost anywhere. With that being said in some vehicles (example Mercedes S-Class & Lexus LS) there are
switches to adjust the front passenger seats that are easily accessible by the driver or rear seat passengers in chauffeur
driven vehicles.
Power seats are a valued addition to any luxury vehicle and is slowly finding its way to mainstream vehicles.
They are also used to move the rear seats of chauffeur driven limousines or sedans with
long wheelbases.
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