If you are like me, you have realized quickly after your 2009, 2010 or newer Subaru Forester Purchase that the vehicle’s seats are pretty uncomfortable, mostly caused by the lack of lateral thigh support. Here I have a cheap solution that has been working for me, and although ghetto looking, it might keep you from selling your Forester. (less ghetto looking solution though amazon link below)
———————————————————————————————–

UPDATE (March 25, 2012): I have discovered through an several doctors appointments, an MRI and physical therapy that my pain has been caused by a lack of lumbar support in this seat. The lack of lumbar support was causing the discs in my spine to press against and aggravate my sciatic nerve.

By purchasing a lumbar support which straps around my seat, I have been able to completely cure my pain. The sciatic nerve travels all the way down the leg, from lower back to foot. A lack of lumbar support can cause this nerve to send pains to any number of locations along the nerve.

I just wish it had not taken me 3 years and a couple thousand in medical bills to figure out i needed a damn $20 lumbar pillow. The round pillow linked to on the right (this item – lumbar support ) is the item i got for my car from my physical therapist. It’s elastic strap goes around the seat so it stays in place.

———————————————————————————————–

You would think that pumping the manual seat up higher would fix this problem, however it slightly tilts the seat forward more, and moves the driver closer to the pedals lifting the lower thigh away from the seat even more than it does when the car’s seat is down low closer to the floor. In order to help alleviate the thigh support problem, the driver must increase their driving height without the seat tilting forward like it does with the seat controls.

Well heres my solution to the problem, get a cheap $3.00 pillow from walmart and put it on your seat. Yes I’m in my 20′s and this makes me look like an old man (I cant believe a guy in his 20′s can get painful hip inflammation from such a poorly designed seat!), but this pillow has completely alleviated my problems, I get thigh support extended all the way to the end of the seat (the seat should be about 4 or 5 inches longer anyways!)… I also find that this places the lumbar support built in the seat into a place that better supports my back, so it kind of kills 2 birds with 1 stone.

People with power seats have the capability of tilting their seat bottoms into any position they desire (although I have still found the electric seats quite limited in terms of where I would prefer to have it).. So if you dont want to go the cushion route, you have the option of getting a power seat installed at your dealer. I have read people saying that the STI seats are more comfortable however without power adjustment options, they are almost identical to the regular forester seat except covered in leather, and still suffer from the “tilting forward slightly” problem making them likely just as lacking in comfort.

All of my previous cars were used luxury vehicles. My old Land Rover Discovery had great seats, and my saabs had absolutely fantastic seats with huge ranges of adjustment. This is my first new “non-luxury” vehicle, and being the most expensive vehicle I have ever purchased, I assumed the seats would be fine. They seemed fine on the test drive, it wasnt until I went on a 100 mile trip that I noticed I was getting extended hip pain and inflammation. I had no idea that it costs more money to shape foam in such a way that better supports the driver (sarcasm)…  I love everything about this vehicle and the seats seem like an enormous afterthought and are the only real outstanding flaw. I guess I know now to take long term seat comfort into greater consideration when looking for things on a new vehicle; and to probably spend a few hours test driving it to see how things go.

If the pillow solution didn’t work so good, I would seriously consider selling the vehicle and getting something else.