Jon C

your therapist or whomever should be able to see you IN THE SEAT in the A6 to evaluate it, otherwise you're just guessing. My cousin, a doctor of physical medicine, does this w/ his patients as needed.

FWIW I have the regular seats and felt almost no fatigue after a 500-mile, 9 1/2 hour round trip last week, but of course, while my back is not good, it's not yours...

timcar

At the risk of being too personal, I have osteo-arthritis in my upper spine that causes it to bend about 10% - 15% to the passenger side. This has messed up my LOWER back! Kinda like a bad alignment. When my back is really bad, I go out and drive my 2.7T. The standard seats are very comfortable and usually improve or eliminate my discomfort. I've found adjustment to be extremely critical to the comfort of the A6 seats. I don't fit the sport seats.

Many back problems are stress related. FIW, and with no disrespect, it may be that simply being proactive about the problem and having someone work on you may be what has created the improvement. I.e., mind over matter.

brian 4.2

Yup , Wallet next to the parking brake, only car I have to do this in !

MaximumBob49

Great post. I have suffered from muscle spasm in my lower back for years. A 6 hour trip in the minivan one year put me on my back for 4 days. Since the Audi sport seats (adjusting them pretty much as you describe) I get out of the car feeling better than when I got in. The lumbar support is so adjustable it allows me to "tune" it and avoid problems.

lyndon2000

I went through 12 weeks of physical therapy back in '92 for a bulging disc.. made a HUGE difference. It really helped a lot. Be sure and actually DO the exercises they suggest. Good luck.

I guess the only way to tell if the Audi is the cause, is to get back in and use it, since you said you've been pain free for three weeks and out of the Audi for two weeks. That'll be the only way to know for sure.

Sometimes, there's no real tangible reason for the onset of pain, though. It may have nothing to do with the seats, or everything. My non-sport seats are very comfortable for me. You may need to purchase a lower back supporting cushion to use in addition to the lumbar support already built in.

MellonC

I am going to try the sport seats this weekend. Thanks.

Avant Redux

Since getting pregnant she has too - now she threatens to take over my S4!

tah

Is there a way to "take it back" as you say?

I just got a 2017 TTS with all the options and only have about 500 miles on it so far. These seats are terrible. Two hours and I'm in pain. There's NO WAY I can take this car on a trip of any length.

Never has seats this bad in Lexus, BMW, Porsche, Toyota ans several other cars.

It a real shame. I REALLY like this car but am afraid it just won't work for me.

J. Patterson

Wow a post resurrected from 2001!

There is always "a way" but it is expensive. It is puzzling that you are having this problem because most reports are that the Mk3 TT seats are great. The BEST seats I ever had were sport seats in a 2006 A6 Prestige. Our current 2011 Q7 Prestige seats do not look as impressive but they are really good on a long haul. ( We regularly do 675 mile runs to see grandsons and arrive fresh and pain free). My current S5 is good but not as good as those two. I had a Cayman, and a Toyota Tundra and wife had an RX 300. For our bodies none of those were as comfortable.

johnkk

I have found that raising the seat vertically with less rear tilt helps reduce lower back pain. I also helps reduce right leg numbness when you can't use cruise control to free up right foot/leg.

Classic YMMV, but it worked on my C5 A6 and wife's Touareg.