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We all know the agony of sitting in black leather seats that have been baking in the sun all day. It’d be better if car enthusiasts would never purchase more cars with black leather seats. Many of you might be wondering how these kinds of seats could get hot when left outside under the sun. To see how convertible seats heat up under the sun, Car and Driver thought of giving it a test.
Three convertibles were tried out to check how they refract heat. These are the BMW M440i Convertible, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Convertible, and the old NA-generation Mazda Miata. Initially, each was checked to see their temperature. Afterwards, the temperature was checked every 1 and ½ hours. This test is not only for heat tests but also to see which among them is indeed the best.
The leather seats in both the BMW M440i and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class have unique sun protection. The BMW version’s special coating is integrated into the colouring. On the other hand, the Mercedes version has a unique coating that goes on top of the leather. These protective coatings are designed to prevent the seats from becoming too hot. Let’s find out whether these really work.
The BMW showed much lower temperatures, despite Miata having a lower initial temperature. As a result, the coatings appear to operate reasonably well. Temperatures naturally increased as the test progressed. However, they did so much more slowly in the BMW and Mercedes than in the Miata. It’s interesting that BMW showed lower temps than the Mercedes after 1.5 hours. One coating heats up faster than the other even though we think that it prevents the seats from heating up.
