Split-fold rear seat becomes an option

By T. Uncle

WHAT is all this business about fold-down rear seats?

Once, the idea of a back seat that folded forward and out of the way to extend the boot area seemed to make sense as a practical means of extending the luggage carrying abilities of your average, basic Japanese hatchback.

However, what worked well as a means of carrying a week's worth of shopping between ferrying the kids backwards and forwards to school, did not necessarily translate to the upper end of the market.

The idea of a Mercedes being put to the same utilitarian use as a Nissan Pulsar was hardly palatable.

It's amazing, in 1998, to consider how times have changed.

Today, many luxury carmakers, Mercedes included, if they don't already have some sort of built-in arrangement already, are offering split-fold rear seats at least as optional equipment.

And this isn't in the hatchback body configuration that gave birth to a concept that is a sort of half-way house between a regular sedan and a station wagon.

Today, many of the split-fold rear seat offerings available are to been seen in regular sedan body styles.

The lure of extra versatility in car usage is being felt right across the market place as car owners opt for more frequent, but shorter bursts of leisure activity.

People tend to expect more of their cars in helping them get away for a quick grab at limited recreation opportunities.

And a weekend retreat might involve activities of increasing social acceptability such as in-line skating, mountain biking or snow boarding, most of which require some car space to carry the usually high-tech, bulky and expensive equipment.

So when a carmaker such as Saab introduces a new, upper echelon sedan onto the market, it does so with this lifestyle in mind and includes a folding rear seat arrangement that would do justice to the most well designed hatchback.

The Saab 9-5 sedan not only offers a 60-40 split-fold rear seat -- it can be folded in parts so that either one or two passengers can still ride in the back while an extra-large load is being carried -- but also provides a station-wagon style fold- forward rear seat cushion that further increases the load capacity.

Owners can contemplate carrying all sorts of loads that would have been impossible in most sedan-bodied cars of the past.

This is aided further by the popular use in regular sedans of the rear seat "ski port" -- a small opening, usually located behind the center armrest, that enables the carrying of lengthy items that would have once only been possible in a station wagon.

Of course, the hatchback body still has a stranglehold on maximized load-carrying versatility.

Using a wide-opening rear hatch combined with a fold-up rear seat, the amount of gear that can be stowed into something as small as a Toyota Starlet is nothing short of remarkable.

It is not difficult, for example, to stash two full-size mountain bikes into the back of a Starlet and still have plenty of room for two passengers and their luggage.

Once, manipulating just one bicycle into the trunk of a regular Toyota Crown was a daunting task. And even more daunting if you expected to close the lid.

Two continuing problems with hatchback design continue to challenge automotive body engineers.

One is the tendency of the body structure to reverberate and generate noise when being driven along the road because, with the lack of a supporting member behind the rear seat as in a regular sedan, the structure is less rigid.

Another is the difficulty providing a secure lap-sash belt for the center seat occupant because, once again, there is no rear- seat bulkhead to which it may be attached.

The Swedish manufacturer Saab came up with a clever solution on its 900 model by installing a lateral beam that locks into place as part of the rear seat structure when the seats are in place, remains in position if one section of the split-fold backrest is lowered, then folds down completely if both backrests are lowered.

This way, the car provides a full lap-sash belt for the occupant of the center seat, and also picks up extra rigidity when the seats are upright.

Obviously it loses some of this in the folded position, but no more so than a regular hatchback.

The most basic form of fold-down rear seat is the simple, single-fold backrest that hinges down to sit on a fixed rear seat cushion.

This sort of system means that if the fold-down capability is being used, only two passengers can ride in the car and is really only practical in ultra-small hatchbacks, where passenger loads of more than two people are rare anyway.

However, while the creating of multiple-fold designs might increase the usefulness of the vehicle, it also increases cost and weight.

Car designers are known to consider the wisdom, when developing a folding rear seat, of how cost effective and weight- saving a simple, single fold-down design might be compared to a clever but complicated multifold system.

The designer must weigh up the likely usage of the feature against development money and manufacturing costs.

The bottom line, however, is that versatility and practicality are increasingly relevant to today's car buyer -- whether at the top or bottom end of the market -- and fold-down rear seats are a practical, effective means of offering these virtues without overly disrobing the car's styling purity.

It is not necessary to look like a Renault 16 to be functional and useful.