Product of the Month - October, 1996

Lewis Marketing Lumbar Support

Lets face facts: The Miata seats could be better. The cloth could be more fade resistant. They could provide more side bolstering support. They could have provisions for a 5 point harness. And they sure could use some extra support for your lower back.

Enter Lewis Marketing's inflatable lumbar support. This is an inflatable bladder connected to a bulb similar to the kind the doctor uses to take your blood pressure. A few squeezes on the bulb pumps up the bladder and instantly adds support to your lower back. A press of the little button on the bulb releases the air which returns the seat to its normal unsupportive state. The adjustable nature of an air bladder lets you change the firmness of the support - a useful feature to help reduce fatigue on long trips as well as to accommodate different weights of clothing.

The bladder is constructed of a very heavy rubber which is, according to Lewis Marketing, manufactured by Pirelli. Its then attached to a black rubber hose and a black bulb. Installation takes all of about 5 minutes. The Miata seat area which contacts your back is actually separated from the seat back. If you stick your hand into the crevace and curve your fingers in toward the center of the seat, you can reach "inside" the seat without unzipping, cutting, or disassembling the seat in any way. To install the lumbar support, you feed the bladder between the seat back and the seat back cushion. (In the photo, we show just the right hand edge of the bladder sticking out from between the two sections of the seat where it gets installed.) The air hose then runs down the crevace and should be fed into the crack between the seat and the seat back. (This is the spot where all your change falls. In fact, you'll probably find a few $$ back there when you install this product!) The hose, now behind your seat, then can be routed along side the center console and the bulb can be left just next to the seat belt receptacle. It really only takes a few minutes with no tools.

This is not the first product of its type to be sold for the Miata. Last year we bought some inflatable lumbar supports from another company. We weren't impressed. They were made of inexpensive PVC vinyl (although they were sold for the same price as the high quality Lewis Marketing model) and they leaked rather quickly. The Lewis Marketing lumbar was pumped up and maintained its "charge" for days.

We highly recommend the Lewis Marketing lumbar support. Once you start using it, you'll wonder how you ever did without it!

Copyright © 1996, Eunos Communications