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IF you are putting a steel seat in your car something is wrong
Steel seat? There such a thing?
IMHO, a racing seat in 2017 should be a containment seat. The FHR (frontal head restraint) doesn't protect in side impacts, which is why FIA changed the name from head and neck restraint.
While the Racetech seat pictured shows a containment seat, the seat shown is the $2000 RT4119, not the $700 RT1000. The Sparco Circuit II is a containment seat. They also make a slightly smaller Circuit model.
Fortunately there are options, even for street driven cars. I'm not familiar with all the brands. Sparco has 4 models at $1000, each slightly different in size. One of the models has removable side head restraints, which would be appropriate if the car is street driven. OMP has a few models under $1000. I don't know the other brands of fiberglass seats such as Bride, Corbeau, Recaro. Update: Bride and Recaro do have seats, starting in the $1500-$2000 range. Momo has some models from $730 to $850.
My preference would probably be for one of the US made aluminum seats. Kirkey, Butlerbuilt, Ultrashield and LaJoie. Kirkey has two models that I've seen in Spec Miatas, the 71 (about $550) and the 45 (about $900). In the 45 the head restraint height is adjustable. The 45 is about two inches wider for a given size because of extra bracing; Kirkey has full dimensions on their site. All of the aluminum seats come in a variety of sizes.
The Racetech has different bottom cushions available. Another solution is to make a seat filler for both drivers. It won't work for lifting the driver, but will fill other voids. The most common is a foam from BSCI (the have the great url https://www.rollbarpadding.com) and another is a bead system that work the same but looks easier. Then the different drivers with just put in their filler on a driver change.
I saw a video for the filler that was making it for two drivers of an Audi LMP...but can't put my finger on it. There are lots of videos for the filler on different sites. There are a few videos on YouTube of Indy car drivers and others having a foam or bead filler made for their seat.
IMHO, a racing seat in 2017 should be a containment seat. The FHR (frontal head restraint) doesn't protect in side impacts, which is why FIA changed the name from head and neck restraint.
While the Racetech seat pictured shows a containment seat, the seat shown is the $2000 RT4119, not the $700 RT1000. The Sparco Circuit II is a containment seat. They also make a slightly smaller Circuit model.
Fortunately there are options, even for street driven cars. I'm not familiar with all the brands. Sparco has 4 models at $1000, each slightly different in size. One of the models has removable side head restraints, which would be appropriate if the car is street driven. OMP has a few models under $1000. I don't know the other brands of fiberglass seats such as Bride, Corbeau, Recaro. Update: Bride and Recaro do have seats, starting in the $1500-$2000 range. Momo has some models from $730 to $850.
My preference would probably be for one of the US made aluminum seats. Kirkey, Butlerbuilt, Ultrashield and LaJoie. Kirkey has two models that I've seen in Spec Miatas, the 71 (about $550) and the 45 (about $900). In the 45 the head restraint height is adjustable. The 45 is about two inches wider for a given size because of extra bracing; Kirkey has full dimensions on their site. All of the aluminum seats come in a variety of sizes.
The Racetech has different bottom cushions available. Another solution is to make a seat filler for both drivers. It won't work for lifting the driver, but will fill other voids. The most common is a foam from BSCI (the have the great url https://www.rollbarpadding.com) and another is a bead system that work the same but looks easier. Then the different drivers with just put in their filler on a driver change.
I saw a video for the filler that was making it for two drivers of an Audi LMP...but can't put my finger on it. There are lots of videos for the filler on different sites. There are a few videos on YouTube of Indy car drivers and others having a foam or bead filler made for their seat.
the seat 4th from the top is a racetech 1000. I personally don't like any aluminum seats, even with the cushions I find them highly uncomfortable. Also I believe i misread what you said.
Racetech RT1000 http://www.tf-works.com/racetech-rt1...cket-seat-fia/
Person A
Thigh Support: 6
Hip Support/Comfort: 7
Torso Comfort/Support:5
Shoulder Width:6
Notes: To big for person A, Felt like he had maybe 1/2 inch of space on each side of him in the Torso and hip area.
As your test shows, it is very hard to fit someone well in an off-the-shelf seat. A bit like off-the-shelf driving suits and with containment seats a bit worse. A bit like buying a business suit where the sleeves and cuffs are unfinished for adjustment and waist, seat, and collar usually have extra material for adjustment.
Most street cars have an adjustment for seat back angle and head rest height in addition to positioning the seat fore/aft and up/down. Higher head seats have adjustments for seat cushion length, side bolsters, lumbar, and on some shoulder tilt, headrest tilt, etc. Kirkey has 8 measurements for their custom seats ($300 up charge). Racetech and I believe most of the others will also make a custom seat, at least of their premium models (e.g. the RT4119). Once a foam filler is created, I doubt it is possible to tell the difference between an aluminum, fiberglass, or carbon fiber seat.
Did you take measurements of the seats? Each manufacturer seems to have their own measurements using different points and different angles. For example, Sparco specifies the height perpendicular to the floor, Momo specifies it parallel to the seat back. Some only specify the outside of the shoulder supports. Have you considered making a master list of measurements you've made? That could be very useful and very popular, and if done as both a table and an image of the table could get a lot of traffic from searches, also showing up in Facebook, Instagram, Pintrest, etc. via the image.
The Sparco Circuit II is a wide version of their Circuit. Their Ergo comes in two widths. Momo lists 2 sizes for each of its 3 containment seats. Some of the Racetech models come in 4 sizes. Kirkey lists each model seat seat in 4-to-6 sizes, each varying by 1" in seat width (typically 14"-17") but varying each dimension as the seat size increases. The foam fillers can adjust many of the dimensions for the individual drivers. The YouTube videos show them being used to fit a generic fiberglass seat tub to individual Indy car drivers.
Update to the thread. Please take the RT1000 off the list. I am 6'3 225 and the seat fits me nice. It does not fit the car at all. The shoulders hit the door and stop you from using the center console. Unless you want to modify things or you don't have door panels.
I am 6'2" 210lb and did a sparco Evo 2. The harness location is a little higher too. Fit in the car with some adjustments but I can still open center console.
Update to the thread. Please take the RT1000 off the list. I am 6'3 225 and the seat fits me nice. It does not fit the car at all. The shoulders hit the door and stop you from using the center console. Unless you want to modify things or you don't have door panels.
Update to the thread. Please take the RT1000 off the list. I am 6'3 225 and the seat fits me nice. It does not fit the car at all. The shoulders hit the door and stop you from using the center console. Unless you want to modify things or you don't have door panels.
hmm that's strange but it does seem to fit in a car with out the center console. That's why i posted this thread in the racing section. It's also more of do you fit test.
I guess you guys are right. Still good to have info in case someone with interior wants a lower seat. I do love the fit of it I just need the interior.
I'm a larger driver, 5'11 210lbs 42" shoulders and 36" hips.
I purchased a driver's side Cobra Suzuka GT seat. The seat fit me wonderfully but it's a very very tight fit in the cockpit of the S. During the test fit I could not completely open the side compartment and the shoulder bolsters directly hit the door. I'm going to test fit with PCI sliding brackets to see if it will raise the seat to the point where it does not hit the door. Bracket should be in by Friday, I'll update this thread after the test fit.
03-21-2017, 03:56 PM
