I was just curious if anyone knows if someone like Recaro makes the Rx-8 seats? I see a ton of seat brackets/sliders on yahoo auction japan to mount name brand aftermarket seats into an fb and I was hoping one of those manufacturers made the Rx-8 seats so I could buy some brackets there. Does anyone know who makes the Rx8 seats?

 

Hmmmmm i think mazda makes the rx-8 seats.....

 

Maybe, or they might source it out to someone else. I know back in the day, Recaro made the seats in Volkswagens, Golf's, Jetta's ect. Just thought I'd through it out there. I did find one model recaro that looks very similar to the Rx8 seat (minus the rotor in the headrest).

 

Most auto makers sub out things like seats. When I worked for the railroad. (BN), in KC, we used to set out special made box cars to seat company in Parkville MO, just north of KC. They made the framework of the seats, then injected a liquid foam into a mold around the framework. The seats were then shipped to Mexico for the leather seat coverings, only to come back to the Fairfax plant in KC where they made the Grand Prix.

There are a few members who've installed RX8 seats in 1st gens. Don't recall what they did, if anything, for the seat rails.

 

Ive had my RX8 seats taken apart down to the metal frame (!) and nothing suggests these aren't made by Mazda - no other names stamped into the frames, etc. Does NOT mean they couldn't be I suppose. Unless your a genius with a torch (that would NOT be me) I found the easiest way to mount in my SA was to strip the RX8 rails of all "appendages" leaving just a smooth, flat rail, then hunting down an aftermarket generic seat frame adapter for SA/FB/FC Rx7s and weld (or bolt, as I did) this to the cleaned up RX8 rail. I am oversimplifying this here but its doable.

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

yeah the seats actually look like one of the things that mazda does make for the rx8

 

THose seats look very nice inside your car.

Kinda the idea I was thinking. I was just getting excited seeing all of the seat brackets for our cars on the japanese auctions. Here's one of many


http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate...rUrl=Translate

 

Hey Stu how tall are you? and how high do the seats make you compared to OEM i like the look and may do something similar in the near future.

It wouldn't suprise me if RECARO made them I know that Mazda has used them in the past for the FC turbo and the FC Vert seats.

 

Hmmm, I hope they are made by recaro..... I would just buy some brackets made to mount the recaro into the sa22c.

Relating to the previous question about how high the Rx-8 seats are compared to stock.... I noticed on the yahoo japan auctions, some of the seat brackets being sold are labeled as regular height or low brackets. IF the rx8 seats tend to sit higher, maybe a lower bracket would compensate.


The shape of these look "somewhat" similar if I'm remembering the rx8 seats correctly.........maybe not.....hehe

 

Hey 'Dude - Merry X, man!
Seat height for the '8 seats:
driver is perfect (I'm 6ft), passenger, with correct mount, will sit about 1 to 1.5" higher, which means taller passengers will need to rack the backrest back a few clicks.
And your right, some specials in the FD series RX7s came with Recaros in Japan - but I can't imagine mazda getting away with using them in the '8s w/o a name-stamp on them?

RotaryRevn- As to seat adapting frames, here is the problem: The RX8 frame sliders are PART OF THE SEAT FRAME - so your adapter canNOT have the sliding rails as part of that assembly. You are looking for the FLATTEST, simplest frame to bolt up to the seat. And these might be hard to find for early RX7s now (???)

Maybe its just me, but the whole "cache" of using the '8 seat was the Rotor-Hole in the headrest, so it had that kinda "OEM" appeal. The fact that these seats can be bought used for a fraction of what a quality set of new Recaros is a bonus. But the install is not a bolt-in deal. I had to go thru 2 configurations before I achieved a quality fit. As a result I can disassemble those damn seats in my sleep!

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Well then go to sleep, pull them apart and take some pictures for us.

Wait, nevermind, I keep forgetting that you actually have snow there :P

 

All righty then-
Pics of modded RX8 seats rail with adapters
Not adapters mounted to INTERMEDIATE plate to bridge width diif btw RX8 rail (wider) and narrower RX7 mounts.
I guess it obvious by now this whole thing was designed so I did NOT have to alter the SA body in any with new holes or mount points. Others here may be less discerning.


Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

What and where did you search for to find these adapters? They look like they are custom made to fit our cars. That looks like an exact adapter to fit the passenger side of a first gen. Could save hours and hours of fabricating. I put some Miata seats in one of my 1st gens one time, and let me tell you, it was a pain in the butt. After doing it once, I would gladly pay $200 for a set of seat rails that would allow you to bolt in an aftermarket seat. The driver's side seat is pretty easy because the rails are the same on both sides. The passenger side is a headache because the shape of the body is bumped out to make room for the exhaust tubing underneath. It can be a nightmare trying to get both seats safely mounted so that they are level, equal height, centered, and have the same amount of travel in the sliders.

Let me know where you found those.

Jamie

 

Stu, those RX-8 seats are awesome in that SA!! outstanding work sir!

to the original poster, i would agree that the standard seats are made by Mazda, however, in the 09+ RX-8 R3, the seats are made by Recaro. they are in fact Recaro seats. here is an article on the R3 thats a good read and it has plenty of pics of those bad to the bone R3 seats that stu might put in his SA : http://speedhunters.com/archive/2009...3-edition.aspx

 

Wot! And lose those fab rotary headrests!? naaaaaaa...



Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

More pics for incentive...

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Thanks for posting this....... it should help quite a bit

 

Just go to yahoo auctions japan and type sa22c into the search box. If you need help buying form there pm me and I'll walk you through it. I sucessfully bought a pair of wheels off of there with no problems at all.

http://search.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/j...ale=0jp&acc=jp

you can use bablefish to get a rough translation of an auction in english