I never wanted to ask this question and just expected to figure it out myself, but I could really use the clubs expertise.
I've done a whole lot of searching, and even PMed a few members who already have these seats in their FC, but I'm curious to know if there is any updated info. Just wondering if there are any other FC's out there running Pole Positions that would be willing to speak up/show pics.

There seems to be some sort of "black magic art" to getting race seats installed in an FC... Nothing short of either "Bolt straight to the floor" and "Get a fabricator to do custom work"
I'm not really interested in drilling and banging up my car... Want something that bolts in, slides, and sits AS LOW as possible. The last is the most important to me.
I've seen all sorts of threads and PMs where people say plain out that "Any and all brackets are junk/don't fit/sit too high, the sliders sit too high/don't fit /etc/etc/etc..." is this still true?

Could I just bolt Recaro side mounts to the stock sliders?
How about the Bride "FO-Type" complete slider rails?

I emailed one company that gave me a list of parts that I "need" to mount PP's, but the side mounts they listed are marked as "NON-FIA"which would just be pointless, and confuses me because why wouldn't they make "FIA-APPROVED" brackets for PP's?


Here are the parts they listed I need: (In-case you cant find these parts, The company I emailed is Evasive Motorsports | PH: 626.336.3400 Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm PST)

7202451 (recaro side mount)
0-70-9NT (recaro sliders, inside bar, no tab)
SB090DR / SB090PA (planted seat base left and right) (<--This is wrong. See below.)


Has anyone heard of "Planted Technology" before? Are these just more "Wedge" junk that wont fit, or will sit too high? That company already goofed and listed FD brackets... I had to google to find FC brackets...: MAZDA - Planted Technology Seat Brackets for aftermarket seats OMP, Recaro, Sparco, Cobra...



Thank you in advance.

 

If you want the lowest seating position, you have to cut out the frame rails holding the mounting points. No way around it. That is where the seats 'bolt-in' and require the bottom of the seat to sit ~3" above the floorpan.
I think it's an FC, but the mounting is similar.
Look at the frame rails that run across the driver and passenger compartments.


Your proposed Recaro side mounts bolted to stock sliders will sit higher than stock, since everything starts above the frame rails.

 

I think thats a good point... Thats the start of this equation.... I'm just not yet keen on doing those type of modifications.
I now understand why Grip said to just get the Recaro mounts and bolt to the floor. (He didint say anything about cutting off his rails.... and ChrisW said he got a fabricator to mount the recaro rails to the stock sliders, but didnt say anything about them sitting too high..)

 

yes, and no. while recaro and others have a standardized mounting system, the OEM's don't.

so you can put the recaro seat on the stock FC rails, but its off enough it doesn't bolt up, and its close enough that its hard too make a bracket/adapter to do it. so you end up with washers and stuff.

i've found that the recaro is thinner than the stock seats, so putting on the stock rails still sits you lower than the stock seat did.

 

I'm glad you asked I've been in this same conundrum.

I do a lot of searching but sometimes it's hard to find an exact answer for my specific need. I'm trying to mount stock Mitsu Evo IV Recaro seats...

 

I am trying to install a buddy club wide bucket, i may try recaro side brackets to stock sliders.

 

I have a Recaro PP in my FC on a modified Bride slider/rail. It does seem a little high, but not too bad. The Bride seat rail was something like 2" too narrow.

 

Thanks to everyone and their info. Please keep it coming as I am now offering some insight.



I'm still working on putting these in (I ran into a snag with my fabricator and I ended up asking him to quit the install, but I am on the right track... No pun intended.) Here is something I learned through PMs with a club member and watching the experience of fabricating these:

(This info strictly applys to PPs, but may work for any bucket as the best option for install into an FC.)


Plain and simple, use the Recaro mounts bolted to the stock sliders, and mount them BACKWARDS of what is marked as "front." You will also grind/cut 1 mounting hole from the "front" of the mount and 1-2 holes from the "back." (Because the mounts will be reversed of their intended use, I say "front" and "back" as if talking about the FC
RECARO-7207000
or
REC-7207450A

Whether you get the Aluminum or steel version, it should look like this:

the 2 holed slot will be the FC's "front" and the 4 holed slot will be the "rear"

DO NOT use any other styled recaro mount, as you will come to find out, they physically will NOT work with what I am about to explain:

*The PP Specific mounts have a crease/bend in the VERTICAL side of the mounts, and you will end up needing to cut/grind off some of the mounting holes... wont work.
*the super short Recaro mounts have a elongated bend at the bottom of the VERTICAL side that EXTENDS the mounting base to fit cars with larger slider tracks (like BMWs) which will fall RIGHT over our stock tracks ...wont work.


You can ONLY use the simple "L" shaped mounts from recaro.

Again, here is a diagram of ALL the Recaro mounts. do not use the last two:



So this is how it works: (Keep in mind, this is not just some simple bolt and go. IT STILL requires some measuring, thinking, looking, etc. Since I have only played with this, and ended up destroying a mounting kit, I CANNOT give you a definitive explanation, this is only a vague mixture outline of what kind of game plan I have for next time I tackle this, and the information passed on from another club member.):


If you bolt the stock sliders back into the car w/o a seat, and place the PP with attached mounts on top, you will notice the mounts fall PERFECTLY onto the sliders. (This is where I say it still requires thought, as you need to find the right spot to drill, or your seats will push the sliders too far in or out, and not actually bolt into the car.)

I only removed the passenger side, but I will assume the driver side will be the same. I will include a picture. One slider does not sit flush:



Notice the ridges (That my fabricator tried to grind down) and the little loop that sticks up from the lever spring? Those get in the way. The proper way (That I found out through PMs) is to basically cut a section out of the mount so that it sits flush. As you can see my fabricator tried cutting my stock sliders, and then he also drilled a hole into the middle of the mount to clear the spring... See image:


(Notice the yellow paint mark he made. He used that as my front when it SHOULD HAVE BEEN MY "REAR"... as the PP sits lower, it will HIT the thicker part of the mount that sticks out... THIS IS WHY YOU MOUNT THEM REVERSE.)

Thats more or less the hard part. You need to cut a section out of the mount to clear the slider with the spring mechanism. After doing so, the mounts will sit totally flush on the sliders (It's going to be a pretty deep cut, so it might behoove you to weld some support back over it so the mount strength is not compromised.)





Now lets get onto why this did not work for me.
1) My fabricator dude did not mount them backwards like I asked him to. The holes to mount onto the sliders are of different lengths now, and if I tried switching them, they dont line up. Re-drilling could work, but by this point, I want to start fresh... I also dont like the style in which he cut the mounts... Yes, I am simply OCD picky.
2) He didn't do any type of "distance/length" measurements of the mounts to the sliders.. He had to push/force the sliders so he could get them to bolt into the car. (At this point I wanted to reverse time, be back home and stay in bed.)
3) He did not cut a section out of the mount, and instead tried using washers to space the mounts away from the sliders, effectively negating everything I was looking for in my quest to "sit as low as possible"

Finally in the end the seats sat too tall, and bowed out towards the door (My head was fkn resting on my A-Pillar plastics.) By now I had enough, and told him to just stop, that I would do more research before I tried this again.

See image:



In this photo, the top mounting point is what he used for my rear, when it should have been my "front" ... You can see his sharpie of where he wanted to cut the mount more to make my front sit lower, and theoretically these cuts would have been fine... If he had first started with mounting them BACKWARDS like I had asked.

As for the bowing out towards the door... Im wondering if the inside/trans tunnel section of the seat needs to be bolted 1 mount hole lower than the outside/door side... I was assured through PMs that this is NOT the case... but I physically cannot understand why it was bowing out... This is something I wont understand until I try to tackle this a second time..

All the careful effort I put fourth in research for a year so I did not waste money on a seat install, destroyed in less than 4 hours...



Anyway... I plan to buy the aluminum version of these mounts... soooo.... If anyone wants a driver/passenger set of mounts, one mint, and one "slightly" modified... I have them for sale, lol.

 

I just wanted to give people an update.... I ended up coming across some japanese "Nagisa Super Low" seat rails for very cheap, as I was under the assumption that they would work with Pole positions....





They did not.



Now I had a buddy tell me I might have done something wrong (After screwing with these seats for so long, I flew through the stock seat removal, and Nagisa install in under 30 mins.... so maybe I did mount something wrong... but it really did not look to be the case. The Recaros are just a few mm too long. Maybe if I drill out the brackets, but I gave up in frustration and have yet to touch the Nagisas or the Recaros since then.)


Just wanted to give some insight. (BTW, the Nagisa rails are pretty nice, and they sit very... VERY low.. as low as you can get with the stock FC floor plan. but it looks like I also need some type of JDM Bride seats to make these work.... *cry*)