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I need lower seats!
I've had it.
I've got a 93 Touring and the roof is just too dang low. I have to set the seat way back to even fit and even then I'm still on the roof and my neck hurts. I love this car but this is killing me and it's reached the point that I'm finding I'd rather just not drive it. I tried putting a Bride Stradia in but it didn't help, and the bolsters made it really hard to move my legs around. I'd really like something that still has a recline/rails rather than just bolt seats to the floor, but I'm not sure anything actually exists in that segment that's lower than the stock seats. Also, I want to be able to use the stock seat belt; not deal with harnesses. What are my options? I've seen a few threads on seats before but most are years out of date as far as current offerings, and I don't think any of them had reclining seats other than the stradias. |
The stock leather seats for whatever reason sit higher than the R1 suede and the base cloth seats. I think they may have used more padding in the bottom.
You may be able to remove some foam from the seats, this is popular in the Miata world and is called a "foamectomy". This may give you some extra headroom. There's a world of options when it comes to aftermarket seats but not a lot of them are well documented. Good seats can be really pricey (like $2k+) so they just aren't a common upgrade. It's also tricky since one person can fit great in a seat and for another it's uncomfortable, it's how your body is shaped. Also having a smaller aftermarket steering wheel can help out a great deal with legroom, I'm 6'6" with a 38" inseam and a smaller Momo wheel with a spacer made a world of difference. But, I don't have a sunroof in my car on purpose :). Dale |
The brutal reality of it is that the stock seats actually sit pretty low. I fit a Motorsport Recaro Pole Position in my Touring so I would have more head clearance and it did work but it's a tight fitting seat and I had to make custom side brackets to make it work.
Personally, the foamectomy is the best option if you still want reclining seats as I believe aftermarket options are most likely more padded and made for more modern cars which have loads more padding in them these days compared to when the Rx7 was still in production. |
Haven't had to do this myself yet, as I drive an FC, but I agree the "foamectomy" is the way to go. Find a good upholsterer do it right, (or learn how to DIY it) so the end result looks good and doesn't feel like you're sitting on a wooden plank.
I know an upholsterer that does this often on Miatas and other cars with low headroom. What he'll do is remove ALL of the existing seat bottom cushion foam and replace it with a block of seat foam that is about an inch or so thinner than the factory piece, but is also a much denser foam composition than stock. That makes the foam much firmer in compression, so it still feels comfortable to sit on despite being thinner. He will also cut & contour the replacement foam block to match the same general shape as the stock piece, but he may take liberties tweaking the shape a bit in the width & length dimensions slightly so that the leather or suede/fabric seat cover material looks right once it's all complete - this is the hard part that involves a bit of experience & craftsmanship. If done well, it will look & feel just like factory seats, only you'll have about an extra inch of headroom. |
I'd advise against doing the foam-eotomy yourself. Mine was super uncomfortable and I had to replace the foam shortly after trying it.
Eventually your neck just kind of takes a set in a dog-leg shape to one side. Not so bad once all the nerves grow back. |
Originally Posted by alexdimen
(Post 12334994)
I'd advise against doing the foam-eotomy yourself. Mine was super uncomfortable and I had to replace the foam shortly after trying it.
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Originally Posted by Vectortrex
(Post 12334845)
I've had it.
I've got a 93 Touring and the roof is just too dang low. I have to set the seat way back to even fit and even then I'm still on the roof and my neck hurts. I love this car but this is killing me and it's reached the point that I'm finding I'd rather just not drive it. I tried putting a Bride Stradia in but it didn't help, and the bolsters made it really hard to move my legs around. I'd really like something that still has a recline/rails rather than just bolt seats to the floor, but I'm not sure anything actually exists in that segment that's lower than the stock seats. Also, I want to be able to use the stock seat belt; not deal with harnesses. What are my options? I've seen a few threads on seats before but most are years out of date as far as current offerings, and I don't think any of them had reclining seats other than the stradias. |
Originally Posted by project793
(Post 12335397)
Did you at least pick up some head room with the stradia? What rails where you using?
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Originally Posted by Macer
(Post 12335429)
Yeah, the rails are important. I have Bride Stradias with the Bride LR rails and the seating position is really low!
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I recently put in a Bride VIOS III seat with LH rails. It fits perfectly with clearing a decent gap from the door panel. The seat position is so low that I have over 4 inches of head room. It isn't a reclining seat, but I will still recommend this to anyone.
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My RZ has the factory Recaros and I LOVE them.....much better headroom.
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I cant speak for the OP, but fixed back seats wont work for me...6'6" : /
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Gonna piggy back on this thread if you don't mind... my driver's seat leather is finally splitting along the small of the back after 27 years and 160k miles.
Dale, you mentioned the R seats are lower... any estimate of how much lower? I'm also tired of sliding around during autocross and would really like something with more grip. Do the R seats offer better grip? They seem like they would. |
It's not a certainty that R seats are lower but anecdotal, I have noticed that when I sit in a car with leather seats that I do seem to sit up higher.
The R1 suede is quite grippy, I've always been happy with that. No sliding around in my seat on the Dragon :). Come to Deal's Gap and you can sit in my car and compare! :) Dale |
Hm... I'd love to do deals gap one year. Mountain roads are better than autocross and almost as much fun as the track!
I'm looking into a Recaro Profi SPG driver's seat right now. |
Originally Posted by alexdimen
(Post 12336261)
Gonna piggy back on this thread if you don't mind... my driver's seat leather is finally splitting along the small of the back after 27 years and 160k miles.
Dale, you mentioned the R seats are lower... any estimate of how much lower? I'm also tired of sliding around during autocross and would really like something with more grip. Do the R seats offer better grip? They seem like they would. R seats don't sit lower and won't help at all for autocross. Possibly in Dale's experience the cushions were worn out or already modded. Best option is a race seat sitting right on the floor with custom fixed rails. Any sliding rail will sit too high. I'm only 5'9" and I like being all the way down on the floor board. |
Tracking and lower seats
Im 6’2” and long torso. Learned to drive on Italian (read long-reach-to-wheel) cars so I like sitting stretched. Im going to (primarily) track my SUNROOF FD...bought and spent a small fortune on it before sitting in it with a helmet. Not smart. Had a ‘93 R1 5 years ago and fit helmet in OE seats with headroom and didn’t check difference before I spent...it didn’t even cross my mind. I’ve read EVERY (I think) thread here on this subject. Tried 8 seats and sat in 4 others. Ive settled on an aluminum UñtraShild Rally Sport. I found one on sale and tried it; it’s not a Halo seat which I wanted. It’s going to be bolted, through small spacers, directly to the floor. I have measured one of their Halo seats and it will fit if I bend the outboard wing inward, which one can do with an aluminum seat. And you can powder coat the frame if style is important. Too difficult for me to use for daily driver, but works for me for frequent (daily) track time. I also bought an OMP HTE-R (narrow wing) and with rare wide seat availability for larger people. Garage Star SLIDER rails are the lowest sliders available and this combo ALMOST works for me. Depending upon your heigth and frame it might work. This was a discouraging subject in an otherwise wonderful time prepping this car. Relieved when I ‘sat’ on a solution. PM me if you’d like to talk this subject. Rick |
What seat rail manufacturer do you like Fritz?
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Originally Posted by Fritz Flynn
(Post 12336674)
R seats don't sit lower and won't help at all for autocross. Possibly in Dale's experience the cushions were worn out or already modded.
Best option is a race seat sitting right on the floor with custom fixed rails. Any sliding rail will sit too high. I'm only 5'9" and I like being all the way down on the floor board. So, my solution is Sparco Evo seats installed with the Bride LF LowMax sliding rails. Fritz is right that in the stock configuration, the seats still sit too high. However, you can trim the bottoms of the seats where they hit the rails so the seats sit in the back literally on the floor. I also remove the seat cushion when tracking the car and use a slim pad in its place. By doing this, I gain plenty of room to sit in the car comfortably with a helmet. I have all of this posted up in the "Seats that fit and don't fit" thread and I think in my build thread as well. Might be worth considering as with this setup, you still get the use of sliders for daily driving. |
Originally Posted by Fritz Flynn
(Post 12336674)
R seats don't sit lower and won't help at all for autocross. Possibly in Dale's experience the cushions were worn out or already modded.
Best option is a race seat sitting right on the floor with custom fixed rails. Any sliding rail will sit too high. I'm only 5'9" and I like being all the way down on the floor board. |
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