New to the site. I was test driving a 1993 RX7 on Saturday and was finding it awkward due to leg space etc.

Is there a bucket seat that will give more access... I want an RX7 after driving the one I was in but will need to create some leg space..

I assume this is a common problem with tall people 6'4"....

Please tell me there is a seat out there that will give me the extra space I need so that I go out and buy this car.

Cheers

Woz

 

Exactly where do you need the space? Are you knees hitting the steering wheel?

 

Yes, knees hitting steering...

Right Hand Drive... left knee between wheel and handbrake..

 

If that seat is all the way back and you still have the problem, there is no real solution. The steering wheel doesn't move either.

I guess you pull a Shaq and tear out the rear bins and make a seat back there.

 

A smaller aftermarket wheel will get you a little clearance in that area, but generally yea, the ergonomics of the car and seating position are pretty poor for tall folks. A lot of people, myself included, take out an inch of foam from the driver's side seat bottom in order to gain more headroom (with a helmet especially) and more leg clearance with the steering wheel. Alternatively a racing seat may be your best option. There are numerous threads showcasing various models of seats that fit. Some will not gain you any additional clearance (Corbeau). www.memoryfab.com makes a low seat bracket that bolts to several aftermarket seats including Sparco. Bride also has some seats that might do it for you.

 

Custom mounting brackets for lower after market seats? Try a different steering wheel?

 

Yes, it's looking like that alright. I haven't really examined the back seats/ buckets, so I'll go back, have a look and see if I can extent the rails for the front seat. Cheers for you replies.
W

 

Cheers for all replies. Because I haven't got the car yet I just wanted to see if there was a solution to the problem.
Hammer and Saw should sort a few things out..
Thanks again.
W

 

The best idea is to get an aftermarket smaller steering wheel and then add a spacer onto the aftermartket steering wheel hub. In most case, the quick release hubs act like spacers. That way you could remove the steering wheel to get in and out of the car.

A slight lower seat can help as well, but you'll get most of the gain from the steering wheel changes recommended above.

 

I have a 30cm steering wheel + popoff for it, which makes it some mm closer to the body (more room for legs). I have removed the plastic part at the bottom left, which frees up even more legspace.

 

Don't forget to get a model without sunroof. While your issue may be legroom, that extra headroom will allow you more leeway in moving your seat position.

 

You can mod the seat runners to let them slide back more. Here is a link to show you how, http://www.fduk.org/forum/showthread...ht=seat+runner

 

Remove the foot rest (dead pedal). Take out some seat foam padding.

RHDV: You need to be a member to see that link/forum.

 

Here you go,
1. Remove seat from the car, there are 4 bolts that hold the seat to the car and 1 that holds the seatbelt runner to the car. These are all 14mm iirc.

2 Flip seat fowards as if you were letting someone get into the back of the car as this allows it to come out easier tip it up and there will be 1 electrical connector from the car to the underside of the seat undo that then take the seat out very carefully.

3 Place the seat on the ground with the rails facing up (img 1)


4 The way to get the seat to move further back is by drilling out the dimple and the rivit on both sides at the back that act as an end stop. (img2) The red lines on the picture show these.


Here is a close up the rivit is the one being pointed to and the dimple is the one above it.

5. You will then need to grind the rivvet flat in order to drill through the rails.


6. Now drill out the dimple above the rivvet that you have ground flat, I did this starting with a small dril bit working my way up to a monster sized dril bit, you need to keep increasing the size till you have totally removed the dimple. This is also going to be the same size as you will need for the 2nd hole.


7. I then created a template out of wood as I couldn't template out of wood so I could be sure that I was drilling through where the rivvet was as I couldn't find my centre punch.


8. After then using the same process of increasing the drill size till I had removed all trace of the rivvet I have 2 near holes that will allow the seat rail to slide past its end stops.


9. Give the rails a good slide and make sure they clear the holes you have just drilled if not you may need to encrease the drill size or get a file out and tidy up the holes.

10. Refit into the car the same way as you removed them and marvel at the fact that you can't drive now the pedals are in a diffrent place.

 

Re. the steering wheel, I believe you can raise it by modifying the bracket that holds the shaft. It attaches to the shaft near the firewall, so moving it a little bit would have a relatively big impact on the wheel height. It's not rocket science. The wheel shaft has 2 joints in it, so it could be repositioned. I'm sure a competent fabricator could do it.

 

The only problem with that is you possibly move the driver out of the "ideal driving position". i.e. the arms aren't as long as the legs.

 

Just guessing here, but if he's got long legs he might have long arms to match?

 

Nope, not necessarily.

I have the same problem. If my seat is pushed back too far, my wrists will not be on or past the steering wheel (which is about proper distance). The fix is really to switch to a smaller steering wheel and then move it closer to the driver, which in turn provides clearance for the knees. This allows you to keep a good arm distance as well as not bang the knees on the steering wheel.

 

Can I just quote the guy himself on this one "I'll go back, have a look and see if I can extent the rails for the front seat." This is what I have given a solution to, not arm extensions.

 

I'm not saying your solution is bad. I'm suggesting:

Most people don't think about arm positioning when trying to get leg room in the car.

 

I'm 6'4" with a RHD RX7
When I was looking for an FD, I was a little worried about being able to fit in the car as well.

I picked up a 320mm Momo steering wheel which makes a huge difference
Also have a quick release which brings the wheel out even further past your knee point and also makes it possible to take the wheel off when getting in and out.
Try titling the seat back a little more also.

Now I have no problem fitting in the car, it feels perfect