Let's talk about fixed bucket seats.
02-04-13, 12:48 AM
#1
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
Let's talk about fixed bucket seats.
A fixed bucket seat is dollar per dollar, by far the best performance mod you can do on a car. The difference in lateral hold is night and day. They also reduce weight by a few pounds at the least, sometimes dozens at the most. But most importantly in a car with a low roof like an FC or FD, they give you extra headroom. A one-piece composite side-mounted seat is pretty much the only choice worth making for that reason alone.
But trying to choose a bucket seat without having the ability to sit in one is maddening, especially when you consider how much a quality one costs, because one that doesn't fit you can be painful at best, dangerous at the worst if you have a racing harness.
Besides whether or not a bucket seat will fit in a car, there are several things that must be right in order to fit you.
Fitment
The width of the seat bottom. The height of the shoulder bolsters. The height of the bottom of the shoulder harness holes. The width of the seat back. The mounting width (from mounting hole to mounting hole).
The most important thing is seat width. If this is too small or too large, either the seat will be painful to drive for more than a few minutes (a wee bit too tight when driving will become unbearable pain after an hour), or it will be either too wide to fit in your rails (all JDM low-position rails are only wide enough to fit a seat up to 395, or about as big as a standard Recaro) or simply not provide enough hold under breaking.
The next import part is mount width, assuming you require absolute max headroom and the ability to slide the seat. Without custom-fabricated rails this is almost always 395 mm wide. If you have a small waist, you don't have to worry about this.
The second or third most important thing is how high the shoulder bolsters and shoulder harness holes are. You want the bolsters to be right at height of the edges of your shoulders, and the bottom of the shoulder harness holes to be at or above the top of your shoulders. If you are over 5'9" or so, all but large-size and tall-size seats will be too low unless you take the seat pad out or have a very flat ***. It is better for harness holes to be too high than too low because too low will cause spine compression if you crash wearing race harnesses.
The fourth most important thing is whether the shoulder bolsters and the back of the seat is wide enough for your shoulders. This matters, but not nearly as much as seat bottom width. Wider bolsters will generally have better lateral hold, but too wide and you will have fitment problems, especially in FDs and Miatas. The seat back should be approximately as wide as your shoulder blades.
There are a number of features that many seats have that are helpful but not dealbreakers or dealmakers if you can't find another seat at that fits.
Features
Rigidity. This is the most important feature besides proper sizing for you. It is what seperates the knockoffs from the real deal. All seats flex somewhat in hard corners, but a Recaro, Bride, or Sparco is going to flex far less than a knockoff. The difference is night and day. You will literally feel it the second you sit in the seat (as long as it's actually mounted in the car). It is what makes paying $600 more than a knockoff worth the money.
Scalloped bottoms, seat bottom to mount bolt height. Not all seats will give you as much drop given the same rails. For example, Bride Low-Max seats and to an extent, all current Bride seats are designed with curved seat floors that give maximum headroom. Sparco seats are on the other hand flat. If you buy a no-name brand seat, whether or not you will be able to slam the seat to the floor with lo-down rails without modification is pretty much luck. You can drill relocate mount holes with a drill and and a helicoil, or have a shop modify your rails. Bride rails are designed for Bride seats and often do not give maximum drop without modification when using another brand.
Seat back angle. Every brand and model will be slightly different. This is personal preference, but you can always adjust sitting angle by using spacers on the rails or by modifying the seat cushions. This is one downside of a full bucket seat, you will never know how comfortable it is until you have driven in it for at least an hour.
Leg bolster height. High leg bolsters provide much better hold in corners, but also makes getting in an out harder. They makes a tight seat even less comfortable. Watch out for seats with Y-shaped leg bolsters as they can cause clearance issues. Straight bolsters provide better support anyway.
Uneven width shoulder bolsters. Juran makes seats that have uneven width shoulder bolsters (Left/Right models) for cars like FDs with clearance issues. No other companies do though.
Shell material and weight. I can't afford anything but FRP and I don't really care about weight as long it doesn't weight with rails than a stock seat. I figure carbon or kevlar/carbon are stiffer, though.
Fabric. Bucket seats will always develop holes after about a year or daily use, so buying one with durable fabric can help that. Also, some seats come with non-slip (Alcantra, etc) material on the shoulder bolsters, increasing hold. Reinforcement on wear points is a plus.
Seat cushion design. Having a thin inside cushion with quality material means more headroom and more comfort. Having a split-leg design on the front section lets you use foam to prop one leg up (right leg) and adjust it individually.
FIA approval. This doesn't matter unless you are going to be in an official road race, in which case you should be using a HANS-compatible seat with head protectors anyway. It is nice to know the seat was actually crash-tested, though.
Arm freedom. Shoulder bolster size and shape, as well as back rest shape may restrict arm movement. Depending on how far you sit back from your shifter and handbrake, this may become an issue. On the other hand, a shell that is more restrictive typically has more hold.
Brand. If all else fails, remember that each brand tends to fall closer to a certain side of the size scale. Bride (which is pronounced "bridd") is the smallest, skinniest, and is only rated for a driver who weighs up to 100 kg (220 lb). Recaro is on the small-medium side, but still larger than most Bride seats. Sparco seats are the biggest, and the only place to get a seat for fatties. A small Sparco seat is still far bigger than most Brides.
HANS ready. This means there is a dip in the back of the seat that makes wearing a HANS device more comfortable. It doesn't effect safety.
Now I would like to get everyone's feelings on bucket seats they have tried.
List your height, weight, build, whether you have medium, short, or long torso (sitting height) and whether you consider yourself to have wide hips. Waist size matters little compared to the width of your pelvis. List width (tight, just right, loose, etc), bolster and belt hole height (too high, too low, just right), upper body hold, lower body hold, rigidity (too much flex, stiff as brick), car installed in, fitment issues, mounting system used, and any other issues.
Me:
5'11 190 lb medium to long torso, wide hips, overweight at the moment.
F1Spec Type 3
Comments: This is a Recaro SPG knockoff that I bought years ago for about $170 shipped. Back then the seat cushions had F1Specr written on them.
The fit was tight, but not as tight as my current seat in the back. It was bareable for at least a couple hours in the right pants (cloth of your pants make s huge difference). The rigidity was damn good for the price. The hold was, being a Recaro knockoff, good. No problems shifting. However, after sitting in the sun for a few years the black fabric has turned grey. Shoulder bolsters were high enough but I never used a harness so I don't know about hole height.
Installed in an FC3S with Bride FG rails, it left INCHES of space between the seat bottom and floor. I drilled new holes and was able to mount it as low as the rails could possibly allow, but Bride FG rails still left a gap of about an inch between the floor and seat. I need more headroom. There was no noticeable left or right offset and no clearance issues. I guess that the mount width is about 395 mm wide because it fit in my Bride rails.
Naniwaya Pro Drive Type.
Comments: This is Japan-only knockoff of the Sparco Japan-only Prodrive seat, which is very small for a Sparco assuming the dimensions are the same. It has very high side bolsters which are Y-shaped. Its bottom is too tight for my ***. It kills my legs after an hour. The upper hold is good, but the belt holes are WAY too low for me. The lower hold is great, but not as good as it would have been with straight bolsters. This is my current seat... The rigidity isn't superb but given the price compared to a Recaro... No problems shifting.
Mounting width is 390 mm.
Mounted in JDM MR-2 SW20 with highly-modified Bride FG rails. No offset, but without the modifications they weren't any lower than the stock seat (which is very low). With modifications they drop that biatch to the floor! But clearance issues make it so the seat won't go back any further than where I use it. Not a big deal. Buying a different brand of rails would have fixed this.
Nitpicks: the seat has a hole for a 5-point harness, but the well-made cushion is one-piece so there is no access to it.
Mouting issues: the Y-shaped side bolsters contact the console, making sliding and mounting the seat more difficult. The further you slide forward, the worse it gets. On the other hand, it improves hold on right-hand corners...
Recaro SPG (1998 production)
I only sat in this one for a little bit, but it enough wider to make a difference. However, the shoulder bolsters and harness holes were a little too low. They don't have high side bolsters so lower-body hold would be average. I might be able to get my hands on it though... Mount width 395 mm. Mounted in a Civic, the headroom wasn't terrible but not astoundingly great. This is what I consider the borderline for my comfort.
Sparco Pro 2000
I only sat in this one, and not in a car. Seat width was PERFECT, but it's mount width is 410 mm, which is too wide for any low-position rails (400 is the absolute max AFAIK). I can't comment on shoulder height because I didn't take note at the time.
Old, old Bride seat:
HOLYSHITTHAT'STIGHT. I physically fit in it, but I would have been howling after 15 minutes. When a seat is that tight it even makes strapping yourself in hard because you have to push yourself into the seat while tightening the belts. I can't say how tall the seat back or shoulders were.
Car: JDM S14 Silvia.
New Bride Low-Max seat. Forgot which one. I got a test-ride in an HKS super-charged S2000 demo car. The seat was too tight for me (I did fit in it though), but it had amazing rigidity. It may have been a carbon/kevlar model. The side bolsters were very restrictive of leg movement, a little too much. If the seat had been wider it would have been fine though. I don't think it was mounted as low as it could go, but headroom wasn't bad. I don't think the shoulder bolsters were high enough, but only the Type L and Type XL models are designed for people in the 5'10" and above range.
Please give me your experiences! I need them!
I would like to know about the Sparco Corsa, Rev, EVO 1 and 2 especially.
But trying to choose a bucket seat without having the ability to sit in one is maddening, especially when you consider how much a quality one costs, because one that doesn't fit you can be painful at best, dangerous at the worst if you have a racing harness.
Besides whether or not a bucket seat will fit in a car, there are several things that must be right in order to fit you.
Fitment
The width of the seat bottom. The height of the shoulder bolsters. The height of the bottom of the shoulder harness holes. The width of the seat back. The mounting width (from mounting hole to mounting hole).
The most important thing is seat width. If this is too small or too large, either the seat will be painful to drive for more than a few minutes (a wee bit too tight when driving will become unbearable pain after an hour), or it will be either too wide to fit in your rails (all JDM low-position rails are only wide enough to fit a seat up to 395, or about as big as a standard Recaro) or simply not provide enough hold under breaking.
The next import part is mount width, assuming you require absolute max headroom and the ability to slide the seat. Without custom-fabricated rails this is almost always 395 mm wide. If you have a small waist, you don't have to worry about this.
The second or third most important thing is how high the shoulder bolsters and shoulder harness holes are. You want the bolsters to be right at height of the edges of your shoulders, and the bottom of the shoulder harness holes to be at or above the top of your shoulders. If you are over 5'9" or so, all but large-size and tall-size seats will be too low unless you take the seat pad out or have a very flat ***. It is better for harness holes to be too high than too low because too low will cause spine compression if you crash wearing race harnesses.
The fourth most important thing is whether the shoulder bolsters and the back of the seat is wide enough for your shoulders. This matters, but not nearly as much as seat bottom width. Wider bolsters will generally have better lateral hold, but too wide and you will have fitment problems, especially in FDs and Miatas. The seat back should be approximately as wide as your shoulder blades.
There are a number of features that many seats have that are helpful but not dealbreakers or dealmakers if you can't find another seat at that fits.
Features
Rigidity. This is the most important feature besides proper sizing for you. It is what seperates the knockoffs from the real deal. All seats flex somewhat in hard corners, but a Recaro, Bride, or Sparco is going to flex far less than a knockoff. The difference is night and day. You will literally feel it the second you sit in the seat (as long as it's actually mounted in the car). It is what makes paying $600 more than a knockoff worth the money.
Scalloped bottoms, seat bottom to mount bolt height. Not all seats will give you as much drop given the same rails. For example, Bride Low-Max seats and to an extent, all current Bride seats are designed with curved seat floors that give maximum headroom. Sparco seats are on the other hand flat. If you buy a no-name brand seat, whether or not you will be able to slam the seat to the floor with lo-down rails without modification is pretty much luck. You can drill relocate mount holes with a drill and and a helicoil, or have a shop modify your rails. Bride rails are designed for Bride seats and often do not give maximum drop without modification when using another brand.
Seat back angle. Every brand and model will be slightly different. This is personal preference, but you can always adjust sitting angle by using spacers on the rails or by modifying the seat cushions. This is one downside of a full bucket seat, you will never know how comfortable it is until you have driven in it for at least an hour.
Leg bolster height. High leg bolsters provide much better hold in corners, but also makes getting in an out harder. They makes a tight seat even less comfortable. Watch out for seats with Y-shaped leg bolsters as they can cause clearance issues. Straight bolsters provide better support anyway.
Uneven width shoulder bolsters. Juran makes seats that have uneven width shoulder bolsters (Left/Right models) for cars like FDs with clearance issues. No other companies do though.
Shell material and weight. I can't afford anything but FRP and I don't really care about weight as long it doesn't weight with rails than a stock seat. I figure carbon or kevlar/carbon are stiffer, though.
Fabric. Bucket seats will always develop holes after about a year or daily use, so buying one with durable fabric can help that. Also, some seats come with non-slip (Alcantra, etc) material on the shoulder bolsters, increasing hold. Reinforcement on wear points is a plus.
Seat cushion design. Having a thin inside cushion with quality material means more headroom and more comfort. Having a split-leg design on the front section lets you use foam to prop one leg up (right leg) and adjust it individually.
FIA approval. This doesn't matter unless you are going to be in an official road race, in which case you should be using a HANS-compatible seat with head protectors anyway. It is nice to know the seat was actually crash-tested, though.
Arm freedom. Shoulder bolster size and shape, as well as back rest shape may restrict arm movement. Depending on how far you sit back from your shifter and handbrake, this may become an issue. On the other hand, a shell that is more restrictive typically has more hold.
Brand. If all else fails, remember that each brand tends to fall closer to a certain side of the size scale. Bride (which is pronounced "bridd") is the smallest, skinniest, and is only rated for a driver who weighs up to 100 kg (220 lb). Recaro is on the small-medium side, but still larger than most Bride seats. Sparco seats are the biggest, and the only place to get a seat for fatties. A small Sparco seat is still far bigger than most Brides.
HANS ready. This means there is a dip in the back of the seat that makes wearing a HANS device more comfortable. It doesn't effect safety.
Now I would like to get everyone's feelings on bucket seats they have tried.
List your height, weight, build, whether you have medium, short, or long torso (sitting height) and whether you consider yourself to have wide hips. Waist size matters little compared to the width of your pelvis. List width (tight, just right, loose, etc), bolster and belt hole height (too high, too low, just right), upper body hold, lower body hold, rigidity (too much flex, stiff as brick), car installed in, fitment issues, mounting system used, and any other issues.
Me:
5'11 190 lb medium to long torso, wide hips, overweight at the moment.
F1Spec Type 3
Comments: This is a Recaro SPG knockoff that I bought years ago for about $170 shipped. Back then the seat cushions had F1Specr written on them.
The fit was tight, but not as tight as my current seat in the back. It was bareable for at least a couple hours in the right pants (cloth of your pants make s huge difference). The rigidity was damn good for the price. The hold was, being a Recaro knockoff, good. No problems shifting. However, after sitting in the sun for a few years the black fabric has turned grey. Shoulder bolsters were high enough but I never used a harness so I don't know about hole height.
Installed in an FC3S with Bride FG rails, it left INCHES of space between the seat bottom and floor. I drilled new holes and was able to mount it as low as the rails could possibly allow, but Bride FG rails still left a gap of about an inch between the floor and seat. I need more headroom. There was no noticeable left or right offset and no clearance issues. I guess that the mount width is about 395 mm wide because it fit in my Bride rails.
Naniwaya Pro Drive Type.
Comments: This is Japan-only knockoff of the Sparco Japan-only Prodrive seat, which is very small for a Sparco assuming the dimensions are the same. It has very high side bolsters which are Y-shaped. Its bottom is too tight for my ***. It kills my legs after an hour. The upper hold is good, but the belt holes are WAY too low for me. The lower hold is great, but not as good as it would have been with straight bolsters. This is my current seat... The rigidity isn't superb but given the price compared to a Recaro... No problems shifting.
Mounting width is 390 mm.
Mounted in JDM MR-2 SW20 with highly-modified Bride FG rails. No offset, but without the modifications they weren't any lower than the stock seat (which is very low). With modifications they drop that biatch to the floor! But clearance issues make it so the seat won't go back any further than where I use it. Not a big deal. Buying a different brand of rails would have fixed this.
Nitpicks: the seat has a hole for a 5-point harness, but the well-made cushion is one-piece so there is no access to it.
Mouting issues: the Y-shaped side bolsters contact the console, making sliding and mounting the seat more difficult. The further you slide forward, the worse it gets. On the other hand, it improves hold on right-hand corners...
Recaro SPG (1998 production)
I only sat in this one for a little bit, but it enough wider to make a difference. However, the shoulder bolsters and harness holes were a little too low. They don't have high side bolsters so lower-body hold would be average. I might be able to get my hands on it though... Mount width 395 mm. Mounted in a Civic, the headroom wasn't terrible but not astoundingly great. This is what I consider the borderline for my comfort.
Sparco Pro 2000
I only sat in this one, and not in a car. Seat width was PERFECT, but it's mount width is 410 mm, which is too wide for any low-position rails (400 is the absolute max AFAIK). I can't comment on shoulder height because I didn't take note at the time.
Old, old Bride seat:
HOLYSHITTHAT'STIGHT. I physically fit in it, but I would have been howling after 15 minutes. When a seat is that tight it even makes strapping yourself in hard because you have to push yourself into the seat while tightening the belts. I can't say how tall the seat back or shoulders were.
Car: JDM S14 Silvia.
New Bride Low-Max seat. Forgot which one. I got a test-ride in an HKS super-charged S2000 demo car. The seat was too tight for me (I did fit in it though), but it had amazing rigidity. It may have been a carbon/kevlar model. The side bolsters were very restrictive of leg movement, a little too much. If the seat had been wider it would have been fine though. I don't think it was mounted as low as it could go, but headroom wasn't bad. I don't think the shoulder bolsters were high enough, but only the Type L and Type XL models are designed for people in the 5'10" and above range.
Please give me your experiences! I need them!
I would like to know about the Sparco Corsa, Rev, EVO 1 and 2 especially.
02-04-13, 04:21 AM
#3
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
Another issue I remembered: shoulder bolsters that are too low will give you less backwards reach with your shoulder, which is a big problem if you have short legs and arms.
Also, torso supports (between the shoulder and lower bolsters) that are two tight are a dealbreaker. I have sat in at least one or two generic bucket seats that were WAY too tight around the torso, although the shoulders weren't a problem. Of course, they're usually too tight in the seat for a person that size, anyway.
I just realized the seat belt holes on my current seat are so low that the tops of them (they're tall holes) don't really reach the top of my shoulders.. guess I need an EVO2.
Also, torso supports (between the shoulder and lower bolsters) that are two tight are a dealbreaker. I have sat in at least one or two generic bucket seats that were WAY too tight around the torso, although the shoulders weren't a problem. Of course, they're usually too tight in the seat for a person that size, anyway.
I just realized the seat belt holes on my current seat are so low that the tops of them (they're tall holes) don't really reach the top of my shoulders.. guess I need an EVO2.
02-04-13, 06:51 PM
#5
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
The Forza is a steel frame bottom mount. The FX1 seems to be discontinued on the UK website...
The FX1s dimensions make it sound like a fairly large seat. The wide version is even bigger.
Don't know how wide the mount width is though...
The FX1s dimensions make it sound like a fairly large seat. The wide version is even bigger.
Don't know how wide the mount width is though...
02-04-13, 10:08 PM
#6
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FORZA
FX1 "PRO"
02-05-13, 12:01 AM
#7
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
It might flex more (a high-quality brand name FRP seat does not flex much) but you can get it much closer to the floor with the right rails, which for me is a BIG deal when wearing a helmet.
It will also way much less.
It will also way much less.
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02-05-13, 01:33 AM
#8
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They must have deleted my pictures in my last post, but the diagrams actually list the weight of the two models of seats to be 19lbs for both of them... Which doesn't seem to make sense.
I would have assumed, as you said, that the fiberglass model would be way lighter, but its not
Corbeau: Fixed Back Seats
02-24-13, 08:47 PM
#10
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
The other day I went to the Bride showroom and sat in the Zeta 3 Type L, Type XL, and the Gias (Guy-***). The Zeta 3 has high shoulders but the waist portion is just as tight as any other Bride seat. The Type XL has the PERFECT width for my ****, but the shoulder belt holes were far too low. They were much lower than the Type L.
The Gias is a semi-bucket seat, and although it's very expensive, it had the hold, strength, and low seating position of a full bucket seat, sufficiently high shoulder belt holes, and the waist section wasn't much tighter than a Recaro SPG. Still, it's $1500... and they only make Gias-specific rails for a few cars, like the FD.
The Gias is a semi-bucket seat, and although it's very expensive, it had the hold, strength, and low seating position of a full bucket seat, sufficiently high shoulder belt holes, and the waist section wasn't much tighter than a Recaro SPG. Still, it's $1500... and they only make Gias-specific rails for a few cars, like the FD.
02-25-13, 01:37 PM
#11
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The Corbeau FX is a crap seat. I got to see the flex in the seat on my track video and quickly got a used Cobra Imola S kevlar (I also lost 70 lbs and needed a smaller seat). It's out of date, but the FX1 isn't even FIA in the first place.
The Corbeau does come with a spot for a back brace already installed. That might help with rigidity.
The Corbeau does come with a spot for a back brace already installed. That might help with rigidity.
02-25-13, 05:26 PM
#12
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
A little bit of flex is normal. If it flexes just from moving around in the seat while parked, that's too much. If it flexes just from tightening your harness belts, that's also too much.
But for being a "brand" name they sure are cheap. Especially considering a typical stock seat costs as much as a brand-name fixed bucket seat.
But for being a "brand" name they sure are cheap. Especially considering a typical stock seat costs as much as a brand-name fixed bucket seat.
08-29-13, 05:02 PM
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The other day I went to the Bride showroom and sat in the Zeta 3 Type L, Type XL, and the Gias (Guy-***). The Zeta 3 has high shoulders but the waist portion is just as tight as any other Bride seat. The Type XL has the PERFECT width for my ****, but the shoulder belt holes were far too low. They were much lower than the Type L.
For reference, I'm 6'1, 175lbs with a 34" waist and a normal build. Some people have said that they fit in a Type L at close to 200lbs and that amazes me. Could the Type L have thinner leg bolsters, thus making the hip area significantly wider?
I'm looking for a seat that fits me well and fits in a Honda S2000 (not an easy feat) -- currently stuck between a Cobra Imola/Suzuka or a Bride Zeta III Type-L, so any info on the Bride will be greatly appeciated!
Other seats I've tried and how they fit:
- Recaro Pole Position -- slightly loose in the hips (but comfortable), harness holes are too low. A bit hunched over in the shoulders.
- Recaro Profi (formerly SPG) -- perfect fit all around, but too narrow in the hips. Probably a touch wider than the standard Zeta III, but it may be just a feeling because the bolsters are flexible. Very similar fit between these two seats.
- Recaro Profi XL -- huge in all aspects, it's a seat for much bigger guys.
- Cobra Imola Pro-Fit -- great fit, only slightly narrow in the hips (but wider than the Zeta III);
- Cobra Imola Pro-Fit GT (wide) -- same as the standard Imola, slightly looser all around. Too big for track purposes.
- Cobra Suzuka Pro-Fit -- great fit, but just a tiny touch of a hunched over feeling. Possibly because the seat was mounted parallel to the floor in a showroom, should feel better when mounted slightly reclined in a car. No issues in the hip area.
- Cobra Suzuka Pro-Fit GT (wide) -- same as the standard Suzuka, slightly looser all around. Too big for track purposes.
- Momo Start -- decent all around, but wasn't impressed with the seat itself (it's their entry level seat, plus not much cushioning on the bottom).
- OMP WRC -- decent all around, but comfort level a step down from Recaro and Bride.
- OMP Champ -- better fit than the WRC, but slightly narrow in the hips.
- A variety of Sparco seats, none of them fit. Can't remember models.
11-14-13, 06:27 PM
#17
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
The problem with Bride FGs for the FC is that the passenger seat model (which is our driver's seat) is a one-piece rail and there is a bar running between below where the seat could have been dropped down another inch or more. Also, Brides are all designed for Japanese heights, which is to say despite promising to be an "ultra low position," they always give away an extra inch of height by putting the rails an inch over the floor instead of right above it.
Try to get dual locks if you can.
As someone who has tried all 3 sizes of the Zeta III, can you please share some feedback? I am curious about the fitment difference between the standard Zeta III and the Type-L. I sat in a standard one the other day and it fit perfectly just about everywhere, except it's too narrow in the hips. I sat in it for about 10 minutes and it wasn't too painful but driving for hours in that seat is out of the question. The hip width difference between the standard Zeta III and the Type-L is listed as only 5mm (470 vs 475), but that's outside dimensions. I wonder how much more space the Type-L has on the inside.
For reference, I'm 6'1, 175lbs with a 34" waist and a normal build. Some people have said that they fit in a Type L at close to 200lbs and that amazes me. Could the Type L have thinner leg bolsters, thus making the hip area significantly wider?
I'm looking for a seat that fits me well and fits in a Honda S2000 (not an easy feat) -- currently stuck between a Cobra Imola/Suzuka or a Bride Zeta III Type-L, so any info on the Bride will be greatly appeciated!
For reference, I'm 6'1, 175lbs with a 34" waist and a normal build. Some people have said that they fit in a Type L at close to 200lbs and that amazes me. Could the Type L have thinner leg bolsters, thus making the hip area significantly wider?
I'm looking for a seat that fits me well and fits in a Honda S2000 (not an easy feat) -- currently stuck between a Cobra Imola/Suzuka or a Bride Zeta III Type-L, so any info on the Bride will be greatly appeciated!
Do NOT spend $1000 on a bucket seat that starts to feel uncomfortable in 10 minutes, because after an hour you won't be able to drive any more. The waist portion should fit you like a glove or be just a few mm big (you're going to put harness belts through the loops in that case anyway).
11-21-13, 07:30 PM
#18
Hey Valkyrie,
Seems you have possible seen quite a few buckets installed, do you think its possible to use these to install bride seats onto stock FC rails? https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generati...seats-1051710/
I know the passenger side is funky and would have to have some washers used to level it out, but I am short 5'6 so I am not to worried about seat heights.
Thanks
Seems you have possible seen quite a few buckets installed, do you think its possible to use these to install bride seats onto stock FC rails? https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generati...seats-1051710/
I know the passenger side is funky and would have to have some washers used to level it out, but I am short 5'6 so I am not to worried about seat heights.
Thanks
11-22-13, 04:19 AM
#19
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
No. Almost all stock seats have the rails built into the seat.
If you don't care about headroom, just get any random sidemount/rail combo with dual locking.
If you don't care about headroom, just get any random sidemount/rail combo with dual locking.
11-22-13, 10:15 AM
#20
Ah okay thanks for the information. I was planning on getting those, and just unbolting the rails off of the stock fc seats, then bolting the universal side-mounts back to the stock rails then the bride seats to the universal side mounts.
11-22-13, 01:07 PM
#21
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Is this really the norm for 7s? My S5 vert rails unbolted and I used them on another seat for a while, and them bought rails from an S4 for another project. Those had the same mount holes.
Or did you just mean most cars on general? My MX6 rails are welded on.
Or did you just mean most cars on general? My MX6 rails are welded on.
11-23-13, 02:59 AM
#23
Eats, Sleeps, Dreams Rotary
Thread Starter
You either need brackets+generic rails+sidemounts or a bracket/rail/sidemount combination (ie, Bride rails).
11-26-13, 01:21 PM
#24
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I don't understand that thinking, since the stock rails attach with 4 bolts and only a small area of contact with the seat frame (which isn't exactly "strong" since you can bend it by hand).
I've examined other brands of rails my friends have purchased and would gladly take the stock ones over some aftermarket. 2 of my friends even had the welds on their Bride rails fail.
I've examined other brands of rails my friends have purchased and would gladly take the stock ones over some aftermarket. 2 of my friends even had the welds on their Bride rails fail.