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Here is my solution - Tillet B5 seats with Bride Low Max seat rails. They fit great with zero side bolster issues. Extremely comfortable and easy to slide in and out. Plus, they only weigh a little over 9 lbs. each. I had to do some modification to the Bride Lox Max rails to accommodate the lesser distance of the side seat bolts. Saw them being used by the Lotus and Miata guys and thought I'd give them a shot:
question, I have rather wide shoulders and back, enough I get regular comments. Would any of the aftermarket seats accommodate me with the "wrap around" bolsters going up so high?
I feel like I would be sitting with my shoulders hunched forward. Everyone I know with an FD has stock.seats, so no way to test and see.
Potentially would feel a bit hunched IMO. I sat in a couple of seats at a local dealer and the shoulder wings can get a bit annoying in some situations but would vary by person. YMMV
Here is my solution - Tillet B5 seats with Bride Low Max seat rails. They fit great with zero side bolster issues. Extremely comfortable and easy to slide in and out. Plus, they only weigh a little over 9 lbs. each. I had to do some modification to the Bride Lox Max rails to accommodate the lesser distance of the side seat bolts. Saw them being used by the Lotus and Miata guys and thought I'd give them a shot:
^ Thanks. They are a great solution for me (6 ft. tall, 175 lbs, and 32-inch waist). I can slide in easily and they are comfortable and hold you in place. I also fit nicely with a helmet on, and zero door clearance issues. Outside of being a bit pricey, I am really happy with the setup.
^ That is a BMW cupholder that I modded slightly for use in my car. I got it from https://www.ultimatecupholders.com/index.html. I had to make an extension metal connector that I attached to one of the console bolts. Pretty easy to do and works well. Garge Alpha makes a really nice one, but it didn't fit well with the new seats.
I guess the seats do look bigger in the pics than they really are. They were designed to fit into Lotus Elises and Miatas so you know they have to be small in width. They do open up on the upper portion a bit more than the Sparcos did, giving me a comfortable ride. Tillet makes a bunch of styles in addition to the ones I have, so you've got plenty of options. The big plus for me is that I can slide in and out of the seats easily as the side bolsters are not nearly as high, yet the seats are still very grippy. Lastly, with the Bride rails, you can adjust these literally until they sit on the floor, making the seats a good solution for taller drivers.
^ That is a BMW cupholder that I modded slightly for use in my car. I got it from https://www.ultimatecupholders.com/index.html. I had to make an extension metal connector that I attached to one of the console bolts. Pretty easy to do and works well. Garge Alpha makes a really nice one, but it didn't fit well with the new seats.
I guess the seats do look bigger in the pics than they really are. They were designed to fit into Lotus Elises and Miatas so you know they have to be small in width. They do open up on the upper portion a bit more than the Sparcos did, giving me a comfortable ride. Tillet makes a bunch of styles in addition to the ones I have, so you've got plenty of options. The big plus for me is that I can slide in and out of the seats easily as the side bolsters are not nearly as high, yet the seats are still very grippy. Lastly, with the Bride rails, you can adjust these literally until they sit on the floor, making the seats a good solution for taller drivers.
I have that link saved, I was looking at those but I didn't know anyone with an FD was using one already lol. I've wanted so bad to have a cupholder, looks like I'm close. Thanks!
Oh, no I meant I assumed you were big because of trying to get a seat that doesn't take up much space so it fits in the car. I'm 6'3" and about 240lbs now with a 38" waist and I'm looking for something that sits low, but I haven't found anything that sits lower than a stock seat without the foam below the butt. The problem is the pain that comes with sitting in it for more than about an hour lol. I'm looking into Kirkey Road Race seats and modding them to sink between the rails like the stock seats. They won't be as easy to slide into as the Tilletts but those are WAY out of my price range, and I don't think I'd sit as low. Those definitely look small enough to fit in an Elise though.
Actually, looking at them again, they look like they sit right on the floor. But they're still too expensive for me haha.
Actually actually, they're not as expensive as I thought either. Can't afford them right now, but this looks like a good option. I wish I could sit in yours to see how much room I'd have with a helmet lol.
Just got my drivers seat installed, I decided to go ahead and do the fx1 and the garage star brackets in hopes they’d sit lower than with the corbeau’s. I’m about 6’1” 225 and have them nearly all the way back, and reclined as much as I can with the brackets. I clear my head in a sunroof car with maybe 2” up top. I haven’t tried to put a helmet on but I’m not sure how well that’ll go. Kinda wish I could get lower but i refuse to take it back out. I went off this thread for trimming the seat
I did just like he says, except I decided to cut all 4 bottom feet off (I side mounted) and I trimmed the left side bottom like the right side is done to clear the trans tunnel. It probably would have been fine, but it seemed like where I had the seat positioned it would start to mark up my door panel. Being a fixed back on non slider brackets install sucked ***. I actually got 90% done and had to pull it back out to remove a bracket. If anyone is interested I can get some pictures and better explain the issues I had, and what worked best for me. I definitely recommend garage star for the brackets. I was having some issues at first and called with some questions, the guy I talked to was very friendly and helpful. Gave me some good tips and answered all my questions. Here’s a crappy pic of the seat installed
Hi Guys for those of you that are looking for a solution to mount your recaro pole positions.. or spg or sparco evo' with BUILD in sliders check out our thread.
BTW recaro just brought back the pole position in jersey red they usually retail $1300 each and offers better grip and more of modern day replacement for the 30 year old spirit r seats.
they will fit without touching anything depending on how far back you place them, because the FD door panel makes a slight taper inwards towards the back, so if you position them all the way back on the rails they will touch the door panel slightly, i have them about 1" from the back just enough to where they wont touch. and for reference i'm about 6'2 but i like my seating position to be close to the wheel. on the lowest setting its very hard to tighten the rear most bolts, so i have them on the second to lowest setting, i have just enough head clearance with a helmet on. could probably make the lowest setting work with some time/effort.
@Ricebox is your care w/ or w/o sunroof? Also curious about these seats. Thanks.
Here is my solution - Tillet B5 seats with Bride Low Max seat rails. They fit great with zero side bolster issues. Extremely comfortable and easy to slide in and out. Plus, they only weigh a little over 9 lbs. each. I had to do some modification to the Bride Lox Max rails to accommodate the lesser distance of the side seat bolts. Saw them being used by the Lotus and Miata guys and thought I'd give them a shot:
I just read this entire thread. hours later. I think the Tillett would best fit me.
I'm 6'5 225. I would like to know the height from top of seat base to upper seat harness opening. bottom of opening and top of opening as my torso seems to be about 26 inches to the top of my shoulder for harness. Thank you.
^ If I understand your question correctly, the measurement from the top of the seat base to the bottom of the upper seat harness opening is 24 inches. If you measure from the top of the seat base to the top of the upper seat harness opening, that is 28 inches, so it seems you will fit well. Here are more dimensions:
Given how well these fit in the FD, I am surprised that not more use them.
They are very comfortable. Much more than the Sparcos they replaced. I highly recommend them.
What sparco seat did you replace? I narrowed my selection down to your Tillett or the Sparco evo that would fit and accommodate my height but it sounds like these are the way to go.
I need 18 inches measured off sparco evo minimum for my waist to fit, Tillett are a little more narrow but since they don't have side bolsters that may not be a problem I'm guessing Thanks for your help.
Is there anything you would change in hindsight like the low bride rails or you love the combination?
Just got my drivers seat installed, I decided to go ahead and do the fx1 and the garage star brackets in hopes they’d sit lower than with the corbeau’s. I’m about 6’1” 225 and have them nearly all the way back, and reclined as much as I can with the brackets. I clear my head in a sunroof car with maybe 2” up top. I haven’t tried to put a helmet on but I’m not sure how well that’ll go. Kinda wish I could get lower but i refuse to take it back out. I went off this thread for trimming the seat
I did just like he says, except I decided to cut all 4 bottom feet off (I side mounted) and I trimmed the left side bottom like the right side is done to clear the trans tunnel. It probably would have been fine, but it seemed like where I had the seat positioned it would start to mark up my door panel. Being a fixed back on non slider brackets install sucked ***. I actually got 90% done and had to pull it back out to remove a bracket. If anyone is interested I can get some pictures and better explain the issues I had, and what worked best for me. I definitely recommend garage star for the brackets. I was having some issues at first and called with some questions, the guy I talked to was very friendly and helpful. Gave me some good tips and answered all my questions. Here’s a crappy pic of the seat installed
I would actually like to see more pictures if you don't mind! I'm 6'1" 225 as well lol. I've bought about 4 seats with 3 different rails trying to make something work in my RHD. I do run it on the track so I need to be able to fit with a helmet. How much lower do you think your seat setup could go?
What sparco seat did you replace? I narrowed my selection down to your Tillett or the Sparco evo that would fit and accommodate my height but it sounds like these are the way to go.
I need 18 inches measured off sparco evo minimum for my waist to fit, Tillett are a little more narrow but since they don't have side bolsters that may not be a problem I'm guessing Thanks for your help.
Is there anything you would change in hindsight like the low bride rails or you love the combination?
Sorry for the later reply. Just saw your post. I had the Sparco Evos installed with the Bride Low max rails. After quite a bit of trimming - I posted this up earlier in this thread - they fit in the car. I also trimmed out wedges on the bottom of the seats to get them to drop as low as possible. They basically touched the floor in the back. So, for the Sparcos, there is nothing else I would have done, given I wanted to keep sliding rails versus hard fixing them to the floor. Even with all of this, I still had to remove the lower seat cushion to track the car. Not a huge deal, but it bothered me.
For the FD, the Tillets are just a better solution. No trimming required and they are very comfortable, even across the middle. For reference, I have a 32-inch waist and am around 6 feet tall. However, because the side bolsters are lower than on the Sparcos, I'd guess the seats will accomodate larger waist sizes no problem. I kept my Bride Low Max rails as they fit the FD, so I had to modify them slightly to accept the Tillet seats. The Tillets have a shorter front-back bolt pattern that most other seats, so I had to drill in a new front hole to match the shorter distance of the securing bolts. Not a big deal. Once you do this, you can fit the seats and maintain the up-down adjustability of the back portion of the seats. I haven't tracked yet with the Tillets, but when I do, I am going to lower my back seat position by one hole to ensure I fit correctly with a helmet on.
All in all, I am super pleased with the Tillets and highly recommend them. You can make the Sparcos work with quite a bit of trimming, but the comfort level of the Tillets makes their extra price will worth it.
they will fit without touching anything depending on how far back you place them, because the FD door panel makes a slight taper inwards towards the back, so if you position them all the way back on the rails they will touch the door panel slightly, i have them about 1" from the back just enough to where they wont touch. and for reference i'm about 6'2 but i like my seating position to be close to the wheel. on the lowest setting its very hard to tighten the rear most bolts, so i have them on the second to lowest setting, i have just enough head clearance with a helmet on. could probably make the lowest setting work with some time/effort.
Thanks for the reply. I like sitting somewhat close to the wheel as well (6'1"), but how are you legs in there?(aka, how much can you stretch out?).. Also, would you be able to tell me where you picked yours up from? I love that cushion pattern!
Here is my solution - Tillet B5 seats with Bride Low Max seat rails. They fit great with zero side bolster issues. Extremely comfortable and easy to slide in and out. Plus, they only weigh a little over 9 lbs. each. I had to do some modification to the Bride Lox Max rails to accommodate the lesser distance of the side seat bolts. Saw them being used by the Lotus and Miata guys and thought I'd give them a shot:
How comfortable are these on long drives (3+ hours)?
^ Very comfortable. Much better than the Sparcos I have previously installed. You don't get squished into the side bolsters and while thin in appearance, the seats are deceptively comfortable.
^ Very comfortable. Much better than the Sparcos I have previously installed. You don't get squished into the side bolsters and while thin in appearance, the seats are deceptively comfortable.
That's sounds very promising and way more affordable than the spirit R seats now. I'm going to have to look into this and see if I can get the pads done in red.
I had my pads diamond pattern stitched in red. Not sure about the availability of red, but the pads would be very easy to have recovered and stitched as you like by a local shop. I had customer Mazda logo pads done locally. I ordered the material from torqued.io, a local shop embroidered them, and I then put the pads together for install. The pads are basically a molded plastic backing piece, a thin sheet of high-density foam, and then the cloth cover. You can easily remove the cloth cover - Tillet uses Dinamica®, which is a synthetic suede-like material - and add on your own covering and stitching.
I had my pads diamond pattern stitched in red. Not sure about the availability of red, but the pads would be very easy to have recovered and stitched as you like by a local shop. I had customer Mazda logo pads done locally. I ordered the material from torqued.io, a local shop embroidered them, and I then put the pads together for install. The pads are basically a molded plastic backing piece, a thin sheet of high-density foam, and then the cloth cover. You can easily remove the cloth cover - Tillet uses Dinamica®, which is a synthetic suede-like material - and add on your own covering and stitching.
I know you're using bride seat rails, but do you know if the Tillet seat rails will work with the FD? I'm completely new to the aftermarket seat world so I don't even know what to do for seat rails.
03-25-20, 03:28 PM
they usually retail $1300 each and offers better grip and more of modern day replacement for the 30 year old spirit r seats.
