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A Modern Spirit-R Seat replacement with Tiltworx & recaro pole position
Summary: Undoubtedly, the Oem Spirit-r seat on our beloved FD Rx7 is probably the most beautiful and desired piece for every rx7 enthusiast. The beautiful Kevlar finish with the softest fabric from Recaro and the ability to Tilt was never even heard of in the early 90s! Fast forward to 30 years later... the market for these seats is almost unreachable by the average consumer with 10-12k for a pair before any reupholster work. The OEM Spirit-r seat looks great on the outside, however, it lacked a bit of support for the driver, and there was noticeable flex in the 30+-year-old Kevlar shell when the car is driven hard. This led me on a long journey to find a modern solution. (10 years+ 13 seats later +4 different rail setups, yes I contributed to 40% of the seats on the seats that fit rx7 thread lol)
The Seat: This was a no-brainer since we want to go with RECARO!! they supply OEM seats for planes...trains..bus... and were the original supplier for the Spirit-R seats. I wanted a seat that 30/70 track/street-friendly. This narrowed down to the Recaro Pole position. Now the pole position comes in 2 models. N.A and the ABE version. The ABE version is a Uk only model and is their #1 bucket seat for street cars! it offers a bit more lumbar/waist support compared to the N.A version. But i ended up going with N.A version because the fabric option.
The Fabric: Recaro offers Velour, Jersey, pepita, Artis and leather. I ended up going with the jersey red fabric because the Jersey mesh suede combo resembles our spirit the most. They also offer the Velour in red, which is a much softer fabric closer to Spirit-R, however, the velour tends to wear out faster. But you cant go wrong either way.
The Shell: Since Recaro only offers kevlar shells in their pure RACE seats (SPN, SPG Hans etc) I had to find other means. I turned to our friend Jacob (RX7Bruh) for those that are on Facebook and Instagram. I begged and begged him to re-skin my GFRP shell to Kevlar. 1 year later he agrees! lol. I choose the dogbone fabric design because this is the fabric that Recaro uses on their SPG HANS and other race seats. The depth of the dogbone fabric makes the red pop a bit more compared to regular twill 2x2 or 1x1. .. man do they look great!
The Mounting solution: TBH I've never even considered this project if there was no tilt option for the bucket seat like the OEM Spirit-R seat. You might think well once you set the tilt you will never adjust it again! while it is true! but having the ability to adjust tilt and seating position once it's inside the car is gods blessing in disguise lol. I don't know how many times I've had to remove my seats in and out to make minor and fine adjustments. When Tiltworx showed up at Sevenstock last year and offered their Recaro pole position mounting solution with Tilt..... I was sold right away. The hardware was complete and very high quality. Everything about the seat mount just screams OEM quality.
Conclusion: Finally after 10+ years I can say I'm done with messing around with my seats lol. This is a great approach and take if you are looking for a modern-day Spirit-R alternative. Brand new Fabric, sturdy and non-flexing Kevlar shell + OEM-like slide + tilt option!
The ABE models are available in the US but the bottom is wider. I have ABEs in mine that i bought from the US.
the issue with the pole positions is that after you add the rails they will be pretty high. I used the ronin mounts (no rails) at the lowest setting and the seat fits on the upper limit in terms of the height. An inch or so more will put it pretty high
I did consider the jersey red pole positions with the small logo (they dont make them anymore i think) as the closest option to the spirit R seat in appearance but i cant find them anywhere anymore.i can only find the one with the large recaro logo. Perhaps it will have to be a special order through recaro
it sure looks nice and good work on the kevlar top layer but i am not sure whether the seat is compromised by adding the extra layer
I dont know how adding a layer of stronger composite material would compromise strength in any way. It would likely add strength to the shell and weight as well. How much do they weigh with the tilt rails? Those look kinda heavy too
Ever seen how the bridges are made? So the bridge that is build solid is the best one?
a seat is a safety device. Altering it from its intended purpose will compromise it. So making it stiffer will compromise it’s purpose to act as the safety device that it is
I don't see a roll cage, I don't see a seat connected to a roll bar hoop, I don't see an air bag. I think an extra layer added to the seat is very much the least of the worries here.
Looks ****, I need to find a pair to sit in and see how they feel
The ABE models are available in the US but the bottom is wider. I have ABEs in mine that i bought from the US.
the issue with the pole positions is that after you add the rails they will be pretty high. I used the ronin mounts (no rails) at the lowest setting and the seat fits on the upper limit in terms of the height. An inch or so more will put it pretty high
I did consider the jersey red pole positions with the small logo (they dont make them anymore i think) as the closest option to the spirit R seat in appearance but i cant find them anywhere anymore.i can only find the one with the large recaro logo. Perhaps it will have to be a special order through recaro
it sure looks nice and good work on the kevlar top layer but i am not sure whether the seat is compromised by adding the extra layer
my tiltworx sits similar to my RZ seats in height-wise (3- 4 inches headroom) This will variy a lot due to the Trim model R1 Base vs Sunroof/moonroof headliner, how much tilt and seating height. etc... Ronin rails are fixed and kind of a pain to adjust. (I've had them all)
small logo jersey red is discontinued. recaro no longer makes them period.
Kevlar if anything strengthens the shell. due to the material and epoxy the seat did gain 3lb per seat.
I dont know how adding a layer of stronger composite material would compromise strength in any way. It would likely add strength to the shell and weight as well. How much do they weigh with the tilt rails? Those look kinda heavy too
correct on the strength. Seat gained 3 lb per seat. but I did not get a chance or weigh the entire seat+rail. They are pretty heavy due to the material Tiltworx uses is pretty heavy duty. simply lifting them i can tell they are more heavier compared to my OEM RZ
I don't see a roll cage, I don't see a seat connected to a roll bar hoop, I don't see an air bag. I think an extra layer added to the seat is very much the least of the worries here.
Looks ****, I need to find a pair to sit in and see how they feel
I don't have a full roll cage as my car is not a full-time dedicated track car. I just run a half cage 2 piece from Rogue motorsport. it works really well in removing all the noises from the rear of my car and stiffing the back a bit.
i ended up using the OEM 3 point., the Recaro pole position harness hole sits a bit high and isn't ideal or the best seat to run a full harness on. It does have the provision on the bottom right to run the OEM seat belt, I just looped the selt belt through the bottom harness. (not shown here)
I dont run OEM airbags because trust me you don't want a 30-year-old airbag blowing up in your face and throwing sharpenail everywhere to cut your face.... see the older Takata airbag recalls... also aesthetic wise the OEM fd steering wheel looks like it came from a truck (i hate it!) lol
The seats are super comfy.. RZ spirit r = 8/10 i would rate the pole position 7/10. But these things are very personal.
here is a another view with passenger installed. sorry guys I'm not on forum much... but wanted to archive these here just for information purposes wise.
Ever seen how the bridges are made? So the bridge that is build solid is the best one?
a seat is a safety device. Altering it from its intended purpose will compromise it. So making it stiffer will compromise it’s purpose to act as the safety device that it is
youre comparing apples to oranges with your bridge statement, and the modification does nothing but reinforce the shell of the seat which in this instance has zero affect on the safety. If he were to reduce the thickness of the seat then that particular “modification” would affect the safety of the seat.
If you cant see the relationship you are seriously lacking basic fundamentals of engineering. Don’t really care at this point ( or at any point i did to be honest) so yeah have a nice day
06-30-23, 01:08 PM
