Looking for FIA approved seat for under $400 that won't break my butt. I've been looking at specs and most of the seats I find are under 16" wide. I'm a big guy not fat guy in a scooter fat but big 6' 5" 280# 40-42" waist I know the seat is supposed to be snug so you aren't sliding around but 16" sounds uncomfortable. Any suggestions?

 

Good luck. I'm 6-3 215 and the only thing I've found that is comfortable is a Racetech seat. That doesn't fit your budget or mine.

 

The Recaro Profi XL seat would be my choice unfortunately it is over budget and finding one used is rare.

 

How about a Corbeau?:

Corbeau: FX1 Pro

Says the FX1 Wide holds up to a 42" waist. They are FIA approved and cost under $400.

EDIT: I don't think they are FIA approved. Brain problem today

 

Has anyone heard of OMP? their TRS comes in an XL size. I can't find specs for the TRS but both the WRC and ECO seats measure 15.78" and 17.71" in the xl size so I imagine it's about the same. They sell for around $370 and are FIA approved. The wrc and eco seats are more expensive.

 

Can't you just add a back brace to the seat to over-ride the FIA requirement? It's something you have to do to run Kirkey or other aluminum seats, and I believe it lets you keep using an expired FIA seat as well.

The FX1 is a VERY flexy seat. It also comes with a place to attach the back brace built in.

Not a racer, just things I seem to remember from other discussions.

 

Are you going to run a rollbar where you could run a seat back brace? Is the organization you're planning on running with requiring a FIA cert? Most places will take a non-FIA seat with a brace as equal to a FIA cert without one as mentioned previously.

You could get a 17" Ultrashield to fit in a FD with a bit of work. I run 16" aluminum seats in both the passenger and driver's side of my FD and they don't touch the trans tunnel nor door.

 

Corbeau has def been the best Ive seen for larger guys. Aaaaaand absolutely steer clear of Bride.. lol Im pretty skinny and barely fit in some of those.

 

Planning on a full12pt cage. I'm trying to build the car to meet or exceed the safety specs for ihra nhra scca xdc and formula drift. The formula drift rulebook says fia seat. Just trying to cover all the specs I can

 

^^I would check to see if they allow aluminum seats with braces. If so, that's your best bet to put a wide seat in the car without fit issues.

 

Most organizations allow any racing seat with a back brace. FIA rated won't need a back brace obviously!

 

check out the sparco pro adv. fatty sized and comfortable!

 

Sparco pro adv is kinda pricey like 3-6 x's what I paid for the whole car

 

A fiberglass FIA seat only costs slightly more than a new stock seat does. It's also the first line of defense between you and getting seriously injured in a crash. A seatbelt does jack if the seatback snaps in half.

The other choice would be to have someone build you a custom seat with a mold.

Which is what all Formula teams do... even at the lower level.

 

I'm well aware of how much a fiberglass fia seat costs and I don't need stock seats. In my original post I asked about wide fia seats for under $400 cause all I was finding were 16" wide. I'm looking for a seat that fits both my fat @$$ and my budget. I have found several fia seats in my price range just not in a size I believe I'll feel comfortable in. I posted here to find out what other people use and their opinions on quality value and comfort. Apparently there are fewer guys near my size tracking fc's than I thought there would be, oh well. After doing more research and asking at a few local tracks about their enforcement of seat rules, I'll probably get a kirkey or butler built aluminum seat and tie it into the cage with a back brace.

Speaking of back braces there has been some debate of late concerning back braces and expired fia seats, lots of confusion over the safety of using a back brace on cf and frp seats not initially designed for them, eg no mounting holes, and the structural damage caused by drilling mounting holes weakening them and causing a addition danger of being "speared" by the bracing. I'm not much in support of frp and cf seats anyway, too expensive for too little weight savings.

Thanks for all the help and info everyone, I appreciate it.

 

FRP seats don't cost that much. CF is way more money than it's worth unless you're building a pro-level race car.


Weight is not the reason you put a bucket seat in a car! It's hold! Period! With steel side mounts and sliding rails with an FRP bucket seat, the seat will basically weight the same as a stock seat... usually. To make it weigh less you need fixed mounts and/or a carbon seat.

Dollar per dollar, a seat and harnesses will get you more seconds off a lap time than any other mod and make driving on the track much more fun!

 

^^ I am well aware of everything you are telling me. When I was referring to weight it was not cf or frp vs stock but vs tubular steel or aluminum plate seats. I think you must be misunderstanding my posts. Also like I stated above there are a lot of discussions concerning the safety of using back braces with cf and frp seats (once fia cert expires) that do not include provisions for mounting to a back brace.

 

Have you tried sitting in a Cobra Monoco Pro? Not the most comfortable seat but cheap for an fia seat.

Still a 16" seat but the lower and middle back area is wider than most Cobra Seat Dimensions/Motorsport Seats

 

http://safedrives.com/prodimages/OMP..._dimension.pdf

Doesn't have the TRS XL specs however.

 

we need the same size of seat. I run a 17" kirkey with a back brace.

The only seat that safedrives has to offer in a true 17" seat is the HTE XL ($900) and WRC XL ($800).

I have struggled with this myself as I am 6'4" and have a very large build. They don't make FIA seats that are affordable. Period.

 

^Confirmed. I've come up with the same selection at Wine Country Motorsports. Only two models will fit me at 6'2", 250 lbs.

I currently have the "OMP Big HA/703" which, unfortunately, expires in January. It is dimensionally identical to the OMP WRC XL HA/754.

The other OMP HTE XL HA/763 also fits nicely and its head bolster is at the appropriate height.

 

OMP TRS XL HA/781 appears to be a 17" seat for $369 but I can find no specific dimensions for it. I emailed OMP and I'm awaiting a response. Affordable is subjective, true you can't order a cheap summit racing seat for $75 and expect it to be sfi or fia approved. It takes a lot of money to get a product certified though, which gets passed on to the consumer.

 

Try a mono seat. I just bought one. I got the containment version but the non containment was around thank price. I'm 6'3 250