I'm just getting into this and would appreciate some suggestions on any kind of useful information.

My plans for my car are DD with occasional autox. I am a small girl, 5'2" at 100 pounds and am 32" at my widest measurements. I've been looking at Corbeau Forzas and the FX1 pro and would like to stay in that price range. I generally do not daily this car at this time since I still have a civic before I gift it to my bro.

I am not sure what else I need to consider when looking into seats since I have never taken a car to any type of autox or track before. My only experience at this point is minimal sprinter karting. I was wondering if anyone could enlighten on whether choosing the FX1 pros would be proper for my size and what to do about getting good sliding brackets. If there are other good ideas, I would certainly appreciate hearing those as well.

Thanks for your time.

 

Kirkey seats are nice and comfy and are avaialble in 1/2" increments to fit you perfectly. Price is usually right too. Nice thing about them is that if you do it right (or have it done right) you can swap from the OEM seat to the race seat in less than a half hour with hand tools in a driveway.

 

+1 for the kirkey, they are available in any width you want. mine is so small, only me and Mrs Ko fit into it.

i've got a sparco that's nice, and we've got a racetech thats even too small for me!

the considerations for the seat are basically that it fits you, its great if you can sit in a few first.

the other consideration is that you may want a side mount seat, as you can adjust the height of the seat in the car. higher might be helpful.

the guy who's loaning me the sparco is around 5' 2" and he's got the thing mounted as high as it will go AND its on the stock seat rails.

it depends on the use of the car, but the nicer seats like the sparco, or my old recaro were comfortable enough to use daily.

 

Hm ok. I have never heard of kirkey before, I will definitely take a look at those.

As for the comfort level for daily use, I wasn't sure if it actually correlates somewhat with price-- I'm willing to dump in extra money for DD comfort.

Still wondering how the corbeaus hold up in an FC.

 

All the advice you're getting is great, but it seems to be missing the fact that you car is a daily driver with occasional autocrossing... best recommendation is to hit up all the local shops that have seats and start sitting in them. They should also be able to talk to you about mounting them. The FC seems to have a fair amount of room for mounting seats so it shouldn't be a huge issue whatever you choose.

 

Kirkys will definitely hold you in place, but they might not be the most comfortable or best looking seats you can get...if that even matters to you. Have you looked at Bride seats? They're expensive, but nice, especially if you're not a big person.

http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/s...4520_4521.html

 

Seats are a somewhat personal thing. Sparco, Recaro, OMP, Corbeau, Cobra- these are all reputable brands and its not like a laptop or cellphone where a review means very much at all.
Personally, I do not like composite seats in a car that might hit something pretty solid at high speed, unless those seats have been installed by someone from Porsche, Prat&Miller, etc. who have engineered the cage, seat, etc. to all work together. Just slapping in a seat without some thought is just not a good idea. That said if you just have to have a composite "race seat" then I prefer Sparco and OMP, although Recaro's are very very nice and very very expensive. If you have no real budget, Racetech is a fantastic seating option.

Kirkey, Butler, etc. aluminum seats are nice and comfy one your in there, and I have personally done hours and hours at speed in them. They are inexpensive and do thier job. If you need a more comfortable fit, it is simple to form-fit a foam insert. They are also very lightweight, I can hold an Ultra-lite Kirkey in my outstretched palm, and I am not a particularly strong guy.

And, as mentioned above, with a decent mounting solution and some forethought, you can go from your track/autocross seat to your stock seat very quickly.

 

So the common procedure is you buy the seat of choice, (Kirkey or whatever) then you buy a set of factory seat rails, bolt the seat rails to the seat, then swap them when you want to go racing.

 

Ahh no, but that is one way to do it. I have a freind with a C4 Vette who has his set upt hat way. Does not use OEM seat rails, they fabbed something up that was stiff and strong enough that bolted into the car.
My Kirkey in my FC "could" have mounted to the factory bolt holes, but I welded in a fabricated mount to make it easier to remove and "adjust" the seat for different drivers.

If I were going to mount a Kirkey in a street FC I would use a set of "side mount' plates made to bolt into the OEM seat mount braket holes. I would also use the road race rather than the circle track version of the seat, as the circle track version expects the seat to be anchored to the roll cage and canbe a bit "wobbly" otherwise.

Anywho, thats what I would do

 

Yeah it seemed to have gone over my head for a moment to actually find local dealers that sell seats that I can sit in to try for feeling. It looks almost as if more money spent = greater DD comfort but I don't want to rely on that concept just yet until I actually sit in these wonderful seats.

I certainly would like brides or recaros but it's really not in my budget to spend on those just yet.

 

Memoryfab S58s fit nicely in an FD, and are very snug. Im obviously a good bit larger than you, but still slim for the average guy and I was a tight squeeze in mine. I wouldn't call them cheap, but a bit less than comparable recaros or the like. They were comfortable enough for short trips, but Ill admit on longer drives (>1hr) I was happy to get out of them. I would purchase them again.

 

I was considering switching out the seat for autox events but I'm admittedly also buying for coolness points

Isn't side mounting supposed to be what's FIA approved? Or do I have this backwards.

So far, I haven't had too much time on my hands but I drove by Stanton yesterday and saw that Autobacs/Autotoyz closed down on Beach Blvd. So there goes one option for sitting down in some seats to get a feeling.

 

There is more to FIA certification than just mounting points. If you are looking for an FIA approved seat, you will have to get a fixed back seat. If that's an issue (i.e. you want a reclining seat), you will have to forget FIA approval.

If FIA approval is not a requirement (and it doesn't sound like it is), start with the Corbeau seats as they are fairly cheap. CR1's are a good sporty seat. If you are really wanting a fixed seat, check out the Momo Start 2007:

http://www.gomiata.com/most20cobl1.html

Unlike Corbeau's Forza and FX1, there is more support in the lower lumbar area which makes the seat very comfortable for a fixed seat.

 

Go to the manufacturers web sites and click their link to their Dealers. Next call the Dealer and talk to them.

These guys should be close to you:
http://subesports.com/

Aluminum seats aren't exactly comfortable... All of the race buckets seats would suck in a DD setting IMO.

 

^ I figured as much-- this weekend however I will be taking a look at some places to sit in some seats and look at other stuff I need. At Fontana Speedway on the 15/16th, some guys are bringing their FCs for autox so I'll be asking around there as well.

 

Sat in some corbeaus during an autox ride along. I believe they were forzas and there was way too much space so I essentially felt like I was in a stock seat. Stock seats are no good for autox and I definitely will be looking into something that fits 32-33" snugly.