What Seat

[John Sims]

OK then, spurred on in my thoughts of making Beaky a little more track day orientated, I am pondering a new drivers seat.

I was stunned what a difference a good seat made to my perception of what the car was doing in my Westfield and, having had a friend saved by a composite back seat, this must be the way to go.

My criteria:-

Must accommodate standard seat belts - I may go to harnesses later or have harnesses just for track days (they are a pain in day to day driving.)

Seat must fit my seemingly enlarging bulk, while obviously providing good support and location

Tilt mechanism isn't important as Small always sits on the near side.

While I don't want to fall asleep I would like something that was comfortable

Something harmonious with my beige logo fabric would be nice

FIA approved.

Doesn't have to have a slide mount as I am the only person that drives the car.

While obviously CF would be very nice costs dictate GRP

Known brand - I'm not risking my life to some cheap Chinese import - but then FIA approval should put paid to that.

Hard wearing - I'm not having another seat covered with thick tights like the Cobra seats I had in my Capri (happy days)

No vinyl

Under £400

So pretty easy then.

 

[Mikie_gb]

Known brand - I'm not risking my life to some cheap Chinese import - but then FIA approval should put paid to that.

Ummmm.....I have an FIA approved stapler.... I made it FIA approved with a felt tip pen. Made in China given FIA approval in London. Innit.

Cheekyness aside, I have also been looking, with less stringent criteria, but I fear what my insurance bandits will say I owe them further than the 25% they slap on for the wheels they charge me for and won't cover under the insurance.

 

[zcacogp]

Maybe not quite helpful for you, but I put a set of Recaro N-Joy seats from an Escort RS Turbo into my old Golf GTi. They totally transformed the car. I'd highly, highly recommend them (only cost £40 as well!)

I'd fit them into my 944 at the drop of a hat, as long as I could connect them to the height-adjustment system and have them re-covered to match the rest of the car. I'm not a fan of the stock 944 items at all, and these recaro's were simply fantastic.


Oli.

 

[random hero]

I used to have some cobra imola 2's,which i was very impressed with.the standard width is a bit tight so you would need to get the GT width version. I now have some recaro profi carbon /kevlar seats fitted but these are by no means cheap,from memory about £1000 each but they are vertually identical to the 968 Cs bucket seats and fit perfect. if you cant strech to that then al ot of people recomend the recaro pole postion !!!

 

[944Turbo]

I like these,

http://www.reverie.ltd.uk/shop/products.php?p=a76035

but I think they fail on at least 2 counts, the FIA approved ones are even more over budget,
Tony

 

[944turboS]

John,
Why not take a trip to the Autosport show at the NEC in January & try some seats out.

www.autosport-international.com/autosport/show_home1.asp

 

[Fen]

I went to Autosport to try mine. I ended up with Corbeau Sprint in XL width. I can't imagine you'd need the wide ones though, John.

 

[John Sims]

ORIGINAL: 944turboS

John,
Why not take a trip to the Autosport show at the NEC in January & try some seats out.

www.autosport-international.com/autosport/show_home1.asp

I was thinking that. Thing is, I haven't renewed my race licence so I will have to go on a day with the Plebes & Chavs this year. [:'(][]

Thanks for your comments guys. I think my first choice would be a Recaro as that is the correct name to put in a Porsche. If they don't have anything that inspires (that I can afford) then I can see me planting my ass in all sorts of places to find the right one

 

[John Sims]

ORIGINAL: 944Turbo

I like these,

http://www.reverie.ltd.uk/shop/products.php?p=a76035

but I think they fail on at least 2 counts, the FIA approved ones are even more over budget,
Tony

That's not a seat it's pornography. [8D] But, alas, too expensive by a long way once you add the cushion and VAT.

 

[Guest]

I have sparco Pro 2000 in My 944T, picture attached.

They provide superb support and fit really easily. My only warning would be that the base is not very cushioned so on longer journeys your derrier can get a bit numb.

Demon Tweeks or GP raceware would be my first ports of call. I would also look at seats that the rally boys use as they spend more time in the saddle than most. I believe Motordrive are favoured by many big teams: http://www.motordrive.com/acatalog/catalogbody.html

Cheers

 

[Peter Empson]

I like my Cobra Imola's and even my wide behind fits in the standard version snugly but comfortably, although i've had a few complaints from others so the GT width would probably be a safer bet.

My drivers seat is newer than the passenger one and they've really improved the fabric. No signs of wear to the fabric at all despite being used daily for at least 15 months. Pretty sure they don't do beige though... Perhaps buy a used seat on Ebay and get it retrimmed, but don't know what this might cost...

Mikie, regarding the comment about insurance, you may find that your insurers don't worry about the interior, mine certainly didn't. As long as it doesn't alter the cars valuation they said I could do what I wanted []

I'll be heading over to the NEC on one of the public days, anyone interested in a meet up?

best regards,
Peter.

 

[random hero]

Just found out from james at recaro that my seats are profi SPA's which weigh in at 2.5 kg each !!

 

[Hilux]

You could always take your seats to a good upholsterer who will install the cutouts required for harness belts if you want to keep the originals.

I have the sports seats and the side support is fine IMHO but the side thigh supports are inadequate so I will be changing mine.

Highly recommend trying loads at the Autosport show as Graeme says.

I have a 968 harness guide bar (which I need to modify slightly to fit) as it allows the existing seat belts to be retained.

You can get harness rings that fit original seats so harnesses are easily removed as I agree for regular driving they are a PITA

 

[John Sims]

Thanks for your comments guys.

I did look into refurbishing the existing seats with new foam and skins from Southbound but that was going to cost IRO £1200 for the pair. []

Recaro road seats are available in black and beige, with tilt etc, but I don't see that there would be much advantage in buying them over refurbishing my existing seats.

Getting my bum settled in a few does seems the only way forward.

 

[944Turbo]

what seat?

Cupra R

 

[edh]

John

One point to consider is the seatbelt mounting - if you retain the inertia reel belt (and Palmersport seem to think it's fine for most of their track cars - race seats hold you in pretty well)

The belt buckle attaches to the seat in the 944 - the seat has 2 x bolts on each side at the rear to increase the strength, after all, in a crash, that's all that is holding you in. Mounting seats into the 944 seems like a bit of a pain. The pair that came in my car (that I replaced with standard sports seats) had a fairly crude set of brackets that only used one rear bolt hole. It was suggested to me that wasn't a very safe thing to do. If i was looking for seats, I'd be very keen to find a supplier with a specific 944/Porsche mounting solution (unless you want to start drilling holes in the floor). I'd be interested to know how Peter, Dave & others have done it.

 

[John Sims]

ORIGINAL: 944Turbo

what seat?

Cupra R

[] He is a wit. Obviously sleepless nights haven't blunted Tony's razor sharpintellectt.

 

[John Sims]

ORIGINAL: edh

John

One point to consider is the seatbelt mounting - if you retain the inertia reel belt (and Palmersport seem to think it's fine for most of their track cars - race seats hold you in pretty well)

The belt buckle attaches to the seat in the 944 - the seat has 2 x bolts on each side at the rear to increase the strength, ...........

Very good point.

Most quality seats seem to have seat mountings of a similar quality (read expensive) so I am reasonably confident I should get a result. IIRC Recaro seats have DIN approval for use in Porsches so I should be OK if I go that route.

 

[Hilux]

Most quality seats seem to have seat mountings of a similar quality (read expensive) so I am reasonably confident I should get a result.

Hi Jon

As a westy owner you will know that the westy seats fitted to a front and aft bar under the ally floorpan (mine did anyway) and the standard (or sports) westy seats fitted/bolted to these. Aftermarket seats did not and some people simply bolted them to the ally with a small washer [][][]

Aftermarket seats/seat mounts in any car may not bolt to the `hard points` If I were retro fitting non standard seats to my 951 I would certainly look at welding in a `hard point` to each mounting to floor pan bolt (spreader plates with captive nuts) on the underside of the floor pan.

The seats are 20??kgs each, which if not restrained put considerable added pressure on the harnesses and/or inertia belts.

Note also that seat belt/harness bolts work better in `shear` so should preferably be at 90 degrees to the harness rather than the harness bolt bracket be 90 degrees to the harness IYKWIM

I only state all of the above if done properly works having experienced rolling an open top kit car [8|]

Another pet hate of mine with retro fitted safety gear is poorly fitted fire extinguishers. Ensure they are mounted so that the bracket/support/fixings are not compromised by a front shunt. A 2kg extinguisher is a missile at a 30-40 mph dead stop. Treat them like your seat and secure them properly or mount them with the bracket forward of the extinguisher body. Seen kit cars with them originally fitted between the driver and passenger take out the whole dash when the plasticky holder strap breaks [&:]

 

[Fen]

I bought blank brackets for my seats and drilled them to suit the holes in the floor - much easier than trying to re-engineer a floor pan that isn't flat.