good source for FIA-expired race seats? Good OEM seats for ralllycross?: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Oct. 10, 2011 9:12 p.m. irish44j Dork
over the winter will be looking for some cheap/used race (and/or street/sport) seats for the rallycross beater. The OEM 1985 "BMW comfort" seats ain't gonna cut it!.

What I'm looking for: a seat that will be comfortable for a couple hours of driving to events, and reasonably supportive since it's gonna be bumpy!

I basically have two thoughts, neither of which include buying new $$ race/sport seats!
1. find an OEM seat that will fit and will provide sufficient bolstering for rallycross (especialy if I use a harness). Porsche 911/944 seats and Miata seats come to mind offhand.
2. find some race seats that have expired FIA certification, and would hopefully not be too expensive as they'd surely have alot of use/wear/sweat on them. Anyone know where a good place to find where racers get rid of their non-certified seats?
ANy other suggestions welcome.

btw, this will be going in an e30 bmw.
Oct. 10, 2011 9:15 p.m. irish44j Dork

oh, and I would probably prefer a reclinable "sport" seat over a full-on competition seat, but am open to ideas...
Oct. 10, 2011 9:18 p.m. PhilStubbs New Reader

As an owner of an 07 civic SI sedan, I say check around for some of those seats. I did a 10 hour trip from FL to VA and then an 18 hour trip back going through Asheville NC and was comfortable the whole time. They also hold you in place pretty nicely for an oem seat
Oct. 10, 2011 9:28 p.m. Woody SuperDork

I've had a bunch of 911 seats. They're made by Recaro, they're incredibly comfortable and the mounts are so simple that they'd be easy to adapt to something else. I was advertising a pair on the Jeep forum for a while because I thought they would be perfect in a Wrangler, but I eventually sold them on Pelican for $200.

On the downside they're pretty heavy. I have a pair of keepers in my basement and I could weigh one if you'd like me to.

You can usually find them in the For Sale section on Pelican.
Oct. 10, 2011 10:12 p.m. pigeon Dork

Did Javelin ever sell the 944 sport seats he had?
Oct. 10, 2011 10:20 p.m. irish44j Dork

There are a pair of 944 leather seats on the local CL for $200 in good shape....how do they compare to the 911 seats? I don't really want leather (at all), but could always have them recovered or somethign....

Pelican = pelicanparts? Didn't knwo there was a forum there.

@ phil - same with my 09 wrx seats - very comfy and pretty supportive....but of course trying to keep price low the Civic Si seats are in pretty high demand for the import tuner scene (as are wrx seats) so those are probably out for me.
Oct. 10, 2011 10:25 p.m. Woody SuperDork

944 seats may be the same as 911 seats. 924S seats are similar, but with smaller bolsters and most likely are vinyl.

Look here:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/search.php?searchid=7375041
Oct. 11, 2011 7:51 a.m. ProDarwin Dork

What's wrong with the BMW seats? From my experience rallycrossing - you don't generate much force trying to pull you out of your seat. Both times I did it, the OEM seat/belt setup was fine (Saturn and Subaru Outback).
Oct. 11, 2011 12:21 p.m. Brett_Murphy HalfDork

How much you get thrown around really depends on your course. The course on which I race is really rough.
Oct. 11, 2011 12:44 p.m. bludroptop SuperDork

Troll Craigslist. "Tuner" seats seem to pop up all of the time for not much money. Name brand fixed-back seats less often and for more $$ but bargains are out there if you bide your time and are willing to deal with some fading or odd colors. I paid $150 for a near perfect Sparco and $75 for one with some minor wear issues.
Oct. 11, 2011 12:47 p.m. moxnix Reader
Local RallyX has 3 different basic courses that they can use.
1. The big course.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJzObOXlNDs
2. The gravel course.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqGEOPzVhWQ
3. The barn course.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9m_i8CfANo
All seem fairly rough to me but I don't have much problem with the stock RX-7 seats out there.
Oct. 11, 2011 2:10 p.m. mtn SuperDork

Miata seats are horrible. FYI.
Oct. 11, 2011 4:55 p.m. irish44j Dork

ProDarwin wrote:

What's wrong with the BMW seats? From my experience rallycrossing - you don't generate much force trying to pull you out of your seat. Both times I did it, the OEM seat/belt setup was fine (Saturn and Subaru Outback).

google early e30 "comfort seats" and you'll see what's wrong.

aside from the halfway-functional tilt mechanism.....they have less lateral suport than the ones in my wife's 4runner, haha....

and they're ripped, ugly tan vinyl.
Oct. 11, 2011 4:56 p.m. irish44j Dork

mtn wrote:

Miata seats are horrible. FYI.

interesting, I have a set in my GT6 and though not as good as my WRX stockers, they're a major step up from the slidey stock Triupmh ones!

They don't quite fit me right, but that could be because the bottom cushions are shaved a couple inches.