Bueller? Anyone?
I'm having a hell of a time finding any used FIA seats. Doesn't matter how old they are as long as they meet spec 8855-1999 or 8832-2009. If you know of any racing sites in central to the western side of the US, please point me in the direction of it. I know you can get nice fiberglass FIA seats from many of the race seat companies for a reasonable $$, but if instead of paying $500 plus shipping to Canada I can pay $200 plus shipping to Canada, that'd be a lot easier. I'm also trying to stay away from tubular steel seats as I get a lot of horror stories about them.
Thanks for the warning Woody, if I stumble across any I'll probably take a pass on that brand! 
What horror stories are you hearing about steel tube frame models? Those are typically the least expensive... Sabelt sells an FIA spec tube steel seat for under $300, which I was considering, but if there's a good reason to avoid steel frame, I wanna know.
darkbuddha wrote:
What horror stories are you hearing about steel tube frame models? Those are typically the least expensive... Sabelt sells an FIA spec tube steel seat for under $300, which I was considering, but if there's a good reason to avoid steel frame, I wanna know.
The idea (AFAIK) is that if steel breaks, you're in trouble. Beyond that, the tubular frame is just that, tubular. If your body transfers enough force into the seat, you hit those tubes, which is going to hurt.
Now, having rolled down mountains and crashed into trees, the likelihood of this happening is slim... but so is dieing in motorsports. So, you go with the Sabelt tubular seat, or you spend an extra $200 to get a proper fiberglass one. Either way, used is cheaper, but it seems like used FIA seats are hard to come by.
Oh, and apparently tubular seats are not nearly as comfortable. YMMV, but when you are sitting in a car for hours on end (like, say, in rallying), your ass doesn`t need any more abuse than it is already receiving!
Fair enough. I agree that used FIA seats are hard to come by, probably because no one gets rid of them until their certification expires, they're in a wreck, or rules requirements change. It's probably totally worth buying new anyways... besides, ya gotta pay to play, right?
