Daily Drivable Racing Seats

So I am about 6'1" and am now driving a '91 Miata which means that my head is barely below the windsheild. I am planning on getting a Hard Dog rollbar (hardcore one) when I find one used and switch to a vinyl window instead of glass so it will fit. In addition to this I would like to lower my seating position for safety purposes etc. I am looking for a cheaper (ie used) set of racing seats that will lower my seating position. From what I have gathered Recaro and Sparco are the nicer and more expensive ones and Corbeau's are the less expensive ones.

The seats will have to be fixed back, and comfortable enough for daily driving (so no Kirkey or Ultrashields) and less than $500 for the pair (preferably a lot less). I am wondering what type of seats I should be searching for and where is the best place to look?

It seems to me that ebay is not a good place for this type of stuff and that smaller regional SCCA/NASA forums have the best deals, however it is very time consuming to check numerous different websites every few days!

Thanks in advance,
Joshua

Corbeaus don't really drop you at all unless you do some work on them. In my case, I swapped out the stock pads in my Corbeau FX1 Pros with Backsaver foam from Pegasus and I find them very comfortable. Much better than before.

Unfortunately, the cost of a less expensive option is the greater amount of work you need to do. Under $500 for a pair pretty much dictates used.

The least expensive option is a foamectomy.

I hear elise seats are great!

IIRC the Elise seats used in Miatas in Europe are usually S1 Elise seats, so they're not that easy to come by. They also don't offer that much side support.

Good luck, I have been considering something similar for my Neon. In my case SRT/4 seats are a bolt in but crazy exspensive used, and not readily available in my local parts yard.

+1 corbeau seat and corbeau seat rail sits you about the same height as your stock seat. some people bolt the seats straight to the floor for a much lower seating position.

I dd'd a corbeau forza for a few years. It was ok. Probably one of their cheapest seats, I would get something better if I were you. Sometimes you could feel the springs in the seat back, and after a few years of course the blue cloth was fading. Butt/thighs would get tired on long trips. The biggest thing you have to put up with is getting in and out of the car but you probably are expecting that.

I've liked Sparco Sprint V's for daily driving. I think part of the comfort thing is not about having a race seat or not--it's whether or not that race seat fits. I find a lot of the skinny-ass ones terribly uncomfortable but can (actually have done so) spent 14 hours in a Racetech 4009WH

I have a Cobra Monaco S, which is a bottom mount. It's not bad for the street. I had to cut out the factory mounts and make some flat rails for them, which was a PITA. I removed it from my last Miata and I'm currently installing it in another.

I've also been told that you can cut out the rear mounts and modify the stock Miata seat rails by bending the rear tabs up and bolting them directly to the floor. I've never tried it, but I have some extra rails (and, extra seats, for that matter...), plus I've already removed the rear humps. I don't like the shape of the factory tabs for flat mounting, so a better option might be to remove the rear tabs and fabricate some new ones out of flat stock.

I have Recaros in my 924s and it gets DD use. Excellent seats for DD use. The only down side is that the fabric on the top of the side bolster has disintegrated and the padding is showing through. I have been meaning to start a thread on this to get ideas on a fix.

There are many comfortable race seats, but not many that will easily fit in a Miata.

Woody wrote: I've also been told that you can cut out the rear mounts and modify the stock Miata seat rails by bending the rear tabs up and bolting them directly to the floor.

You know, I think we did just that on a customer car when I was away for the mitty. It's still here, I'll check it out. It got a foamectomy at the same time.

The stock rear tabs are an odd shape, with a recess for the bolt. They need to be wider and flatter.

Best photo that I have on hand. Those are the front tabs showing, but the rears are similar.

$500 for a pair of decent seats is a hard budget to work with. Maybe something used...

Here's a pair of stripped down stock rails from an idea that didn't work out.

These are another option, if you want a side mount seat and don't mind removing the rear floor mounts:

dean1484 wrote: I have Recaros in my 924s and it gets DD use. Excellent seats for DD use. The only down side is that the fabric on the top of the side bolster has disintegrated and the padding is showing through. I have been meaning to start a thread on this to get ideas on a fix.

Iron-on patches work pretty well. Iron them on to make it stick a bit and sew around the edges. I did it on my Miata seat.

Edit: double post somehow.

Another failed prototype:

Per Schroeder wrote: I've liked Sparco Sprint V's for daily driving. I think part of the comfort thing is not about having a race seat or not--it's whether or not that race seat fits. I find a lot of the skinny-ass ones terribly uncomfortable but can (actually have done so) spent 14 hours in a Racetech 4009WH

I run the same Racetech on the track - rear floor blisters cut off, through bolted with 4" x 4" backup plates, low as you can go. It's tolerable on the street but I swap the stock seat back in for more comfort. As Woody noted, it's easy to bend and throughbolt the stock rails too.

So it sounds like Corbeau, Recaro and Sparco's are all good options if I can find a cheap enough set. The next question is: Has anybody seen a decent set of these for sale lately? Ebay doesn't have much other than new ones or cheap JDM knockoffs.

I have considered Lotus seats but they normally run about 600-800 for a set, if I see any that will ship for less I will definitely buy them.

Does anybody know anything about Cobra seats or in "Bride Replica seats?"

Does it need to be FIA compliant? If not you have a bit more to work with. Under 500$ for a pair is real optimistic if you want decent seats that are comfortable as well. I was looking at a nice 11lb Recaro used for 700$... then lucked out and got a genuine Sabelt FIA race seat for 250$ with side mounts. If you dont mind the side mounts that bolt to the floor (no sliders) you should be able to get the seat quite low. Thats what I did with my miata and a Sparco Evo years ago and I had to roll out of the car because it was so low (ala elise).

My only advice is to not skimp out and maybe look at getting just a nice driver seat instead of a matching pair. Its one of those "you pay for what you get" (generally) and you might be kicking yourself for trying to save the extra 100$. The seat makes a huge difference for daily comfort as well as performance driving. Another brand to consider is OMP, damn good seats.

I remember seeing BuddyClub new seats going quiet cheap, although they seemed a bit flimsy.