I am looking to cage my e30 this winter and I will be adding a fixed bac seat and 5 point belts, I am looking at the spar o rally or the kirkey model 47 as options for the seat, does anyone here have good or bad experience with these options? Are there any othe sub $500 optima I should look at? Anything I should know about covers and brackets for the seats?
We use the Kirkey in the Chump Alfa. I sat in it for about 2 hours without complaint. The seat is comfortable enough, and the cover makes it pretty damn cozy, IMO.
Our drivers range from 6'4" to about 5'8". Seat mounts to a plate welded to outriggers from the door bars (I think), with two rows of about 6 holes for front-back adjustment. Not fast adjustment, but works for the time being. Sliding rails would make for much more convenient adjustment, but we've been getting by without.
I'm purchasing an Ultra Shield Rally seat for my RX7 hillclimb car. Several of our members use them and like them.
Also, they're considerably less than $500.
I'm using a Kirkey in the Abomination and the Lemons car. It could use a little more padding for Lemons, we ran 2.5 hour stints last race and it was a bit of a PITA. Short people have a problem with it too. My wife is 5'1", and her elbow hits the seat when doing the 1-2 or 3-2 shift because the sides of the seats are too high. Other than that, for $$$ spent, it's kind of hard to beat.
I've done Lemons and Chump stints in Kirkey seats. They range from just okay to numb-butt after a couple of stints. Our current car has a Sparco Evo and it is worlds better.
I think the right cover and padding would make a huge difference on the Kirkey--I was one the skinnier guys on the team. The challenge is accommodating 4-6 people on a Crapcan team. The Kirkeys are cheap and wide, which are both attributes.
Are you driving this E30 anywhere beside the track? If so I would invest in a nicer seat.
Thanks for the responses, i can pad the seat anyway i need to since it is just me driving and it doesnt really see any off track use, (not intentionally anyway), I am 5-7 to 5-8 so I am a little concerns about the elbow bumping,,,
what kind of car was the seat in that your wife had trouble with?
In reply to itsarebuild:
A Spitfire, and with the seat slid up where she can reach the pedals, the shifter is almost beside the seat. At your height, it's probably not a problem.
I never cared for aluminum seats. I also question their functionality in a crash. I bought a used Sparco for about the same price as a new aluminum seat. One thing I do suggest is you try on as many different seats as you can and find one you fit into snugly without being pinched. You shouldn't have to brace yourself during cornering because you're moving around in it.
I put a sparco in my S197 mustang.. got it home, out of the box and very sad to see made in china... not a low end seat either... It's a good seat, but I think the NRG I have in the GRM car is of equal if not more quality...
ddavidv wrote: I never cared for aluminum seats. I also question their functionality in a crash. I bought a used Sparco for about the same price as a new aluminum seat. One thing I do suggest is you try on as many different seats as you can and find one you fit into snugly without being pinched. You shouldn't have to brace yourself during cornering because you're moving around in it.
I've seen enough people walk away from ugly wrecks to know that aluminum seats have no problems when used correctly, which means bracing the back like any non-FIA approved seat.
DaveEstey wrote: I've seen enough people walk away from ugly wrecks to know that aluminum seats have no problems when used correctly, which means bracing the back like any non-FIA approved seat.
Those Kirkey Road Racing Pro seats and the ButlerBuilt stuff the NASCAR guys use are good stuff. You do have to mount them correctly (usually to the cage) and, like you said, brace the shoulders/back. Otherwise - they are likely every bit as good and they never expire. Something to think about when coughing up dough for a high end composite FIA seat.
I know Keith is a big advocate of some pad company that sells pads you can use to drop into seats like that and help make them more comfortable. I don't remember the link but I was wondering how much more comfortable that might make one of the aluminum seats
I read different opinions on mounting to the floor or the cage. I am leaning towards floor with a brace on back to the crossbar just because I don't really understand how the cage could support the bottom end. Does anyone have good pics of this support in an e30?
If you o to the installation section of Kirkey's web site there are examples. They even sell cage mount brackets you can weld in (easy enough to make though).
I'd do a low bar along the door sill and tie two 1" square tubes to it and then terminate them in plates on the tunnel. Then come off the harness bar with a cradle for the seat shoulders. Something a little like this except I would also try to come up the side to the main hoop at the outside rear:
In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:
Ahhhhh that makes sense, I always wondered how they got BY the tunnel, I didn't think they would use it, is this type of install significantly stronger than using seat brackets supplied by the seat manufacturer to the floor?
itsarebuild wrote: In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker: Ahhhhh that makes sense, I always wondered how they got BY the tunnel, I didn't think they would use it, is this type of install significantly stronger than using seat brackets supplied by the seat manufacturer to the floor?
The factory mounts in an E30 are strong enough to hold a seat - but you, the seat and the cage all want to be moving together when bad things happen. If the floor gets buckled or twisted - you don't want it shoving the seat into the roll structure and making a sandwich out of you.
Larry McReynolds' book "How To Be A Winning Crew Chief" has some fantastic safety tips and shows the right way to mount a racing seat. I've changed the way I mount my seats since reading it. And yeah, the seat is mounted to the cage so when the car gets hit, the seat moves with the cage and not the floor. If it's one thing stock car guys know, it's about being drilled in the door at 180 mph. For drivers that share seats or can't get comfortable, it's a good idea to get some seat foam and make your own insert. It can really make a difference. https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/foam-seat-inserts.asp
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