Im 6ft1 and for me, a helmet will definitely equate a compromised driving position. I wonder how thin the headliner is........

In my experience seat foam compresses over time. I've sat in to Corvettes made the same year and they fit totally differently. Presumably it was because one of the owners was small and the other was large. The heavier owner had a seat that allowed me enough headroom to be in the car. The car owned by the lighter person didn't have nearly enough headroom for me. Combine that with number of years the car has been used and it can make a big difference.
Also, I suspect seat foam break in is greatest when the car is new. That may be another factor you experienced in that situation.

Is it possible that the base model non-heated seat provides a tiny bit more headroom? Presumably it doesn’t have the heating coils of the Premium model.

The heating coils add essentially no thickness to the seat

My thought was that the coils could make the seat foam a bit stiffer. Agree that they add essentially no thickness.

IIRC, remove the headliner and you gain about an inch. There are small styrofoam blocks used as stand offs. Check it out, take a narrow pin and poke through to the metal roof.

Sometime down the road when it's retired from daily driver duties I probably will try this. For now, I will just have to accept the compromised driving position at autocross.

I'm sure that styrofoam will come in handy in the event anybody rolls the car on the street while not wearing a helmet.

I've had it out once and put it back in. I'm 6' 5" and my head rubs the headliner with a helmet. I'm used to it now. I need a roll bar :bonk:

Possibly

I do enjoy the funny looks I get when people see me unfold myself out of the car :popcorn:

Hi All,

Time for a quick update. I'm going to take from a few different threads/places and compile here for tall driver solutions thus far.

Firstly the 50mm steering wheel spacer from 949racing went in. It's fantastic for clearing up some knee space. Longer legged individuals that sit closer to the wheel; this is a god send and will clear out the rim closer, allowing your seat to travel back a few clicks, freeing up some knee space. For a modest charge, completely reversible if you don't like it, and maintains all factory safety/communications systems - it is a no brainer and increases driving pleasure on/off the track.

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/atta...1&d=1645637761

Next I installed a Schroth Rallye 3 ASM harness in the car. A few pointers; the Schroth blue is a not a good fit for WRB. The installation is very straight forward with only a couple of slight tweaks between first/second gen documentation I've read online, nothing that will surprise you. Re-installing the C-pillar triangle plastic piece is an absolute pain in the butt, however, and I found it easier to take off the side card (first pop out the side sill) to give space for the triangle piece. It adds a few minutes of popping out tabs but saves headache in the long run.

https://www.vwvortex.com/cdn-cgi/ima...73-jpg.162082/

With the seat out for the harness install I assessed the spring cradle underneath. I had read here on the boards and reached out to some individuals regarding pulling the seat springs to gain some cushion bottom space, which in theory would increase headroom space. I'm familiar with the foamectomy process in the Miata world but wasn't up for the task of de-skinning the seat and carving foam. What I decided to do was remove the entire cradle all together since that is completely reversible if I don't like it. I zip tied the wires.

https://www.vwvortex.com/cdn-cgi/ima...79-jpg.162072/

On initial sitting, I did not notice a difference. I suspect the spring stretch talked about here was done on cars which had more mileage/seat time and thus the cushion was already compressed, making a more obvious headroom gain. I've got just around 1,000 miles on my car. Over half of that freeway, so figure ~20-24 hours seat time. I suspect my cushion has not yet compressed enough. If I push against the headliner, I can feel the seat base cushion sink slightly lower. I did notice on my most recent drive more pressure on the side of my hips. Thinking about this now; there is potential for a drawback by removing the spring cradle - because my rump is big (38" waist), if the seat base cushion is compressing by the side bolsters are remaining; they may create a new pressure point. Not great and may make me end up putting the spring cradle back in. Time will tell on this one.

But I need more headroom still, so I will be undertaking a headliner-ectomy in the next 10 days or so, before the next event. What I plan on doing is cutting along the double bubble outline, the approximate rectangle; then attaching some male/female end velcro straps to the top of the cut headliner and the roof - that way it'll be a removable piece which can stay in for regular driving then popped out when the helmet goes on. I'm hopefully this will provide enough headroom space for one more click on the seatback to become upright. It's still too reclined for my liking when driving on the track.

I've reached out to Aurora Design (Blackbird Fabworx) again, left a voice message, regarding the potential to develop a lower factory seat rail. Haven't heard back, yet.

I corresponded with a representative from Pyrotect regarding helmet sizing and was told there is a minimum distance for SNELL certification from the top of the head to the outer shell which allows for the correct thickness of the EPS insert. They recommended their Pro Sport Series. That might mean there is little to gain in terms of helmet manufacture selection.

Even just the harness and steering spacer has been very good - I got a chance to try it out at the kart track and beat my prior best by 0.5 seconds (46.8 vs 47.3) and that's with running an additional ~220 lb passenger in all sessions. So I think there's still loads more on the table yet. It reinforces my belief, next to the tires, ergos are going to be the best bang for the buck in lowering lap times.

Another new issue has arisen though; with the harness on, on my recline position, third gear requires a slight stretch. Nothing sketchy, just less comfortable. I reached out to Bill at MiataRoadster (awesome guy, awesome shop) whom I had previously purchased an angled shifter extension for my NC Miata. Bill doesn't make 'em but directed me to two websites that does. Talk about customer service!

I ordered this with the 5" extension height:
https://www.lathewerks.com/media/cat...nch_7-pair.jpg

Along with the Cusco throttle pedal plate and headliner cut I'm optimistic this will get me near the ideal position on the stock seat. I did order an Element 50 and bracketeer, as well, but could not find a suitable install position for the bracketeer. It'd be ran over if I attached it to the base feet of the passenger or driver seat (unless I'm missing something?).

I also reached out to IRP if they could do a custom run of angled shifters. No response as of yet. Does any know if the IRP shifter works with an aftermarket single piece drive shaft?

That's all for now; will update when there's new content.

Cheers,
Colin

FYI doing a harness without a roll bar can be potentially dangerous in the event of a roll over. I didn't think many tracks were allowing that, unless something has changed that I missed?

Midnight - I appreciate your concern, truly. It's a sympathetic point.

And I'd first like to say I'm not advocating anyone do anything that isn't legal or what is within their risk profile. Discussions like these can inform what that profile becomes.

I am, personally, 100% comfortable with the risk of a rollover accident at the kart track or autocross when wearing the Schroth harness and I would be comfortable with it at a larger track, too. The seat will still collapse, the DOT approved belt will still stretch, the airbags will still go off, and the HANS (Hybrid Sport) will keep my head from flopping in subsequent hits. I'll be running with Speed Ventures at Chuckwalla and Auto Club this year and with HOD at Laguna Seca. I don't know if they will permit the use of the harness - I did not get a negative response from organizer representatives when I mentioned I would be installing the harness. But as I have not gone out yet, I cannot say for certain they will permit it. Being the harness is a quick detach, it would be no issue to run without.

On my soap box here; I do think running a roll bar in a street driven vehicle is significantly more dangerous than using the Schroth Rallye 3 ASM as the alternative. The chances of a side/rear end impact are much higher than rolling and with a bar intruding on my unprotected head/flesh the (perceived?) danger is too much for me.

And I welcome any discussion on the matter. I included the harness in this thread as I found it to be a worthwhile piece of the ergo puzzle. Keeping my shoulders against the seat back made a noticeable difference in driving comfort and confidence.