Seat Rail Lowering Options with Stock Seats
 

Being 6'5" I fit just fine in the car ... without a helmet. I've been reading on the forums for solutions to the issue, and I know there are some options out there. Unfortunately most of the answers require a new seat, which is what I'm trying to avoid for the time being.

• Has anyone used the Buddy Club Super Low Seat Rails? Are they only for Buddy Club seats or will they work on stock seats.
  
• I guess stretching out the springs might work: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45559
  

Thanks for any input!
:cheers:

I recommend against Buddy Club seat rails. They have a history of breaking the spot welds. If you do go Buddy Club, get the welds touched up.

But they do work on the stock seats?

What I'm lead to believe with the other seat rails is that they only work with their own brand.

Most rails are universal, but are for aftermarket seats only. Ones that work with OEM seats are specific to a car, and there aren't any that I'm aware of for the FRS/BRZ.

There was a huge thread on this a while back, someone was supposed to start production on some, but then dropped off the face of the earth. Some one else was then supposed to take over, but nothing happened... I think the root problem is that the seats are so low already, and because the rails are on an angle (the rear is angled downward) and is much closer to the floor, there's just not enough room to make lowering brackets without tilting the whole seat forward, which won't fix the problem... I'm not 100% certain that this is the root problem, but from what I've seen (removing my own seats) there's just not much working room down there.

Yeah, I read that whole thread ... and I think there was someone who was able to modify the seats for a drop for $350 ... DD Performance Research.

Guess I'll just have to continue to move the back of my seat up a little so that my helmet is more inside the "roof bubble". That's really my main complaint because I have to have the rails of my seat so far back.

TPP (tall people problems)
:laughabove:

Yup - we can mod the stock seat to give you a little more room.

The problem Can NOT be fixed with rails - reason is simple. The rear rail is already completely flush to the floor and the front is just barely high enough for the seat to clear the bolt.

The 2 fixes are:

1 - mod the seat (which we do)
2 - buy aftermarket seats (or Lotus seats) that are very low at the base.

Do you have any pictures of the seat after being modified , I'm going up to houston around the 29th of august for the street shootout and am interested in having this done possibly that weekend

I do, but it looks exactly like an unmodified seat - the mods are internal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

any pictures of it in the car or anything to kinda see how much room we're gaining lol

I will take some pics of it empty and also with Max (our tallest employee) sitting in it on Monday. I'll also take pics of the stock seat at its lowest setting for comparison. When you install it it really doesn't look any different because the portion of the seat that we modified doesn't affect the seat back, and only affects the bolsters slightly.

Its only a 3hourish job correct ? Friend tagged in me halls Facebook post . if it is I will be highly interested in getting it down late august .

That is correct. The BRZ seat in Jay's car had a very slightly different structure than the FRS seat and took a wee bit longer, but it is basically a 3 hour job, 4 at the outside. That includes removal and re-installation, and it can be done while you wait if you schedule an appointment. If you bring your helmet and camera phone, let us take before and after pics, and you post them on this site and facebook I'll even give you $30 off the labor. I'll post the pictures of Max, but I find unbiased 3rd party reviews are generally regarded as more reliable.

My camera on my phone is uhhh kinda broken Lol but I'll have a friend take photos !

Gotta cut that center seat cushion foam. The Foamectomy is a popular mod in the Miata community, http://www.miata.net/garage/foamectomy/ . Just cut from the bottom to make sure you maintain the proper shape on top.

Max, one of our larger 6' employee's was kind enough to model for the pics.

Enjoy our highly scientific approach to showing the difference in head/roof clearance with and without the seat mod.

Before :

http://www.ddperformanceresearch.com...s/Before 1.jpg

http://www.ddperformanceresearch.com...s/Before 2.jpg



After:


http://www.ddperformanceresearch.com...cs/After 1.jpg

http://www.ddperformanceresearch.com...cs/After 2.jpg

PS: its hot in Texas!

SO I have a similar problem (6'3" but long in the torso so head room is always an issue).

When I bought the car, my seat was relatively far back and I sat upright - my usual go-to position in most cars. My head went in the bubble just fine.

But the first time I autoX'ed, that just wouldn't work, so I had to scoot forward, recline my seat a bit so I could make it work. It really felt awkward that first day, but I just left the seat in that position going forward. I got used to it in a couple of weeks of DD duty, and now when I autoX it's in the same position and it's great.

Plus, I lost about 10lbs and now I sit just a tad lower in the seat, giving me a tad more head room regardless of position - that's a great mod, honestly.

You have to do a lot more than that. That was the first thing we looked at, but you can only get a little bit that way without affecting comfort significantly.

Thats no Lie. I've lost about 48 lbs (234 to 186 so far) in the last 10 months and its an awesome mod in all kinds of ways. Have to say though, these last couple pounds I want to loose are REALLY making me work for them.

Any chance you will share your secrets on how to do the mod?

Good job. I hear some people say they have gained weight with covid but more often I hear about people loosing weight. Unfortunately I only got to work from home for about 3 weeks but while at home I ate much lighter lunches and saving 2 hours of commute time gave me a lot more time to run or work out. I also saved a lot from not eating out for lunch. It’s kind of ridiculous how expensive lunch is these days. I’d rather pay less and get a much smaller portion.

I’m not sure how you are loosing weight but try running if you aren’t already. I hear a lot of people say they hate running, me included. But once you get into it you will love it and become addicted. It’s also a damn cheap hobby. I also end up drinking a lot less alcohol because I will want to wake up early on a Saturday to go for a run rather then sleep off a hangover. Hahaha.