Finished installing my DAMD 86 Vantage seat covers.

[Pointmutation]

Just picked up a package in the mail from the motherland... DAMD 86 Vantage seat covers, black leather with red stitching, straight from Japan! Ordered from 86WORX. Can't wait to install them but don't have much time today so I just installed the driver's side. Haven't seen any forum posts of these installed. Am I the first? Lol.

I was just going to get some Wet Okole neoprene seat covers for this car since Wet Okole's never failed me before, but thought I'd go for something more luxurious than neoprene this time. Was also thinking of the red SARD leather seat covers but I figure that much red would clash a bit with the WRB color. The black SARD one looked alright but I didn't care as much for the lines on it. Enter DAMD 86 Vantage leather seat covers!



Shots of the fabric and stitching up close... The stitching is a good match for the stock stitching in the car.




Instructions are in Japanese. Pics are pretty self explanatory so I'm sure peeps who can't read Japanese will be fine.



Did the headrest first. Fabric comparison shot.



Driver side installed, comparison shot with the stock passenger seat.




Very subtle difference when looking from the outside in.



The fabric matches the shifter boot and the e-brake boot perfectly.



I think it looks pretty good so far. Some wrinkles but they'll probably go away with usage. Interior feels more luxurious already.



I should have more time this weekend to finish installing the passenger and rear seats. I'll update this thread when I do.

To be continued...

[NLSP]

Looks fantastic, I have this on my to-do list. Was planning on the SARD ones as well before this came out, but the SARD writing all over it was kinda ricey to me.

Now you need the DAMD steering wheel to compliment those seat covers

[icybrzzz]

Thank you for posting pics! These seat covers look AMAZING! May I ask how long it took to ship?

[Ashikabi]

Looks great. How's the airbag gonna work though?

[Irace86]

+1 for great looking seats

[Pointmutation]

Continuing the install yesterday. Again didn't have much time so just threw on the passenger seat... Modem, burner!

Nice to still have map pockets on the seat back.



Undoing this attachment on the passenger side was pretty tight. Much easier on the driver's side since the driver seat is height adjustable. Used my phone and took a video of underneath the seats so I could see where the wires are so I wouldn't pull wires along with the elastic



Another fabric comparison of the seats.





The fit on the top of the chair. Nice.



Installed fronts.





Shots from outside.





Couple other shots.





To be continued with the rear seats ...

[Pointmutation]

Originally Posted by NLSP

Looks fantastic, I have this on my to-do list. Was planning on the SARD ones as well before this came out, but the SARD writing all over it was kinda ricey to me.
Now you need the DAMD steering wheel to compliment those seat covers

The writing on the SARD ones I'm kinda iffy about. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. Lol. Yeah been looking at that DAMD steering wheel. 👍🏼👍🏼

[Pointmutation]

Originally Posted by icybrzzz

Thank you for posting pics! These seat covers look AMAZING! May I ask how long it took to ship?

Took about 2.5 weeks to get here and with customs a total of 3 weeks from order to delivery.

[Pointmutation]

Originally Posted by Ashikabi

Looks great. How's the airbag gonna work though?

If I understand the Japanese correctly, the airbags should still be ok since the threads are weaker in the airbag area.

[Pointmutation]

Finally finished installing the DAMD seat covers...

Removed the rear seat bottoms and covered those in the house. Comparison shot.



Rear seat back installed. How the back of the seat cover looks installed and folded down.



Rear seat back front shot.



The fit around the seat locked/unlocked buttons.




Rear bottoms installed.




View from the front.




More shots. All done. Enjoying the view.




End of install thoughts...

Got some wrinkles from the shipping but just gotta give it some time to relax and break in. Already the driver side is looking a little better. Rear seat backs already losing its center wrinkle from yesterday. Rear bottoms I have to put something in the seats to weigh them down and break it in. Front seat inner bolsters have some wrinkles on the sides facing center of the car. The driver's side is better than passenger side since installed earlier. Wonder if those will completely relax away. Well, if not, I'll just shove some memory foam under the leather outside of the bolster and add some volume for them wrinkles.

Installation was easy enough just time consuming if you're solo and taking your time. I'd say put aside a whole day to leisurely install it or spread the install here and there over a few days like I did. Oh, and don't do an intense gym workout right before installing the seats. With the car being small inside and me being all bent over having to pull the leather at weird angles (mainly the back seat back) was a bit exhausting when some muscles are all fatigued from the workout right before and other muscles are all achy with DOMS from the day before's workout. Haha.

Overall impression, very nice. Classes up the interior with a more sporty luxury feel. And it's definitely NOT a lint magnet. I hated my VW's velour seats for being a lint magnet (before the wet okole seat covers went on). Also, getting into the car is much easier now. My butt actually can slide into the car and slide out. The other half noticed it too first time she got into the car too. Lol.

What to mod next...

[NLSP]

Damn that looks good.

Does it get slippery during hard cornering?

[PNW FRS]

Will be interesting to see how long it takes some of the install wrinkles to smooth out. Maybe a week of hot weather (i.e., heat up the inside) and then subsequent cooling off will help. Thanks for the great write-up and pix.

This is now "On the list..."!

[Ashikabi]

Those damn DOMS!

Hey so... related question... I'm removing my rear seats in the spring and massing a trunk level shelf to fill the cavity. Question is: does anyone know where to get carpet that matches the trunk rug/liner(not the "wall" coverings, but the piece that sits on the fiber board that you remove to get the spare)?

[Pointmutation]

Originally Posted by NLSP

Damn that looks good.
Does it get slippery during hard cornering?

It's alright. More slippery to get out of the car but when seated it's not like I'm sliding around. But then again I do have a habit of bracing my legs against the car if I turn hard anyways.