Seat Suggestions for Street

[Lelandjt]

Originally Posted by Breezer

I also haul a bike, and the modifications I've done to the BRZ are mostly about weight reduction. I removed everything but the side panels from the rear and covered the flooring with thin padding and carpet. You have a dropper seat post, which solves one of the trickiest parts of snaking a bike in through the trunk opening.

I'm also planning to gut, then re-cover the rear seat area for weight reduction and cargo space maximization. If you can be troubled to post pics I'd like to see them.

[Breezer]

Originally Posted by Lelandjt

...post pics I'd like to see them.

Sorry about image rotation. I have risers under the passenger seat rails, which as a side benefit provide anchor spots for bungee cords too. Someday I'll add anchor loops at a couple former seat belt or seat mount fastener holes. Keep that in mind when applying floor covering.

[Vracer111]

Tilting aftermarket seats will not gain you anymore rear seat space and only drop a few lbs of weight. Reason you get aftermarket seats is for better fit/comfort/control of the car. I put the Recaro Sportster in my FR-S and have the Sportster CS in my Nissan Frontier because have a bad lower back, the stock seats were unbearable, and I needed more headroom. Best two things I ever did with the FR-S is installation of the Recaro Sportster and a 50mm steering wheel spacer. If you have a bad back the best thing you can do is have a seat which works great for you... most stock seats are compromises which don't work well for everyone.

Nice thing about the Recaro Sportster is how much more connected to the vehicle you are, much like a fixed racing seat. Stock seats don't give you anywhere near the amount of chassis feedback of the Sportster. The FR-S felt noticeably different to drive and you were sitting IN the seat not ON the seat like the stock seat. Even with the Frontier there is a marked improvement in perceiving what it's doing, plus don't have to brace with my left leg when cornering anymore to keep from sliding all over the place.



Best thing to do is find someplace where you can try a variety of seats: If not able to, then Recaro is generally a good fit option for many full size adults (6'+ and 180+lbs) Bride would be the JDM option for the smaller folks. $2k+ is definitely worth it for installing a good seat - stock seats would cost a whole lot more in the long run if they are ruining your health from being ill fitting...

Basically, find the seat that works for you and use it in all your vehicles.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by Lelandjt

Because weight creates inertia. If I didn't have a fondness for the lightest, most nimble vehicles I'd have bought a M2. From my perspective what the twins offer is the lightest RWD car I can fit a bike case in. I kind of want different material on my seats in a different color, and I'd love to not have such a thick seat back, so instead of only looking into reupolstering I thought I'd consider replacement seats. If I'm going to do that I might as well see how much weight can be dropped at the same time to lean into this car's strength.
However, it's sounding like what I want doesn't exist so I'll probably stick with the stock seats or reupolster them.

Yes, I understand how weight impacts vehicle dynamics. I can also tell you having fixed back race seats in a street car SUCKS. I occasionally drove my track miata on the street and getting in out without a removable steering wheel was a real pain.

The reason I asked about weight, and then responded to Tcoat about "All those racecars on OEM suspension" is because it doesn't sound like your going to be tracking the car.

And the few lbs you'll lose here and there you aren't going to notice in street driving.

I'm not trying to be a **** about it, I was genuinely curious why you're so concerned about weight on what sounds like is going to be a street car.

[Pat]

I think it's important to differentiate your experience from experiences in general. I had a race seat in a couple of my cars and it was the second most comfortable seat I have ever sat in. I used it for multi-day drives and loved it. I expect my experience is the exception but also think it is important not to assume everyone's experiences will be just like yours.

[Lelandjt]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

Yes, I understand how weight impacts vehicle dynamics. I can also tell you having fixed back race seats in a street car SUCKS. I occasionally drove my track miata on the street and getting in out without a removable steering wheel was a real pain.

The reason I asked about weight, and then responded to Tcoat about "All those racecars on OEM suspension" is because it doesn't sound like your going to be tracking the car.

And the few lbs you'll lose here and there you aren't going to notice in street driving.

I'm not trying to be a **** about it, I was genuinely curious why you're so concerned about weight on what sounds like is going to be a street car.

Lighter weight would have been a nice bonus. I wanted different material and hoped I could find something thinner than stock. I just assumed that replacing stock seats with airbags with racing style seats would drop ~50lbs, which if combined with a few other weight saving projects could be noticable on the street. I'm gonna gut the rear interior and replace the battery. In my STi I removed the A/C but I'm still on the fence with this car. You can feel the difference when you add a passenger, right? So figure ~150lbs is a "noticable amount" of weight change.

[Midnightsky]

Wow, I came in here hoping there might be some actual seats posted........instead, bickering.......sadface

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by Lelandjt

Lighter weight would have been a nice bonus. I wanted different material and hoped I could find something thinner than stock. I just assumed that replacing stock seats with airbags with racing style seats would drop ~50lbs, which if combined with a few other weight saving projects could be noticable on the street. I'm gonna gut the rear interior and replace the battery. In my STi I removed the A/C but I'm still on the fence with this car. You can feel the difference when you add a passenger, right? So figure ~150lbs is a "noticable amount" of weight change.

I doubt it.

The "general rule of thumb" that all else being equal, 100lbs equals around 1/10th of a sec in the 1/4 mile. I realize that's just acceleration, but I can't see taking your new $30k+ car and making it more uncomfortable on the street for such small gains, especially when you already have an STi.

Of course, it's not my money or car, so I don't really care. I was just curious why you'd do all this to a street car.

[Pat]

Lelandjt, if you can find a Sportster to test fit around here please let me know. I'm actually considering flying somewhere to try one out installed in a ZD8 if I can't find one locally.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by Midnightsky

Wow, I came in here hoping there might be some actual seats posted........instead, bickering.......sadface

LMGTFY?

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Pat

Lelandjt, if you can find a Sportster to test fit around here please let me know. I'm actually considering flying somewhere to try one out installed in a ZD8 if I can't find one locally.

They were great for everyone in the shop on our 1st gen 1 BRZ. Ranging from about 5'10" 190 lbs to 6'4" 260 lbs. I'm 6'1" 160 lbs and they're awesome. Obviously it's great to be able to test them yourself but they do fit a range of body types.

Unsure on the best bases/sliders for Recaros on the 2nd gen at the moment. I don't know if Myles is planning on another set for our 2nd gen.

- Andrew

[Pat]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

They were great for everyone in the shop on our 1st gen 1 BRZ. Ranging from about 5'10" 190 lbs to 6'4" 260 lbs. I'm 6'1" 160 lbs and they're awesome. Obviously it's great to be able to test them yourself but they do fit a range of body types.

Unsure on the best bases/sliders for Recaros on the 2nd gen at the moment. I don't know if Myles is planning on another set for our 2nd gen.

- Andrew

That's good to know, Andrew. Thanks for chiming in. You guys are some of the people I was considering reaching out to for this.

[Midnightsky]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

LMGTFY?

If it makes you feel better, sure why not.

[vindiesel]

So what I’m seeing here is you want to take out the factory bean bag chair and put in a love sac to shave 5lbs and have the sex appeal of the brand name?