Tall People Solutions?

[Midnightsky]

Originally Posted by Scubadriver

I took a closer look at the spacer. They do appear to be welded in place but they could probably.be taken off with a bit of effort. That's the back.

The front could also be lowered a similar amount. The front section of the rail holds it about 1 cm off the hump in the floor. This front section could be replaced by a flat piece.

Hard to understand why the elevated the seat like this...

Has to be some type of safety issue, otherwise they will have gone lower. That or production tolerances. Also thank you for putting time into this for us, anything I can gain in headroom will be getting done asap after taking delivery.

[shoreline86]

Originally Posted by timurrrr

lEven then, it's an open question whether an airbag in a generic aftermarket seat will work correctly/effectively in a tight interior like ours in case of a side accident.

If you get a fixed-back bucket seat like most do, some would argue that it's unsafe to use them at the track without at least a half cage; and some orgs/techs might not let you out on track. There's probably 15 existing threads on this forum where people discuss whether it's safe or not.
Getting a proper half-cage will also cost you a few thousand dollars if you decide to do it.

Personally I’m not that worried about it. The Sportster CS w/ airbags was sold as an official option for the 1st gen BRZs (I’m not sure about this gen) by Subaru and I figure they wouldn’t skimp on safety like that in Japan.

It’s up to the amount of risk everyone is willing to take but that’s acceptable enough for me.

As for fixed bucket seats and half/full cages, neither are acceptable for the street imo unless you’re running a full safety setup with a helmet etc. I’d argue that’s a terrible option vs the CS, even if it’s less money.

[timurrrr]

Originally Posted by shoreline86

Personally I’m not that worried about it. The Sportster CS w/ airbags was sold as an official option for the 1st gen BRZs (I’m not sure about this gen) by Subaru and I figure they wouldn’t skimp on safety like that in Japan.

There can be multiple different sub-models of the Sportster CS model, using different airbags.
It's even possible that the JDM Sportster CS for BRZ had airbags not available for sale other than through Subaru, and were only ever made in the RHD variant.

That being said, it is possible that everything is fine; but I would strongly suggest doing more research on this topic. And when you do find anything useful, please share with us!

While at it... any evidence that those Sportster CS seats actually provide any extra headroom?

Originally Posted by shoreline86

As for fixed bucket seats and half/full cages, neither are acceptable for the street imo unless you’re running a full safety setup with a helmet etc. I’d argue that’s a terrible option vs the CS, even if it’s less money.

Yeah, that's a valid concern.

[dsc_pat]

The head room available is exactly the same as 1st gen. 100% identical.

[BRZZZZZZZZZZ]

Originally Posted by dsc_pat

The head room available is exactly the same as 1st gen. 100% identical.

They are listed the same but the rear in the 2022 has less headroom, so it depends on your seating position because of the slope of the roof. In practice it’s definitely not identical, I took my car (2013 FRS, stock seats) three times to the dealer to try side by side and I definitely notice differences in headroom, as well as my second issue my right knee hitting the column in the 2022.

[dsc_pat]

I think the 2022 has actually MORE headroom, as the hole over the head appears to be slightly deeper (ie thinner material)

I have been driving an FRS and a 86 for the last 6 years, and the 2022 now. Saying that there is less headroom is misinformation to other users. It is false.

[timurrrr]

Originally Posted by dsc_pat

Saying that there is less headroom is misinformation to other users. It is false.

I own a 2017 BRZ for 3.5+ years now, and personally sat in a 2022 BRZ in the same helmet I use in my '17.
I felt that there was slightly less headroom in the 2022.
Admittedly, I didn't put both cars side to side, and admittedly there's a difference between sitting in a stationary car in the showroom, and driving one on track.

[BRZZZZZZZZZZ]

Alright I went to two dealers and took measurements this evening. I also brought a short friend to get a subjective view and verify measurements. We will start with my 13 FRS with stock seats and rails. With the seat at the lowest setting, seat back 20.5” from the steering wheel bottom with the column out and up all the way, there is 37.75” between the bottom back seat cushion centre to the headliner. Next we looked at a 22 Base BRZ Automatic with Eyesight, with again the seat all the way down, the column all the way out and up, and 20.5” from the bottom of the steering wheel to the seat back we measured 37.0”. This is where it gets interesting, next we looked at a 22 Base BRZ Manual and again with the column all the way out and up, seat back 20.5” from the bottom of the steering wheel and the seat cranked all the way down, we measured 37.5” from bottom back seat cushion centre to headliner. Previously I had only had the chance to sit in the automatic car 3 times so this was a big discovery for me.

Subjectively my friend agreed that there was a very noticeable difference in headroom between the 22 automatic car and my 2013 both him sitting in it and placing his hand above his head, and visually looking at my head when I sat in both cars. He also agreed there is a very small but still noticeable 1/4” minimum difference between the 13 and 22 manual cars.

[timurrrr]

Originally Posted by BRZZZZZZZZZZ

13 FRS ... 37.75”
22 Base BRZ Automatic ... 37.0”
22 Base BRZ Manual ... 37.5”

It's very surprising that auto and manual have different amount of headroom!
The BRZ I tried in the showroom was an automatic, so I'm now slightly more optimistic about the headroom in the manual.

Another factor is that the seat isn't solid, so when one's butt presses into the seat, it squishes.
It's hard to measure the exact headroom in such a situation,
but the point is that the same "static" headroom might feel more roomy with a softer seat cushion than with a stiffer one.

[BRZZZZZZZZZZ]

Originally Posted by timurrrr

It's very surprising that auto and manual have different amount of headroom!
The BRZ I tried in the showroom was an automatic, so I'm now slightly more optimistic about the headroom in the manual.

Another factor is that the seat isn't solid, so when one's butt presses into the seat, it squishes.
It's hard to measure the exact headroom in such a situation,
but the point is that the same "static" headroom might feel more roomy with a softer seat cushion than with a stiffer one.

We did discuss cushion stiffness, it’s subjective really but both cushions seem “roughly” similar. Measurements were taken without any weight in the seat to try and make it as even and not squished as possible. I’m just waiting to find a 13 base BRZ to also take a measurement as well just to see what that shows.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Scubadriver

I took a closer look at the spacer. They do appear to be welded in place but they could probably.be taken off with a bit of effort. That's the back.

The front could also be lowered a similar amount. The front section of the rail holds it about 1 cm off the hump in the floor. This front section could be replaced by a flat piece.

Hard to understand why the elevated the seat like this...

Might have something to do with that clip? Might also be an NVH thing. Or it could be to give folks in the back some room for their feet under the seat.

[dsc_pat]

Wow. Fantastic info about the automatic. Explains a lot. Both my cars are manual.

Thanks for sharing !

[timurrrr]

I drove my friend's 2022 GR86 Premium MT yesterday, and unfortunately there's definitely a little less headroom than on my 2017 BRZ Limited. I tried my best to have the exact same seating position. I can barely use in my helmet in my BRZ and in the GR86 I'd say the same helmet is borderline unusable. Probably only ~5-10mm difference in headroom, but in my case that was all that's needed. Tall buyers beware.

I'm 6'4" with more torso then legs.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Interesting. I find I have about 5-10mm more headroom in the new car…