Bride/Cusco ZETA III bucket seat review

[ft86me]

Alright everybody this is my second review this week which may be a good or bad thing for you guys haha. Hopefully it is useful and again, any opinion that I express here is my own and I am in no way shape or form attempting to bash someone's product if there are any negative things to be said. Merely stating my personal experience. With that being said, let's continue!

Along with my Wilwood BBK, I decided to do an install of my long awaited (2 months) Bride/Cusco collaboration ZETA III bucket seat with the carbon back on it. I also picked up the bride seat rails I believe that are the lowest sitting ones. I will talk about the seat rails later. Thanks to Jorge at my work with helping me with the Wilwood as well as the bucket seat to speed the process up since we went in on our day off. Dedication right? lol.

Why the Zeta III?
Many reasons! Luckily, I have a connect at Cusco USA that I have buying all my Cusco products from such as any engine room bracing to the power brace to the rear braces. I basically got my whole suspension rigged with nearly every Cusco part available. Anyways! I decided to contact my connect two months ago and asked about seats and he told me to come down and try them out since they have quite a few on display.

Given that I have tall guy problems due to being 6'3" and about 165-170lbs depending on how my metabolism wants to work, my choice was the Zeta III type L. I also have a 34 waist. So if you are anywhere near my height and weight and waist size, the type L will fit for you. Well, most likely. Try one before buying one.

Why the carbon version?
Couple of reasons for going the carbon version which are valid to me and may not be valid to other people, but here they are! For one, I have a Seibon rear carbon delete and I thought a carbon back seat would be a great match with one another. Reason two, I wanted to save as much weight as possible without breaking the bank therefore leading me to choose the carbon version. Pricey? Yes. Worth it? I'll explain later!

Why the bride seat rail?
I generally like to stay within brands and that was one reason. Bride seat and Bride seat rail, matching and it was to my assumption there would be no issues in regards to fitment of the seat on the rail. Two, the Bride seat rails sit very low which I need since again, I am 6'3" and do have some long legs.

why the resistor by cusco
well basically i didn't wanna go to frys or anything so I paid and got the resistor that splices into the wires for the airbag system. Lazy? yes, but wanted to be sure and error free.

Onto the good stuff!

Packaging
The Bride seat came very nicely packaged in a Bride box with lots of support no signs of damage. The box even came with a dead JDM bug!! Pretty sweet! Lol. That didn't bother me at all, but was actually pretty cool since I haven't seen that bug since I was a kid when I would go visit grandparents in Japan. Just...dead this time lol. Let's not forget about the awesome aroma of carbon fiber right out of the box and plastic bag that was around it. mmmmm..carbon!

The seat rails came in a smaller Bride box with lots of support and again with no signs of damage at all. Left and right sides were separated by cardboard but shaped in a way they wouldn't even come close to rubbing on each other. Really impressed!

Both boxes came with instructions in Japanese, but by the pics you can figure things out. Yes, there was a decal for those of you that must have the decal with the merchandise haha.

Install
Very straight forward install on the seat. There are some complications though! I will go into this in a bit. Mind you this is not a how to, but to just tell you guys what I noticed and had to deal with along with some pointers that stood out.

The seat has it's holes on the sides. 4 in total, 2 on each side. Those are used to adjust the height via brackets that go onto the seat rails. Be careful when tightening bolts into these threads because the seats are NOT meant to have these things torqued down on with Hercules strength especially with the one I had (carbon).

Seat rails were easy to assemble by looking at the pictures . Left and Right and attach the pieces that go into the sides of the seat for the height onto the actual rails. I chose the farthest ones back because I am 6'3" and need as much room as possible to scoot back. I didn't tighten down everything so I could do a test fit. Basically had everything loose.

Pulled the OE seat out and disconnected the airbag sensor. Yes I am ridiculous and took the risk of it going off by not disconnecting the battery, but hey I decided what the hell, it didn't go off when I did the steering wheel and it may not when I do this lololol. Then the splicing of the Cusco resistor into the airbag connector happened next. Made sure to take the seat belt sensor and the clips that kept it onto the OE seat and transferred that wire over to the Cusco/Bride Zeta III seat.

The rest was slightly a pain in the **** because once you know the position you want, which I thought was all on the second setting, you can commence to tighten everything down. Make sure you make the nuts on the bottom of the bolts going through the seat bracket slightly snug so you don't have to hold onto them since the lock washers are on there. If you don't the bottom will spin and that's a pain to hold in place. Learn from my mistake.

Mistake 2: If you have the front bracket on setting two instead of the very top, you can only scoot back so far which makes things cramped...well for me since i'm 6'3" haha. As my buddy from Cusco said, if you need leg room, raise the front up to the top and bring the back one down which will place you in an L shape position which will increase leg room a lot and give you an optimum lower seating position, which is what the seat is for. Did that, and blam!! I scooted the seat back more and have more leg room and my legs fit even with my sparco wheel on the works bell hub! So try that out and maybe it'll work for you. Either way I highly recommend doing the L type of position where your butt is lower and legs up a bit such as highest setting in the front and number two in the rear for me. Let's just say the door is up to my jawline. Talk about low.

When you have everything the way you want it, tighten everything down. It will take shifting of the seat back and forth to tighten things down and make sure to have the nuts on the bolts of every piece slightly snug so you can take advantage of the lock washer which will allow you to NOT hold the nut under the bracket which is nearly impossible to hold, especially on the right side by the center console because that will be a pretty tight spot for your hand.


Initial impressions
The seat looks beautiful in the car and def compliments my Seibon rear seat delete. After finding out the hard way on how to scoot the chair back further, I am not much more comfortable with the seating position especially after lowering the back and raising the front. I feel more planted and very comfortable. A matter of fact, I was having some back issues with the seats that came factory and strangely with the Bride, I have no pains. Sounds like an infomercial, but it's true! lol. The seat is a very snug fit. Like very snug and if that makes you uncomfortable, then you probably won't like the Bride seat and should question yourself in regards to being open to even having a bucket seat. Getting out is not the easiest thing in the world, but that's because i'm tall haha. Do I mind? Hell no I don't. Is that the nature of a bucket seat? Yes. Have a problem with it? Don't get a bucket seat haha.

How about when driving? I have it low enough to where I can see over the dash with ease and my vision is not impaired, but low enough to where the door comes up to my jawline or even some below it. The car now has different feel to it and you can really have a DAMN GOOD IDEA of how the car acts. Once you are in the seat, you are in the zone. DANGER ZOOOONE. Ok, not really, but it's amazing!! One of the best upgrades I have done. I took it through the canyon on the way home, and I feel that I have much more to learn about the car now that I am in a solid seat that I won't move around in. You have much more control and can push the car more since you are not moving around in it AT ALL. I have to admit, it's much more fun when you have that much more control of your car and feel confident about pushing it more since you're planted in your seat. Yes, I am using the OEM seat belt and it works perfectly fine and also comes with the bracket. So no worries! The seatbelt is functional and I got to test that with the wilwood brakes. I would slam the brakes on and I honestly would barely move in my seat,but the belt would still help. Low seating position and very snug fit = new feel of the car, push the car harder with confidence, no more back pains, looks cool as hell, and gives you the feeling of " wow I didn't know that the frs/gt86/brz can handle like this" . It will open up your eyes!

With all that being said!

Pros:
carbon seat is MUCH lighter than OE and a great weight reduction
snug fit
carbon looks awesome
posture position is perfect
remedy for MY back pain
gives you a new perspective on how your car handles and reacts
gives you more confidence when pushing your car
comfortable as hell
proper holes for future harness
great pictures for instructions since I can't read Japanese even though I can speak it fluently lol
fits perfectly on seat rails
seat rails are extremely low
different adjustable heights via where you put the stud in which hole (yes you can giggle at this one)
seats slide back far
perfect size (L) for my height, weight, and waste.
very nice fabric
resistor is very straightforward and eliminates airbag light
bracket for OE seatbelt included
OE seatbelt fits perfectly fine
made by hand in Japan so you know this is quality!!

midpoint:
seat rails on each side have levers to pull up to go forward or back with the seat. design is understandable to alleviate the middle bar underneath the bracket that most cars have. without that, it allows for the bracket to sit lower = lower seating position = better feel of your car. just remember pull up on both sides then scoot.

Cons:
install can be a pain in the ass with how close the right side gets to the center console
hot days = not fun if you're a guy with your umm goods being in that tight position with your legs that close together haha. worth it? yes!!
wait time was 2 months, but was told that they have a professional at bride make these to order by hand!!

Would I recommend this seat to a friend? UHH YA! How about..EVERYONE! Want to really understand how an frs/gt86/brz feels, get one of these and it will open your eyes!

Well there you have it! Thanks for reading everyone and hope this helps some! Any questions, feel free to ask like always and I will answer them as best as I can. Below are pics, sorry if they don't look great and are overly large haha. Night shots. Thanks to @diss7 for encouraging me to write a review.

Front shot.


rear ish


Side shot w rear seat delete


another side shot


front side shot

[diss7]

Great info! We're the same height, but I'm probably going to go the XL as I'm a 38 - 40 waist.

Did you find it gave you more leg room? I very nearly didnt buy my 86 as its right at that point of having so little leg room it's uncomfortable.

All your pros are what I'm looking for. I sit WAY too high on the stock seat, it looks comical.

Also, I'm not baller enough for the cf seat. It's twice the price of the frp seat and only saves 2kg I believe.

[diss7]

Oh, and the seat belt bracket that it comes with? What is it exactly?

[ft86me]

Originally Posted by diss7

Oh, and the seat belt bracket that it comes with? What is it exactly?

Basically it attaches to the right seat rail to where it is easily accessible. No other mods needed. It bolts right up and cusco supplies the goods! Just need to swap over the buckle!

[ft86me]

Originally Posted by diss7

Great info! We're the same height, but I'm probably going to go the XL as I'm a 38 - 40 waist.

Did you find it gave you more leg room? I very nearly didnt buy my 86 as its right at that point of having so little leg room it's uncomfortable.

All your pros are what I'm looking for. I sit WAY too high on the stock seat, it looks comical.

Also, I'm not baller enough for the cf seat. It's twice the price of the frp seat and only saves 2kg I believe.

gave me a crap load more leg room if you tilt the seat back as its suppose dto be! xl is probably for you man!

either way, the seat will help a lot man! night and day difference. one oft the best investments i've ever made!

[diss7]

Originally Posted by ft86me

gave me a crap load more leg room if you tilt the seat back as its suppose dto be! xl is probably for you man!

either way, the seat will help a lot man! night and day difference. one oft the best investments i've ever made!

Awesome!

Agree about the importance. If I only had enough moolah for say wheels or seat, I'd go seat. It makes the car feel so much better, especially for guys our size that aren't well suited to the stock ergonomics.

I wasn't sure about taking the gamble on this (ain't not shop baller enough NZ to stock Brides) but feel like its much less of a gamble now thanks to your thoughts. Cheers!!

[ft86me]

Originally Posted by diss7

Awesome!

Agree about the importance. If I only had enough moolah for say wheels or seat, I'd go seat. It makes the car feel so much better, especially for guys our that aren't well suited to the stock ergonomics.

I wasn't sure about taking the gamble on this (ain't not shop baller enough NZ to stock Brides) but feel like its much less of a gamble now thanks to your thoughts. Cheers!!

anytime man! you will have to relearn how the car acts! it'll be fun!

[Yosuke]

Wow seat looks great!

Should mention that the Bride seats generally lowers the eyelevel about 50mm, which greatly enhances the reaction time for the turn ahead at higher velocity. The lowered center of gravity in terms of the seat position enables a more direct feedback to all the suspension movement and road surface as well.
All Bride seats are 100% hand made and most are FIA approved for use in those sanctioned events.

Was there a huge difference in the weight of the stock seats vs. Bride carbon ones?

Great buy for ft86me!

[GT86drifter]

nice!

can you order the resistor separately?

[troek]

that looks so sick!

[the.big.kahoona]

I'm sorry, all i can think about is the fact that you're rockin' a $1,700 rear seat delete kit

[ft86me]

Originally Posted by Yosuke

Wow seat looks great!

Should mention that the Bride seats generally lowers the eyelevel about 50mm, which greatly enhances the reaction time for the turn ahead at higher velocity. The lowered center of gravity in terms of the seat position enables a more direct feedback to all the suspension movement and road surface as well.
All Bride seats are 100% hand made and most are FIA approved for use in those sanctioned events.

Was there a huge difference in the weight of the stock seats vs. Bride carbon ones?

Great buy for ft86me!

Thank you for mentioning those awesome points!! I clearly neglected those about vision and reaction time! Thanks !!

There stock as in oem, absolutely! It's a world of a difference. It definitely requires two hands and a good amount of umph to get the oe seat out and to even carry it. The bride I was able to effortlessly lift it with one hand! Huge difference for sure!

[ft86me]

Originally Posted by GT86drifter

nice!

can you order the resistor separately?

Absolutely! It's just an option that I opted into it. You can def do it yourself if you know how and want to make one!

[GT86drifter]

Originally Posted by ft86me

Absolutely! It's just an option that I opted into it. You can def do it yourself if you know how and want to make one!

link to order? lol :happy0180: