dizwiz24

Ok.

Heres my priorities:

1. comfort (dont want it to sit higher than stock - as I hear most aftermarket seats do. ie. I dont want my knees rubbing on the steering wheel, or my head hitting the ceiling).
2. weight reduction vs. stock power seats.
3. looks good
4. cost

This is on a '93 moderately-mod'd supercharged corvette.

Its usage is for weekend autoX, visiting parks (w/ wife) and work (every once in awhile, I make 8 hour round-trip sales-calls to customers in it).

Im 5'11" and 155 lbs.

I already have a 6 point cage in there w/ non -removable sidebars so as for it being 'too racy' is a non-issue. If that was the case, I wouldnt have the rollcage.

Corbeau FX1 pro's (at 16 lbs) would be great, however, I heard the seat back flexes (not very secure). In some cases, ive heard about people installing additional steel braces to prevent the seat back from flexing. This negates any weight improvement from the seat. So I think these are out for me.

Also too, Im not sure how comfortable the cushions look. Looks like a cushion on the front and nothing in the middle of the 'seat'. How would this feel after 4 continous hours?

Corbeau A4 in leather, look awesome. However they seem heavy.

What are your thoughts? Ive did some digging thru threads here but cant make sense of what works. (ie. to one person a seat works, but to another it 'sits too high', or is 'uncomfortable'.)

Jason

Comfort racing or comfort driving?
Any aftermarket seat I've seen sits significantly LOWER than stock seats.

dizwiz24

both!

actually, I need to be able to stay in it for up to 4 hours at a time without my rear end hurting.

Typically I drive it 1x a month to visit customers in it (the customers love it).

I agree with you, to me it looks like aftermarket seats would sit lower. However, the complaints I read here are always 'head hits the ceiling'. Mind you, this is on c4's.

63Corvette

I would recommend Kirkey or Ultrashield seats, BUT the primary reason for RACE seats is SAFETY!!! Since you already have a caged car, this would seem obvious, BUT, I believe that a cage is unlawful on the street because of the potential of head injury without a helmet?

dizwiz24

Thats interesting that safety is the main reason for a racing seat.

I would have guessed it to be lateral support or a weight savings.

That said, I can agree that how its anchored is key. If the seat breaks loose in a wreck.. thats a problem.


My cage is fully padded (the padding is anchored to the roll bar).
My head sits prob about 4" below the hoop on top of that.

That said, you can see how it would be important that a race seat not sit higher than my stock seat.

Beyond that, its a risk im willing to take on the street. No issues during the few traffic stops Ive had. No inspections here or any of that.

Jason

Rollbar padding is for comfort sitting still. In a wreck it's about as useful as that rubber strip on old steel car bumpers. You're melon is 4" from your rollbar? Have you seen how much a crash test dummy moves in a wreck with 3pt belts?

dizwiz24

Heck im not sure how far my head is from the bar. Maybe its 6". Maybe its a foot. I havent really measured it.

Ive got compression closed cell padding on it. not 'pipe insulation'.

I guarantee you that I will be safer, in a street roll-over, in my 93 vert with the cage vs. without it.

Anyways, Id like to hear about seats.

Bill Dearborn

It sounds like you have a roll bar and not a cage because there is no way your head could be that far away from the bar running along the inside of the top of the door opening. As for roll bar padding you do need the high density padding that feels hard when you squeeze it. When your melon contacts it at speed it will compress slowly and keep it from smacking the steel.

I wouldn't recommend an aluminum seat the way you plan on driving the car. Look into a Sparco or similar seat. Make sure you have provisions to mount the sub belt below the seat (not in front or across the front cushion).

Bill

Scooter70

I have a Cobra Suzuka seat in my C5Z. Its great at the track and ok on the street but it's awful on long trips. After about 2 hours, my legs get cramped due to the fact that I can't move around at all. No way I could do 4+ hours in that seat.

dizwiz24

I've been thinking about this one, and I'm almost feeling like stock seats may be the way to go for my multiple driving needs.

Heck if I'm worried about weight I can save a few lbs with manual seat tracks or even yank the passenger seat per event.

you do have some good points about the rollbar. I do remember thinking...if I hit this thing, helmetless its going to be a prob.

Iv e got the seats out now, or else id give an exact measurement of how far my head is below the bar.

..So I did put in that high density foam anywhere my head could contact, I anchored it to the rollbar and then wrapped it all on old leather coats from goodwill!

rfn026

It's just crazy to drive on the street with a cage in the car. It's like a death wish.

When it comes to seats your best bet might be to stick with the stock seats. If you do decide to get a containment seat make sure that's it's FIA approved.

Richard Newton
Newton's Law

Scooter70

Stock seats for the street is a good idea. With the Hardbar seat brackets, I can swap in my race seat in under 20 minutes. It's been a while since I've worked in a C4 but I can't imagine that it would be much harder.

shakedown067

Maybe just drive around with a small motorcycle helmet when needed?

longdaddy

you want seats with low side bolsters if you want your stock 3 point belt tensioners to be worth a damn in a bad crash.

recaro makes some decent "sport" seats but the fitment could be tricky.

your other option is to modify stock seat for better lateral support and for proper routing of a harness for the track. I know it is doable with C5 seats, not sure about C4.

there is no such thing as a good street/track compromise although most of us were (are) delusional about it at some point or another.