Nsomniac

I have done a lot of searching and keep finding partial answers to my problem. I am 6'4", 270 lbs (large build but somewhat fat) and have a 40" waist. My head barely touches the halo inside my C5Z. My first auto-x in this car taught me two things. The first - adding a helmet means I have to substantially hunch over while moving the seat forward slightly and laying the backrest back. It's not a good racing position. The second - I miss the recaros from my evo. I spend half my energy trying to keep myself properly in position which causes me to be less precise on the course.

This is a daily driven car, but I don't mind some discomfort if I can fit better. I don't want to go with a full on racing seat quite yet, which means the kirkey and/or other racing options are out the window for now. That leaves me with aftermarket seat options like Corbeau, Sparco, etc, but they all seem to take away headroom rather than give me more.

Is there any happy medium out there for a guy my size, or did I buy the wrong car? Big guys, let's hear from you, help a big brutha out!

naschmitz

I'd reconsider the Kirkey. You can swap seats in 15 minutes and will gain tons of headroom. Why compromise? Most of the compromise options cost a lot of money.

jawfixer

Use Sparco 2 or 3? or Kirkey and mount stationary to floor with custom mounts and you'll have headroom

Nsomniac

The biggest reason is the need to install a harness bar with an extender. I didn't want to go drilling and grinding into the interior trim. On the other hand, I had no idea I could swap out the seats in a matter of minutes. Does that work with the stock seat?

Kirkey requires harness bar support since it's aluminum (see above comment about harness bar). I don't think the sparco 2 or 3 look like they will gain me the 1 1/2" of room I need, but I was looking to hear from some taller drivers who may have already tried some options.



Thank you both for the suggestions, I will keep them in mind.

moespeeds

Ditch the stock rails and get some aftermarket setup that allows you to bolt the seat right to the floor, like a hardbar set. I'm 6'3" 240 and have a similar issue, though my car is not a daily driver so I got a custom Ultrashield. I still have to move my hardbar rearward though so I can get the leg room I need.

shakedown067

I'm in the same boat and still haven't found a seat I like quite yet (6'3 240lb)...although I'm in a C4 so I've gotta get a somewhat skinny seat no matter what. So, now I'm trying to loose some weight.

John Shiels

Kirkey 18" wide

Bill Dearborn

If you can get by with a 16 inch Kirkey or Ultrashield seat you can mount it between the hardbar rails and drop it quite close to the floor. If you require a 17 inch seat it will not fit within the Hardbar rails in the C5 as the space is too small to spread the rails far enough apart to fit the seat between them so it ends up sitting on top of them.

You still need to leave room for a cross bar under the seat to mount the sub belt to but you can drop quite a bit by mounting the seat between the Hardbar rails. If you go with a BK harness bar and IO Port seat brace you should be fine. The Hardbar harness bar rides a little too high anyways. Kirkey makes their seat in a 20 degree layback while Ultrashield offers it in a 10 or 20 degree layback. In your case the 10 degree may be better. To get your back at the same angle relative to the car as the 20 degree seat you need to rotate it backwards and bring your knees up some. The seat cups your butt more this way and since you are folded more you may fit in the car better. You need to evaluate all of this before you start buying stuff so you don't waste money on buying the wrong things. One nice part of the aluminum seats is the ability to customize them once you start doing the install. You can bend them, cut out larger openings, etc. Try doing that with a Sparco.

Bill

Pseudo M

I'm 6'6" 230 with a 38" waist and have had the same issues. There doesn't seem to be too many options for trying out a seat seeing the I live in the 'racing capital of the world'. However, I have sat in the OMP WRC XL which is made for the 'larger' crowd and it was actually a little loose on my hips, but the shoulder harness holes were perfect. The outside dimensions are very similar if not smaller than the Sparco Evo 2, so it should fit in a c5z. I have also looked into the Racetech rt4009w which has pretty good reviews with the sore back crowd and its actually smaller on the outside dimensions than the OMP.

travisnd

Your only option is a custom-fit Kirkey/Ultrashiled mounted on the floor with Hardbar seat rails. End of story. I'm 6'4" 250.




Get a harness bar and use an I/O port seat back brace to support the rear of the seat. It's easy to swap between one of these and a stock seat. There is nothing out there that will fit someone your size.

MongoZ06

6'3" 310 lbs 42" waist

Custom made Ultrashield mounted on factory manual sliders with a BK harness bar and lap belts mounted to the floor. Everything is in perfect alignment however I really need to drop the seat down a bit as my helmet still rubs the headliner, will tackle this project in the near future.

Being a bigger guy you're not going to have much luck with a Sparco type seat that will fit in the car and fit you while also mounting in a fashion that gives headroom.... Aluminum is going to be your best bet.

I cringed when I drilled the holes in my floor board for the lap belts however I can always plug the holes if needed.

Wicked Weasel

I have kirkey 17in with hardbar rails. I find the kirkey seats extremely comfortable. 6'1 250.

Nsomniac

Thank you all for some very good advice. I had hopes someone had some mystery solution that wouldn't involve a harness bar / extension, but I'm ready to face reality. Now to find a harness bar with an extension and somewhere near Pocatello, Idaho that I can sit in some seats. Thanks again, and any further advice is appreciated (i.e. harness bar install with extension, etc).

Cheers,

Jim

travisnd

With Hardbar seat rails you mount the lap belts and sub belts to the rails. Your shoulder belts go on your harness bar. No holes in the floor required.

rustyguns

travisnd

While I'm a big fan of Hardbar products, the Brey-Krause bar is already set back and doesn't require extra extensions to maintain full travel of the OEM seat.

Nsomniac

Awesome. Does it require modification of the interior plastic pieces on the car at all?

MongoZ06

No, the BK doesn't affect the interior plastic.

C6C3Vettes

I'm another BIG BOY (6'4" 260 lbs) looking for a seat for auto crossing where I can also have a 5 point harness. Seems the C5 / C6 are considered narrow thereby limiting your options. Gotten a lot of replies from Vendors I can fit you or fit your car but not both. Recently I ran across a Procar seat by Scat that claims it made for C5 and C6. Now I can't find anybody with any experience with their seats and the nearest dealer is 500 miles away and they are issues with their seat mounts so they are currently being redesigned.

The search goes on..........

Nsomniac

Good god, BK bar is $500 + $65 s/h. I had no idea the harness bar would be as much as the seat. I'm going to be into this thing $1400 before it's all over. Ouch.