jranaudo

Folks,

where is a good place to buy some track day seats? Would prefer someone who knows the C5 and what mounting options are available.

edited:

so let me clarify. Looking for middle of the road seats price wise. Think Corbeu FX1.

I don't think I would want aluminum. I intend to swap the seats in and out for track days because I don't think I can afford the seats that would stay in the car. Unless I am wrong. Also, no leather due to costs too.


Thanks!

Bill Dearborn

You need to define what type of seat and support you want. Then other members can make recommendations. Do you want seats that you change in and out for the stock seats or do you want to leave them in the car and use them on the street?

Aluminum race seats up to 17 inches wide tfrom Kirkey and Ultrashield will fit in the car and with the proper mount can be set within an inch or two of the floor. However, they need to have a back brace in case of an incident. In my C6Z I fasten my seat back braces to the harness bar and when I had the same Ultrashields in my C5Z I fastened them to my roll bar. Kirkey and Ultrashield Road Race seats come in sizes from 15 inches to 18 inches. The size you need is determined by sitting on a hard surface (like a chair) and having somebody measure across your butt contact patch.

If you want something easier to get in and out of then you need to look at other styles. The Sparco's and similar types of seats are based on waist size Vs hip size. They have thicker side bolsters which constrains the size that can be installed in a Vette. Typically a large butted 220 lb 5'10" person will slide comfortably into a 17 inch aluminum seat but will not fit well in any of the others due to the constrained seating area of the seat itself.

The aluminum race seats provide more lateral support in the torso and shoulder areas than a lot of the fiberglass seats. If you are going around a tight high G corner all you have to do is let your shoulder rest against the shoulder support and you will be held in place.

However, aluminum race seats also have fairly high bolsters along the legs which can become a problem when getting in and out of the car since in some cases there isn't a lot of room between the steering wheel and the seat edge. You basically sit on the edge and let your butt drop in and then with your knees lifted swing your legs into the seat. If the seat is too close to the steering wheel it can be difficult to swing the legs in.

Aluminum seats can also be custom bent to make entry and exit easier and if you need to change things about the setup you can just whip out a drill and drill a new hole for a seat mount bolt or the back brace.

Bill

jranaudo

Bill thank you for the informative reply. I have edited my original post to include more information or rather to clarify what I am looking for. Hopefully this helps.

Dan H.

OG racing had a great sale a week or so ago, not sure if its still going on though. Basically an $800 sparco evo seat for $600. Wish I knew to wait for that sale......

I bought mine from Amazon because I have prime. Before spending this much $$$, I wanted to try them out. I tried to find a store or showroom where I could go see them and try them. No store existed so I turned to on-line. This is a large expense and I didn't want any hassles returning these should my bumper not fit properly in the seat, or the seat not fit properly in the car. I also bought the mounts through amazon and they didn't work. I returned them at no cost to me.

rfn026

You want to get a seat that's FIA approved if you're not looking at aluminum. None of the safety feature will work if your seat breaks up in a crash.

Richard Newton
Historic Racing Images

hungryhippo

I would recommend going to a shop with inventory to try different seats out. The big name seats all sell at msrp and aren't really discounted.

GO_BLUE_VETTES

sent you a PM

troyguitar

It's there such a thing as a shop with inventory of multiple brands anywhere in the country?

FWIW I believe that a nice fitting race seat is far more comfortable than any street seat. You shouldn't need to swap seats in and out for tracking. I spend 2 hours a day in my car with fixed race seat and it is awesome.

RadnessWarrior

Up in the northwest, we have 3 shops I know. 425 Motorsports, Speedware, Cantrell Motoraports. Maybe try your regional section and ask to try some members setups out.

braknl8

In the SE, Discovery Parts.

FAUEE

Wine Country Motorsports in Jupiter FL has a great selection of seats to try out, great guys too, they'll take care of you.

Don't buy seats without trying them out first. You will be amazed at the difference between different models of seats even in the same brand. I ended up going with the OMP WRC for me, and the TRS for the passenger. The other seats just didn't really fit me right. The only other seat I could have considered was the Sparco Evo2.

I also agree, get an FIA rated seat. Safety is one of the things you don't cheap out on. So Corbeau was out for me because they had so few FIA seats, and nobody had them to try out.

jranaudo

Thanks folks!!

legomaster141

Are there any shops in or near Houston to try out racing seats?

r.hillenbrand

For my Z06 I was using the FX1 Pro with C5Z06 sliders mounted to the seat. In the C5Z or parts for sale items in here they are running specials on them. I never swapped mine out and used them for track. OG Racing is a good start and also stupidfast.com might be a place to look.

Hi Volts Z06

If you are in the NYC Metro area you can go to Stable Energies in Garfield,NJ. They have an awesome selection of seats you can try.

jranaudo

What mount/sliders did you use?