American Power

Money aside.. What would you choose?

I drive the car on sundays a little and do mostly 8-10 HPDE's a year... The GT's look like they may keep me more planted than the Race seats. The GT's also have a loop on each side for the Harness belt, the Race seat doesn't.

Does anyone have the GT seats? I have seen a lot with the Race seats.

Your thoughts...

AU N EGL

Neither. Get a Sparko Evo, Suzuki Cobra, Ultra-Shield or Kirkey

If your doing more then one or two events a year, and it sounds like you are and will, DON'T GET leather seats. Leather is too hot and not fire retardant. Hopefully you wont experience the latter.

gpm30236

Have the carvaggio in both of my C5's , one mostly track and vert just street.

They are comfortable have never had an issue with sweating , Have taken the vert on a road trip from ATL to Ontario in total comfort as well as many track days on the Z06

Harness fits perfectly, , love the easy adjustability on factory tracks. and makessharing the car with another driver at track very easy,

Cobra4B

Get a proper racing seat and swap it in for track days. I fought with finding a seat that fit me properly (6'4" 245) for a long time. Finally ended up with an Ultrashield pro roadrace seat (17") and it's amazing. There's nothing like being properly secured in the car.

The seat in the Z06




The seat installed in the Panoz as of last night

JDIllon

I have the Caravaggio's, the race seats and am very happy with them. If you are going to drive the car on the street at all, getting in and out of the full competition seats is a pain. Plus you lose all of the adjustability. I run 10 to 12 events a year and also drive it on the street on weekends. And I understand the Caravaggio's are a compromise, but they work for me and the workmanship is awesome. The GT's are deeper and even better for the track, but are harder to get in and out of. JD
[IMG][/IMG]

PA Z06

I have a sparco evo in my car, and If I had the money I would do carviagos (SP)

American Power

I appreciate everyones input. I decided to go with the Cararvaggio race seats. I do use the car on the street on weekends and do track about 10-12 hpde's a year. I believe these seats will be better than stock on the track, and be allowed now that rules will not allow a harness around a stock seat...

When the car is ready for all out track with a cage, then the Caravaggios will go up for sale.

For now, I think I succeeded in building an agressive street car/ weekend track car.

1. Stoptechs w/performance friction pads
2. Hoosiers
3. Spindle Ducts
4. T1 Sways
5. Fully built 427 From Cartek, forged, blueprinted & balanced, Morel lifters, 11.8 Comp ratio. head work,etc..
6. LG Coilovers
7. LG radiator
8. Exedy clutch/lightened flywheel assembly balanced
9. Caravaggio race seats
10. Harness bar/w Gforce 5pt harness

I'm looking forward to a fun season.

Cobra4B

^ Why did you have to redo the LS7?

American Power

dropped a valve.

jbednarsh

Did you find anywhere local in NYC to try out the Caravaggios? I want to move up to some kind of hybrid seat, my driving pattern is pretty similar to yours, and I want to put in a harness. But I'd really prefer to sit in the seats and try them out before ordering.

Are you working with a particular shop for your upgrades in the area that you would recommend?

V8 Juice

As with everything on the Forum, lots of opinions and this is just one more, right or wrong depends on what you want. I have Caravaggio seats and run 6-8 HPDE events per year, more if time allows. The car is a daily driver C6 with 40K miles. Caravaggio are NOT race seats, but fit well, have harness slots, look good and have full connectivity, i.e. no IP blinking lights, full functionality up/down, front back, memory, even have seat heaters only loss is air bags in shoulders. If this is your profile and cost isn't a major factor, you will love the Caravaggio seats; if you have a Z06 with Brembos, run near track record times and your name isn't JD, the seats aren't for you!

American Power

The Caravaggio's I will install myself. I think they will hold me better than stock and they have shoulder harness pass throughs. I'm 5'10 190lbs. The stock seats with the harness belts kept me in the seat fine. These can only be better not worse, and I won't get from the clubs for not having the right seats with the Harness belts...

Cobra4B

^ The main thing is fitting in them... I can't dream of fitting in them. In fact, I originally bought a pair of Sparco Roadsters (the seat the Caravaggios are based on) and installed them. I drove 3 hours to OG Racing in Springfield, VA to sit in them. Once there I convinced myself that I fit (really didn't) and went about spending all kinds of money on rails and sliders etc. At the end of the day they killed my hips and made me sit too high But they looked killer in the car!

JimbeauZ06

I've seen the Caragaggio's in other C5 & C6 Z06 and I'm saving up! To me this is the seat GM should have put in the car to begin with. It still frustrates me that GM's so called "purpose-built track car" doesn't even have "sport" seats. Anyone notice the seats in the new GT3 RS? I thought just maybe the new ZR1 would at least come with decent seats, but even at 100K+ GM still can't seem to get it right. I understand trying to keep costs down and keep the care affordable, but I think we all have a pretty good idea what it costs to add decent seats to the car, and at $3500 plus or minus added on to the price of a Z06, is that really a huge impact when we're talking MSRP over 70K?

Short-Throw

It's not a 'purpose built track car'; It's a purpose built street car that you can take to the track, big difference.

That being said, it would still be nice to see a seat option for those who frequent the track and need it.

Mike

JimbeauZ06

Symantics perhaps, but everything GM did in the design of the Z06 revolved around track use except the seats. Doesn't make sense to have a car that can pull 1G if you can't stay in the seat while doing it.

rfn026

I use a Sparco race seat in my C4 and it works nicely on the track. It's really uncomfortable of the street. All that said I would probably go with a Kirkey next time around. I just think the aluminum might be a little stronger in most applications.

The big deal is that GM is now recommending a 6-point harness. Just one more thing to buy. Damn

Richard Newton

Corvette C5 Performance Projects: 1997-2004

Wheel and Tire Performance Handbook

Rob Willis

Look at the seats in the new CTS-V coming out!

..and to think the Z06 or ZR1 can't get a decent set....

YorkL8apex

Any of you Carivaggio guys pull the bottom cushions out when at the track for a bit more support and helmet clearance? I put one in my C5 Z06 and was thinking of doing that at the track.

MySR71

Yes, I take them out. It also gives more feeling as to what the car is doing. Of course, it also means there is no padding (for comfort or to absorbe impacts). The manual passenger side brackets allow the seat to sit a little lower. Maybe these could be used on the driver's side too.

One thing to keep in mind: My seats move around a bit because the stock electric brackets have some slop.

I have autocrossed with my Caravaggio seats for about 4 years and done some open track events. I'm moving on to different seats with more rigid seat rails, ie, Sparcos, Cobra, etc with Hardbar seat rails.