UncleRobb

Hi everybody!
I am new to the forum and I am the proud owner of a torch red 1997 C5 Coupe. While this surely is a great car (to get a similar performance from say a German sports car, one would probably have to pay three times as much) there are quite a few (well-known) idiosyncrasies that bother me.

My car came with the adjustable sport leather bucket seat, the six-way passenger power seat, and the memory package. So whats wrong with that?

1. I can configure the "easy entry off" as long as I want, when I put in the key, the seat changes.

2. Every time I break hard, the seat moves by some 1/4" forward and the same happens to the passenger seat.

3. When I am driving alone and every time I break hard, the back of the passenger seat moves forward by some 1/2'.

4. When I accelerate hard, I feel that I have to hold myself to the stearing wheel as the back of the seat offers little support.

The estimate of my Chevy dealer to take care of the rocking driver seat is $814. They suggest to replace it (probably only the lower part with all the mechanics and electrics) but warn me that eventually, the problem will reappear.

What I have in mind is to put a decent pair of sports (racing) seats into the car. I feel that I do not need all these electrical adjustments. I guess that once I adjust the seat to my liking, I should be fine. Now the question is, where to get a suitable seat? Up to now, I couldn't find a mechanic in my area (Greensboro, NC) who can do it. Somebody at Autozone recommended that I have a look at Summit Racing where I indeed found a decent looking seats from APC for some $200 each. However, it is of universal size.

Now my questions are: 1. will such a seat fit into my Vette; 2. will it really be sturdy and offer more back support than the OEMs?

I am not sure if General or Tech is the right forum. I guess that many people are bothered by the seat issue, so I thought I might get more response here.

So what are your opinions and experiences?

Thanks, Robert

bsmith

my '97 does the same thing... I just got used to it and try to ignore it.

someone came up with a fix for the problem... I'll see if I can find
it

https://www.corvetteforum.com/techti...=251&TopicID=1

just a heads up for you...

up top, go to "other" then "tech tips" then "C5" and there is all kinds of useful information

Stock Man

And welcome to the forum. Let us know what you decide on the seats. Most here stick with the stock seat. I think they look great and beat most aftermarket ones. My .02

ptdrummer54

I know you are looking at replacing the seats in your car, but others may be interested in this post in the Parts for Sale section - you can get the seat tracks rebuilt to eliminate the sliding seat.
thread on rebuilding seat tracks

Welcome to the forum

srchief100

Welcome. You will find good information here and that forum members are very helpful. Stay safe

leaftye

I like my Sparco Evo racing seat. It's a non-adjustable one-piece seat. I use a TeamTech 6-point harness, Hardbar seat bracket and harness bar. You can buy all of it as a package directly from Hardbar. Their website is www.hardbar.net

There's only a few seats skinny enough to fit in the Vette:
Sparco Evo & Evo II, a couple Corbeau seats, Kirkey Deluxe, and the Caravagio seat.

sharpvet03

Vetteman Jack

Welcome to the forum. Many of the problems you mention are quite common and there have been posts to fix them. Good luck if you decide to change seats.

Umrswimr

Dang! That's worth it in my book! I hate the damn rcoking seat.

UncleRobb

Thanks a lot to everybody for this friendly response.

I still want to drive the car every day so I am looking for a seat with adjustable back. Which ones of these seats are adjustable?

Thanks, Robert

HHC5

Welcome

UncleRobb

I did some research and I came up with the Corbeau A4 as the only seat that I found to be skimpy enough (18.5" wide) to probably fit in a C5 and that is reclineable . Now I have the following options:

i) Get both OEM seats repaired. A local hot-rod car customizer claims to be able to do the job. I am a little pessimistic, however. Ok, he probably will be able to solve the rocking seat issue, as repairs have been described in the forum. But then there is the back of the passenger seat comming forward by say 1/2' when I break hard and the driver seat does not offer enough back support.

ii) Install a Corbeau A4 for the driver only and get the passenger seat repaired. Then I would have the choice of taking a red or a black seat. Red is my favourite color (as you might have guessed) but it might look better (i.e. more symmetric) when both seats are the same color, i.e. black.

iii) Install two red Corbeau A4 seats. However, the manufacturor announces that 'The A4 is extra aggressive in the kidney area and will fit up to a 36" waist.' Fortunately, my waist is 36", so it probably will be a smooth fit. But what do I do with a passenger with a butt larger than that ?

Decisions, decisions...

So what do you think I should do?

Thanks, Robert

leaftye

I've heard of the Corbeau A4 fitting before. Are you going to get the stock rails fixed and use them, install the manual sliders, or go with the non-adjustable setup? If you do the stock rails, I've heard it can cause you to sit high. Also, I'd take the repair instructions to the shop even if they do claim to already know how to fix it. Maybe leave it taped to the passenger seat.

You could also get harnesses for the stock seats and use it to hold the seat backs back. It doesn't really fix the problem, but it'll be one less distraction. Also if you set it up the right way, you'll be safer too.

UncleRobb

Leafteye,
I thought of exchanging the rails too such that there would not be any electrical (power) adjustment possible, just sliding the seats forth and back and changing the angle of the back. Once I adjusted them, I would basically leave them as they are.

Right now, I cannot switch off the "easy entry" feature, i.e. even when I have configured it as "off," the driver seat still moves when I slide the key into the lock. This causes me to adjust the seats a lot. It might also be the case that the built-in memory does not work properly.

Still I believe that the stock seats are not sturdy enough for "serious" driving.

Thanks for responding, Robert