I finally replaced my stock seat! I have thousands of miles driving 4 different models of Corvette, C6 LS2, C6 ZO6, C6 Grand sport, and now a C5 ZO6. I knew the seats were bad, but until I got my new Cobra Imola I had no idea. I feel connected with the 'Vette like I never before have in any car.

The process of selecting a seat/harness/mounting solution started the day I bought the Z; about 2 months ago. I looked at the Sparco EvoII (didn't like the giant white logo under my leg), I looked at the Corbeau FX1 and A4 but neither really impressed me, I looked at Evo 8/9 recaros and nearly bought a set, but I didn't like the idea of having to so heavily modify the seat/track. I eventually landed on the Cobra Suzuka. I actually ordered the Suzuka, but changed my mind after I delved deeper in to comparing the Cobra Imola and Suzuka. The Imola has more rake in the seat back and lower side bolsters, but retains almost the same dimensions as the Suzuka otherwise. I've seen plenty of posts about the Suzuka fitting, but I could only find one single post saying the Imola fit. I decided to take a chance on a more comfortable seat that didn't have the experience base. Chalk that one up as a win.

I really do have to mention the vendor I purchased the seat and harness from. Apex Performance (a google search will take you right to them) doesn't really deal in Corvette specific items, but they kicked butt in the customer service department and price.

I went with a Schroth Profi II ASM FE harness. The buckle and lap ends make this belt street legal. This was important because if space became a constraint I wanted to be able to completely remove the stock belt.

The bracket I got from Marrad. Now I expected people to ogle my seat, but every time I open the door the first thing anyone says is "that bracket is bad ***". Marrad doesn't have the fixed side mount solution on his website yet. I'm sort of a gunie pig with mounting this in a C5. It couldn't have worked better, and I really had no problems getting everything to line up exactly as I wanted it. Mark was a pleasure to work with, and went above and beyond to make sure I got exactly what I needed, wanted and when I needed it.

I was going to do DIY on the install, but it really is too easy. Pull the old seat, line the new brackets up on the new seat (don't tighten brackets to rails yet; finger tight will do), drop the seat it and sit in it. Adjust as necessary, tighten everything down while the seat is out of the car and on flat ground, drop the seat in tighten the remaining four bolts and enjoy.

If anyone has any questions about installing this seat, harness, or bracket in the future I'll be happy to help.

 

That looks awesome!!!... questions i'm a big guy, what size are you and how snug is the fit? Could stock seat belts be used?

 

Looks great!

 

I'm about 5'11", 180 lbs with at 33" waist. The standard width Imola and Suzuka are supposed to be okay for up to a 36" waist IIRC. However, I must have wide hips because this thing is snug. It's not uncomfortably tight though. I went with one seat at time so that if I wanted the GT (1" wider in all width dimensions) I could put the standard on the passenger side.

With the Imola I believe the stock belts could remain, because the side bolsters are low enough to not cause improper belt fitment. However, with the GT they may not fit without modification to the lower retractor.

 

Those seats look really good in your car.

 

That bracket is bad ***.

 

Dang bro! Nice job!

Thanks,Matt

 

Just a little update.

The M8x1.25 25 bolts that are supplied with the Imola from Cobra didn't feel like they caught very much thread. I've always heard "at least three threads showing" as the rule of thumb for structural integrity of the fastener system. I checked by pulling up some of the padding and sure enough the bolts only caught by about three thread (not three showing on the other side). I went down to lowes and picked up 4 stainless M8x1.25 30 allen head bolts. They threaded in perfectly and are showing the requisite three threads inside. I also took this opportunity to apply some blue thread locker to any hardware not using ny-locks.

Cheers y'all, thanks for all the kind comments. Enjoy you're weekend!

 

Another update for those of you that care about retaining the stock belts. I reinstalled my stock belt, because why not have the lazy mans option over a 4 point. The belt does mount up fine, and the lap belt seems to lay fairly snug over my hips. With everything installed have a 1/4inch of clearance between the belt trim and the nearest piece of the bracket.

 

I am getting ready to buy a cobra imola.Your post was very helpful, thanks. Can you confirm where you bought the seat bracket from and what the price was? I see you mentioned marrad, but I cannot find it on their website. Many thanks.

 

Email or pm me if you need them. I should have one or two sets left.

 

Soooo, how comfortable are they and how are the ergo's?

 

Man I really like those seats are on my list and those look sweet.

 

Hi guys. Work has been hectic, but after reading through a lot of my previous threads I realize I have a bad habit of not updating threads. Much to my shagrin I never posted pics of my last 'Vette (now I have none).

So a little update. I'm about to order the second seat. I couldn't be happier with the Imola. I've put a few 2-4 hour drives on it, and its certainly more comfortable than the stock seat. Still no interference issues with driving position or ergonomics.

 

Any pics on how to mount up the stock seat belts with these rails? I just got one of these and want to get my seat in this weekend, just not sure how to mount up the buckle

 

Does this allow to run the seat in a lower position due not fixed position and no slider? Looking for a solution to mount fx1 pro corbeau seats for 6'4 driver..

 

A fixed mount to the floor would be lowest. You may want to shave the rear pedestals under the seat off (used for bottom mounting sliders) when side mounting the seat to allow it to drop as low as possible.

 

Thanks for the write up Joe,

Can you expand on how the harness mounts to the seat base? I see the pic in your first post, is that a factory bracket or did it come with the Schroth harness? More pics would be great and

 

Sorry to bring this up from the dead again, but do you know how much lower the seat cushion is compared to stock with this setup?

 

@JoeDAnnunzio

Sorry to revive this long dead thread. Your one of the few people I've found to have actually used the cobra imola seat.

One question- did you install the standard imola or the GT (Wider version)?

I went and sat in both the suzuka and imola and I really loved the suzuka (both versions were wide that I sat I'm), however I'm a little torn because while I liked the high side bolsters on the suzuka , I could see daily driving with that seat being a real pain in the *** to get in and out of the car.