jranaudo

So I upgrading to seats and harnesses but can't decide on seats. Kind of partial to aluminum due to mostly fit being a bit easier.

Can anyone share their opinions?

FYI I have a pair of Corbeau FX1 Pro's with hardbar mounts I will likely be selling.

Thanks!

davidfarmer

Once I tried an aluminum seat I could never go back to composite. So much more headroom, and they fit into the car better as well. They aren't as comfortable, but a little extra padding/bubble wrap under the cover can help with that as needed.

Bill Dearborn

I agree on the aluminum seat although you will need to brace the back since in an incident where you are thrown forward and then rebound back into the seat an unbraced seat back can break. There are several suppliers that make seat braces and you could make your own.

The advantage of the aluminum seat is it can be customized to the application. When I installed the Ultrashield seat in my C5Z my seating position placed the bottom bolsters too close to the steering wheel and I couldn't get my legs between the seat edge and the wheel. The installer took a baseball bat and used it as a forming tool to bend the upper portion of the bolster outward and make room for my legs plus made it more comfortable to slide my butt over the edge. He showed me several other cars where he customized the seats to provide certain benefits for the owners. Can't do that with a composite seat.

Bill

Grabbed_Crow_Mobe

crimlwC6

I just switched back to my old composite seat from an aluminum seat. Maybe the composite just fits better but it is better for me.
Aluminum is certainly easier to get a custom fit and cheaper. Either style is fine for sprint racing (less than an hour).

bellwilliam

90% of the time, aluminum (standard ones, not the higher end aluminum seat with everything braced) is not as safe (most of them, not braced correctly, and difficult to do so in a non-caged car) as composite. Most standard Kirby / Ultrashield are just crap. there, I said it.

Grabbed_Crow_Mobe

What brand/model would you recommend for aluminum? I'm looking into a new seat and have been debating between alum/composite.

RapidC84B

bellwilliam

nothing, I would not recommend aluminum seats for track days (what op stated). what I meant when I said 90% of installed aluminum seats are unsafe, just meant the other 10% are safe because they are high-end aluminum seat WITH correct seat braces (back and shoulder) installed. They have to be tied into a cage by an experienced shop, not off the shelf $100 brace. Just like NASCAR does with everything braced. so it can be done, but not your average HPDE build.

By the time you spend that kind of time and money, you are better off installing a $$$$ FIA new 8862-2009 standard composite instead of the older $$ 8855-1999 standard composite (everything under $2k). I am not aware of any aluminum seat that's FIA certified, old or new standard.