Racing Seats

[DHMag]

when i get around to redoing the interior of my 91, ive thought about getting some racing seats instead of reupholstering the factory seats. i have my eye on the simulated leather seats at Pep Boys...mainly because ive had a chance to sit in it and it feels comfy to me. im lean framed and want a seat that holds me there, any one else have racing seats and could give me some ideas ? oh, and ill be installing 3 point harnesses.

TIA

 

[PROPHET]

The seats at Pep boys look great.

As for the seat belts i'd stay with stock so that i could be more mobile,like reaching to tune the radio or just being able to your neck and shoulders to the right or left to watch for traffic in an emergency situation.

I'd leave the harness stuff strictly for track use.

 

[ohioshodude]

are these the black leather seats that are like 220-250? if so those feel great! i've been thinking about them myself. i can't seem to find who makes them. anyone know!?

 

[PROPHET]

The ones at Pep boys are like $150 each.

 

[olympic]

http://www.tempo-topaz-performance.com/topazsho/stereo02.html

I bought these off ebay for about $300. They're quite comfortable once you're in them and very supportive. Getting out of the car is a bit of a pain since the side bolsters are so high, I have to put my hand on the door sill and basically lift myself out. If you g/f or wife rides in the car, she'll hate them. wink

 

[DHMag]

PROPHET - yeah, im looking for a racing seat thatll be alright for daily driving as well. ive sat in that seat for a while and im still pretty mobile, btw, did i mention im lean framed ? (5'10, 130). i could always switch them out when the time comes ? Pep Boys has 3 different kinds, the ones for 150 are also advertised on SP Motorsports site for 162.50.

OHIOSHODUDE - they are $230 and are made by APC

OLYMPIC - maybe i should think about installing some grab handles like the F350s have ? thumb

 

[MG]

Harness without rollcage headbang

 

[K-Dawg]

Rollcage without helmet headbang (literally)

 

[Shoaz]

MG:
Harness without rollcage headbang

A cage is certainly the best thing to do, but isn't practical for a lot of people. You pretty much commit the car for track use with a cage, since most tech-legal cages will render the back seat useless.

Given that a lot of people do track time without a cage (myself included), you then have to ask yourself whether you're willing to live with just the factory belts.

From a safety standpoint there are debates about whether you're better off with the factory belts or something like a Schroth harness. Personally, I think its a draw between them from a safety point of view: it probably doesn't make much difference IMHO.

However, I really dislike using the stock belts on a road course since they're really miserable about holding you firmly in the seat. From that standpoint you're much better off with something like a Schroth harness just to keep you from moving around in the seat too much during cornering. With the stock belts I'm continually having to push myself back into the seat after a corner and that's really annoying, and probably less safe than a harness as far as maintaining control is concerned.

Anyway, that's just my 0.02. I have most of the summer mods done to the car anticipating our first track day, and the only thing I have left to do is get a new helmet (the old one expired) and put in the Schroth harness. thumb

 

[MG]

You better hope you never roll you car because without a cage you're gonna get destroyed. Stock belts allow your body to bend to the side in case of an accident - a harness will keep you upright. When your roof caves in and you can't bend over, bye bye.

 

[yamahaSHO]

MG:
You better hope you never roll you car because without a cage you're gonna get destroyed. Stock belts allow your body to bend to the side in case of an accident - a harness will keep you upright. When your roof caves in and you can't bend over, bye bye.

Thats when you reach down, pull the lever, and let your seat recline. thumb

 

[PROPHET]

Better to have more than just the recline option. thumb

 

[SHO92]

yamahaSHO:
Thats when you reach down, pull the lever, and let your seat recline. thumb

Depending on how you have your shoulder harnesses anchored, you may not even be able to do that once you've sat down and tightened them.

<small>[ September 07, 2003, 10:07 PM: Message edited by: SHO92 ]</small>

 

[Shoaz]

MG:
You better hope you never roll you car because without a cage you're gonna get destroyed. Stock belts allow your body to bend to the side in case of an accident - a harness will keep you upright. When your roof caves in and you can't bend over, bye bye.

Well, that's the debated issue. There are accident modes where one helps and the other hurts, and if you have your magic 8-ball tuned well enough that you can tell what sort of accident you'll have, then you can pick the best one to wear for that particular accident.

IMHO it's a wash which is really better, so for me the tie breaker is that a harness will keep you in the seat where you're supposed to be better than the stock belts. Not being in a good position to have optimal control of the car bugs me, and the stock belts don't do that for you.

 

[drivinhard]

Ah just cage it and be done with it

A nice set of light track seats can drop about 80 lbs off the car, which can come close to off-setting the weight of a 6 or 8 pt roll cage. The added chassis stiffness is well worth it. My 92 feels like driving a wet noodle after driving my 89.

I got a weeny 250-260 hp motor and I go plenty fast enough at most tracks to get hurt real bad. Nice to have some bars and padding around you. You could tear a car to pieces in a 125 mph impact.

 

[Shoaz]

drivinhard:
Ah just cage it and be done with it

A nice set of light track seats can drop about 80 lbs off the car, which can come close to off-setting the weight of a 6 or 8 pt roll cage. The added chassis stiffness is well worth it. My 92 feels like driving a wet noodle after driving my 89.

I got a weeny 250-260 hp motor and I go plenty fast enough at most tracks to get hurt real bad. Nice to have some bars and padding around you. You could tear a car to pieces in a 125 mph impact.

Actually, I agree completely and I think there's a cage in my future. Unfortunately, it's probably more than a year off, so I'm opting to use the Schroth in the interim. Definitely a compromise, but I really dislike being loose in the seat with the stock belts.

I also agree about the stiffening effect of a good cage (the Bondo SHO's are like bricks). I'm debating skipping subframe connectors knowing that a cage will go in there eventually. My car's a 95, the stiffest of the MTXs, but it is still pretty squirmy compared to a well-caged car.

 

[DHMag]

whats with all the talk of cages ? i never said my car was gonna be used for track use. i dont justify any need for a cage or wearing a helmet for daily driving and spirited runs. only time ill ever wear a helmet is when im required to during track events, which do not require rollcages. the topic of this post was simple enough to understand.

 

[drivinhard]

I wasn't even looking at the original post, was replying to those further down.

Installing 3 pt harness'? The OEM belts are 3 pt.

Track seats are great, I run the Corbeau Forza's and they are comfy enough to do 1000 miles in day in them (IMHO they fit me better and support my back better than than the OEM). I paid $195 for mine.

They have great shoulder lateral support, cinch down the 5 pts at the track and you can't even reach out to the dash to turn the vents off. It's amazing how much better you can drive a car when you are PART of the car, and not putting effort into trying to stay stuck in your seat.

I have subframe connectors on my 92 (and a rear tower brace) and chassis stiffness isn't even remotely close to the 89. Mainly because the subframe connectors are just running along the same plane as the unibody, where the cage is crossed, X'd, bent, short lengths, and ties the upper part of the chassis (top of the strut towers, etc) together.

 

[DHMag]

drivinhard:

Installing 3 pt harness'? The OEM belts are 3 pt.

aftermarket 3 point harness straps you down over the shoulders. 1 point on left side of seat, 1 on right, one in middle on back floorboard, strap Y's to shoulders.

 

[billyshoe]

MG:
Harness without rollcage headbang

a harness will greatly reduce the chances of being ejected from the cockpit. it also offers great support in the seat so one can use that energy to drive smoothly and not fight holding your body from shifting around in the seat. these cars have very good cockpit/rollover protection. on a race track your chances of rolling over are greatly reduced. compared to public streets & hiwys