Can anyone recommend any other sport seats, shell type ... besides the expensive Sparco Evo type seats ... for AX use. I shouldn't have to drive more then a few hundred miles using these seats ... so weight savings is one of the main factors I'm interested in.

I thought replacement seats with hardware had to weight at least 18 lbs ... but looking at the '05 rule book ... it looks like seats are pretty much free ... for Street Modified.

I've been thinking about getting the Corbeau FX1 for my car...both daily use and autoX duties. Inexpensive...compared to the Sparco EVO's.

-mykr.

Just an FYI, the Corbeau FX1 is a BIG seat. In fact, it is wider than a Sparco Evo 2 by a pretty substantial amount. Corbeau is working on a smaller version of the FX1 that will be sized similar to their Forza seat. It is supposed to be available within the next month.

And anybody looking for a cheap Evo 2, we have one left on clearance (at $80 off the new 2005 Sparco price)... http://www.soloracer.com/bargains.html

Brett at SoloRacer.com
http://www.soloracer.com/
http://www.teamsoloracer.com/

FYI

The Sparco Sprint offers great performance, an FIA rating and a price that half of the Evo seats or most other FIA rated seats.

Charles
www.safedrives.com

Do you know what "size" the Sprint is ... I would need an Evo L to be comfortable.

Do you know what "size" the Sprint is ... I would need an Evo L to be comfortable.

The Sprint is pretty narrow. I'd say its comparable to the Sparco Rev, which is smaller than the Evo. I have a 34" waist and I could fit in the Sprint, but it was tight, and the Sparco Evo L fits me better.

And just an FYI, I don't think the Sparco Sprint has a sub-belt hole in the base of the seat.

The Corbeau Forzas are cheap and lightweight, if you don't have to use them for a daily driver or long hauls. I saved 31 pounds over the stock seats and hardware with the steel rails they make. You could get creative and build your own brakets out of AL and save a good bit more weight, as the steel rails are rather heavy.

To second what others said about the FX1 – it is huge. I have one in my RallyX car and I ordered it because it says it fits those with a 36” waist. I’m 5’ 10”, 185lbs with a 36in waist and it just swallows me up. Later I found out they meant it fits from a 36” waist upwards – DOH! I’d really like something smaller.

Also, make sure whatever you put a Corbeau seat in doesn’t require a FIA homologation to be race legal, all of Corbeau’s were pulled (http://www.specialstage.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=222&topic_id=25006&mesg_id=25006&listing_type=search).

I have a set of sparco corsa seats with sparco brackets and wedge engineering sliders. I weighed the seat about a month ago and found out with that hardware it weighed just about the same as a STI V7 seat, which I had in the car before... I'd definitely look into aluminum brackets of some sort, but if you want brackets+sliders you are giong to retain a lot of weight. I'd stay away from the corsas in a daily driver, they are narrow and have very high side bolsters which make getting in and out a pita. If you are just doing autox/street stuff the corbeaus are a good deal.

To second what others said about the FX1 – it is huge. I have one in my RallyX car and I ordered it because it says it fits those with a 36” waist. I’m 5’ 10”, 185lbs with a 36in waist and it just swallows me up. Later I found out they meant it fits from a 36” waist upwards – DOH! I’d really like something smaller.

Also, make sure whatever you put a Corbeau seat in doesn’t require a FIA homologation to be race legal, all of Corbeau’s were pulled (http://www.specialstage.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=222&topic_id=25006&mesg_id=25006&listing_type=search).

Did you get the fx1 large? They do have 2 versions. I have the standard fx1s in my car 34" waist 6'5" 230 and they fit me about perfect, except for they are still a little to short on the sholders and head. And I dont feel like crying after a 3 hour drive in them like I did with my sparco. I did have to rearrange some padding to get them to be comfortable though. It is a big seat but I dont see how it could be swallowing up a 36 inch waist.

There's absolutely no better way to decide on a seat than to actually sit in one....BUT that's not always possible.
A recommendation I would make based on this, is to pull the manufacturers' seat dimension/sizing matrix. Almost all have one. I know Sparco,OMP and Recaro have them.
Go to most American LeMans Series or Rolex series races and vendor's are all over the paddock areas, with in many cases, examples sitting on prefabbed devices whereby you can sit in them on the ground. This is what I did.
The OMP seat I sat in was a model I could not possibly justify paying for , but it fit like a glove. So I crossed referenced it's dimensions on the OMP site and found another model (OMP grip) which was identical dimensionally speaking. Voila.
Bracket's /sliders/harnesses/compatabilty....etc, are another issue of course....
Final thought....you will find (relatively speaking) that you get what you pay for in many cases...the Sparco Evo & OMP Grip for example, will run between $500~$600 full retail....that is for fiberglass variants, meeting FIA standards and weighing in around 15~18 llbs. The lesser expensive seats, although still lighter than a stock WRX seat, are heavier in the case of steel frame, less padded,or less durable,or use cheaper materials....etc. Consider also buying used/preowned...ebay and other places are loaded with seats people have purchased and can no longer stand, or fit in or find bracketry for....etc
BriDrive

Autobacs in LA/Orange Co. has a bunch ...

When Corbeau says that they have a specific Suby WRX mounting/sliding bracket for their seats ... can one assume that it's going to fit fairly easily ... or is the install still going to be a struggle.

Without trying to sound cynical, its almost never perfect....
If one is industrious enough, even if you run into a little mounting trouble, it generally won't take much modification to get it to work....
As far as Corbeau goes...I honestly don't know...but I'd certainly start out with their "specific bracketry"........
BriDrive

The courbeau brackets suck, so much so that when I first put the Seats in the car with the brackets on it looked like there wasnt a chance in hell on getting them in there. I had to fit the bracket first which involved a big hammer, dremel, more hammer, and then some more hammer. And my passenger side still needs work it faces slightly towards the driver not forward. When I first tried to put them in it was impossible to get more then 2 bolts of the 4 through the bracket.

The laser cut sparco bracket on the other hand was great, it actually lined up with the bolt holes. If it fits the spacing on the corbeau seats its probably worth it to pay extra for them.

hmmm .... :( :mad: :furious:

Mako: Max added new seats not long ago, he had problems getting brackets to work but with the help of some washers and such he made them work. Talk to him Saturday.

The courbeau brackets suck, so much so that when I first put the Seats in the car with the brackets on it looked like there wasnt a chance in hell on getting them in there. I had to fit the bracket first which involved a big hammer, dremel, more hammer, and then some more hammer. And my passenger side still needs work it faces slightly towards the driver not forward. When I first tried to put them in it was impossible to get more then 2 bolts of the 4 through the bracket.

The laser cut sparco bracket on the other hand was great, it actually lined up with the bolt holes. If it fits the spacing on the corbeau seats its probably worth it to pay extra for them.

I didn't have that much trouble with the Corbeau brackets, but they are not an exact fit. It took two large burly types to line up the bolt holes. I just wish they made them in aluminum, because they are pretty heavy.

Personaly I have EVO2's and they are great. I had some sort of Momo seat for a brief bit thats just a bit tighter, but not OMG stickfigures only as most of the euro seats.

You could allways get a EVO2 for the driver seat and a $150 aluminum oval track seat for the passenger seat. Its super easy to swap seats out once the aftermarket stuff is assembled on its base. 4 bolts and its out.

I didn't have that much trouble with the Corbeau brackets, but they are not an exact fit. It took two large burly types to line up the bolt holes. I just wish they made them in aluminum, because they are pretty heavy.
Considering my right bracket fit nothing like my left Ill just say their quality control is less then stellar. Im sure they make some that bolt right in, every few dozen sets or so.

can the evo 2 work functionally with the stock seatbelts when the car is not on the track? ie does the high side bolsters get in the way of the lap belt portion to be on your body?

can the evo 2 work functionally with the stock seatbelts when the car is not on the track? ie does the high side bolsters get in the way of the lap belt portion to be on your body?

It should work. I've got Corbeau Forza's in my FSP Civic and since it gets driven on the street occasionally, I configured the stock seat belts so I could use them. On the left side I unbolted the seat belt at the door sill, fed it thru the harness slot on the seat, then re-attached it at the door sill. When I use the seat belt, I just cross it over my lap and feed it thru the other harness slot on the right and clip it into the seat belt receptical. Seems to work pretty good on with the Forza seat, so I'd think it could be done on any seat with harness slots on the side.

I don't have a issue, but my seats are farther forward than most would put them, so putting them back against the B-pillar may affect things.

Considering my right bracket fit nothing like my left Ill just say their quality control is less then stellar. Im sure they make some that bolt right in, every few dozen sets or so.

:lol: Sounds like I got lucky! Maybe mine were "Wednesday" brackets...

The corbeau brackets we tried on my old WRX were total absolute pieces of crap. Maybe your good ones sneaked through somehow :lol:

-Tom

It should work. I've got Corbeau Forza's in my FSP Civic and since it gets driven on the street occasionally, I configured the stock seat belts so I could use them. On the left side I unbolted the seat belt at the door sill, fed it thru the harness slot on the seat, then re-attached it at the door sill. When I use the seat belt, I just cross it over my lap and feed it thru the other harness slot on the right and clip it into the seat belt receptical. Seems to work pretty good on with the Forza seat, so I'd think it could be done on any seat with harness slots on the side.
ahh..ninja style!

Went by Sube Sports today ... without my WRX ... and fell in love with a Cobra Suzuka ... out of my price range ... but some how it ended up in the back of my van. Strange that a place called Sube Sports wouldn't know that it's WAY to wide to ever fit in a WRX ... and now I have to take it back. Oh well ... it will be nice to get over $1K credited back to my Visa card!

You did realise that none of the raceseats I've tried will fit with the shoulder area in the same area as the B pillar. My EVO2's are wide and they fit fine... with the shoulders forward of the Bpillar.

Take a look at Hunsaker (http://www.hunsakersports.com/). They make affordable, reasonably light, and comfortable race seats.

I've seen some in person and they are pretty nice. Popular with the local F-body guys because they make larger sizes for larger drivers :lol: .

I am a fairly big guy, (38" waist 6' tall) and the corbeau seat line is the only thing I can fit in. I have tried recarro, and sparco with no luck.
Their brackets worked fine in my is300, I am getting ready to order them for the wrx I hope I don't have issues like some of you guys did.

I am rather upset about the pulling of their FIA homolgations...

I've been looking at the Corbeau FX1 seats for my car as well (the 2.5RS), but now all this talk about Corbeau bracket quality has me a bit nervous. Maybe I should go back to looking at the Momo Start (even though Momo only lists a 02+ Impreza bracket (which I imagine should still fit since 02+ WRX seats bolt into pre-02 Imprezas) and the brackets are far more expensive than the Corbeau brackets). :-/

Shane -- SM 729

I'm a 38 ... and the Cobra Suzuka GT (wider version of the Suzuka) fit fine. It's 25 inches across the shoulders, while the oem '03 WRX seat is 19 inches ... since there is only 2" inches between the oem seat and the B Pillar ... the Suzuka GT has to be off-set to the right one inch. But guess what. Our steering column/wheel is off-set over an inch to the right ... so by moving the seat over ... one is more in line with the steering wheel ... and it's easier to left foot brake!

Cobra's are very popular in our Southern CA area.COBRA Seat LINK (http://www.subesports.com/products/?cartID=2005020207290168.190.210.128&cat=Seating&brand=Cobra)

I've been looking at the Corbeau FX1 seats for my car as well (the 2.5RS), but now all this talk about Corbeau bracket quality has me a bit nervous.
Shane -- SM 729

We've had very few complaints about the Corbeau seat brackets. The few that we have, Corbeau has been good about sending out another set. We just put Corbeau Forzas in our Civic over the winter, and had no problems with the brackets whatsoever. When we put CR1 seats in our Subaru, we did have to file a few of the holes out with a circular file to get things to line up a little better, but I don't think that is anything unusual when dealing with aftermarket bits. One of our sponsored drivers (http://www.teamsoloracer.com/drivers/ashchipkov.php) put Forzas in his E30 BMW and the brackets he initially got just would not fit...evidently there were some welding issues and things just wouldn't line up. Corbeau sent out new brackets for him and they fit fine.

If you get a Corbeau bracket that just doesn't fit, contact the Corbeau dealer you bought from and they should work with Corbeau on getting the problem resolved. Corbeau customer service, IMHO, is top notch.

Brett at SoloRacer.com (http://www.soloracer.com/)

It should work. I've got Corbeau Forza's in my FSP Civic and since it gets driven on the street occasionally, I configured the stock seat belts so I could use them. On the left side I unbolted the seat belt at the door sill, fed it thru the harness slot on the seat, then re-attached it at the door sill. When I use the seat belt, I just cross it over my lap and feed it thru the other harness slot on the right and clip it into the seat belt receptical. Seems to work pretty good on with the Forza seat, so I'd think it could be done on any seat with harness slots on the side.Thanks for the suggestion.. I have been trying to figure out some elegant way of doing this (Ms ButtDyno does not always want to put the 6 point on in the Miata). I guess I was not thinking hard enough :)

www.summitracing or www.jeggs.com both sites have a selection of affordable race seats, harnesses and other safty equipement.

I personally use the Kirkey Aluminum race seat which weighs about 14Lbs, and the RCI 5 point racing harness, (but I retained the OEM seat belt for the street).
I find the seat comfortable, the only complaint I have is that it is a PITA to get in and out of.

www.jeggs.com

I think you mean www.jegs.com...hehe :)

I'd been actually looking at www.soloracer.com for seats myself. I didn't realize the guy was actually on NASIOC until now, though. :lol:

Speaking of which, Brett, do you mind explaining the "no brackets without seats policy" that is mentioned on the site? (If you do mind publicly posting the reason, you can just PM me with your reply instead.) The reason I ask is I bought a used Corbeau A4 a while back but it has brackets for a completely different car on it, so I was hoping to buy some brackets for my 2.5RS only to find the site I wanted to buy from (to support a fellow soloist, of course) apparently doesn't sell them separately. :(

Oh and another thing, one of the installs on your site (from trunkmonkey.com, IIRC) mentions installation of the "FX1 wide" in a caged GC-bodied Impreza and talked about cage clearance with the "FX1 wide." Do you happen to know if the "FX1 wide" fits fine in a non-caged GC-bodied (ok, technically GM-bodied since it's a coupe) Impreza (as I was thinking about going with an FX1 for the driver and an "FX1 wide" for the passenger so I wouldn't have to worry as much about fitment issues with various passengers)?

Shane -- SM 729

Hell...if you want something to keep you IN place and not let you move around, look into a Kirkey Deluxe Road Race Seat.

http://www.kirkeyracing.com/images/seats/43000.jpg

For an even lighter seat, take a look at the champ car seats:

http://www.kirkeyracing.com/images/seats/56000lw.jpg

Ultra-Shield has a good selection as well:

http://www.ultrashieldrace.com/nControl/showpic.php?id=367

Speaking of which, Brett, do you mind explaining the "no brackets without seats policy" that is mentioned on the site? (If you do mind publicly posting the reason, you can just PM me with your reply instead.) The reason I ask is I bought a used Corbeau A4 a while back but it has brackets for a completely different car on it, so I was hoping to buy some brackets for my 2.5RS only to find the site I wanted to buy from (to support a fellow soloist, of course) apparently doesn't sell them separately. :(

Normally Corbeau does not permit us to sell brackets without seats. I think there are legal reasons for this... Corbeau does not want their brackets being used to mount other seat brands...since they are made to work with only their seats. Since you have a used A4 seat, I can probably get just a bracket for you, just email me about it, and I'll see what I can do.


Oh and another thing, one of the installs on your site (from trunkmonkey.com, IIRC) mentions installation of the "FX1 wide" in a caged GC-bodied Impreza and talked about cage clearance with the "FX1 wide." Do you happen to know if the "FX1 wide" fits fine in a non-caged GC-bodied (ok, technically GM-bodied since it's a coupe) Impreza (as I was thinking about going with an FX1 for the driver and an "FX1 wide" for the passenger so I wouldn't have to worry as much about fitment issues with various passengers)?

Are you sure you need an FX1 wide? The standard FX1 is pretty big itself, and both are pretty wide at the shoulder area. I think we have only ever sold one set of the FX1 wides... they are that big. Email me about this also, and we can discuss fitment in your car.

which I imagine should still fit since 02+ WRX seats bolt into pre-02 Imprezas

Shane -- SM 729

The difference is in height. with v7 seats in my WRX I feel like I'm sitting on the floor. With WRX seats in my '96 wagon my head is nearly hitting the roof even with the height cranked all the way down. But yes bolts line up, I've got seats swapped both ways right now.

Jeremy

Normally Corbeau does not permit us to sell brackets without seats. I think there are legal reasons for this... Corbeau does not want their brackets being used to mount other seat brands...since they are made to work with only their seats. Since you have a used A4 seat, I can probably get just a bracket for you, just email me about it, and I'll see what I can do.


Are you sure you need an FX1 wide? The standard FX1 is pretty big itself, and both are pretty wide at the shoulder area. I think we have only ever sold one set of the FX1 wides... they are that big. Email me about this also, and we can discuss fitment in your car.

its just the corbeaus you have this issue with? i'm looking for sparco brackets for a MY04 impreza can i stil get them seperately?

Just got this in the mail:

sparco is having a parking lot sale on June 25 Saturday from 10am-4pm. *
mention at the cashier counter Tommy from SpeedTrialUSA sent you and you get an additional 10% off the already marked discounted items.

hurry while supplies last. items such as helmets, race suits, gloves, shoes, and lots of other goodies FO SALE.* most of these items are slightly damaged and are selling at a tremendous discount.

address:
Sparco Motor Sports Inc.
1852 Kaiser Ave.
Irvine,CA 92614
No 1 in The WORLD*
Tel. 800-224-RACE
Fax. 949-797-1755
http://www.sparcousa.com*

Damn you Californians with your massive array of tuners out there :rolleyes:

For those of you still wondering about Corbeau's seats. I bought the FX1 Pro which is the narrow version of the FX1.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=816117