normal vs. sport vs. track seats

[spud814]

I would like to buy the sport seats. I was curious how much better are the sport seats then normal, and how much better are track seats then the sports. Does the sport seats hold u in your seat pretty good when u corner? B/c i hate how my normal seat throws me around when i corner, but if the sport seats can't keep me in the seat i rather get track seats. This car is driven on the street only, but i am looking into tracking soon. OOO also how comfortable is the sport seats? Thankz, i never sat in one, thats why i'm asking such stupid questions.

[boom-monkey]

I can't vouch for the leather seats, but my clothe seats hold me in place just fine. I don't slide around at all. It's also very comfy. Tackled 4+ hour road trips no problem.

[Rob]

e30 sport seats are very good.....for factory seats. Nothing comes close to the feel of a racing shell though.

[De //m3]

The Reacro sports seats in E30's have been called the best seat ever. They are a great blend (Especially in cloth) of a very supportive but very comfortable ride. I've driven thirteen hours straight to and from Michigan with a buddy without any problems. The only problem if you dont have a/c like me is that in the summer your lower back sweats pretty good when its real hot. The old E21 black cloth Recaros are also really comfortable but you would have to buy a special bracket to fit them.

[De //m3]

Yes, I definitely spelled RECARO* wrong.

[Chris E30 Cab]

I have leather sport seats in my cab and they hold me firmly planted in the seat even at the track, but my body fits the seat. If you are very skinny and small, and your hips and back do not touch the bolsters then you might slide a bit until the leather gets damp with sweat. Anyhow, they are great seats and come with good lumbar support which helps on long journeys. I've never been in another car with such good stock seats....these are even much better than my first car (many, many years ago), VW Rabbit GTI Mk1, which had very good "sport" seats.

Just for reference a very small amount of the E30 sport seats were made by RECARO, as they were only one of the manufacturers.....easiest way to tell is to look on the frame....if it says RECARO then that's what they are....if not then they are not........mine are not made by RECARO.

[Charlie]

The Reacro sports seats in E30's have been called the best seat ever. They are a great blend (Especially in cloth) of a very supportive but very comfortable ride. I've driven thirteen hours straight to and from Michigan with a buddy without any problems. The only problem if you dont have a/c like me is that in the summer your lower back sweats pretty good when its real hot. The old E21 black cloth Recaros are also really comfortable but you would have to buy a special bracket to fit them.

No offense man, but Recaro didn't make any seats in the e30. They stopped with the sport seats in the E21.

-Charlie

[De //m3]

My fault guys. I meant "Recaro style" seats. The seats are designed like Recaro seats. I thought that cloth seats in one of the special edition E30's were real Recaros, but maybe not.

[Chris E30 Cab]

According to BMW AG, Recaro was one of the manufacturers of the E30 Sport seat that is found in M3's & Cab's, the ones with the horizontal stitching on the seat back.

[Rob]

S2000 seats are also extremely nice. as well as 80s and 90s porsche recaro sport seats are great too. the problem though with most factory seats is that they are heavy as hell, add power, heat, whatever, man, hell with that.



anyone have any idea how much E30 sports weigh?

[Bryson]

too much.

okay, I like e30 sport seats, they're a perfect blend and you can get them in different materials. I've owned both leather and cloth sport seats and I would have to say that the leather ones are nowhere near as hold-you-in-place as the cloth ones, although leather seats are much easier to get in/out of, and easier to re-position yourself in. I still think that once you're situated, the cloth seats are more comfortable than leather and don't heat up as much on the back

overall, cloth e30 sport seats rule (coming from a guy with cloth e21 recaros waiting to go in)

[arnib]

I luuuv the leather sports seats that came orginal in my cabrio :)

Only bad thing is how cold the leather gets in the winter! :roll:

[TIATO]

For performace driving leather sucks as it lets you slide around too much and more nothing more then nice looking backside sweat generators. Hot in the summer, cold and hard in the winter.

For performance driving cloth seats rule as the material will grip you to no end and while you still sweat, the material will absorb it making it even more stickier. The material has no ill bearing winter or summer tendencies.

For a stock seat, the E30 sport seats are pretty damn good. A nice blend between comfort, support and adjustability. Aso good for near 20 hours of straight driving from Minnesota to New Jersey.

I have sat in many different stock seats ranging from Audis, VW, Mercedes, several BMW sport models, heck Ive even had Recaro SRDs in one of my cars. Ive also planted my ass in full blown race car race seats.

For what you get, given the age, the E30 sport seats are lightyears ahead of current Audi, VW, Mercedes seats. BMW generally tends to have good seat in their sport models but make too many compromises with their luxo models.

My favorite car seats ever:
e36 M3 Sport Seats (wish they were cloth though)
e30 Sport Seats
Recaro SRDs

Best seats Ive sat in

[Chapel]

I was looking at getting a Corbeau Forza II (for fatties)
its like $250

get this months Sport Compact Car (Dec 2003) theres like 20 pages for a 'seat buyers guide'
they stick all sorts of people from a 28waist to a 38waist and get their feelings on the seats
for the price and my 40+ waist. its the best bet
Id LIKE to get the Sparco Evo3 (also for fatties) but it doesnt seem worth the extra $250.

[AdamF 88iS]

Stock sport seats are a pinch over 40lbs each. They are an excellent seat though. For my car that only sees occasional track duty they are the perfect compromise for me.