Sport/Race Seats (Sparco v. Recaro v. ?)

[rwh11385]

What seats are everyone using?

I'm not really looking at seats now, but i might this summer. I was interested in what brand/models people enjoy. I saw a couple people on Baye30.net preference Recaro SRD's.

How much did you spend?
Do you drive it daily?
Comfort 1-10?
Hold 1-10?

I hope I can sell off my front leather sport seats (in great shape !!!) along with my rear most likely, and use that money to offset the cost of a pair of Recaro SRD's (or perhaps another brand)...... but it won't be til summer if I do it.

[Werksmini]

The recaro SRDs are nice from what I hear. And if you have a tan interior they have a grey one that matches really nice. There was a site that sold a pair for like 700 bucks. If you can link me ill give ya cookie.

[rwh11385]

The recaro SRDs are nice from what I hear. And if you have a tan interior they have a grey one that matches really nice. There was a site that sold a pair for like 700 bucks. If you can link me ill give ya cookie.

I have a black interior, and i've seen black ones in a black e30 interior, they look sweet!

I haven't seen that site, but
http://www.on-trackperformance.com/recaro_srd.htm $450 per seat (claimed lowest price)
http://www.sounddomain.com/sku/RECSRDCC $490

Shipping Weight: 25 lbs = good for a non-shell seat i believe. Full racing seats are like 12-15lbs. Stock is just over 40 lbs.

I really want Ted to post, i like his seats. Seem to be Sparco ? seats, black with grey grip trim strips. See:


I SWEAR I SEARCHED......but here is an another thread about seats. Normal v. Track v. Sport Seats. Oh well........
http://www.r3vlimited.com/phpBB2/vie...der=asc&tart=0

[SlammedE30]

Heh, I have Sparco Torino's. They are about $600 apiece, and they are an awsome compromise seat. Excellent support, very comfortable for long trips, I've driven 4+ hours in these and no problems whatsoever. The seats are black with black strips, they just look grey from the flash. Hope that helped,
-Ted

[rwh11385]

Heh, I have Sparco Torino's. They are about $600 apiece, and they are an awsome compromise seat. Excellent support, very comfortable for long trips, I've driven 4+ hours in these and no problems whatsoever. The seats are black with black strips, they just look grey from the flash. Hope that helped,
-Ted

Yep, very helpful.

You're E30 is still a daily driver right? (Besides being a track monster ;) ) Because I understand daily driving shells is a pain.

Do you still have your rear seat? I'm thinking hypothetically if i'd want it or not. It's weight vs. capability of carrying people. I'm not that serious I guess about weight loss, so i guess it should remain. Oh well.

Oh, and how do harnesses feel day-in day-out? Besides the cool factor and the improved restraint..... how comfortable are they?

[SlammedE30]

Yes the car is still driven daily. The Torino's aren't shells, they are adjustable and they pivot, similar to the stock seat, that is why they are so expensive, plain buckets are cheaper.

I do still have the backseat in, because I cart my friends around all the time :? Besides, it's not that heavy, you wouldn't notice that big of a difference if it's all you took out.

I don't use the harnesses all the time, just at the track, because they are a pain in the ass for everyday use. I have the stock seatbelt still attatched. Though they are confortable, it's just a pain, you can't lean forward to get a better view if you are strapped in tight. I don't have a sub-strap(it goes where your balls are) and it keeps the lap belts from riding too high up. The main reason why I don't have one of these is because the seats do not provide a hole for the belt, but you could take the seat to an upholstry shop and have a hole built into the seat.
-Ted

[rwh11385]

Thanks a lot man! :D

Oh, I knew the seats weren't shells, I was just confirming your car was still a daily driver. I suspected if it wasn't you'd opt for true racing shells. Some others complained about their shells for everyday. When i get seats, I'll be sure to get some comfy ones, like Recaro SRDs most likely.

I've driven cars a couple times with harnesses. They were comfy, and super badass......but i had to rethink ways to adjust the CD player and such...... :roll: Maybe i'd get used to it.....maybe.

One car with the harnesses was a 95 M3 with rollcage, track suspension, vinyl graphics. 8)

[DBurke]

Thanks a lot man! :D
I've driven cars a couple times with harnesses. They were comfy, and super badass......but i had to rethink ways to adjust the CD player and such...... :roll: Maybe i'd get used to it.....maybe.

One car with the harnesses was a 95 M3 with rollcage, track suspension, vinyl graphics. 8)

Having sat in a few things, the SRD would be a good compromise seat, also take a look at the Cobra seats. I'm currently diggin those. Rumor has it though that the SRD isn't being produced anymore and I found it funny that for as popular a seat as it has been that Sport Compact Car didn't review it with the other Recaro stuff in their big seat issue last month.
Not going to start a big debate here but if you are just driving around you shouldn't have any belt on that is more or less than the stocker. I'm assuming that you are talking about street driving since you mentioned the CD player, you shouldn't be able to touch it with a harness on. Those Schroth belts are fine for autox but if you really are going out on track, and you don't have a rollbar, don't use them. I'm not going to say you are going to end up on your lid but chit happens and the last thing you want w/o rollover protection is to be stuck in a harness.

[rwh11385]

Not going to start a big debate here but if you are just driving around you shouldn't have any belt on that is more or less than the stocker. I'm assuming that you are talking about street driving since you mentioned the CD player, you shouldn't be able to touch it with a harness on. Those Schroth belts are fine for autox but if you really are going out on track, and you don't have a rollbar, don't use them. I'm not going to say you are going to end up on your lid but chit happens and the last thing you want w/o rollover protection is to be stuck in a harness.

The car i was in was a sponsered "racecar" but was street legal. It had full interior, CD player and all that. But was trailered into the shop were it was at, and driven to the dealership. Anyway, it had harnesses for it's autocrossing and tracking.

I wanted to get the full feel of the car, so I put on the harness. It was difficult to see around corners and a task to check mirrors. I would probably not drive daily in a harness, no.

Unless I really start sliding in my seat, which i'm not, I won't need a harness. If I do need more restraint I'll get them. Oh well. Let me see what's up when I start autocrossing.

[peteM3power]

Recaro SRD's are definately the way to go. Because they came standard in the E30 ///M3 EVO (I think it was the EVO III model but I'm not 100% sure), with the proper mounting brackets, they should be easy to install and fit very nicely. They also look dam good and whilst I haven't sat in the SRD's, I have sat in many other Recaro made seats and my overall opinion of them is that they make some extremely nice products.





--Pete

[rwh11385]

Recaro SRD's are definately the way to go. Because they came standard in the E30 ///M3 EVO (I think it was the EVO III model but I'm not 100% sure), with the proper mounting brackets, they should be easy to install and fit very nicely. They also look dam good and whilst I haven't sat in the SRD's, I have sat in many other Recaro made seats and my overall opinion of them is that they make some extremely nice products.

--Pete

Brandon Wheaton's M3 is sweet, as are those seats!

So can one pick up the EVO seat mounts for a non-M E30? Of course, this may mean shipping of rare parts from europe....and other brackets would be cheaper.....but that's still a cool fact.

[Brian 89 325i]

Are SRD's 5 point compatable?

Brian

[boom-monkey]

They don't appear to be as there is no hole for the sub-strap.

[SlammedE30]

I don't believe all SRD's are 5-pt compatible, but one of our customers took his seats to an upholstry shop and he had them build a hole for the sub-strap to go into. You too can do this!! :D ;)
-Ted

[rwh11385]

I don't believe all SRD's are 5-pt compatible, but one of our customers took his seats to an upholstry shop and he had them build a hole for the sub-strap to go into. You too can do this!! :D ;)
-Ted

When i was browsing around for SRD's, i believe I saw a normal version, and one with a sub-belt option. So maybe you can order it already to go, without having to run to an unholstry shop.

Google: SRD sub-belt.......god i love google! 8)

http://www.speedwaremotorsports.com/seat/srd.asp

"SRD With Sub Belt Hole

Price: Now $559.00!was $659.00"

"SRD With-Out Sub Belt Hole

Price: Now $499.00! was $599.00"

cool :)