Aftermarket seats

[98spydert]

Obviously you get what you pay for but are the less expesive seats worth ANYTHING? I've read older threads where people said they were buying them but has anyone installed them and rode on them for a while? Bad experiances? Comfterable? Wear? Saftey problems?

 

[chicagoboostin]

i was wondering the same thing..

 

[98spydert]

I'm thinking of just buying a set that has a 30 day money back gaurentee and seeing what's up. I can always get my money back - shipping and that way we'll all know if they're worth the material they're made from.

 

[milkeyisback]

GI joes has APC seats where i live, but i wouldnt blame you if you didnt even wanna try those out, but it does cut the shipping problem. and easy return.

 

[98spydert]

I don't care who makes them really, but I really wouldn't want the name plastered on the seat back. That's the problem with Tenzo and I think APC and a lot of others.

 

[ChefTSI]

A Good Friend of mine has tenzos in his z28, after about a year now they show no wear, they are ok to sit in, not great, but not worse then are stock seats, only problem i have heard is they move your seats forward a fair bit, so if you are a big or tall person you might want to read up on them.

 

[AWDBirdMan]

I had a set of R-1 racing sports racing bukets in my old talon.. they wre the most comfortable aftermarket seat i have ever f ound.. but they wouldnt fit in my spyder because the top butterfly on the upper half of the seat hit the rear trim panel in the spyder when ya leaned it back.. and im a tall guy (6'3").. so if you are shorter or can stand to sit kinda straight up. they work great and are very confortable..

 

[98spydert]

I had a set of R-1 racing sports racing bukets in my old talon.. they wre the most comfortable aftermarket seat i have ever f ound.. but they wouldnt fit in my spyder because the top butterfly on the upper half of the seat hit the rear trim panel in the spyder when ya leaned it back.. and im a tall guy (6'3").. so if you are shorter or can stand to sit kinda straight up. they work great and are very confortable..

Yeah I'm 6'4", I'm already pushin the limits of cockpit space That's another thing I gotta worry about. Now that you mention the butterfly problem, I might not be able to go with any of these wide aftermarket seats.

Did you sit any higher with the seats installed or was it about the same as stock?

 

[Lord Khan]

I've been checking out those JDM race seats for $200 for a pair on ebay. Whats up with those. Bad seats, or what? That seems awfully cheap for a pair.

 

[spyderman05]

My friend has a pair of Matrix seats, they are very comfortable to sit in but they do have the matrix logo on the headrest part of the seat. I have found them for about $240 on the net and am getting a pair myself for my spyder. I'm pretty sure that they will not have the butterfly problem, but I could be rong. but I also know someone with the Tenzo R seats and they are a hastle to sit in. they allow almost no movement and are extremely uncomfortable, Even tho the Matrix's are a cheaper brand I would use them way Before I bought any tenzo's. So if u want some more comfortable stylish seats I'd use matrix, for about $100 cheaper than the awfull tenzo's. I don't know how long the Matrix's will last compared to the Tenzo's but I'm not spending any extra cash on momo, sparco, or tenzo's. So If they do go bad or fade or something, u can buy another pair for less than u'd pay for one set of sparco's. :thumbdown

 

[BrnOutKing]

The issue is and always will be you get what you pay for.

The cheaper models have a tendancy to snap if you get in an accident or if you push on the back of the seat to hard. (ie: something alot of us bigger people have to do when we get into our cars in order to get situated comfortably)

yes sparco's are more expensive but they are superior quality over the cheaper models IMO.

There's a reason why Sparco is in most professional Race cars.

 

[Chuckt]

yes sparco's are more expensive but they are superior quality over the cheaper models IMO.

There's a reason why Sparco is in most professional Race cars.

also, sparco a brand that makes specializes seats and harness equipment. Many other brands out there make tons of different parts. with any specialty shop, the only thing they make will be more expensive than other brands.

 

[98spydert]

The issue is and always will be you get what you pay for.

The cheaper models have a tendancy to snap if you get in an accident or if you push on the back of the seat to hard. (ie: something alot of us bigger people have to do when we get into our cars in order to get situated comfortably)

yes sparco's are more expensive but they are superior quality over the cheaper models IMO.

There's a reason why Sparco is in most professional Race cars.

Chuckt has a good point, plus only a handful of members here have race cars and maybe one person has a professional race car. A lot of the cheaper seats I've been seeing do have a tubular steel frame, not some POS plastic or sheetmetal frame. You get what you pay for to a point but there's always exceptions.

 

[Flash]

yes sparco's are more expensive but they are superior quality over the cheaper models IMO.

There's a reason why Sparco is in most professional Race cars.

That's why I bought Sparco Torino's for my car. I value my life to much to be ended by some cheap seat that fails in a crash. If you haven't sat in Sparco seats, your missing out. I think most Sparco seats have memory foam to contour to your butt and your back! Plus it holds you oh so tight. I usually regret spending as much as I did on such things, but I have no regrets!

 

[neuralracing]

When you install the Sparcos... did you use any of the OEM hardware (sliders, rails, etc.)? Or will the Universal Sparco Sliders do the trick? How about the bases??? Where they allot of custom work?

 

[gofaster87]

Im happy to see you like those Torinos Flash. Ive had mine for almost 2 years and I wouldnt get any other seat, definately worth the money. You definately get what you pay for in seats guys. I know people that have regreted buying the cheaper seats because of the poor design. strength and craftmanship, but then again I know many people that just dont care and want to look "cool". Just remember if you ever decide to track your car a well designed and proven seat could save your life if you hit a wall.

 

[SpYYder]

i've got these, sat in them quite a bit when working on the car, theyre very comfortable for me. they are a bit narrow but i am not wide so they are a perfect fit. They fit in the eclipse with no room to spare and look great too, only $325 shipped. if i dont like em i can just sell them and get stockers or something but i like them so far, i just have to have somebody weld them in later this month.

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[SpYYder]

i've tried tenzo R and i dont really like them. they are hard as a rock and the lower side bolsters are huge to the point of being difficult to get into. just a personal opinion.

 

[xBOOSTx]

i've got these, sat in them quite a bit when working on the car, theyre very comfortable for me. they are a bit narrow but i am not wide so they are a perfect fit. They fit in the eclipse with no room to spare and look great too, only $325 shipped. if i dont like em i can just sell them and get stockers or something but i like them so far, i just have to have somebody weld them in later this month.

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what kind of seats are they??? $325 shipped for both??? sliders/brackets included???

 

[SpYYder]

yup theyre on ebay, just search for "racing seat" or "racing bucket" if you cant find em i'll link you. they were ~$325 shipped... nt sure exactly ive had them for a few months. shipping was quick. they include brackets and sliders, however when test-fitting them last month the brackets on them ar about 2-3 inches too narrow. So instead of modifying the supplied brackets, im going to create a new mount (they did the same in my friend's eclipse for his tenzo seats.) so i'm going to try and explain it.
the top of the seat is a perfect fit... when the bottom is about an inch from the console the top fits just barely in the B-pillars.
under the seat there are four bolts. since when you place this seat in there, theres about 2-3 inches of space you need to make up. so instead of just adding to the sliders on each side (which would be weak) im going to put a flat 3" wide strip of metal between the front two bolts, and the same thing across the rear two bolts, and then bolt them down, and weld the aftermarket slider to these metal strips. They would be supported and strong and not require alot of modifcation so they would still slide easily.
They are no-name seats, all black felt like material, theyre supportive but they seem to be very comfortable to me. I really like them alot regardless of what other people may think or say about them, if you sit in them and youre not really wide, you will probably like them too.
plus the price is right.

 

[sids]

Wanna know some trivia? Yes sparco specializes in seats, steerings wheels and racing harnesses but did you know that they are subcontracted in thailand?

most of these guys (APC, tenzo R, matrix, R1 etc etc) source their seats from thailand or taiwan. Then they just tell the manufacturer to plaster their name on the headrest.

But mind you these seats are good, while they do lack some nifty features of sparco and recaro namely the micro adjust and and flip forward lever, they are the same in almost every way in terms of materials,build quality, comfort and looks.

check out www.conceptonewheels.com/seats.html

this is my friend who imports seats and wheels and rebrnds them, like the guys in Nakayama, R1, Konig, Axis, ever wonder why some of their wheels look the same?

BTW I just got a pair of Sparco Torino Look a likes in CF cloth and they rock!

 

[RipperXX]

What about DAD seats, I know there cheaper. But from what I read there suposed to be EXACT rip offs of sparcos, other than the name there suposed to be identical....




And at $399 for a pair.. im really considering them.




Also I like the ones in the link above from Concept One, but I see no price, options etc. Any more info??? If there afordable and I can get them in black. I'll order some!

 

[sids]

Well they retail for around $350 for the pair plus $30 for the bracket. But I gotta ship em all the way from the philippines which will add about $200

seriously, i won;t be suprised if any of the US brand names come out with these seats any time soon. As for DAD seats, they're a recaro copy not sparco. They're also probably from thailand.

As for options well, color is about the only option you can get to match your ride.

I think there was a post a while back about someone not wanting DAD stitched on their seats.

I know the ones from Arospeed are also reacro replicas and are identical in every way also.

My advise is no matter what seat you choose, try to sit in them first, the Concept One guy brought in about 7 different styles of seats and i found only one that fits my skinny frame, the rest are for big butted people

 

[gofaster87]

Wanna know some trivia? Yes sparco specializes in seats, steerings wheels and racing harnesses but did you know that they are subcontracted in thailand?

most of these guys (APC, tenzo R, matrix, R1 etc etc) source their seats from thailand or taiwan. Then they just tell the manufacturer to plaster their name on the headrest.

But mind you these seats are good, while they do lack some nifty features of sparco and recaro namely the micro adjust and and flip forward lever, they are the same in almost every way in terms of materials,build quality, comfort and looks.

check out www.conceptonewheels.com/seats.html

this is my friend who imports seats and wheels and rebrnds them, like the guys in Nakayama, R1, Konig, Axis, ever wonder why some of their wheels look the same?

BTW I just got a pair of Sparco Torino Look a likes in CF cloth and they rock!

Ive seen the the construction of APC and Tenzo R seats, inside and out and believe me they are not the same as the Sparcos. My buddy owns an upholstery shop and has done custom jobs on all these kinds of seats, we checked them out closely and they are definately not the same.

 

[sids]

yep, they're not EXACTLY the same, but the guys who manufacture teh seats also subcontract for sparco.