EVO 8 recaro seats in a 2g: the question/soon to be tech article

[TurboATM]

it looks really good! and the rc is siiiick

 

[ILLiCliPSE]

wow, thanks for staying on topic guys

Is there anything I can do to help?

Yes. You have a PM.

BTW, I found this thread which might help anyone for the time being. Hopefully me and reptile can whip something together for a new tech-article about this swap.

3000GT EVO IX seats install - 3000GT/Stealth International Message Center

 

[ILLiCliPSE]

Well, I just bit the bullet and ordered some brackets from Wedge. I also had them RUSHED, so Wendel said he would have them to me in about a week and a half, maybe 2 weeks. Only thing that has me worried is the hight of the seat when it's installed....I read above that if youre 5'11 or taller youll run into some problems...Im 6"3, which doesnt help at all. As long as it doesnt look goofy or feel uncomfortable, Ill go with it. If not, Ill have to figure out a way to lower the seat...but Id rather not weld the seat to the bracket....I want forward to back movement still.

Ill update this thread once I get the seats in the car, and let everyone know.

 

[reptile]

Well, I just bit the bullet and ordered some brackets from Wedge. I also had them RUSHED, so Wendel said he would have them to me in about a week and a half, maybe 2 weeks. Only thing that has me worried is the hight of the seat when it's installed....I read above that if youre 5'11 or taller youll run into some problems...Im 6"3, which doesnt help at all. As long as it doesnt look goofy or feel uncomfortable, Ill go with it. If not, Ill have to figure out a way to lower the seat...but Id rather not weld the seat to the bracket....I want forward to back movement still.

Ill update this thread once I get the seats in the car, and let everyone know.

Wendel is very good in terms of turnaround time.
I ordered mine rushed as well, and I had them in just under two weeks.

When you get the brackets, you will see how they are assembled, but I will tell you right now that even with the brackets at their lowest setting, at 6'3", your head will be mashed against the roof. You can tilt the seat back, but then your arms won't comfortably reach the steering wheel. Trust me I spend a good amount of time trying to work something out before I did the welding option, but here's the good news:

By eliminating the adjustable riser brackets and welding the seat to the frame, I gained a very valuable 3/4" height, AND I have full front to back movement, because the wedge brackets are welded to the OE equipped Recaro sliders.

You can see from the pics I posted that I retained the Recaro slider adjuster bar that runs in front of the seat. However, I needed to cut the Wedge engineering crossbar that runs the width of the bracket in order to make room for that slider adjuster bar.

 

[ILLiCliPSE]

I COMPLETELY understand what youre saying now. I had an idea, or should I say another option to lower the seat. Instead of welding the slider to the bracket, I could drill a hole in the bracket, and put a bolt with a nut through the slider, then mating the slider and bracket without having to weld. Just use some Loctite, a few lock washers and crank 'em down. I think that'd work, and I could always sell the seats back to an Evo owner if I wanted to at that point.

 

[Spyder1]

How much do these brackets cost from Wedged...?????

 

[ILLiCliPSE]

How much do these brackets cost from Wedged...?????

The brackets are about $90 each side ($180 for the set), plus if you get the "Wedge kit" so once you get them you can bolt it in is a few extra bucks, plus I had mine "rushed" which was an extra $25 per seat, then shipping. Everything came out to about $270.

Btw, I do have the seats in my car now, will have pics soon

 

[ILLiCliPSE]

Ok guys, finally got my seats in. I ordered my brackets from Wedge Engineering and they got here in about 2 weeks. I was a little disappointed to see that with the supplied height adjustable part of the bracket was too thick to slide into the floor bracket, so I had to do some grinding on the legs to make them fit in, and had to cut off a couple edges of some parts, but they fit nicely. Reptile said you must lower the seat by welding the seat slider to the main seat bracket, eliminating the height adjustable bracket. I installed mine WITH the height adjustable bracket at the lowest setting and I have no problems with the way they sit. They barely sit higher than the stock seats (which is better to me because with the stock seats, I felt as if I was sinking into the car, sitting too low). Now it feels more natural, and my head has plenty of room, which you can see in the pics below (Im 6'3 mind you). The seats make the car feel a lot more solid too, as youre not sliding all over the place even with the smallest turn. You stay planted. Here are some pics, Ill have a nice photoshoot coming soon . I think they fit the car well, especially with the black interior.

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[Spyder1]

I LOVE IT!......... How much you got the seats for?

 

[tsidrift1]

Those look amazing in there. I am acutally looking to sell my blue/black recaros out of the evo to get the evo 9 seats!

Anthony

 

[Nessuno]

wow. looks soooo sexy. I'm actually in the process of getting a set of these seats myself. can't wait to see what it looks like in person.

Reptile, your car looks amazing. I have the same skirts and bumper, haven't put the bumper on yet so I wasn't sure what it would look like and you definitely just made my day with the pics!

 

[snowborder714]

Does someone happen to have the weight of these? And possibly compared to stock power/manual seats in cloth and leather?

 

[ep3_04]

Does someone happen to have the weight of these? And possibly compared to stock power/manual seats in cloth and leather?

Evo 8/9 with rail and seat beat receiver - ~40 lbs
Reference #1
Reference #2

2G DSM cloth/no power (don't know if rail included)- ~43 lbs
Reference

2G DSM leather/power (don't know if rail included) - driver ~46 lbs, pass. ~38 lbs
Reference

 

[snowborder714]

Thanks

 

[GPTourer]

They barely sit higher than the stock seats (which is better to me because with the stock seats, I felt as if I was sinking into the car, sitting too low). Now it feels more natural, and my head has plenty of room, which you can see in the pics below (Im 6'3 mind you).

Wow, that looks really good. The Evo IX seats look soo much better then the blue inserted ones in the VIII which was why I had to have the leather package when I got mine.

I'm 6'2" and I feel like I sit on top of my car, rather then down in it like I would prefer, so I'm thinking I would want to do whatever if takes to make the seats sit lower.

Great job.

 

[reptile]

It should be noted that in my particular app, I won't say that you must weld right to the bracket, thus eliminating the height brackets. I welded my seat frame to the sliders because the way I wanted my seat backs to sit left me no other options.
Looking at the above pics, I can see that IlliClipse has his seat backs tilted a bit farther back than mine.
When I tried this with mine, I wasn't comfortable with the seating position.
With how my seats are now, I have about fingers width of space between the top of my head and the roof. In fact, I use it as a gauge to know when it's time to get a haircut......
Since everybody's bodily proportions vary, this type of install requires some individual fine tuning.

IlliClipse, I am glad you finally got your seats in, and you are happy with the result! I was happy to be able to help.
They look fantastic don't they?........awesome....and surprisingly comfortable.

But now I will have to come and kick your ass because you have the same seats as me, and that just will not stand.......but I guess at the end of the day, I still have a Talon, and Talon's are cooler than Eclipses, so THERE. hahahahaha.

 

[reptile]

Reptile, your car looks amazing. I have the same skirts and bumper, haven't put the bumper on yet so I wasn't sure what it would look like and you definitely just made my day with the pics!

Thank you
I will pass your compliments on to the car, because it will make her run/feel better.
It has been my experience that DSM's do better when you say nice things to them........you think I am making this up, but I am not.

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

ILLiCliPSE, appreciate your comments on that.

I'm looking for a BOLT-ON affair of brackets, and when people started to mention welding this and that or removing this and that, it was a bit discouraging. Also what was important is seat height. I enjoy the current height of stock seats, and prior to these ones you reviewed, all the other "bolt on" brackets make the seats sit so much higher.

So this was a bolt on affair for you and you didn't have to remove any of the adjusters? now are you still allowed to adjust the seats in several positions/settings with no problem?

 

[ILLiCliPSE]

ILLiCliPSE, appreciate your comments on that.

I'm looking for a BOLT-ON affair of brackets, and when people started to mention welding this and that or removing this and that, it was a bit discouraging. Also what was important is seat height. I enjoy the current height of stock seats, and prior to these ones you reviewed, all the other "bolt on" brackets make the seats sit so much higher.

So this was a bolt on affair for you and you didn't have to remove any of the adjusters? now are you still allowed to adjust the seats in several positions/settings with no problem?

Yup, they bolted right in. The only thing I had to do was make the height adjustable bracket thinner so it would slide into the main floor bracket (I called about this and he said the guy must've forgotten to grind them down...so I guess its part of the process they do, but they just didnt do it to mine). The seats are 100% adjustable, just as if they were in an Evo. Front to back (all the way up, and all the way back) and seat tilt. What I didnt realize at first is how the seat tilt adjustment is simply a knob on the side of the seat, which makes it a bit hard to adjust at times, but you get use to it. It also makes it a bit awkward for people to get in the back, as they have to keep turning this knob to make the seat tilt far enough. But you gotta remember, these seats are designed for a 4 door, not a coupe. But its something I didnt really care about, no one really goes in my back seat anyway. Glad I could help

 

[agarc023]

Those seats look great! I would like to get some, but I'm afraid it would look kinda weird in a spyder though

 

[Test Pipe]

Are they as clean looking in the 1gs?

 

[Gamble97]

Hmm, I want these now. I just don't want to fab up brackets or adjust them. Grr. What to do.

 

[byebyev8]

I wounder if isuzu vehicross seats will bolt up the same way with the brackets.

 

[Fabian]

dude this car is SOOOO SICK! AWESOME job on the seats man. Those pretty's will definitely set you apart from the crowd!!

 

[97 GSX 97]

ILLiCliPSE, appreciate your comments on that.

I'm looking for a BOLT-ON affair of brackets, and when people started to mention welding this and that or removing this and that, it was a bit discouraging. Also what was important is seat height. I enjoy the current height of stock seats, and prior to these ones you reviewed, all the other "bolt on" brackets make the seats sit so much higher.

So this was a bolt on affair for you and you didn't have to remove any of the adjusters? now are you still allowed to adjust the seats in several positions/settings with no problem?

I know this may not be your thing but my "ebay" Bride's and legit Bride rails bolted right into my 2G with no problems. People can give me as much shit as they want for buying them but they are rock solid in there and I feel plenty safe in them. They fit great and look awesome. I got the seats for $400 shipped and the legit Bride rails for $250 shipped.