"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich)
03/27/2018 at 14:19 • Filed to: None
0
7|
"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich)
03/27/2018 at 14:19 • Filed to: None | 0
| 7 |
Not the ones for kids. The ones for grown ups.
From what little research I’ve done, it seems like most automotive seats are a metal frame, maybe some metal springs, and some polyurethane (or similar) foam, with a cloth or leather covering. Let’s ignore the fancy air conditioned or massaging variety for now, and look at a basic car seat:
Unfortunately this episode of How It’s Made is more like How It’s Assembled, but hey, it’s a start. In the video, the metal frame appears to be made from stamped metal. I vaguely remember seeing other cars (or at least burnt out husks of cars) that use tubular steel frames. I suspect these are less common.
Now let’s look at something a bit more wild - like the seats from the Porsche concept shown off a little while ago:
(Image taken from here):
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Like pretty much every other concept car out there, there’s no way seats like that would ever make it to production. But why? What does it take to allow a car seat to be mass produced? Does it mostly rely on crash test ratings? Surely there must be other car seat related safety regulations. For automotive racing, there are regulations. I remember hearing that (supposedly) if you want to run at Bonneville in the faster speeds, you can only have a metal seat. Something about fire safety, I’m guessing.
But let’s say a person was building a car - a kit car. What would dictate that a given seat is safe or not? Could a person build their own car seat (supposing it at least
looked
safe), and have it pass inspection? Obviously yo do want to be reasonable and have at least some thought for safety. I don’t think anyone is going to want to ride around on a carved oak stump, even if it is bolted down.
I imagine a lot of it might depend on the state/province where it is being inspected. Here in Alberta, things seem pretty lax with regards to what can be on the road. I suspect it’d be a different story in California.
(This is the sort of random things that I think about while preparing to fall asleep at night.)
RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
03/27/2018 at 14:52 |
|
Hard to say, but an interesting discussion! I know Nova Scotian garages vary in how lax they are about cars being legally driven on the roads...
HammerheadFistpunch
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
03/27/2018 at 15:05 |
|
https://jalopnik.com/i-cant-look-away-from-this-guy-gutting-a-mercedes-benz-1824109563
timely.
StudyStudyStudy
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
03/27/2018 at 15:28 |
|
I’ve thought about that as well. I’m sure there is a number that manufacturers have that the seat won’t fold or buckle under X force. Other than that I think it is kind of free game. Like there are cars that come with fixed back seats, definitely not produced by them. There are others where I think the seat is basically a series of cushions if my memory serves on a couple boutique cars.
I’ve seen some people and shops make seats for race cars/show cars either for fitment or affordability out of sheet metal.
AMGtech - now with more recalls!
> HammerheadFistpunch
03/27/2018 at 15:52 |
|
Double timely: I’m replacing driver seat air bladders in a 15 year old SL right now.
tromoly
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
03/27/2018 at 16:24 |
|
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
It’s more about keeping the occupant from moving. A suspension seat (aka one with springs inside) may compress and cause the belts to become slack, allowing the body to move around which is the biggest thing that causes injury.
IMO the best seats out there are full containment like ISP and others, the seat forming a solid base for the occupant to be held in is just as important as having a quality belt system.
just-a-scratch
> tromoly
03/27/2018 at 17:52 |
|
I was just about to post on Kirkey seats, and you beat me to it.
Edit: different brand, similar stuff.
|
tromoly
> just-a-scratch
03/27/2018 at 18:00 |
|
ISP, Butler, Kirkey, Harris, The Joie of Seating, there’s many options out there today.