Streetable Racing seats?

"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland) 12/16/2018 at 17:40 • Filed to: racing seats

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Looking at this sparco, D100 MSRP around $30 0. Seems pretty nice. Not sure if it comes with the mounting brackets or that is a separate item. Their web site is pretty empty of compatibility content.

Any other suggestions? The seat will go into a 1970 Datsun 240z, gutted and cag ed, but still street driven (a little) so having a recline function is good as well as the ability to slide it forwards and backwards. The car already has a 5 point harness mounted.

Any other suggestions?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 12/16/2018 at 18:33

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From expensive to cheap Momo, Recaro , Cobra

Nick Has an Exocet > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 12/16/2018 at 18:34

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Sliding is up to you. You can buy sliding seat rails for just about anything.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 12/16/2018 at 18:50

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This question depends a lot on how (and with whom) the car is going to be played with. If this car is going to be for lapping/track days (bro), then you can probably do just about whatever you want with the seat. If this car is going to be actually raced, then the rules of the sanctioning body are going to dictate the options. Assuming the car is already caged, the existing cage will also dictate seat options.

If the car is going to be actually raced with SCCA, NASA, PCA, BMWCCA, ect... then a reclining seat is going to be out. Rules usually require a one-piece race seat with a seat back brace bolted to the roll cage. Alternately , an FIA- rated seat (and corresponding FIA rated seat mounts) can be used without a brace, but they’re real expensive and I’ve never even seen such a set up. In fact, I’ve never seen an FIA rated seat in anything less than a six digit GT3 cup car, and it still had a fix seat back brace .

A good race seat is pretty darn comfortable. The recline function won’t be missed, and there’s nothing to access behind the seat of a 240z anyway. In terms of ease of entry/exit, one piece rally style seat will have lower side bolsters on the base of the seat and be easier to get into and out of, although at a cost of slightly less cornering support on the track.

It is possible to mount a race seat on the (modified) factory seat brackets to retain a slide forward/backward function with a correspondingly adjustable seat back brace (this is how the rental racecars were set up at the miata shop ). It is also possible to retain the modified factory seat brackets and just unbolt the seat back brace when not on the track (this is how my racecar was set up, as I drove it on the street in its early racing days ). The disadvantage of mounting the seat on brackets instead of bolted to the floor is the driver (and their weight) sits several inches higher in the car. With taller drivers and tighter cockpits, this can create headroom/helmet clearance problems. It also puts a big chunk of weight higher up, which raises the cars center of gravity a bit .

The other thing to consider and the available dimensions of the space, size of the driver and how an existing cage is set up for harnesses . All of the big sanctioning bodies (if the car is going racing for real) will have detailed rules for the harness set up and the allowable angles, which are influenced by the height of the driver, location of the pass through holes on the seat and the design of the main hoop cross members on the roll cage. Ideally when building a racecar, the specific seat for a specific driver is chosen first, and the cage and seat mounting set up are built around that. Changing the seat in an existing cage will take some measurement and planning to have everything work out.

Variance > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 12/16/2018 at 18:56

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My r ecommendation would be the Corbeau GTS-II, which have a little more “retro” look to go with your car, and can be factory-optioned with a slot for the anti-submarine belt on a 5-point. With that option, they would run you around $800 for a pair.

Another option would be the ever-classic Recaro Speed, but t hey aren’t cheap (probably twice the price of the Corbeaus) .

Urambo Tauro > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 12/16/2018 at 19:19

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Milk: It d o es a b ody g ood!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 12/17/2018 at 13:46

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Any seat that can safely be operated with the factory 3-point seatbelt is perfectly streetable! Just need to be okay with less padding and more bolstering all the time. I drove across the country in my Bride Vios 3 (knockoff) seat and didnt die. It was pretty brutal as the days went on though, any longer drive on the interstate left me kind of sore. But it was so so worth it for the amazing driving roads in North Carolina,  Arkansas, and Arizona. I was able to use my 3-point 90% of the time and switched over to the 6-point on ocassion that I got to a fun road.