Alternative seat choices

[parsonsj]

A friend of mine has been raving about Subaru STi seats. They are supportive with bolsters in all the right places, but best of all, are 6 way manually adjustable. No heavy/bulky electric motors and corresponding wiring needed. And it comes with the necessary cutout in the seatback for a 4 pt harness.

Has anybody sat in these? Any real world experience?

thanks!
jp

[homerneedspeed]

They are rock hard, heavy and too expensive for what they are. From my experience you sit on top of the seat (meaning firm, non conforming padding) and slide over the bolsters i've removed and installed these in a few cars and would say they weigh 45lbs a piece easy and not worth it unless you are upgrading a Subaru.

[parsonsj]

Cool, thanks Homer. What kind of folding mechanism do they have? Are they suitable for use in a 2 door with a back seat?

jp

[CAMAROBOY69]

Yes they are rock hard and not comfortable at all. I could not imagine any more than a half hour ride before your butt or back were hurting.
I test drove STI last summer and posted pics of it on this site.

[Damn True]

...a little on the wide side as well.

[J-Rod]

Ditto on the 'rock hard' bit. I drive around in a STi almost daily, and man, the combo of being 6'4" and riding in an STi does NOT do a body good. I dread even a 45 minute ride in that thing.

[Ricter]

Wow, I have an 05 WRX which has the same seats (all black, none of that blue suede), and they are he best seats I've ever had in a car, I love them, even on long trips. I'd definitely recomend them for other applications. I would however get the solid black WRX seats unless you just really want the blue.

[parsonsj]

OK, thanks guys. I get the message. My wife was not happy about any "rock-hard" seat. I'm talking to Jim at Motorsport Seats and his PT discount that Anthony Rose setup. Maybe Milano 2s are in my future.

jp

[baz67]

JP
Jim is great to work with. Sometimes a little slow on the return emails, but he did have the answers I was looking for when he responded. I would use him again. I went with the Recaro. Very nice, well built and light.

The only thing I noticed is when the seats have the shoulder supports, like the Milano 2s, they sort of curve your shoulders in when you "sit back" in them. It is hard to explaine, but these seats are made for the track and that is where one would need lateral shoulder support. It may be slightly wearing on long trips without time to get out and stretch.

[parsonsj]

sort of curve your shoulders in when you "sit back" in them

I know exactly what you mean. I'm a "sit back" driver: I usually find the steering wheel too far away unless the steering column telescopes or the pedals are adjustable. I'll never understand how the homies can stand to drive around with their seat backs lying down in a semi-reclining position.

I sat in a Torino 2 at SEMA 2004 and noticed it then.

Are there any medium to big boys (I'm 5' 11", 185 lbs) out there using a Torino 2 for street driving? Any comments?

jp

[parsonsj]

On other comment:

As noted on another thread, I'm a bit concerned about my head/halo bar interface. I'll be using a 4 pt belt, even for street driving to keep my noggin from having steel-induced dents. I think that will pull me deep into the seat with having "hold" myself there.

Any truth to that wild theory?

jp

[Ralph LoGrasso]

I sat in an '04 WRX tonight and the seats were very comfortable and suprisingly supportive. From what my buddy told me the '04 WRXs do not have the STi seats, and many of the STi guys are swapping to the standard WRX seats because they're more supportive. I've never sat in STi seats, so I can't make the comparison myself, but the WRX seats were nice and may be worth looking into.

[CAMAROBOY69]

Thats a good point Ralph and JP might want to check into that. It seems like the STI seats are very hard and the regular WRX seats are comfortable. As I stated above I sat in STI seats and they were very stiff but I dont know how the regular WRX seats are.
JP let us know what you find out about the comparison between the 2 seats.

[parsonsj]

JP let us know what you find out about the comparison between the 2 seats.

Nah, I won't be doing that. I'm gonna go Sparco.

Anybody got any seat time in a Sparco Torino?

jp

[CAMAROBOY69]

Talk to Charley. Yeah he owns the Mule and I believe they are Sparco.

[parsonsj]

Adam, thanks. Good idea. I dropped a PM to Charley.

jp

[Jim Nilsen]

Hi John, I sat in so many different seats at SEMA this year and last year that the only thing worth saying is for you to take your wife with you and get a seat for you and a seat for her. The difference in seats for each person to fit comfortably is boggling to the mind and the pocketbook. I sat in expensive seats that were the most uncomfortable in a few minutes and sat in some inexpensive seats that I didn't want to get out of once I sat down. You may want to buy from a supplier who can get you 2 different styles of seats with the same upolstery to make them look similar.

What ever you do don't buy them until you sit in them or you will probably be disappointed. However you and Charlie are tall and maybe about the same size so it may be a good comparison for your fit.

I still can't decide between a solid seat or a reclining seat and the A4 Corbeaus seemed to be more forgiving to being larger than the seat than some of the other Corbeaus did and for you I would recommend the larger size. For solid seats the Sparcos and Corbeaus are really close for comfort and Recaros that I sat in just didn't have the comfort for the money. I sat in some SATA seats , I believe I spelled it right and everyone of them was comfortable and as lightweight as you can make a seat. They start out somewhat reasonable in price and then go to the point of expensive wheels at k+ prices.

Goodluck with your choice because the more you look the harder it is to decide. I'm a lot smaller than you so most of my input probably won't work for you anyway.

Jim Nilsen