Aftermarket Seats

[USAZR1]

Guess I have to be the one to ask the question but what's the catch on these seats? The price of $219 each is hard to believe.

[harshman]

Guess I have to be the one to ask the question but what's the catch on these seats? The price of $219 each is hard to believe.

mass produced i guess. i had my doubts as well but i was very suprised at the quality. Flyboy - you can walk - can't you?

[Flyboy]

mass produced i guess. i had my doubts as well but i was very suprised at the quality. Flyboy - you can walk - can't you?

But you live almost a whole mile from me!

[yody]

I saw the summit seats at a car show, the fake leather looked.....well, really fake. I wasnt' really digging the material. otherwise they look comfortable.

[69zz3]

I found a set of manual seats from a 97 Firebird to install in my 69 Camaro and they are very comfortable. The front holes lined up perfect. I had to cut off the feet for the rear mounts and weld on a 1" x 2" piece of flat metal and drill new holes. It worked out great and they fit perfect. I found out how to modify them from a post on camaros.net. I just had them recovered and they look awesome.

[awr68]

These Summit sport seats deliver the look of expensive leather racing seats, without their expensive price tag. These seats have soft, comfortable, simulated leather upholstery, lumbar and shoulder bolsters for added support, cutouts for safety harnesses, and recline and tilt forward mechanisms. Adjustable sliders are included.

That's what I thought too...but when I was on the phone with the intent to buy, I asked the sales rep to verify that the Summit seat not just tilted with the roll of the dial but had a tilt lever as well...he actually went and looked at a seat in there show room and came back with "no, they don't have a lever for back seat access...just the tilt/forward adjustment roll knob"....so I didn't buy them. As you can tell I haven't seen either in person but just going on what their employee told me...on the other hand you have seen them and most deffinatly have better info...

Just trying to help others truely understand what they are buying so they aren't disapointed...just remember you can clearly see the tilt lever in the Jegs pics and not in the Summit ones....

[USAZR1]

Just a request for follow-up info but has anyone tried the Jegs/Summit seats on a roadtrip,yet? They sure sound interesting and the price is definitely right.

[1976SR71]

Check out the Jeg's seats again..
They now offer colors....And tilt forward levers
Summit also has black with the levers...

[USAZR1]

If you got a little extra @ss like I do the summit sport seats fit very nice and the price is right. I wear a size 50 and the summit seats are perfect. SUM-G1155 [IMG]http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/prod/large/sum-g1155.jpg

Shawn,how tall are you and what do you weigh? I think I'm ready to order a pair of these or the SUM-G1159 seats. FWIW,I'm 5'9" & 225lbs.

Anyone have photos of these seats installed,yet?

[1976SR71]

Hey Clint,
I orderd a pair from Jegs and they fit good
6'2" 240lbs. ...Don't have mine mounted yet...
They are going to be recovered first...
P.S. look on page 4 under new seats to see a pair in a car

[Maverick Man]

One thing I noticed in this post that wasn’t brought up was issues about safety on these aftermarket seats. Just remember that most of these low priced after market seats are not even close to FIA standards nor have double locking mechanisms and most importantly for the best safety the seat should be made out of a steel tubular frame construction.

Now I don’t mean to sound like I know it all but only reason why I bring this up is because many of these aftermarket seats now days are made in third world countries and some even in the USA and have no regard for safety issues. I actually use to have a set of seats that were very comfortable until one day someone showed me what happened in a very bad car accident with cheap seats. It made me wonder what the seat I had were made out of. Sure enough they were plastic back and the frame you would bend with your own hands. Uh yeah.. NO!

Personally I would only go with the top brand of seats like recaro, sparco cobra or momo. Yes some of these other seats look really nice and even have a great price and even can be more comfortable then a stock seat but is the price worth your life? I think sometimes a stock seat with good safety belts can be safer then some of the off brand seats.

As far as the original question I think that most of these seats are comfortable but like someone suggested I’d sit in them before you buy them If your looking for comfort seats with injected molded memory foam is seats can make all the difference in the world in your comfort. Also I feel you can make the nice seat feel comfortable by the way you mount it. that can make all the difference in the world. So measure correctly and think it over before you mount them. Weight is another issue. Some of these seats even weight more then the stock seat which doesn’t make much sense to me.

Personally I run cobras in my cars but I think any recaros are nice too. momos look good but personally I think they are uncomfortable and have no lumbar support. Other seats like the summit ones and scat seats weight a bit too much for me compared to my stock seats. I guess if your dumping a bench seat for one of these it would weight less.

Anyways just thought I’d stick my 2 cents in cuz I hate to see anyone lose their life over being cool or just not thinking about safey. Do your research know what they are made out of and where they are made.

Good luck on whatever you use!

[USAZR1]

One thing I noticed in this post that wasn’t brought up was issues about safety on these aftermarket seats. Just remember that most of these low priced after market seats are not even close to FIA standards nor have double locking mechanisms and most importantly for the best safety the seat should be made out of a steel tubular frame construction.
Now I don’t mean to sound like I know it all but only reason why I bring this up is because many of these aftermarket seats now days are made in third world countries and some even in the USA and have no regard for safety issues. I actually use to have a set of seats that were very comfortable until one day someone showed me what happened in a very bad car accident with cheap seats. It made me wonder what the seat I had were made out of. Sure enough they were plastic back and the frame you would bend with your own hands. Uh yeah.. NO!
Personally I would only go with the top brand of seats like recaro, sparco cobra or momo. Yes some of these other seats look really nice and even have a great price and even can be more comfortable then a stock seat but is the price worth your life? I think sometimes a stock seat with good safety belts can be safer then some of the off brand seats.
As far as the original question I think that most of these seats are comfortable but like someone suggested I’d sit in them before you buy them If your looking for comfort seats with injected molded memory foam is seats can make all the difference in the world in your comfort. Also I feel you can make the nice seat feel comfortable by the way you mount it. that can make all the difference in the world. So measure correctly and think it over before you mount them. Weight is another issue. Some of these seats even weight more then the stock seat which doesn’t make much sense to me.
Personally I run cobras in my cars but I think any recaros are nice too. momos look good but personally I think they are uncomfortable and have no lumbar support. Other seats like the summit ones and scat seats weight a bit too much for me compared to my stock seats. I guess if your dumping a bench seat for one of these it would weight less.
Anyways just thought I’d stick my 2 cents in cuz I hate to see anyone lose their life over being cool or just not thinking about safey. Do your research know what they are made out of and where they are made.
Good luck on whatever you use!

Boy,you sure know how to put a pin in the ol' balloon. How would one go about finding out if the Summit/Jeg seats meet safety regs? How much do they weigh? How much do your stock seats weigh?
I'm planning to replace my Elky's bench seat with some better looking buckets. Don't have $2K to spend on Recaros,etc.

[1976SR71]

I have a pair of the jegs seats...
They are made alot better than most of those cheapo's...They weigh about 45lbs. pretty heavy...about 10lbs more than a 2nd gen factory seat.
They have dual locking mech. on the tilt forward, and a welded tubular steel inner frame.
I will be having them recoverd to match my custom interior, so I can take some pics of the frame work if interested....
I purchased a pair of APC's first ..But did not like the fact that they did not have a tilt forward release so I bought these....I think they are ALOT better quality...

[Maverick Man]

Boy,you sure know how to put a pin in the ol' balloon. How would one go about finding out if the Summit/Jeg seats meet safety regs? How much do they weigh? How much do your stock seats weigh?
I'm planning to replace my Elky's bench seat with some better looking buckets. Don't have $2K to spend on Recaros,etc.

haa haaa.. i just wouldn't want someone to get killed over something like that.

but i guess the only way to tell about the safety and weight on those seats your asking about is to ask jegs.. if they don't know thats kinda scary if you ask me.... someone else is making for them for sure.

the seats currently in my car weight 29lbs. most OEM seats w/o power weight anywhere between 47 and 50 lbs if they are power heck they can weight as much as 60. i would say your bench weight way more then any pair of after market seats so i'd say your saving weight no matter what!

good luck!

[USAZR1]

I have a pair of the jegs seats...
They are made alot better than most of those cheapo's...They weigh about 45lbs. pretty heavy...about 10lbs more than a 2nd gen factory seat.
They have dual locking mech. on the tilt forward, and a welded tubular steel inner frame.
I will be having them recoverd to match my custom interior, so I can take some pics of the frame work if interested....
I purchased a pair of APC's first ..But did not like the fact that they did not have a tilt forward release so I bought these....I think they are ALOT better quality...

Thanks for the input on your seats,Jeff. Looks like I'm going to order a pair for my 69 Elky. I found a new place that does nice racecar chassis work here in town and my car is going over there this weekend for an estimate on installing a six-point rollbar. Once I get the seats,I'll take the car back.

[steemin]

Maverick Man,
Very good point in regards to the safety aspect of a seat purchase.
You certainly opened my eyes.
I want to share a safety concern (no flame intended) I noticed looking at a pic of your car in your post.
You appear to have a 4 point harness in a car without a roll cage or roll bar.. I have seen some horrific results of accidents whereas a driver is strapped in an upright position (in a 4/5 point harness)
without a roll cage in a rollover accident..
Just some food for thought.
Scott

[dennis68]

To my knowledge there are no real seat building safety standards. In almost all cases the seat s are not designed to be part of the overall safety of the car, they merely hold you in place and provide some level of support for maneuvering. Your belts should (better) be bolted to the cage or reinforced floor/frame. You really shouldn't run full harnesses without at least a bar for roll over protection for the reasons Scott pointed out.

Few examples of seat that have safety standard are the newer trucks with ex-cabs that include integrated seat belts and some convertibles.

In fact, most off-road and drag race seat are very cheaply built plastic forms.

[1976SR71]

Glad I could help.
I think that solid colors will look the best.
I ordred black with gray inserts...
The center vinyl seems to be a bit cheezy on these.
The black vinyl used on the sides and back looks pretty good.

[Maverick Man]

Maverick Man,
Very good point in regards to the safety aspect of a seat purchase.
You certainly opened my eyes. I want to share a safety concern (no flame intended) I noticed looking at a pic of your car in your post. You appear to have a 4 point harness in a car without a roll cage or roll bar.. I have seen some horrific results of accidents whereas a driver is strapped in an upright position (in a 4/5 point harness) without a roll cage in a rollover accident.. Just some food for thought.
Scott

no flame taken... heck that’s what these forms are for. But you are correct my car should have a rollbar in fact you could say that the car could use an air bag and abs brakes and many other safety items I would love. You’ll probably call me stupid because I run my other high 11 sec car at the track with out a bar either. Stupid.. yes. Does the tech pass me? Yes? Why? Who knows? Will I put a roll bar in it? Yes… when I get the time and money... I think the key word here is money. In fact I already bought new wrap around shoulder harness for a bar and just ordered a new helmet cuz my other one expired…. first things first. But I agree with your statement about on mounting to a bar. In fact to back your own statement up… if you look at the rules of some sanction bodies put out, you are correct about mounting your belts to the cage or bar. No argument there! You wanna buy me one?

On the other hand my car only had stock lap belt. I’m sure a correctly mounted harness (as shown in this pdf file form sparco) http://www.sparcousa.com/resourceFiles/16.pdf
Mounted to the floor is better then a 35 year old stock lap belt… agreed? Not to mention that some sanctioning bodies like NASA (depending on class) will let you run with a harness mounted to the floor without a cage or bar. I think there was another post about that on this form some where.

To my knowledge there are no real seat building safety standards. In almost all cases the seat s are not designed to be part of the overall safety of the car, they merely hold you in place and provide some level of support for maneuvering. Your belts should (better) be bolted to the cage or reinforced floor/frame. You really shouldn't run full harnesses without at least a bar for roll over protection for the reasons Scott pointed out.

Few examples of seat that have safety standard are the newer trucks with ex-cabs that include integrated seat belts and some convertibles.

In fact, most off-road and drag race seat are very cheaply built plastic forms.

Hum? So just in case anyone here is interested... there are safety standards for seats. It just is who you accept these standards from. For the USA companies like Sparco they manufacture to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS), section 208. This is the standard that all automotive seats are tested too. This also doesn’t mean that FIA shouldn’t apply to any standards as well.

So I think that if these standards are in place I don’t think that seats are merely only to hold you in place and provide some level of support for maneuvering only. And please correct me if I’m wrong, you said “seats are NOT designed to be part of the overall safety of the car, they merely hold you in place and provide some level of support for maneuvering.” I don’t know… yes they provide support, no doubt, heck anything is better then an OME seat made in the 60’s or 70’s! But your really gonna need to convince me on that the seat is NOT designed to be part of the over all safety of the car… I’m all ears…. cuz I would disagree. I believe the seat along with the belts it IS part of the safety of the car. I mean look at most road racing motorsports.. look what kind of seats are required. I mean one prime example is NASCAR. If seats weren’t an issue or overall safety of the car, do you think the seats would look the way they do? I don’t think NASCAR would mandate such seat rules if the seat was not part of the “overall” safety of the car. Maybe you can elaborate on what the “overall safety is?” I mean the seat IS in the car thus being part of the car making it an overall safety issue? Do you mean that its more of a safety for the person not the car itself? Maybe I’m misunderstanding you?

You are also correct about some of these other drag seats made out of plastic. Your right, however what about side impacts on an car in normal conditions? I mean most people here also drive there car on the street right? WRC is a prime example of how cars get damaged from all sides, hell trees are even coming into cars. Personally I wouldn’t want to be in a plastic seat would you?

Also I might add that I spoke with a representative from Sparco just to make sure I’m not crazy or opening my big mouth on here without knowing what the heck I’m talking about. There is in fact a safety standard for Sparco seats (now other seats I don’t know that’s where my original post was about). This is what he said. “Sparco seats are constructed to 3 globally recognized safety standards. The three standards we manufacture to are as followed:

For the USA we manufacture to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS), section 208. As I said before this is the standard that all automotive seats are tested too.

In Europe they use two standards. ECE 17, and TUV.”

So my question to anyone who buys an aftermarket seat…. is your seat manufactured to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards?

Please don’t take this as an attack on you I’m just trying to see your point. But your are right, my car should have a roll bar… in time.. hopefully not too late… unless you wanna buy one for me

[dennis68]

I'm sure there are standards like anything else and I'm willing to put money up that passing them is very easy, I work in the industry and see everyday what is considered "passed federal standards". Aftermarket manufacturers love to advertise how they passed this test and that test. After a couple decades of building cars I have found it best to do my own real world testing than to rely on claims made by those trying to sell the parts.

An integrated part of vehicle safety may have been a poor choice of words. Sure the seat has to keep you positioned so the rest of the safety devices can work properly, however there are no specific test done to determine crush strength, seat back shear, or recliner holding abilities (believe me I change A LOT of these). You could just as easily set your belts to hold you in place sitting on the floor and in a properly design cage with good 5 points you would be fine albeit a bit bruised on your hind quarters after an accident.

The NASCRAP style seats are a result of too many head/neck injuries; combined with the HANS device (I can’t see, I can’t see) they limit head movement in a collision.

Yes, I suppose the seat is a part of the overall safety of the vehicle but only in the capacity that it needs to keep you from moving rearward so the belts can do their job. A more primary function of the seat is to provide for lateral stability of your body rather than rely on the belts so you can concentrate on driving. I say any seat that keeps me positioned properly is a good seat; I don’t need the gov’t to do any half ass tests to tell me whether or no it works.