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Comfortable race seat

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 11:23 pm
by Roadrunner
Looking for recommendations.
Currently have a Cobra Monaco Sport in my SE. Fits both my wife and I and has been a revelation at track days compared to the leather SE seats (1:10s at Wakefield park on leather was...interesting) but, it’s like sitting in a plank of wood.
The base, while supposedly padded is flat and solid, no curve at all and my tailbone is in pain after a track day.

I know NB’s are near impossible when it comes to race seats, but there’s got to be something more comfy than the Monaco that fits. Something that has a removeable cover where the wings can be cut down possibly?

Needs to mount to slide rails (wife comes from a family of stumpy legs :lol: ) preferably sit lower than stock on rails and FIA approved would be a bonus.
Sparco sprints are out, too narrow.

Are Cobra Suzukas more comfy than Monaco’s?

Re: Comfortable race seat

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 11:48 pm
by takai
Going to be an intensely personal one. But the Cobra Monaco is essentially a Sparco Sprint, and therefore one of the most uncomfortable seats ever.

Personally I love my Cobra Imola, only beaten by the Velo Apex, and Sabelt Taurus i have had the opportunity to use recently. The Apex and Taurus are winged headrests though so not very road friendly.

Some friends have been raving about Mirco seats recently though http://www.mirco.hu/hu

Best bet will be to get your butt into as many seats as you can.

Re: Comfortable race seat

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2018 9:38 am
by Lokiel
Tillet Racing seats made for the Lotus are probably your best bet: https://www.tillett.co.uk/car-racing-seat.asp

Expensive and will need to be imported though so unless you can actually find one to sit in before you purchase it, could become an expensive mistake.

You really need 2 seats, one for track days and the other for DD though.
At one time I had MazdaSpeed seats in the car which were fantastic for touring, they were comfy and held you well, lateral support was fantastic and accomodated my shoulder width. If you want to do a road trip in a NA/NB, these are the seats you want.
For DD they made getting in and out a hassle since the thigh support was too high.
For track driving they were too heavy and the thigh support wasn't high enough to hold you in the seat.

I used to work with Joe Arico (see https://www.lotusclubqueensland.com/duratec-madness-part-1/ who was happy DD his Elise with a Tillet Racing seat - he's a tall slim guy,
Not sure if this says much, getting in and out of a Lotus is a hassle anyway and owners either accept this or sell the car; adding a Racing Seat just made it a little more difficult.

I'd love to seat a seat manufacturer produce a racing seat with detachable thigh support - you could easily swap between DD and Track thigh support.

Re: Comfortable race seat

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2018 9:49 am
by CrazyRacer
I have just fitted a Cobra Evolution into my SE.

My main concern was height, so I have mounted it straight to the floor, but it could be mounted to the sliders with some side mount adapters if height isn't such an issue for you. I think it would still be lower than the standard seat like this.

You can buy different thickness padding for various areas of the seat to customise it to your liking. The padding is just held in place by Velcro, so its easy to change for different drivers etc.

Its a glass shell, FIA approved seat with head restraints on the side. I used the standard width seat. I suspect the wider "GT" version would not fit in an NB.

Its reasonably comfortable to sit in if you rake it back a bit, if its mounted too upright it tends to hunch you over. Having said that, I haven't used it in anger yet.

They're available locally from Revolution but are about $1100, so not cheap.

Re: Comfortable race seat

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:33 pm
by Spac
Fibreglass race seats are almost always more comfortable than steel framed ones.

I seem to fit Velo seats better than anything else - especially the GP90. Sparco seats are consistently good too, but seem to be a bit harder on the backside over long distances.

Cobra seats are hit and miss for me. In particular, they often are too narrow on my shoulders, even though they are a good fit at my hips (NB: I am not a sun brinzed Adonis with a wedge shaped torso!).

All of that said, every race seat becomes uncomfortable on the highway, simply because you are so limited in your ability to move around in the seat.

Re: Comfortable race seat

Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2018 4:40 pm
by david_syd_au
Re mounting on sliders, our NB race car has the drivers seat on a Sparco slider set on a custom mounting plate. The std rear mounts on the floor are removed, and the rear of the plate is mounted directly to the floor. The front of the plate goes to the std front mounts.
This nicely lowers the back of the seat giving more headroom while also tilting it back slightly, which I find more comfortable, and it also means the seat gets higher as it is moved forward. My wife also has a custom booster cushion that goes in the base of the seat to give her a bit more height.
This works for me at 6'2" and my wife at 5'10"(ish).

Re: Comfortable race seat

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2018 8:38 am
by The Zork
Sit in a Cobra CS bucket at Revolution. Very comfortable for both race and dd and fit perfectly in an SE. Also, very very light. They need a custom set of plates to mount to the standard runners and sit low. I added a slit in the seat for 6 point harness. Shop around for price. I got mine from Adelaide shipped to Melbourne cheaper than Melbourne.