Spaco/Velo Seats

[ForceMajeure]

I'm currently doing a "renovation rescue" on my NB8A and i was planning on putting two Sparco Sprint V seats in, but im reading on here several people have been defected with them as they are not ADR approved which surprised me because they are FIA approved after all, but looking at the Velo Milanos i see they are ADR approved but not FIA approved, which IMO is more important for a street use car that may see a Wakefield track day twice a year.

Im wanting to get two seats installed so thats why im looking at the budget end of the market other wise i would get a single more expensive seat maybe, but im unsure if any sparcos are ADR approved anyway.

I am also just looking at sticking with standard seatbelts to not confuse matters further.

So my question is do all race/bucket seats need an engineers certificate because of the mounting brackets despite ADR approval? Or are Velo Milanos legal with out a certificate?

And why hasn't Sparco got around to getting their seats approved?

[Mr Morlock]

I will go for a guess on approvals. Many manufacturers baulk at automotive approvals due to the high cost and time involved in getting them done. ADR approvals are often not existing for many after market products. An OE seat is exhaustively tested in extreme conditions to meet an OEM spec.

[deviant]

I have just stuck a Sparco Sprint V in my NA8. On the drivers side it is an absolute cinch to install, about 20 minutes work as the seat lines up with 2 of the existing holes on the rail and the other 2 just need holes drilling. The passenger side will take some more thought.

A couple of things to keep in mind..

Not all seats will fit in the car so if you do not want the Sparco seat I would recommend sticking some tools in the car, going to a seat shop and popping the driver side seat out when you are there. You can then spend some time plonking seats in the car and seeing what does and does not fit.

Not all seats are the same, they are like shoes. My car came with Cobra seats that were almost the same dimensions as the Sparco but I found them hideously uncomfortable. The Sparco is fine for me.

The stock seat belt will not sit in the same place on your body in a bucket seat, I do not think it sits in a good position at all. The lap portion is not low enough on your torso and the sash sits too high across your chest. This is not ideal if you get in a prang.

The bucket seat changes completely how you sit in the car. You sit lower and further back but due to the raised front edge of the seat your legs are bent. I have found that because of these things I have to have the seat as far forward as the runners allow but because of the raised edge of the seat I cannot fully extend my left leg, this means that pressing the clutch is more of a toe point rather than pressing your foot flat...if that makes sense? It is like being a bit to far away for my legs so I have to point my toe to use the clutch, it is okay for short drives and track work but would be a pain for constant road use.

As for FIA V ADR...Even with ADR approval you would need to get some sort of permit for the mod to your car. I have read around that Sparco have tested the Sprint to a standard equivalent to ADR and people have succeeded in getting their Sprint seats permitted...all internet conjecture though I did once see someone said they managed to get a letter from Sparco listing the standards used and this was accepted.
FIA do not hand out their approvals lightly, if a seat is FIA approved that means it has been set on fire and crash tested to destruction. If it is mounted properly it is safe.

[ForceMajeure]

Thanks for all the great info, i am 5'9" and pretty slim which is why i was wanting the sprints, i dont need a massive seat that likely wont fit in the car. I saw a NA with the Velo so that's why im considering that also as they too seem to fit in an MX5 (i have a NB BTW).

I actually like how light the Velos are compared to the Sparcos, but i wrongly assumed that being FIA approved the Sparcos would be ADR approved also, which is initially why i had decided on them, my mistake. It wasnt until i saw people on here getting defected for them that i found out they lacked ADR approval AND needed an engineers certificate also i now gather.

I have been running a stock NB for 5 1/2 years now and never had any police trouble other than my front number plate sticker which didn't go down too well with Highway Patrol, so im having a hard time getting around the psychology of being worried about being defected.

Basically im not prepared to risk buying two seats and having them installed only for the police to defect me the next day, and knowing that Murphy bugger, that's what would happen to me!

I may need to have a rethink about the whole seat idea.

I guess if im getting suspension work, exhaust system AND the seats it may be worth getting an engineers certificate though, i will need to do some further thinking and research on this.

[deviant]

You are about the same height as me but I am built for comfort.

I thought of a couple of other things to add on.

The lower end seats tend to have little in the way of padding under your bum. The more expensive seats tend to have a removable cushion but this will likely leave you sitting higher than the stock seats. The Sprint does not have a cushion at all; just some thin padding, I wouldn't say I am uncomfortable in the car but I can certainly feel every bump and ripple under the car. It does have coilovers though.

Now that my legs are permanently bent by the raised edge of the seat the humongous bus wheel Mazda saw fit to use in our cars almost touches my knees. I wanted a smaller wheel anyway but that was lower on the list of things to do but it is somewhat higher now.

Access to the car is compromised with the roof up. I have to sort of fold myself in and getting out is a rather ungainly bum first affair.

Personally I do not worry about the defect thing to much, my car is basically a track hack now so it is rarely on the road. I know it is safe and it is insured properly. When it eventually ends up with a sticker I think I will just turn my plates in an go for race / rally rego which I am slowly aiming for anyway.

[ForceMajeure]

No worries, lots of great info deviant. The thing im concerned with being slim is that the seat belt issue you talked about would most likely be even more exaggerated and further away from my chest which in a daily driver could be quite unnerving.

At the end of day i guess they are called race seats for a reason, to be used with a harness. I'm probably pushing my luck and comfort levels by wanting these for a daily driver.

Thanks very much for the in depth description.

[deviant]

No worries, these forums work at their best when everyone contributes as much info as possible

If you are very slim you might sit well inside the seat and the lap belt will not even touch your body, it will be held proud by the seat bolsters. You can jig it around a bit and unbolt the seat belt and route it through the holes on the seat but it still won't quiet locate on your body properly.

There are other options for seats though so don't give up just yet. You could search around for the Mazdaspeed seats, they are quite rare and are not in production now but people seem to be getting hold of them okay. There are also a number of reclining seats available that are ADR approved...Monza etc.

[ForceMajeure]

I have a WTB post that includes the Mazdaspeed seats if anyone is looking at selling a pair, though i would also consider a single seat, but would Mazdaspeed seats technically also need an engineers certificate? OR do they bolt straight onto the rails and are deemed OK being a mazda OEM product?

[deviant]

I couldnt tell you if they just bolt up or not...I would think though that if you have gone for a none to garish seat that is not to radical in design you would be able to get away without getting a permit for it. Something in black leather or Elise seats would look quite stock so I reckon you could blag your way out of a yellow sticker if they even noticed!

[hks_kansei]

I have a WTB post that includes the Mazdaspeed seats if anyone is looking at selling a pair, though i would also consider a single seat, but would Mazdaspeed seats technically also need an engineers certificate? OR do they bolt straight onto the rails and are deemed OK being a mazda OEM product?

Mazdaspeed reclining seats don't bolt onto stock rails, the Mazdaspeed recliners have rails built into the seat its self, to fit them you will need to buy a set of the adapter brackets.

the Mazdaspeed fixed back seats are the standard bottom mount, no idea if they line up to stock rails or not. but be wary, the fixed backs are pretty tight. (ie: you need to be damn skinny to fit)


as for legality, I can only speak for Victorian law (each state differs)
in Vic they are all illegal without engineering approval, only seats that were an optional extra can be fitted without engineers reports.

the Mazdaspeeds weren't really an optional extra, they were a separate part that was sold.


also worth noting that by Vic law I think that only ADR spproved seats can be engineered.
No ADR approval = not even able to get enginered.

[iain]

What seat would you guys recommend for some one who is around 190cm I guess I'm a average build

[deviant]

You really need to go and try a load for yourself and then narrow this down to what fits in the car. Seats are just like shoes...some fit you and some dont, out of the ones that fit you some will fit the car and some wont.