I've been scouring the net for all sorts of affordable bucket seats and my list has come down to:

Corbeau (uncomfortable and ugly, but reasonably priced for an FIA seat)

Netami (Apparently they're flimsier than wet noodles, and only part carbon)

Panda Garage (made by the same factory that makes seats for a lot of Japanese tuning shops, including the Thrash brand)

eBay knockoffs, ie F1Spec (carbon, and cheap as hell, but what kind of quality? Apparently they're working on FIA homogulation)

Memoryfab (affordable, available with an FIA sticker, FRP)

SPL Parts...generic seats? (Carbon, cheap, but what sort of quality?) (from http://splparts.com/)

Racespex (Carbon seats, possibly FIA? But what sort of quality? Cheap too)

NEX (NEX Racing or NEX-TECH or something) (apparently decent quality but IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND! Cheap if you can find them)

Chargespeed (many styles are available, but no word on quality... typically the dealers only carry the basic style)

Signal Auto (looks ok, but still no word on quality, and like always, no FIA homogulation)

JIC (probably quality, but it's not too attractive)

Blitz (fugly)

The Momo Start or base-model Sparco might be a good choice, but they're bottom mount (little or no gain in headroom), and ugly!

Anybody know of any other kinds of seats? Or any experiences?

 

BUUUUUMP

Apparently, F1Spec seats now have FIA ratings, according to one person who bought them on another forum. He says they're also very comfortable, and very rigid, but that the fabric is cheap (understandibly...).

Still, for 300 bucks (for the FRP version), it's not a bad deal (assuming the FIA rating is legit).

They have a special for the Mugen copies that you can get one seat shipped for $250.

They also don't sell on eBay any more, and have their own site...

And also, they can order Sparco seat bases and sliders since they're a Sparco dealer now...

 

I couldn't find any info on FIA ratings from them, so I'm a bit skeptical. Any links?

 

It's true they don't mention it on their site, but someone who bought a seat from them (the Recaro/Bride lookalike) said it had an FIA tag on it.

They said on some Honda tuning forum (I was searching for info...) that they were working on the rating, and it's worth noting that their current seats look a bit different than their old ones (has some sort of reinforced patches on the edges now, theres more customizable padding, details in their design of the seat backing, and might have some embroidery).

If it was false, you could always sue them

Funny thing is that Memoryfab charges 450 bucks for their basic seat, but over NINE HUNDRED for their FIA seat, which makes no sense to me at all. It couldn't possibly cost 500 bucks a seat to get them tested (and why would you need to test them individually?).

For that price you might as well buy a Bride... then again, even the FIA Brides are only designed to hold 220 pounds.

I guess I'll try emailing them later.

 

Speedware Motorsports is having a sale on Recaro SRD seats. 2 for $1000. Really comfy, shorter than most seats (a plus for 1st gen guys) Quality.

http://speedwaremotorsports.com/specials/month.asp

They also have lots of other stuff too

 

Nice, but this is a thread about full bucket seats (meaning, non-reclinables).

IMO, full buckets are preferable for RX-7s, because of their focus on handling (you can't really drive a car that can pull 1.0+ lateral G's with a stock seat, or even a reclining racing seat all that well), and lack of headroom (especially for people over 6').

You can always leave the passenger seat stock if you want a place to lay down...

 

Also, for the small people out there, consider the buddy club seats. Around $340, but the normal version will not fit a waist bigger than 34". They also make a large size, but fitting it in an FD is questionable.

From what I can tell they are made from some sort of plastic, not FRP, and there is no FIA tag. But people have been using them for years and everyone I have talked to is more than happy with them.

 

Ah yes, Buddy Club apparently makes some good seats (for the most part, tuners in Japan don't give a crap about FIA ratings... even some D1 cars have "Thrash" seats in them, which are the same as 80% of the Japanese tuner shop "original" bucket seats out there), although I wish they looked a little cooler (yeah, yeah...).

I remember sitting in an older Bride seat when I was in Japan, thinking "damn, this is tight," although it was certainly bearable (although I weighed 185 when I was over there... I'm like 210 at the moment... I need to start eating more rice again)... and even the fat guy in our car club could technically fit into the same bucket seats we used in the cars (although I doubt it was comfortable). Then again, having a harness will also make the fit a bit tighter, at least when you're squeezing into the seat.

 

haha yeah... I'm 155 with a 32" waist. So small seats are a good thing for me.

 

sparco sprint and evo's are nice

 

i tried the sparco evos in my car and they didnt fit, they were too tall, but that's a FD.

 

hi,
My name is Ming and i'm a representative of f1spec. the goal of f1spec was to provide a quality seat for the average joe without paying for those outrageous jdm marked up prices. our seats are good in quality and no one on the market can beat our prices. we are a growing company and we are always changing little thngs of our products from customer feedback. if youguys have any questions feel free to contact me

if you are local please feel free to contact me to check out our full bucket racing seats.
via AIM: F1spec
via email: misu@f1spec.com

ming

 

^ Hello ming.

 

If you're interested in selling seats to RX-7 club members, I suggest you ask for permission to start a group buy thread, and give us a discount, with RX-7-specific seat mounts (low-down rails, for FD, FC, and SA/FB) included...

You can't just tell us that your seats are good, though. We need to read real customer feed back, or see them in action (ie, videos), or at least have a review in a major tuning magazine.

That's how marketing works, you know :p

 

Ming, I'd like to know what the difference between your three seat types are? The first two had the same picture and the third didn't have one at all. Thanks.

 

According to www.memoryfab.com their seats are a carbon fiber/kevlar composite, not FRP.

 

But they also charge 400 bucks extra for the FIA version, which is kind of rediculous (950~ total).

 

i'm not trying to sell anything on this site i'm just trying to answer questions if anyone had them. about f1spec seats.

 

We currently have 3 styles

-----Type I-----

Type 1 - Mugen S1 Style. The cloth only come in the same color scheme as the Mugen S1. We have either the fiberglass, which is the same exact grey color as Mugen, or the silver carbon.

 

-----Type II-----
Type 2 - Spoon Style. I'd say it is more of a Mugen S1 style in plain color cloth. Cloth either come in Black or Red. The reason why I say it is more of a Mugen S1 rather than Spoon is because our Type 2 is not really a eggshell type. The Type II comes in FRP (Fiberglass) or BCF (Black Carbon fiber)

 

-----Type III-----
Type 3 - Recaro SPG Style - The fiberglass versions are Recaro SPG Style (Red or Black cloth). The Type III comes in FRP (fiberglass) or BCF (Black Carbon Fiber)









----------Free--------
With every purchase of our seats F1spec will throw in Sparco type side mounts and dual sliders

 

From all the customer feed back we have changed the sidemounts so they can fit various brackets. as you can see the picture below has the difference from the left one(old version) to the right one(new version)

 

-----MEASUREMENTs-----
F1Spec Type I & II Seat Measurements
From our customer feedback we have had some cutomers with 40" waists use these seats.

F1Spec Type III Seat Measurements
Can fit up to a 34"waist




Our prototype F1Spec carbon kevlar racing seat was featured in the march issue of honda tuning magazine.

 

No one has more seats in stock than F1Spec :thumbup: :P , we always hold full container shipment from our factory direct.

 

how much do the type III go for?