SCCAForums.com

Do I have to install the sliders with my new seat or can I just build a bracket and bolt it down?

---

Jason
1990 Isuzu Impulse XS
STS #1

From 2007 Solo Rules, p. 72-73 (Street Touring Category) 

14.2. BODYWORK

B. The driver and front passenger seats may be replaced, with the following restrictions:

The seating surface must be fully upholstered: The top of the seat, or an attached headrest, may not be below the center of the driver’s head. The seat, including mounting hardware, must weigh at least 25 pounds and must be attached using the OE body mounting holes/studs. Additional mounting points may be added.

As long as your mounting solution uses the OE mounting holes/studs, and the combination weighs 25 lbs., you are good to go; sliders are not required. 

Thats what I thought the answer was. Thanks

---

Jason
1990 Isuzu Impulse XS
STS #1

do the seats that have "bare backsides" qualify as fully upholstered?

I think I answered my own question.

 At least as far as Corbeau is considered, the only seats that weigh 25lbs+ are the recliners, unless the 25lbs includes the hardware.

---

"Most amateur drivers go too fast in slow corners and too slow in fast
corners"
Emerson Fittipaldi

last I checked the hardware is included in the 25#.  You can "theoretically" get a legal seat that's lighter then add a couple lead weights to the 'hardware'

---

Andrew
STS2 114 - 1992 Miata

mrexotica:

do the seats that have "bare backsides" qualify as fully upholstered?

  The seating surface must be fully upholstered, last time I check you don't sit on the back of the seat.  I would say, no the back doesn't have to be upholstered.

mrexotica:

 At least as far as Corbeau is considered, the only seats that weigh 25lbs+ are the recliners, unless the 25lbs includes the hardware.

"The seat, including mounting hardware, must weigh at least 25 pounds...." <--- the hardware is included.

---

Jason Frank
Bridgestone / datatoys.com / Redshift Motorsports STS Civic Si

TeamUndercoatRacing.com

what do you guys use for seats & harnesses?

any of the reclining sport seats (at least from Corbeau) weigh more than 25lbs anyway...

---

"Most amateur drivers go too fast in slow corners and too slow in fast
corners"
Emerson Fittipaldi

Well, most people don't use the reclining seats.  Most use a fixed back seat that weights in the 15-18 lbs range, then with the added weight of the sliders & mount the weight gets closer to 25lbs.  I know we added extra weight to our mount just so we wouldn't be subject to being slightly under on a different scale.

---

Jason Frank
Bridgestone / datatoys.com / Redshift Motorsports STS Civic Si

TeamUndercoatRacing.com

In the 93 Integra we ran this year, we have a set of Kirkey seats.   They are upholstered, and in a similar ballpark weight-wise to what Jason has above (i.e. needed a little ballast...but not much....with the mounting hardware to be > 25 lbs ).

Work great for racing....uncomfortable for more than 10 minutes or so at a time though

Impala SS AutoXer:

In the 93 Integra we ran this year, we have a set of Kirkey seats.   They are upholstered, and in a similar ballpark weight-wise to what Jason has above (i.e. needed a little ballast...but not much....with the mounting hardware to be > 25 lbs ).

Work great for racing....uncomfortable for more than 10 minutes or so at a time though

---

Aut tace aut loquere meliora silentio.

Impala SS AutoXer:

In the 93 Integra we ran this year, we have a set of Kirkey seats.   They are upholstered, and in a similar ballpark weight-wise to what Jason has above (i.e. needed a little ballast...but not much....with the mounting hardware to be > 25 lbs ).

Work great for racing....uncomfortable for more than 10 minutes or so at a time though

Wimp.  

I drive my Miata with the Kirkey all the time on the street.  Just drove it to and from an event yesterday, 90 minutes each way on highway and back roads. 

BTW, a great way to ballast up a Kirkey or similar to meet the min weight is to use flooring tiles.  Inserted between the shell and the cover, it becomes part of the seat (as a shim).  These things weigh a pound or two each so its each to get whatever weight you need and Home Depot has 'em cheap.  I redid my mounts to make them much sturdier this year, and used a tile in each to make the final weight.

--Andy

 

Andy Hollis:

[Wimp.  

I drive my Miata with the Kirkey all the time on the street.  Just drove it to and from an event yesterday, 90 minutes each way on highway and back roads. 

BTW, a great way to ballast up a Kirkey or similar to meet the min weight is to use flooring tiles.  Inserted between the shell and the cover, it becomes part of the seat (as a shim).  These things weigh a pound or two each so its each to get whatever weight you need and Home Depot has 'em cheap.  I redid my mounts to make them much sturdier this year, and used a tile in each to make the final weight.

--Andy

 

Shoulda mentioned that on our driver's side Kirkey we removed the padding out of the cover.   It gains about 2" extra headroom in the car that way, and for those that have met me (a "torso-tall" 6'4" ) you've figured out I need all the helmet room I can get just to fit in the car!

 Pass side seat Kirkey (all padding intact) is a helluva lot more comfortable.   I have to sit with my head sideways in it if I try and sit in the car with a helmet on...

 

see, that's the rub.  This is also my daily driver AND I have a bad back.  The seat HAS to be comfortable for me AND, most importantly, my passenger.

---

"Most amateur drivers go too fast in slow corners and too slow in fast
corners"
Emerson Fittipaldi

I would say you are stuck with something that reclines.  The stock passenger seat is only a couple #'s over 25#'s, so I would probably leave that the way it is and find a reclinable see that fits and supports you (the drivers side) better.

---

Jason Frank
Bridgestone / datatoys.com / Redshift Motorsports STS Civic Si

TeamUndercoatRacing.com

mrexotica:

see, that's the rub.  This is also my daily driver AND I have a bad back.  The seat HAS to be comfortable for me AND, most importantly, my passenger.

I'm with Jason on this. I went through this with my wife, who has neck and back issues.   If you must have comfort to that degree, the OE seat is the way to go for the street.  Its mostly due to the suspended bottom that makes it more comfy.  That said, the springy stock seat becomes a liability when autocrossing on bumpy lots as the steering wheel starts moving around a bunch relative to your body.  Very disconcerting!  

Another solution is a couple pieces of foam cut from one of those "egg crates" that college kids all have on their dorm beds.  Stack two thicknesses on the seat bottom of a Kirkey and it will be way more comfy over street bumps.  Remove to autocross.

--Andy

 

Yeah.  I WOULD like to drop my seat around an inch so my helmet clears the headliner...

---

"Most amateur drivers go too fast in slow corners and too slow in fast
corners"
Emerson Fittipaldi

Andy Hollis:

Impala SS AutoXer:

In the 93 Integra we ran this year, we have a set of Kirkey seats.   They are upholstered, and in a similar ballpark weight-wise to what Jason has above (i.e. needed a little ballast...but not much....with the mounting hardware to be > 25 lbs ).

Work great for racing....uncomfortable for more than 10 minutes or so at a time though

Wimp.  

I drive my Miata with the Kirkey all the time on the street.  Just drove it to and from an event yesterday, 90 minutes each way on highway and back roads. 

BTW, a great way to ballast up a Kirkey or similar to meet the min weight is to use flooring tiles.  Inserted between the shell and the cover, it becomes part of the seat (as a shim).  These things weigh a pound or two each so its each to get whatever weight you need and Home Depot has 'em cheap.  I redid my mounts to make them much sturdier this year, and used a tile in each to make the final weight.

--Andy

 

Ed didn't mention that I drive the Integra as far as Marina events (1 hr 45 min to get there, as much as 2 1/2 hrs to get home).  I do wimp out when it comes to Atwater, but it has to do with no a/c, not the seat.  I don't do Central Valley heat without a/c...   We had to ballast the seat after the SEB answered that the shoulder belt retractors weren't a part of the "seat", so we reinforced some areas with more flat stock.  In retrospect, the 25# minimum could probably have been 20# and still be safe with a Kirkey seat, but hindsight is 20/20.

 

 

---

Charlie Davis
Old age and treachery...

Charlie Davis:

  In retrospect, the 25# minimum could probably have been 20# and still be safe with a Kirkey seat, but hindsight is 20/20.

 

Just so this doen't go down into Internet lore as the sole rationale, the STAC actually came to the same conclusion as you, Charlie (20# probably enough to remove the incentive to be unsafe).  But they went to 25 to mostly eliminate the weight/performance incentive of changing the seat in the first place.  So for folks building a car, the goal was that one might use the allowance to get a better seating position or support, but not solely for the weight savings.  I did notice an awful lot of OE passenger seats in ST this year as opposed to years prior.  Of course, for folks with big-heavy airbag-laden seats like some in STU, the weight savings will still be viable.

As you may remember, the seat allowance was originally there to satisfy common street performance mods that still met with the steetable intent of 14.0.  That was originally restricted to suspended bottom, folding-back seats.  When fixed back seats were added several years later, the floodgates opened to cheap, less streetable seats.  The weight restriction mitigates that somewhat so its no longer a must-have for a large number of typical applications. 

--Andy

 

anybody use RaceTech seats? 

They talk about comfort on their website. They better be comfortable for the cost...

---

"Most amateur drivers go too fast in slow corners and too slow in fast
corners"
Emerson Fittipaldi