swftiii

All,

Yes, I have searched the archives and read everything I can find...So, here it goes.

I am planning on getting into Club Racing this year, but the car will still be driven on the street fairly frequently. I'm 6'2" and about 210-220. The car is a '97 993. I really need to gain 1" in additional headrooom.

Some have recommended the Recaro SRD, but there are installation issues around fitting the seat and gaining any headroom. It would be nice to have the forward recline to reach the back seat area, but with the DAS bar I won't use it much anyway.

I have had a chance to sit in the Sparco Evo2s and felt that they fit me pretty well. I also understand that the Recaro Pole Positions will have about the same fit as the Evo2s, but a little more space in the seat (about 1/2") and a little more recline in the fixed seat back.

This is where I need some help:
1. Are SRDs Club Racing legal? If so, would you recommend them? If so, can I gain an additional 1" headroom from stock seats?

2. Is there anyone who has experienced both Evo2s and Pole Positions and can explain their fitment differences? Which would you recommend?

3. Is there anyone or anywhere in the Washington DC area (NOVA, MD) with the Pole Positions so I can do a seat test? I am leaning toward the Pole Positions, but don't want to purchase before sitting in them.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks to All,

-Skip

M758

I think most race seats put you lower in the car anyway and can be adjusted higher with the side mounts. You can pull the seat bottom cushion to lower yourself in the car. I know of a few racers that do this for more headroom and a lower CG.


You don't want any folding seat. You want a fixed seat back. Not legal for most racing orgs, plus can fold back in a chash. Yeap you won't have easy access to the rear.



I believe the evo2's are the "wide body" seat. Sparco Evo's are regualy and the evo2's are a slightly wider version of the seat made for "Larger" folk.


You are on the right track of wanting to sit in seats first. I sat a in a few Momo seats and found them uncomforatable. Not too small, just not right. I sat in a sparco pro2000 and loved it. Fit me very well.

forklift

I am getting ready to buy some Pro 2000s. OG racing has a showroom in Manassas with about six different Sparco seats and two or three Kirkeys, mabe a few Cobreus (sp.). They do not carry Recaro's. There is a shop in Chantilly that carries Recaro's, but can't think of the name, and not sure if they have any you can sit in. Just do a search in google for Recaro and Chantilly and I am sure something will come up....

Greg Fishman

Try the Momo Acropolis (2 for larger guys). I compared my seat with the same sliders, mounts etc and it was a good inch lower than a friends similarly mounted Sparco Evo2. Also see if you can get it mounted to the floor vs. to sliders.

SkipSauls

Hi Skip,

I have Evo 2's in my '96 Carrera, and they're great for my 6'1" 240 lb. frame. For DE use I typically leave the sliders in, taking them out for Club Racing. In both cases I have plenty of head, leg, and shoulder room.

When I had a '96 C4S, with the stock seats my helmet was typically touching the sunroof, which was not a good thing. I had the same Evo 2's (same brackets, sliders, etc. as well) in the C4S and had significantly more headroom. I have Sparco sliders and brackets, with a mod by my race shop for the sub-strap belt mount.

I'm probably going to be taking my seats out over the weekend to paint the interior, and I'll take some detailed pictures if you'd like.

MJR911

I'd second what Greg said, if you really want to get low.... cut out the rails and bolt to the floor.

Mike Buck

Skip,
I faced a similar problem as you. I'm 6'2" 185lbs and have found my Evo 2's to be ideal. The only way I could get acceptable clearance from the roof and all the bars of the cage was to bolt the sidemounts right to the floor. I tried to use the Sparco sliders, but they seemed to bump the seat up higher than stock. I'm now easily 3/4" lower than stock. That's as low as it'll go, the rear bottom of the seat rests on the bolts holding the sidemount to the floor.

Would have bought Recaro's had it not been for their narrow slit belt pass throughs. They aren't shoulder friendly for tall folks, IMHO. My shoulders were actally above the level of the pass throughs when I tried a SPG on for size. Sparco uses a much taller slit

Evo 2's are also pretty comfortable for street driving. I could fit in the Evo, but it would be too tight for even moderate trips - 1hr or so.

swftiii

Thanks everyone and keep it coming if there are other thoughts!

M758 - shell seat it is. I am one of the bigger folks. Recaro is also targeting the >200lb with the PP

Forklift - OG is where I have sat in the Evo2s & the place in Chantilly isn't far from here (Evolution Autosport), but they don't have any for trying and didn't seem to know much about them when I stopped by.

Greg - I'll see if I can find some Momos to try on

Kim - are the Evo2s slightly wider in the seat or shoulders. I know they are in the shoulders, but not sure about the seat.

Skip - sounds like we both have the same height issue with the stock seats and a helmet. Any pictures you could take would be welcom for both mounting and where to drill for the harnesses. I have 6 point harnesses in the garage and plan on installing once I have the seats.

-SKip

Alan C.

I have a Momo Top Nascar on the driver's side and a Momo Monte Carlo on the pass. side. The Monte carlo sits lower than the Top Nascar. Enough so that I had to raise the Monte Carlo when I had it on the driver's side. You can see the diff. in heights. Both seats are mounted on side mounts direct to the floor with no shims in this photo.

Alan C.


http://forums.rennlist.com/upload/both_s.jpg

DAR951

Perhaps not a sexy as the Sparco, Momo, or Recarro, but certainly their equal in performance is the Kirkey (also sold by OG). One of the better features, especially for big guys, is they are built to your measurements. Take a look at the OG site for more details...

SkipSauls

Hi Skip,

Sorry for the late reply. I took some pictures of the Sparco sliders and side mounts in my car. Here's the driver's side from a rear-overhead shot:



Here's a shot of the passenger side:



These mount to the original seat mounting points, not the floor, so they're not as low as they might be if those were cut out. However, I have found these to be low enough, as this shot in the garage shows:



For Club Racing I typically take the slider out on the driver's side and the entire seat/slider/mount out on the passenger side. This yields perhaps an inch more headroom, but it's not nearly as dramatic a difference as I thought it would be. Here's a shot of me at Hallett showing the headroom:



When properly strapped in with the harness, my helmet cannot touch the front of the rollbar.

As a final picture, here's my interior paint job in-progress over the weekend:



The paint will be a fairly boring gray, but it looks much nicer than the splotchy brown/yellow/blech that it was before!

A930Rocket

Are you guys removing the factory seat brackets to bolt them to the floor? I can't imagine that the seats are narrow enough to fit between them. I know my Big Butt Butler Built won't. LOL

SkipSauls

A930Rocket,

No, I left the factory mounts in place, as you can see in this picture:



Of course I took nearly everything else out... My seats are Sparco Evo 2s, which are pretty big. I couldn't find the specs on the ButlerBuilt site, but the seats appear similar to the Kirkey line. I'm building a Spec Miata for SCCA and had to go with a Kirkey seat in that car as the Evo 2s wouldn't fit. The Kirkey is an 18" model, which is pretty big, but it still fits in the Miata well. How wide is the "big butt" model?

A couple of times I looked at the car in the garage over the weekend and sort of freaked over the appearance: