Helmet clearance - dual duty car

[_Ryan_]

Hi,

Firstly- no, I can't swap to a fixed back bucket whilst this car sees significant street use.

I recall a post where a Sparco universal floor mount was used to gain clearance at the expensive of fore/aft movement.
I'm curious as to whether a Recaro slider (as seen for sale at TMS) is a viable replacement for my e8x electric slider/rail.

The goal is to maintain seat airbag and lower the seating position. 30mm would be worth it, 50mm would be awesome.

It is of note that my passenger seat sits ~20mm lower than the drivers and thus will not be lowered any further.

Open to thoughts.

R.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by _Ryan_

Hi,

Firstly- no, I can't swap to a fixed back bucket whilst this car sees significant street use.

I recall a post where a Sparco universal floor mount was used to gain clearance at the expensive of fore/aft movement.
I'm curious as to whether a Recaro slider (as seen for sale at TMS) is a viable replacement for my e8x electric slider/rail.

The goal is to maintain seat airbag and lower the seating position. 30mm would be worth it, 50mm would be awesome.

It is of note that my passenger seat sits ~20mm lower than the drivers and thus will not be lowered any further.

Open to thoughts.

R.

Have you looked at the Recaro Speed seat? It has a folding back and is nice and comfortable but holds you in place like a fixed back. A buddy of mine has them in his 330i and you sit LOW in those things! Probably at least 2" lower than stock. The folding mechanism is really easy to use and they slide forward and back. And I just read the part where you want the airbags to work so I guess this is out of the question :/

[_Ryan_]

It is, otherwise I'd use a decent fixed back.

[Expert@ApexWheels]

The Recaro Sportster CS lowers your seating position considerably, and it's a nice seat. It is on the pricier side though.

[_Ryan_]

Originally Posted by David@ApexRaceParts

The Recaro Sportster CS lowers your seating position considerably, and it's a nice seat. It is on the pricier side though.

From reading the input on the forums it isn't much lower than the standard (sport) seat with manual sliders where a fixed back of the same value drops you a bit more.

[jvb6806]

I have the Recaro sliders in my car, but with fixed buckets. They are about an inch tall. I'm not sure how tall your power seat slides are but you might get some clearance.

I'm sure you could pull it apart and drill holes to mount the stock seat on them if the side to side spacing is correct. You would have to use the Macht Schnell or VAC floor adapters though to get the sliders to mount into the car. Both of those stacked up would put you just under 1.5" off of the ground when all is said and done. The mounting holes on the sliders are 16" apart side to side, I have no idea if that will fit onto the stock seats using the supplied lever for the slides. I'm sure you could make a wider adjustment lever out of some 3/8" round bar though.

If you do this don't forget to swap over the seat position sensor from the factory seats. You can pull it off of the old seat rail, plug it in, and throw it under the seat. If you don't you will get lights for both air bag and seat belt.

[Expert@ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by _Ryan_

From reading the input on the forums it isn't much lower than the standard (sport) seat with manual sliders where a fixed back of the same value drops you a bit more.

I wouldn't recommend a fixed back seat for a "dual duty" car. With fixed back seats, you should also have at least a roll bar and harnesses, which then takes away from the car being a "dual duty" car. While you do gain more clearance than a reclinable seat, you also face some challenges for street use.

[_Ryan_]

Originally Posted by David@ApexRaceParts

I wouldn't recommend a fixed back seat for a "dual duty" car. With fixed back seats, you should also have at least a roll bar and harnesses, which then takes away from the car being a "dual duty" car. While you do gain more clearance than a reclinable seat, you also face some challenges for street use.

hehe, I've run all of the above in a street car before. Already have a four-point tucked away in the car for when it's needed.

It can still be dual duty, depends what you'd tolerate on the street.