A4 corbeauxs Gotem? Likem?

[ZR8ED]

Ok. I've been reading all of the seat swap threads, heck I have added my 0.02 cents worth a few times.

 

I ordered new floors and frame rails for my Z, and "while I'm at it" I want to ditch my fiero seats. They are comfortable enough, and have ok lateral support, but they don't have the harness holders, and they need to be recovered as well.

 

If I am going to rework floors and seat mounts, I may as well get new seats. I have emailed several companies and Corbeaux A4's (their smallest seat they claim) seem to be a good deal, and I have read that a few guys here have them, so before I fork out cash, I have a couple of specific questions and a couple of subjective questions to ask anyone with experience with the A4's.

 

How well do they fit in a Z. I have a 280z, and they are a bit tighter for space than a 240.

 

Mounting brackets. Did you buy theirs or mod our stock brackets?

 

Headroom? Do the seats seat you higher than before?

 

Door clearance. Do they interfere with the door? do they touch? if so how hard?

 

Wear and tear. How are they holding up?

 

General comfort. I'm 5'7" and 185. I will sacrifice ultimate support (for track events) for cruising comfort.

 

Other options? Is there another reclining seat I should look at? Finding small enough seats has been a real chore, and wrecking yards are well picked over for anything decent. I'm never going to find a miata/350z/corvette etc in a yard around here. They won't even make it past the front gate before they are spirited away to be pieced out/horded etc.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott.

[240hoke]

Door clearance is great, but because if this the shoulders are too narrow for most. Great for small people or girls. I would definitly measure your shoulders and check with there deminsions before ordering.

 

I am thinking about selling mine if you are interested.

[ZR8ED]

Thanks Austin.

 

Its funny how situations can change. I see a tuner parts store around the corner from work, and think hey lets see what they have. I find out that they are a Canadian distributor for Sparco seats. They had at least a dozen or so different models lined up so you could sit in them and decide for yourself how well they fit.

I have alreadly looked at:

DAD, Sparco, Recaro, Corbeau, Ractive, Cobra, Bride, Tenzo, and about a half dozen other foreign brands not likely to be found in a local tuner shop. Let me tell you. Before spending big$$ on seats it sure is nice to see how well they fit you and your car. They are much more specific than an OEM seat that is designed to fit "most" people. I am not all that tall, but fairly stocky, so these corbeau's are making me nervous without being able to sit in them.

 

For the Sparco seats I tried the seats that seemed like they would fit (according to their dimension chart) I liked the R100 but found the material too "cheap" looking, and held me a bit too tight on my sides (chest height) very comfortable otherwise, and it was their smallest reclining seat. The other seat, which did not have dimensions avail, (I emailed the company regarding the dimensions) was the 505 relcining. Very comfortable, and better leg support than the R100, and not as tight in the sides of the chest area. This was my favorite.

 

They had nicer seats, but they were larger seats, and I think fitting them in the car would not work out so well.

 

They had a nice Tenzo carbon fibre seat that was VERY comfy, but could not get dimensions. I need to go back to the store with a tape measure. The staff at the store were friendly, but apparently too busy answering phones to help me much. (kinda tic'd me off when I'm there to spend $1k on seats!! :[

 

Maybe I should start a new thread to expand on this? Anyone have some suggestions? I will likely go with a sparco seat seeing that I can actually sit in one, and maybe I could bring the car over with no passenger seat, and check the fit. I can always ask how bad they want to make a sale.

 

Thanks for reading my newest saga of "while I'm at it"..looks like the floors will be a piece of cake compared to these seats.

 

I have had stock seats, 280zx hi back seats, and currently Fiero seats. Do I really want to do this again??? hehehe

[ncfisher]

when you test fit remember that you have less room on the drivers side because of the Cat hump. (have RX7 seats in my shed now)

[cockerstar]

Nothing a little massaging with the BFH can't fix

Be sure to get us some pics of everything when you do decide on what's going in!

[zcarcreations]

Please see my write-up, which I completed many years ago, here:

 

http://www.zcarcreations.com/howto/corbeauseat.htm

 

In short, I got rid of those seats. I could have spend countless more hours trying to shave a few inches from the mounting mechanism but would have ended up with a less annoying version of the same problem.

The next iteration for me was to get new foam for the stock seats. I had the same problem: headroom.

I've been out of heavy duty Z work for quite a while and into raising kids but my Z now has some good old worn out stockers to sit in. Headroom issue solved.

I now know that the only way to solve my issues, at 6'3", is to do some serious work on the mounting points and floor pan.

 

Craig

[ZR8ED]

Thanks for the link Craig.

Not that I take it to the track all that often, but when I do, I don't want to increase my issues with head clearance with my helmet on. My Fiero seats are slightly higher than stock (maybe an inch) With my helmet on, I can easily bump my head on my cage (side). I know the whole discussion of cages in street cars, but mine is in and welded, and I'm not taking it out anytime soon, so I am going to have to work within the confines of my cage.

 

I have turned my attention to Sparco seats. Mainly because one of their distributors is so close to my work. I have found from Sparco that the 505's are the same as the Torino 2's in dimension, except they have different fabric availabilities. I prefer the look of the Torino fabric, as they offer a black on black while the 505's don't.

 

I want to look at them in person again and take some additional measurements that are not listed in their guides before I make a final decision.