Best Race Seats

[Gabe]

Hi guys.
Deciding seats and have it narrowed down to:

Bride Xero CS vs Sparco EVO QRT

5’7” / 160 Lbs
RSR half cage
Quick release steering wheel

both fit fine my body. I’m more inclined to Bride.

I will hear suggestions on other brands / personal experience

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[Rocksandblues]

Flip a coin

 

[FLtrackdays]

I’d sit in a ton of them. That’s the 1st thing. What fits you = the best seat.

 

[razorlab]

Yea, as others have already said, it's 100% what fits you right. Recaro Pole Positions fit me like poop while the Sparco Evo (which I had before) fit well and my current OMP WRC-R's fit perfectly.

 

[Gabe]

After seating on a bunch of them and checking pros and cons + required FIA spec, decided to go with the Sparco EVO L QRT.

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[jay35]

Do you think swapping the stock seats for aftermarket ones is worth it for a weekend fun car, since the stock A90/A91 seats seem fairly comfortable and grippy enough for street driving and light track use.

Is there a reason to swap them out other than for a visual change or when turning it into a dedicated race car?

 

[Gabe]

Do you think swapping the stock seats for aftermarket ones is worth it for a weekend fun car, since the stock A90/A91 seats seem fairly comfortable and grippy enough for street driving and light track use.

Is there a reason to swap them out other than for a visual change or when turning it into a dedicated race car?

Those are all Great questions and I will elaborate further on the build blog that will follow, but here are some shorter answers based on my personal experience.

The stock seats IMO are some of the best OEM seats offered in that market segment.

Bucket seats will never be as comfortable for long drives as the OEM seats. I give max 2.5hrs of continued seating on the buckets before I would have to stretch my back.

the removal of the OEM seats throws 1 annoying warning per seat and a permanent dash light every time you start the car. You can code this out through a more complex process than BimmerCode or you can pay for someone to do it.

you can enjoy the way in which a well tailored bucket seat keeps you for spirited canyon drives on a Sunday and keep the OEM seatbelt and not add rollbar or harness. And I think that’s a good way to go about it.

in my case I have transitioned this car into a car that will eventually be towed into the track (right now I’m driving 30 min to the track) and that’s why you see all that stuff on it on my pictures.

bottom line: OEM seats are perfectly fine for street Sunday driving and the occasional track day. Not a lot of gain in function by swapping to buckets unless you want to dedicate the car to the track or you specifically want the looks. And you will pay a price in terms of adjustability of the seats, getting in and out of the car becomes a test of fitness, some legroom for very tall or large-waist people and also with annoying alerts and a dash light that will have to be coded out and that will cost some extra money.

an experienced track driver DOES SEE the advantages of a bucket seat in the track. I saw this first hand when a good friend @FLtrackdays took my car for a few hot laps.

disclaimer: this is my first time working in a car like this. There are people with a lot of experience in this forum that may offer a different perspective. But, again, this is what I have learned during the entire year that I have been reading and asking the pros.

 

[PowerGetter]

Do you think swapping the stock seats for aftermarket ones is worth it for a weekend fun car, since the stock A90/A91 seats seem fairly comfortable and grippy enough for street driving and light track use.

Is there a reason to swap them out other than for a visual change or when turning it into a dedicated race car?

If you're actually tracking the car, seats make a significant difference. If it's a weekend street car, you're fine with stock seats.

 

[Kennith82]

Is there a reason to swap them out other than for a visual change or when turning it into a dedicated race car?

I swapped my stock seats out for a set of Bride seats. In my opinion more pronounced bolsters, as well as a lower seating position was a nice quality of life change on auto cross and spirited drives.

The stock seats are fine though. I think the only annoying thing is how the headrest is slightly pronounced forward rather than completely vertical.

 

[FLtrackdays]

Do you think swapping the stock seats for aftermarket ones is worth it for a weekend fun car, since the stock A90/A91 seats seem fairly comfortable and grippy enough for street driving and light track use.

Is there a reason to swap them out other than for a visual change or when turning it into a dedicated race car?

Those are all Great questions and I will elaborate further on the build blog that will follow, but here are some shorter answers based on my personal experience.

The stock seats IMO are some of the best OEM seats offered in that market segment.

Bucket seats will never be as comfortable for long drives as the OEM seats. I give max 2.5hrs of continued seating on the buckets before I would have to stretch my back.

the removal of the OEM seats throws 1 annoying warning per seat and a permanent dash light every time you start the car. You can code this out through a more complex process than BimmerCode or you can pay for someone to do it.

you can enjoy the way in which a well tailored bucket seat keeps you for spirited canyon drives on a Sunday and keep the OEM seatbelt and not add rollbar or harness. And I think that’s a good way to go about it.

in my case I have transitioned this car into a car that will eventually be towed into the track (right now I’m driving 30 min to the track) and that’s why you see all that stuff on it on my pictures.

bottom line: OEM seats are perfectly fine for street Sunday driving and the occasional track day. Not a lot of gain in function by swapping to buckets unless you want to dedicate the car to the track or you specifically want the looks. And you will pay a price in terms of adjustability of the seats, getting in and out of the car becomes a test of fitness, some legroom for very tall or large-waist people and also with annoying alerts and a dash light that will have to be coded out and that will cost some extra money.

an experienced track driver DOES SEE the advantages of a bucket seat in the track. I saw this first hand when a good friend @FLtrackdays took my car for a few hot laps.

disclaimer: this is my first time working in a car like this. There are people with a lot of experience in this forum that may offer a different perspective. But, again, this is what I have learned during the entire year that I have been reading and asking the pros.

So well said on Gabe’s part. There’s a reason why every pro driver will tell you to get a seat 1st and foremost, if you plan on tracking, even “casual“ tracking. Fortunately (or unfortunately ?) for me, after doing some brake scrubbing in @Gabe ’s fantastic Supra, it’s blatantly obvious I was only kidding myself - thinking I could get by without one. Even if the wife and I only do 6 track weekends per year, it’s just not worth loosing that connected feeling you get with a proper race seat & harness.

I’d track it 1st and see if you’re going to do more than a few weekends per year. If so, you won’t be sorry. Unless this is your only car and are using it for daily driving.

 

[F348]

So well said on Gabe’s part. There’s a reason why every pro driver will tell you to get a seat 1st and foremost, if you plan on tracking, even “casual“ tracking. Fortunately (or unfortunately ?) for me, after doing some brake scrubbing in @Gabe ’s fantastic Supra, it’s blatantly obvious I was only kidding myself - thinking I could get by without one. Even if the wife and I only do 6 track weekends per year, it’s just not worth loosing that connected feeling you get with a proper race seat & harness.

I’d track it 1st and see if you’re going to do more than a few weekends per year. If so, you won’t be sorry. Unless this is your only car and are using it for daily driving.

With race seats comes harness. One thing leads to another to another.

@FLtrackdays just needs to get a trailer already, he has known for years in his heart, that what he really wants requires trailer to track.

 

[jay35]

Those are all Great questions and I will elaborate further on the build blog that will follow, but here are some shorter answers based on my personal experience.

The stock seats IMO are some of the best OEM seats offered in that market segment.

Bucket seats will never be as comfortable for long drives as the OEM seats. I give max 2.5hrs of continued seating on the buckets before I would have to stretch my back.

the removal of the OEM seats throws 1 annoying warning per seat and a permanent dash light every time you start the car. You can code this out through a more complex process than BimmerCode or you can pay for someone to do it.

you can enjoy the way in which a well tailored bucket seat keeps you for spirited canyon drives on a Sunday and keep the OEM seatbelt and not add rollbar or harness. And I think that’s a good way to go about it.

in my case I have transitioned this car into a car that will eventually be towed into the track (right now I’m driving 30 min to the track) and that’s why you see all that stuff on it on my pictures.

bottom line: OEM seats are perfectly fine for street Sunday driving and the occasional track day. Not a lot of gain in function by swapping to buckets unless you want to dedicate the car to the track or you specifically want the looks. And you will pay a price in terms of adjustability of the seats, getting in and out of the car becomes a test of fitness, some legroom for very tall or large-waist people and also with annoying alerts and a dash light that will have to be coded out and that will cost some extra money.

an experienced track driver DOES SEE the advantages of a bucket seat in the track. I saw this first hand when a good friend @FLtrackdays took my car for a few hot laps.

disclaimer: this is my first time working in a car like this. There are people with a lot of experience in this forum that may offer a different perspective. But, again, this is what I have learned during the entire year that I have been reading and asking the pros.

Thanks, great to hear your thoughts on this topic. I have a pair of Bride Euroster 2s (not full bucket, more similar to the stock seats, reclinable) that I could swap in but it seems it would be primarily for the visual aspect since they are similar bolstering to the stock seats.

As for the codes/CELs thrown, are they just airbag related? I've worked around that particular issue on previous cars with resistors to avoid having CELs thrown for side airbags.

 

[razorlab]

My OMP WRC’s are surprisingly comfy. I can do 2-3hr drives with no issues and I’m not a young man.

@jay35 The errors are easily coded out with protool or remote through a service. Can’t use a resistor as you also get restraint and seat position errors.

 

[garudathree]

yes resistor works ONLY for the airbag. if you don't want to code seat position/restraint error, you can just plug in your oem seat harness and control module. it doesn't care if the seat motors are attached

 

[FLtrackdays]

With race seats comes harness. One thing leads to another to another.

@FLtrackdays just needs to get a trailer already, he has known for years in his heart, that what he really wants requires trailer to track.

Damn I don’t miss doing that! I swear this will be the last thing/mod this go round. Plus it’s better to have friends with really BIG trailers you can just tailgate with ?

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