Sparco Aftermarket Seats

Following on from HERE

I thought I’d put some words together about my experiences from testing an aftermarket seat out in a showroom, to buying, to fitting to the car.

I have always thought the stock mkiv seats where not that supportive in holding the drivers body, I’m sure this might differ with different body shapes but, to give you an idea I’m 12st, 6’ 3” with a 34” waist. I have always had to hang on to the steering wheel while my body would slide across the seat due to them being leather (UK Car) this was only exaggerated once I had the CW suspension fitted so, I had to do something if I’m thinking of some track days.

I have only ever read that Sparco manufacture a Supra specific subframes and really did not want to take any chances with a generic subframe and it needing to be butchered….I’m no butcher and even more so when it comes to the Soop.

So, I searched the web and car mags for traders who sold Sparco seats and got in contact with most of them, only a few replied but, only one in the UK had a showroom where I could get my arse into one to see if I liked them – Demon Tweeks in North Wales. Fortunately, I have family in the Northwest so, took a detour on the way up via CW’s as he was happy to loan me his discount card and offer some free advice on seats, cheers Chris!

DT’s is a bitch to find but, only ~30mins from CW’s. Once there I was very happy to see almost every aftermarket car seat available on the market however, the Milano seat was the only Sparco seat not there. I tested lots of seats out from all suppliers but, I had Sparco in my head before I had even got there really as most of us have seen them fitted to Soops in the US so, know they fit OK – I have heard that some seats will not let you close the car doors very well (too wide) and that some of these lightweight seats the seat back flexes….I wanted a proper seat, OEM style which, also allowed the missus to use them too so, weight was not a factor.

I sat in the Torino2 for around 15mins, went to look at the car parts then back in the seat…I was back and forth many times in the 70mins or so that I was there testing other seats out but, always came back to the Sparco seat eventually coming away - dragged by the missus - happy that the Milano would be fine.

I checked on the Sparco site and the dimensions of the Torino2 and the Milano2 were exactly the same size so, I contacted the usual suspects (traders) and some others not on here and found Dusty at MVP was able to offer a price which was within my budget. I got such a good deal that I was able to purchase the Sparco Harness bar and 3” SFI Approved Harnesses too.

What do you need to order:

Seat fits either side, Subframe (L or R) , sliders and fixing kit. + some 10 or 12mm nuts and bolts from any DIY store for the seatbelt securing device, red button thing… if you want to fit this onto the subframe.

How to build:

I built up the seats putting the sliders on first then the subframe onto the sliders, removed the seatbelt locking devices (red button) off the stock seats and then removed the stock seat out of the car. I place the Sparco seat into position and added the seatbelt locking device onto the bolt before inserting it into the rear stock mounting on the transmission tunnel, then a fitted the other sock bolts. There is a lip on the subframe for the seatbelt device to be attached but, the 10mm bolts that I got were too long so, this is why the subframe location was not used. (I’ll get some shorter bolts soon).

I was limited for time so, spent a couple of nights just doing a little here and a little there but, when it came to the second seat I had this built, stock seat removed and new seat installed in 1hr, I was not rushing but, there is not a lot to it really.

Ordering, Shipping, Customs etc.. was all easy as Dusty has been doing this a while now and he had all the time in the world to answer my 30+ emails about almost every aspect of my order. He does reply very quickly to your emails!

Someone ask for a list of pro’s and con’s so, here you are:

• Cons

• You loose the electrics in the drivers seat

• You loose height adjustment – I’m 6’ 3” and it is fine

• You loose the heated seat

• 2kgs heavier per seat than stock

• It is a little bit more awkward getting in and out – You just need to get used to it.

• Pros :

• Much more support than stock seats

• No sliding around on the leather in fast corners

• Very comfy seats, much better than stock – better ride quality

• Lumbar support – this is great!

• Supra specific sub frame which, uses the stock mounting holes/bolts

• Allows the use of the stock seatbelt fittings - The bit you plug the belt into.

• It is allowing me to utilize CW’s suspension so much more, I can take a much tighter line through corners now, if I choose too.

General Info:

• Tilt the seat back for access into the rear – just like stock

• I did not buy the Milano seats to reduce weight, If I wanted to reduce weight I would have gone for a “competition” Sparco seat rather than a street version.

• NO height adjustment – This concerned me at first as I always have the drivers seat set at the lowest level, the new height of the seat is set and gives a more commanding driving position, I really like it now and should have done this with the stock seat but, does takes a few days to get used to it. It had just become second nature to drop the seat on any car that I have ever purchased for the last 10+ years.

Some of the info I used:

http://www.sparcousa.com/pseats_street.asp?id=96

http://www.sparcousa.com/Seat_Dim_Guide.pdf

http://www.mvpmotorsports.com/Merchant/supramkiv.shtml

http://www.sfifoundation.com

I'm just having the harness bar resprayed as they only come on silver or gunmetal so, 202 it is for mine. Then I'm all ready for the track

Just got to get a black carpet and recover the rear seats in Alcantara too......or loose them.

Some pic's : At the store

test fit

2

fitted

..

last one

pic's are a bit small

Really nice looking seats, I'm jealous:)

Great looking car!

Do you mind me asking what the total price for the seats was?

Very nice Pete

Will be great to see them in with the harness bar installed etc.

Your car has some of the nicest mods available, you have excellent taste

Regards,

Gareth.

very nice write up. they look good. do they realy hold you in and meke you feel like you part of the car. was a bit supprised they heavier than stock seats.

I've got that harness bar, it really is a lovely bit of kit, fits perfectly and is as solid as a rock. Makes a very good camera mount too as can be seen from my Santa Pod video. I bought it from Dusty too, you can't get them in this country from Sparco UK.

I'm quite suprised the new seats are heavier than the stock ones too, the standard ones weigh a ton! One of them is about the same weight as both my stock Recaros.

Oh, btw Peter, Sparco have now started doing a fire extinguisher mount for the harness bar which looks great, might see if I can get hold of one. Here's a pic off Supraforums:-

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/708000-708999/708482_6_full.jpg

Quality post m8

Can I also ask what the total cost was?

All, Thanks for the kind words

Originally posted by MONKEYmark

do they realy hold you in and meke you feel like you part of the car.

OH YEAH this is the best bit, yeah they look good but, if they did not do the job then, I'd have them out of the car.

Originally posted by SimonB

Makes a very good camera mount too as can be seen from my Santa Pod video. I bought it from Dusty too, you can't get them in this country from Sparco UK.

I did wonder as that's the best non-bouncy video incar footage I have seen for a long time.....and stop showing me extra nice stuff too...I had to draw the line somewhere

As for the weight, I could not fit the seats onto my bathroom scales so, I weighed myself, then me+stock seat then me+Sparco seat - Both seats where fully made up (subframe, sliders etc...) as I said, the weight was not a concern and it's not the most accurate test really.

I just wanted to give something back to the board as we sometimes buy mods where there are unknowns, will we like them, will they do what they say on the tin etc.....one mans cup of tea is anothers pi$$ water....I wanted to give another view of something so others can make their own mind up.

HTH

Nice one peter they look class mate

look very nice mate, was unsre when you said you were first putting them in, but they certainly dont look out of place

on a seperate note have you not put your active spoiler back on?

No spoiler as it will not fit with the HKS R-type or do you mean the lip only ?

I have seen cars with just the lip added back on and when lower than stock ride height they get scratched on kerbs etc....I did not want this look OR make up my own brackets to support this lip and it come of while doing warp speed one day nasty!

However, and I guess this *might* apply to people who are moving to a new aftermarket bumper as well…… I did feel a slight lightening of *feel* at the front end once the spoiler was removed at 100+ leptons but, you soon adapt. I was however moving away from a stock car set-up to a more driver orientated car so, this suited me fine, for others it might not!

Just another thing to consider when looking at FMIC’s and/OR new front ends

Just curious i thougth mine looked a little lost without it so stuck it back on, just the lip think it actually sits higher now aswell than when it was standard ?

Looks like my weight calculations are a bit out......

The stock seats (front) on a UK spec (Leather) are:

Drivers side inc. base, sliders, full electrics : 22kg

Pass side inc. base and sliders are : 17kg

I need to take my sparco seats out to refit the seatbelt holder so, will re-weigh them. The sparco site states that they are 16.7Kg but, I suspect that this is without the base or sliders so, I'll get the real world weight once they are out.

Just to update - The Sparco seat with subframe and sliders weigh in at 21Kgs each so, overall the new install is 3Kgs heavier over the stock UK seats.

But, as I have said before, weight was not one of my considerations when buying these and still is not.

if you haven't already, get rid of the spare wheel & put some tyreweld in the boot instead

very nice seats there, are you able to reveal the cost of the seats & subframes etc?

Just to complete this thread off and my final install work.

When I originally installed the seats, for speed, I just got the old seat belt anchors with the red button on and fixed them to the transmission tunnel where the seat fixes too.

So, I popped down to B&Q and got some 10mm x 30mm bolts, 10mm x 1.5mm nuts and a bag of 10mm x 40mm washers.

I also decided to buy new seat belt anchors too but, the original supra ones are not available from Toyota so, had to go with another part number (Thanks CJ) and just cut off the electrical wire. P/N 73230-14490-C0 @ £10 each. See HERE

I noticed on my original install, particular down the side of the seat where the transmission tunnel is, I was very tight for space so, I moved the seat over towards the door on the subframe. You can see where the nuts where originally and where I have moved them too, this give you just the right amount of spare room you need for the seat to move freely and not hit the seatbelt anchor. I would have liked shorter bolts but, could not find any locally.

So, here are the pic’s of the anchors fitted to the subframes now and I just need to pop the seats back into the car.

Yeah, I'll get the costs together and post them up.

I got the pricing out of my invoice for:

2 x seats

2 x sliders

2 x subframes

2 x fixing kits

1 x Shipping

1 x Customs

All for just under £1.5k at the USD to GBP rate at the time.