love the car hate the seats
Discussion
Yes they are cr*ap. I replaced the driver's seat with a bucket seat, easily the biggest handling improvement I've made to the car. Now I can concentrate on driving instead of struggling to stay on my side of the car. I've tried a couple of different seats. Fitting within the cockpit isn't a problem, there's loads of space. The problem is that different tyres of seat need different positions for the mounting bolts. It takes a bit of work to find the right position and drill the mounting holes. I also did away with the runners and mounted the seat straight to the floor to save an inch or so of height. This gives more headroom so I can get in with a crash helmet on but makes it harder for other people to drive the car. (Do I care?) If you're doing this much work it would be worth considering adding a set of Tower View seat mounting bars to brace the seat to the chassis.
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
quote:
i have had my V8s for 6 weeks now and have loved every minute of it. but the seats are the first modification that i need to do , does anyone know if any company does aftermarket seats for the V8S of if any other TVR seats fit into a V8S. If you can help let me know.
Im sure you can get better seats than chim seats for that money. They offer no lateral support at all.
ALthough the new chim seats look good, and maybe offer some support. i would look else where i believe Zertec do some for the chim/griff and will match the leather..
if you are convinced by chim seats mine are a stone colour <VBG>
GW
The bucket seats cost around £150 each and offer far better lateral support than any of the TVR ones. Disadvantage is you can't tilt the back rest to give your rear passengers more leg room. Yeah right.
(If you want adjustable competition seats they cost roughly twice as much).
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
quote:
Im sure you can get better seats than chim seats for that money. They offer no lateral support at all. ALthough the new chim seats look good, and maybe offer some support. i would look else where i believe Zertec do some for the chim/griff and will match the leather.. if you are convinced by chim seats mine are a stone colour <VBG> GW
I agree that the seats don't really offer enough support for track / airfield days but find them fine for normal road use. After the initial fitting hassle, would it be feasable to swap over the drivers seat for occasional trackdays but retaining the original seats for normal use so as not to spoil the look of the car?
Alternatively, would fitting a 3 point harness have the desired effect?
Edited by s3 bob on Thursday 29th March 16:51
This was what I was originally planning to do - once you've got the mounting holes positioned, swapping seats over is a ten minute job. But I found I liked the competition seat so much I wanted one in permanently so I got a new seat trimmed to match the car and fitted it permanently.
Another approach which looks like a good idea for accasional track day use is a 'U' shaped thing that slips down behind the seat back with two panels sticking forward round the outside of your shoulders. I some one somebody had made up (forget who) and it looked pretty simple to make and probably fairly effective.
Three point harness on its own is better than nothing but you need a seat with decent lateral support to make the most of it. I'd also advise against fitting a harness unless you have some roll-over protection. The harness stops you ducking out the way during a roll, which could be fatal.
Peter Humphries
quote:
I agree that the seats don't really offer enough support for track / airfield days but find them fine for normal road use. After the initial fitting hassle, would it be feasable to swap over the drivers seat for occasional trackdays but retaining the original seats for normal use so as not to spoil the look of the car? Alternatively, would fitting a 3 point harness have the desired effect? Edited by s3 bob on Thursday 29th March 16:51
Thanks for the tip about the harnesses, I hadn't thought of that 
Which seats have you tried and how do you rate them?
Which seats have you tried and how do you rate them?
quote:
This was what I was originally planning to do - once you've got the mounting holes positioned, swapping seats over is a ten minute job. But I found I liked the competition seat so much I wanted one in permanently so I got a new seat trimmed to match the car and fitted it permanently. Another approach which looks like a good idea for accasional track day use is a 'U' shaped thing that slips down behind the seat back with two panels sticking forward round the outside of your shoulders. I some one somebody had made up (forget who) and it looked pretty simple to make and probably fairly effective. Three point harness on its own is better than nothing but you need a seat with decent lateral support to make the most of it. I'd also advise against fitting a harness unless you have some roll-over protection. The harness stops you ducking out the way during a roll, which could be fatal. Peter Humphries
First seat I got was a (Cobra?) Sprint. Nice and comfy, good support, fitted me well (I'm a skinny git). Cost me about £100. The replacement I got was a Cobra Monarco seat (£150 ish). This has slightly better shoulder support but less comfy padding. It also has the hole for a crutch strap, which wasn't why I bought it (it was the cheapest seat Demon Tweaks would re-trim for me!) but is worth having as it means you can do the harness up far tighter without pulling the lap strap up into your stomach.
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
quote:
Thanks for the tip about the harnesses, I hadn't thought of that
Gassing Station | S Series | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff