Where can I find Elise seats, are they all the same?

[deviant]

Hi guys,

I am looking to buy a pair of Elise seats to go in my MX5...there are precious few options for aftermarket seats that actually fit in an MX5 and get you sitting lower but Elise seats work perfectly.

So is there anywhere in the world that would likely have them?

Are they the same across the various models? How do Exige seats differ?

What are they worth?

Cheers

[b2hbm]

Sometimes they come up on Ebay or in the classifieds here. They have different levels of trim (and comfort) with the early S1 leather seats having the least padding, 111s seats slightly better and probably S2 seats are the most comfortable. I'd guess the VX220 seats might also fit and give you a cheaper option as they aren't "Lotus" parts.

There's also seloc (http://forums.seloc.org/portal.php) but you need to register to get into the forums.

[deviant]

Thanks for the help. Do any of them have harness holes in them for the shoulder belts? I saw some pics of seats with harness holes but the poster did not specificy which model they were from.

[b2hbm]

I think the 340R (and probably the exige) seats can accept 4 point harnesses with cut outs in the headrest. The standard S1, S2 seats are just a plain back and I'd guess they are the most common on the s/h market. Everyone will want those so they will be at a premium, even when tatty.

Personally I'd stick with MX5 seats myself, we used to have one and it was very comfortable on long journeys. The original Elise seats were noted as being hard work, ok for a quick blast but not something you'd want to do a lot of miles in, and re-trimming at the factory to get more padding was a common option.

If you just want some different seats from Mazda standard, why not look at the kit car suppliers ? Westfields are narrow cars and last year at a kit car show there were quite a few suppliers offering narrow seats, nicely trimmed and not expensive, probably on a par with s/h Elise S2 seats.

[deviant]

Yeah I have been in touch with a Lotus workshop / breaker on ebay and they want 995 quid for a pair of seats with harness cut outs.

I dont get on with MX5 seats at all, the support is all in the wrong place for me and they lack support on track (I go on track 1 or 2 times a month in either trackdays or timed competition)....My past MX5's were race cars and not road cars but this car is more of a fast road car so I aim to keep some refinement in the seats and Elise seats are a popular route for MX5 owners to take. You can even buy seat rails to be able to fit Elise seats in an MX5.

The other issue with the stock seats is that I sit far to high in the car, even in just normal driving I am not low enough and it feels worse on track. The top of my helmet sticks out of the car!

I have tried out some kit car seats, the Cobra roadster seven seats work well. I will investigate that route further. At 995 quid for Elise seats you can get brand new aftermarket seats designed for the Elise for a bit less. The plain back seats from an Elise seem to be quite reasonable in price.

[HereBeMonsters]

Buy me some Sparco/Corbeaus and you can have my stock Elise seats!

[kambites]

Elise Parts seem to have a variety of (non-OEM) seats that will fit the Elise for around that sort of price. Presumably that'd also fit in an MX5. http://www.eliseparts.com/products/category/48/sea...

[deviant]

Thanks for the link chap. Assuming those seats are not really much bigger than an Elise seat then they should fit well, Corbeau are sold here in various places so maybe they can access the entire range.

As for a trade....sure, send me the seats and I well Western Union the money over

Now I knew I shouldnt have mentioned MX5 in a proper sports car forum...look what appeared in my post! What on earth is happening

[fiveoclockhero1]

Just buy some Elise S1 or S2 seats on ebay (there is always a selection on there), I just bought a pair of S1 Elise seats in black leather with no wear/damage on ebay for £190, and put some harness grommets in from corbeau.

http://www.corbeau-seats.co.uk/seat-accessories/se...

340r seats are Probax and will cost over £1k secondhand if you can find any.

VX220 seats are same as some S2 seats and hence will fit

Edited by fiveoclockhero1 on Monday 23 January 18:57

[TonykartEVR]

Elise seats are a pig to fit into an mx5 if you ask me, I've tried them in my mk1 track car, the mounting brackets I made were sturdy but the problem you'll have is fixing a harness as there are no tailored harness slots and retro fitting your own slots is not the safest idea. I also have a TR Lane roll bar which meant that because the Elise seat has a fixed back I could not mount the seat at the angle I wanted because it fouled on the roll bar.

Best bang for buck in my opinion are sparco sprint 5 seats which I now have, I sit nice and low and they fix to the original mx5 runners and have the harness slots and all the support youll need. If you want some photos of my install let me know

[deviant]

fiveoclockhero1 said:

Just buy some Elise S1 or S2 seats on ebay (there is always a selection on there), I just bought a pair of S1 Elise seats in black leather with no wear/damage on ebay for £190, and put some harness grommets in from corbeau.

http://www.corbeau-seats.co.uk/seat-accessories/se...

340r seats are Probax and will cost over £1k secondhand if you can find any.

VX220 seats are same as some S2 seats and hence will fit

Edited by fiveoclockhero1 on Monday 23 January 18:57

Do you have any pictures of the mod you made to the seats?

TonykartEVR said:

Elise seats are a pig to fit into an mx5 if you ask me, I've tried them in my mk1 track car, the mounting brackets I made were sturdy but the problem you'll have is fixing a harness as there are no tailored harness slots and retro fitting your own slots is not the safest idea. I also have a TR Lane roll bar which meant that because the Elise seat has a fixed back I could not mount the seat at the angle I wanted because it fouled on the roll bar.

Best bang for buck in my opinion are sparco sprint 5 seats which I now have, I sit nice and low and they fix to the original mx5 runners and have the harness slots and all the support youll need. If you want some photos of my install let me know

I did Sprint V in a MK1 turbo I had. Were the Elise seats any lower? I found the Sprint V still left me to high on the stock sliders but with more than one driver of my car I could not just put the seat on the floor.

Roll bar clearance shouldnt be to much of an issue with the designs available here and I tend to sit very close to the wheel on track anyway but I will keep this in mind.

Thanks again everyone for the help.

[TonykartEVR]

deviant said:

I did Sprint V in a MK1 turbo I had. Were the Elise seats any lower? I found the Sprint V still left me to high on the stock sliders but with more than one driver of my car I could not just put the seat on the floor.

Roll bar clearance shouldnt be to much of an issue with the designs available here and I tend to sit very close to the wheel on track anyway but I will keep this in mind.

Thanks again everyone for the help.

I cant tell any difference both are low even on stock sliders. The only way to get lower would be to remove some foam from the seat cushion and do some trim work or fix the seat straight to the floor in a fixed position. I'm over 6 ft so have the seat right back and have a deep dish steering wheel with spacer so it's nice and close to me. I've seen some people use the moulded shell type seat like Tillet manufacture, they look very low but don't look that comfortable to me!

[bakes]

I may be selling seats from a 111R S2 shortly...are you still looking.?