Designtek DTX recline seats in a monaro
Discussion
Designtek seats (normally a 911 aftermarket thing) on Planted bases. I did hope the silver would match the interior trim, but it doesn't. The money definitely went on the carbon - the 'leather' isn't as good as the Recaro Sportsters I decided not to fit (comfy, but weigh ~28kg like the OE seats and more fitment difficulty). They are however 14kg/each (+3.5kg/bracket), so I've shed 2x10kg. Most importantly I no longer touch the headliner, I have about 2-3" above me where before my scalp was basically touching the liner (I'm 6'2"). With a helmet I had to stoop. The seats are naturally much more communicative and supportive. The seats are very narrow with ungiving vertical sides to the base, and I only just fit in them. There's a knack to getting into the car elegantly now! I think the car is fractionally louder inside now, with the rasp I attribute to the (de)cats more noticeable.
Ta to Sturdy for doing the hard work on researching the airbag dummy loads - I've got spares to make more if anyone wants some.
mikeyb1987 said:
They look fantastic Ben! Very 
Interesting comments re the recaros. They were the ones I'm looking at.... Where did you get yours from? I may email you for costs etc
The recaros are really nice seats, and straight aftermarket sportsters may be a touch lighter than mine - they came out of a corsa VXR, and have a height adjust feature and airbags, which must add some weight. Thing is the weight is pretty much identical to the monaro seats that came out (before adding the interfacing brackets), so it is a bit of a sideways move...although 20kg off the middle of the car is possibly not worth much! They would really suit a car being kept as a comfortable GT, whereas mine is getting ever-harsher!Interesting comments re the recaros. They were the ones I'm looking at.... Where did you get yours from? I may email you for costs etc
The recaros are listed in the sale section, forum discount if you wanted them
Mud_ said:
mikeyb1987 said:
They look fantastic Ben! Very
Interesting comments re the recaros. They were the ones I'm looking at.... Where did you get yours from? I may email you for costs etc
The recaros are really nice seats, and straight aftermarket sportsters may be a touch lighter than mine - they came out of a corsa VXR, and have a height adjust feature and airbags, which must add some weight. Thing is the weight is pretty much identical to the monaro seats that came out (before adding the interfacing brackets), so it is a bit of a sideways move...although 20kg off the middle of the car is possibly not worth much! They would really suit a car being kept as a comfortable GT, whereas mine is getting ever-harsher!Interesting comments re the recaros. They were the ones I'm looking at.... Where did you get yours from? I may email you for costs etc
The recaros are listed in the sale section, forum discount if you wanted them
Eta- link to Ben's Recaro seats for sale: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/parts-and-p...
Edited by mikeyb1987 on Saturday 19th September 20:01
mikeyb1987 said:
The Recaros are priced very well. Unfortunately I'd want to get ones which are full leather. Had a quick google of the designtek's- they're not badly priced! Where did you get yours from?
I get the impression all the vendors are the same, design911/ppcgb/designtek. I found a voucher and paid £494/seat.I was tempted to get the centre sections of the recaros retrimmed, no idea how ruinously expensive it would be though. The fabric centres would match the trim accents on an 04 CV8 well.
Cheers Gareth - definitely a step in the right direction...like the 3.9 diff, I dig the perception of speed. A few issues arise from the install:
1) the steering wheel somehow feels bigger now and my hands fight my knees, need a quick rack and maybe a smaller wheel (or driver education)
2) the seat base is so narrow that I'm driving with straighter legs than I'm used to which isn't natural yet (coming from French cars) and has made me notice...
3) the accelerator pedal is all the way off to the right
All of which sounds bad, but after having my eyes at the right level and the improved support/feel it will be worth it
edit: (possibly talking to myself) - seems like the issue Emma (and others) have mentioned in the past of the accelerator pedal being spaced back from the brake and clutch is made more pronounced by sitting lower. I guess sitting higher is more forgiving of poor pedal placement in general.
1) the steering wheel somehow feels bigger now and my hands fight my knees, need a quick rack and maybe a smaller wheel (or driver education)
2) the seat base is so narrow that I'm driving with straighter legs than I'm used to which isn't natural yet (coming from French cars) and has made me notice...
3) the accelerator pedal is all the way off to the right
All of which sounds bad, but after having my eyes at the right level and the improved support/feel it will be worth it
edit: (possibly talking to myself) - seems like the issue Emma (and others) have mentioned in the past of the accelerator pedal being spaced back from the brake and clutch is made more pronounced by sitting lower. I guess sitting higher is more forgiving of poor pedal placement in general.
Edited by Mud_ on Tuesday 22 September 07:32
Mud_ said:
Cheers Gareth - definitely a step in the right direction...like the 3.9 diff, I dig the perception of speed. A few issues arise from the install:
1) the steering wheel somehow feels bigger now and my hands fight my knees, need a quick rack and maybe a smaller wheel (or driver education)
2) the seat base is so narrow that I'm driving with straighter legs than I'm used to which isn't natural yet (coming from French cars) and has made me notice...
3) the accelerator pedal is all the way off to the right
All of which sounds bad, but after having my eyes at the right level and the improved support/feel it will be worth it
edit: (possibly talking to myself) - seems like the issue Emma (and others) have mentioned in the past of the accelerator pedal being spaced back from the brake and clutch is made more pronounced by sitting lower. I guess sitting higher is more forgiving of poor pedal placement in general.
A smaller wheel is great 1) the steering wheel somehow feels bigger now and my hands fight my knees, need a quick rack and maybe a smaller wheel (or driver education)
2) the seat base is so narrow that I'm driving with straighter legs than I'm used to which isn't natural yet (coming from French cars) and has made me notice...
3) the accelerator pedal is all the way off to the right
All of which sounds bad, but after having my eyes at the right level and the improved support/feel it will be worth it
edit: (possibly talking to myself) - seems like the issue Emma (and others) have mentioned in the past of the accelerator pedal being spaced back from the brake and clutch is made more pronounced by sitting lower. I guess sitting higher is more forgiving of poor pedal placement in general.
Edited by Mud_ on Tuesday 22 September 07:32
Seats look great in there mate, top job
Yanayaya said:
Love these. Did you just buy them second hand? Did you swap the runner for the monaro ones?
Bought new from PPCGB (quite a wait though).Sturdy and I imported some Planted brackets, he had originally grafted the monaro bases onto his Cobra Misanos, but the brackets will get you lower/lighter. The seats came with runners.
Phillphill said:
Looks really good, im surprised how well those seats actually work in the car too. Like you my main focus is to get my head off the roof lining!
+1 for airbag dummy loads please!
I also have the steering wheel boss which if you know of a cnc company....
PM me your details and I'll send you a pair of dummy loads for the seats (I have two made up ready, but bits to make more).+1 for airbag dummy loads please!
I also have the steering wheel boss which if you know of a cnc company....
I think the hard bit with the steering wheel boss is the splines, which is why I'm tempted to cannibalise my spare wheel. I don't really want to forego the airbag...although the option to bring the steering wheel an inch or so closer would be great.
Click for massive (don't click on mobile!).
I've had this fitted a month but was waiting on a Holden logo horn button to take proper pictures, which turned out to be a POS. I've changed the LEDs in the steering wheel buttons, so everything is backlit white.
Not sure I'd recommend this route (hacking up an OE steering wheel) - the cast aluminium is crazy-soft and so doesn't thread well. There are a few things I could tidy up, but this is more of a posh prototype than a permanent solution. I'm definitely more comfortable with this wheel...if you get lower seats be prepared to have to get a smaller steering wheel too, although it's a bit of a balancing act between comfort and optimal view of the instrument cluster. The momo I had lying around - I may change this for a dished wheel to get it a little closer still (although this would effectively recess the stereo buttons further if I keep this hub).
If the seats look a little odd it's because I'm trialling 1" of reflex foam underneath the padding, just because the steep sides to the base are a bit narrow for me, and this effectively reduces their height. I'm still a couple of inches lower than I was and quite comfortable
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