The seat in my car is torn to hell. It's going to cost me around 600 dollars to get new leather for it and recover it. Blah blah blah etc...

I've got a couple questions. First and foremost, does any manufacturer make a racing seat that I could use without a roll bar. The seat is only going to be used for lowspeed autocross stuff and possibly in conjunction with a 4 point harness. If/when I get into highspeed and track days, I'll put a roll bar in.

Why is it that a racing seat isn't acceptable to use in a car without a roll bar?

Now the other one. I'll need a seat that's got some comfort to it. Able to stand it for a couple hour drive. The stock seats are plenty cushy.

Any insight into this would be great.

How about something like a recaro SRD that is reclinable yet is still better than the stock seats for holding you in position.

Ah yes, sorry. I forgot to mention, I'd like it to be a reclinable one and not a fixed-back. I imagine few of you here have experience with the reclinable ones. I'm just worried about a safety aspect of a racing seat without a rollbar. Or did I just read another thread wrong?

Reclinable seats are not racing seats.

I don't see a problem with using something like the Recaro SRD or the Sparco reclining sport seat along with the stock belts.

Alright, thanks for the insight.

Are the fixed back seats dangerous without a roll bar because they wouldn't collapse in a roll?

I'm just kind of curous about that. Anyone with experience with some of the reclinable seats, or shoul I try the normal forum.

Reclinable seats are not racing seats.



Exactly.

You get into trouble when you run fixed back seats along with harnesses but no roll bar. :nono

Alright, thanks for the insight.

Are the fixed back seats dangerous without a roll bar because they wouldn't collapse in a roll?

I'm just kind of curous about that. Anyone with experience with some of the reclinable seats, or shoul I try the normal forum.

reclinable = heavy
fixed = light, but pick well for comfort. don't cheap out. get the best fitting you can afford. once you're in they will fit you like a glove and are much more supportive than the vaders. i actually prefer long trips in my sparco pro 2000s. but search until you find a seat supports well and is a little snug at very first. it will eventually conform to you.

as for collapsing, they are fiberglass or carbon, they would actually be more likely to collapse in a roll. just thinking about the mechanics, i would guess in a pure force-from-above collapse, they would collapse from _| to _\ since the carbon/fiberglass gusseting the _| will fail in compression long before tension (inherent property of composites). if you rolled hard enough that your roof is caved in to the point your seat is hitting the ground, you have more than that this to worry about, so i don't think they're any more or less safe than oem seats.

don't worry about the crash properties. they are fine without a rollbar. perhaps not combined with a harness on the street or track (autox ok), but with the stock belts, they're perfectly fine.