Seats and harnesses. Any advice?

[SajBT36]

While I had an absolute blast at SMP this weekend, it went a rather long way to showing me just how much grip a mildly prepped Miata on RS3's can generate.

My right arm is rather sore, which tells me that I'm using the steering wheel as much as a brace as I am a control device. Seats have gone from "that would be nice" to "I really need that" on the Race Car Expenditure Justification Matrix (TM, Patent Pending). The current set up of foam-ectomied stock seats and 3 points with a CG lock just isn't going to be the solution going forward.

Pretty sure a harness bar is an easy bolt in addition between the stock seatbeat mounts on the Miata, but I've pretty much no idea about seats, sliders, brackets and harnesses. I've researched it on Miata.net etc, but the problem I find with such sites is it tends to be people saying "I bought XXXX and they're awesomesauce3000!!"

Obviously, with a $5000 car, cost is a factor. However I don't want to save 20% on cheaper seats / belts and end up hating them. Also don't want to fall afoul of OTA safety regs. Also want to make sure my passenger is protected.

Car is no longer a DD, will be fun car and weekend cruise car only. I don't want to leave it where street driving it is just painful though.

Any recommendations on brands, models etc? Ones to stay clear of?

[STeveD]

Forget the passenger unless you're doing schools... They can hold on for themselves. Remember... seat upgrades cost PIPs in OTA, so you don't want to change classes for someone who can't ride in your car anyway. However, instructors are supposed to have the same safety devices as the drivers, so you do have to consider that.

Cobra and Corbeau I hear good things about. JRP has Sparcos at a bit of a discount for SPDA. Consider seats with the high wings to protect your head in side impacts. You'll want to try the seat first, and you'll also need to make sure it can be mounted with your harness bar. Get FIA 6 point belts, not SFI belts unless they're Leaf (can be rewebbed locally.)

If ultimate safety is your priority, don't get a sliding seat mount; go fixed. This will affect co-driver choices in the future though, so for what you're planning, a sliding seat mount wouldn't be a bad idea.

[SajBT36]

I notice in 4.8 of the rulebook, point 5, that 'reclining sports seats' are open.

Could I install something like a Corbeau A4 http://www.corbeau.com/products/reclining_seats/a4/ without attracting pips? Would it do the job?

[STeveD]

I'd prefer the CR1 for extra bolstering, but just don't forget to pay $35 for the 5-point pass through.

[SajBT36]

Will check out what will fit in the ickle Miata.

Cheers,

[yaRS]

I notice in 4.8 of the rulebook, point 5, that 'reclining sports seats' are open.

Could I install something like a Corbeau A4 http://www.corbeau.com/products/reclining_seats/a4/ without attracting pips? Would it do the job?

Yep, I got hit with this one by not reading the rules thoroughly enough. I figured at first that "safety was free", but after driving around with Lloyd and watching how passengers in stock seats fly around I think the 1 bpip is justified. That said, it's only really worth it if you get the harness too, and once you get a harness it's hard to avoid the head and neck restraint.

[racecartech]

Before caging my car I ran a MOMO race seat with the 3 pnt belts. Try the seats to see what fits you best, get it in he car and move forward from there with all the good advice from above.