///tonic

iTrader: (1)

I'm looking for a pair of seats for my car. It's a track toy but I also plan to commute with it regularly during the summertime.

I know I want the following:
fixed back
FIA certified
5 and 6 point harness capable

I'm 5'8" and 140lb (31 waist), so I'm looking for a nice small seat to provide a good fit.

My price range is ~$800 total.

At this point, I've narrowed it down to either the Cobra Monaco or the Sparco Sprint 5. It looks like the Sparco is a bit narrower in the ***-section, and also 1.3 pounds lighter. And, as a bonus, it is side-mount compatible, if I ever decide to go that route (for now, sliders).

However, I've heard that Cobra is a bit better quality in terms of fabric etc. Plus, if I understand right (after speaking on the phone with a dealer), the Cobras can be bolted straight to my OEM Miata sliders, whereas the Sparcos will require that I buy their 90 dollar base and the 60 dollar sliders.

Can anyone verify about the Cobras fitting my stock sliders?

Anybody have experience with these seats, or recommendations Cobra vs. Sparco generally?

Dimensions for the Sparco:
http://www.sparcousa.com/resourceFiles/26.pdf

Dimensions for the Cobra:
http://www.autotoystore.com/seatspecs.html

cjernigan

iTrader: (13)

The Momo start is a fiberglass FIA certified fixed back seat that works with 6 pt harnesses. It is only bottom mount but you can drill two holes in the OEM slider and mount it.

thesnowboarder

iTrader: (15)

Sprint 5 2007 version bolts directly onto the slider on the passenger side with minimal modifications, drilling a 2 holes :P

As for drivers side the spacing between the two silders is different (in my 90) so it would be impossible to have the exactly same seat installed the exact same way on both passenger side and drivers side. (passenger side is spaced wider)


passenger side bolted directly to stock slider<

Hole needed to be drilled :

SamS

iTrader: (2)

The sprint is supposed to fit the miata sliders with a little modification (enlarging holes or drilling new holes or something)

edit: snowboarder owned my post

thesnowboarder

iTrader: (15)

my custom side mounted bracket using stock bolt locations, i did this so i can sit much lower than the stock seat to make the 2 inch broom stick rule. Savington made custom brackets on the Momo Starts and sits even lower than in my seats, i weigh about 130lb's and fit in the sparco very nicely with room to grow and move around, while in the start i am really swimming around in the seat. More padding in the sparco as well.

///tonic

iTrader: (1)

Ah, sweet info. Thanks snowboarder.

How do you like the seats themselves?

cjernigan

iTrader: (13)

I have the momo start, not in the car yet, but i fit just about perfect in it. I'm 6'2 185lbs with a 32" waist and some odd long inseam. I am by no means swimming, it is a tight fit, like a glove I suppose. If the sprint is tighter than the start i probably wouldn't fit very well.

thesnowboarder

iTrader: (15)

ya no prob i wish i would have known the info before spending the money and not knowing if i would fit or if they did.

I love the seats, im sure Savington will chime in on how they are compared to the starts he has.

jim-NA

That's awesome sonowboarder, good pics. I've been looking for some decent seats since I sold my Bride drivers seat :-(
I've been looking at the Sparco Sprints but didin't fancy forking out for the ££ for the mounting hardware too.... now if the stock rails can be easily modified.... :-)

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Nick (snowboarder)'s seats are nice. The fact that they are side mount means it's relatively easy to mount them. The Starts are nice as well, but they do have a lot (excessive) of lumbar. The one thing I like about them is that there is no thigh pad, which means I can sit much further back with them than I normally would with any other seat. I like to drive with my arms and legs pretty outstretched (habit from my karting days), so even though I'm only 5'9, and there are no sliders, a guy who was 6'2 or 6'3 could get into my car and feel right at home.

The deal sealer is that Sparco still makes the Sprint 5; Momo no longer makes my Starts. I haven't tried the new Start 07 out yet.

///tonic

iTrader: (1)

Nice, I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the Sparcos and work out some kind of custom mounts for the driver's side.

Another question now: Where do I mount the anti-submarining straps on a 6 point harness? Do those go all the way back to the OEM seatbelt mounts on either side?

Savington

iTrader: (31)

No. Pretty sure Schroth specifically says that's a no-no. Drill holes in the floor, use backing plates and eyebolts. Look on Schroth's website for angles and locations.

thesnowboarder

iTrader: (15)

http://www.schrothracing.com/docs/Co...structions.pdf

Mine go through the floor about 20* back and i believe 8-10 inches apart i cant remember off the top of my head but i just followed the instructions above.

Btw i did have the passenger side seat in on the stock sliders but it was fixed and i had to modify the hell out of the sliders to do it, i sat way to high and way to close to bolt it completely to the slider and wouldn't do it again.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

i have a sprint and bolted that bitch to the floor because I'm all torso. Its a mega-bitch to get in and out of the car though, I have pretty big quads though.

///tonic

iTrader: (1)

thesnowboarder,

Did you mean to say you originally had the driver side seat on the stock sliders but ended up going fixed?

Your passenger side is still on the oem slider, right?

thesnowboarder

iTrader: (15)

Correct, passenger side is still on oem slider which still slides

cjernigan

iTrader: (13)

You can also get the low-pro sliders from sparco and use them on the momo start as shown in this guys install. The brackets are really simple to adapter them to the miata and you retain full sliding capability.