miatauser884

iTrader: (11)

$309 shipped

or

$260 shipped

pusha

iTrader: (5)

I have this seat:

http://www.ultrashieldrace.com/prod.php?id=49

It's comfortable but I don't feel it's worth the extra cash. The basic Spec Miata seat is pretty spartan and the one I sat in didn't bother me. I'm a man.

ScottFW

iTrader: (4)

The padding on those Ultrashields doesn't look much different from what's on my Kirkey seats. The padding on the back and sides is pretty thin but it's adequate because you're not putting as much weight there. The foam is thicker under your *** and I think it's just fine for about 90 minutes at a time. It's fine for track sessions, typical autox heats, even DD'ing. On longer trips I throw an extra cushion ($6 in the patio furniture section at wally world) under my *** and it makes a great improvement, but it will still be less comfy than a stock seat.

Between those specific covers I'd get the blue one. I see the plain black one lacks padding at the front corners. If you buy the correct size the seat will be somewhat snug to your lovely hips. When you adopt a more relaxed posture the outsides of your creamy white things will rest against those corners, so it's nice to have padding there. Not having sat in that split cover style I can't tell for certain if my shoulders/back would be contacting that area under the strap holes where there's a row of snaps, but I could foresee it being an issue, maybe.

If you're buying from Saferacer, don't forget to check the spec miata forum for the discount code. And don't forget to budget for back braces.

miatauser884

iTrader: (11)

back braces??? This whole thing is new to me, and I haven't heard of the back braces. I've spent all my time making sure I know how to bolt it to the floor so it will remain there in an impact.

curly

iTrader: (25)

I think he's referring to the brace that bolts it to the roll bar. Required for most metal seats. Recommended for all of them I think. Haven't looked into it much since my Start is supposedly okay without one.

ScottFW

iTrader: (4)

Aluminum seats like these aren't flimsy per se, but they do flex quite a bit when bolted only to the floor. They need some structural support a little higher up to help maintain shape in an impact. After adding the back brace to mine, I can grab any part of the seat and use it to shake the entire vehicle. The seat does not move independently. It's sturdy as hell.

I couldn't find Ultrashield's specific recommendations in less than 2 minutes, but SCCA, NASA and other racing organizations require seat back braces on non-FIA seats such as Kirkeys and Ultrashields. You would not use back braces on Momo Starts or any other seat that's FIA certified.

I use these seat back braces from IO Port Racing. The flat plate part goes against the back of your seat, below where the shoulder straps pass through, then you just drill holes through that plate & the seat and bolt them together. The other end is secured to your roll bar or cage, in my case the harness bar of my Hard Dog. This gives you the upper two of the aforementioned six mounting points for the seat, and ties it into the Hard Dog bar which is a structural component of the car. You cut the brace's bar to the length you need, and drill two holes in it for the locking pin. I'm probably making it sound more compliacted than it really is. The parts are all aluminum so they cut & drill easily. It didn't take me more than a couple of hours to install the braces on both seats.

ScottFW

iTrader: (4)

Might as well post this here in case you're contemplating the I/O Port braces. They're running a 10% off sale until Tuesday with free shipping over $100. Not a huge savings, but if you were going to buy them anyway... coupon code for checkout is SALE2010.