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I haven't seen these seats fitted to an NA/NB yet so here's my install.
TLDR:
* Yes they fit the NA/NB
* Yes they're expensive
* Yes they fit the "wider gentleman"
* Believe it or not, they're more comfortable than what they look like
* Plenty of thigh support for the track
* Maybe not suited to DD due to entry/exit hassles
* Buy the Bride Lowmax seat bracket, it includes a slider and aligns the seat + steering wheel+pedals correctly.
My Lotus seats don't really have any thigh support so I need to brace myself against the car using my knees through "the twisty-stuff".
I found too that the front low thigh ridges of the seat tend to cut diagonally across my hamstrings.
If I drove the car more I'd probably get used to it but after DD my comfy SP23 seats I decided I really wanted better - I'm at the extreme limit of the Lotus seats and not getting any smaller so I needed an alternative.
Lotus owners tend to upgrade to Tillett seats because they have better thigh support so that's what I figured I needed but the Tillett B5 was probably going to be too small.
Tillett recently released the B8 seat which they describe as an XL version of the B5 seat.
I looked at the specs and figured that I would fit into these seats and took a risk by ordering two of them from Demon Tweeks in the UK to save on S&H (I hate the look of mis-matched seats).
The seats took 8 weeks to manufacture/deliver and arrived this week via UPS.
I had to pay Import Duty which UPS took care of for a ~A$10 fee and both seats arrived well-packed in a single box.
The seats are incredibly light so ordering two at once was definitely the correct decision.
I'd previously bought Mazda NA/NB Bride Lowmax seat mounts from Nengun Performance in Japan because, based on what I'd read on the forums, they accomodate just about any side-mounted seat and they're specific to the car so the seats are guaranteed to be angled correctly.
My Lotus seats have custom brackets that the PO had made to ensure that the driver's side was centred correctly on the steering wheel.
The Bride Lowmax mount has a slider and the side brackets that bolt to it provide 3x front and 3x mount points to angle the seat.
The side mounts also have a mount point for the OEM seatbelt.
Tillett's site doesn't give any advice on brackets for an MX5 so I wasn't going to risk paying for any that may not work and they're bloody expensive.
Getting a mod-plate for these seats+brackets should be trivial.
I don't like the look of carbon fibre so I ordered the slightly cheaper FRP seats which have a slick black finish.
The seats come with a thin headpad embroided with the Tillett logo.
You can also purchase a seat and backpad (see bottom left of picture above) but for ~A$300 per set I figured I can something made locally for that price.
The seats themselves are very comfortable but even Tillet recommend some padding for DD.
Comparison vs Lotus seats:
Mounted photos (using the middle of 3x rear side mounts and lowest of the 3x front mounnts - originally used lowest on front and rear but that reclined me too much).
The yellow circles in the photos below show how close the seat gets to the seatbelt mount rail (mine is worn from previos seats).
At its furthest-rear position, the seat sits ~ 10mm in front of it.
The orange circle shows that the seat is centred on the steering wheel (which wasn't quite straight when I took the photos).
There's quite a lot of space on the right of the seat and the left side does not touch the transmission tunnel anywhere, even the fromt has ~10mm of clearance.
The OEM seatbelt mounts to the Bride Lowmax side-mount.
There's plenty of thigh support and they hold you well so they'll make a decent track seat but being deep with high thigh support makes getting in and out of them harder so just as well it's NOT a DD!
During the week I bought a couple of gel+memory foam seat cushions, lumbar support and a couple of seat pads from Autobarn.
The memory foam lumbar support was too thick.
The gel+memory foam seat cushions were too thick so I cut one down to ~50% depth with an electric bread knife and it's MUCH better, I could drive long distances with this comfortably.
Tillet is correct in stating that you don't need much padding to make these seats more comfortable for DD.
The best one was the one I originally thought wasn't deep enough. It was too wide so I cut the edges off and it's quite comfortable:
I plan to get some custom+local padding, preferably similar to the following but in titanium grey of course with possibly a "Gina" custom emroided headrest:
I have some clones from Luso Motors. Great quality and a funky look with the Line-X coating but they're a nice seat at the price point. I had to build my own mounts to hard mount them as far down/back as possible. I have plenty of head room but would ideally have a tick more leg room.
Tillets are still the goal though, ultimately. I have a set in the Caterham and they really are a fantastic seat.
Hi Lokiel,
Thanks for buying the seats and your post. It's always interesting to see how people get on fitting them to various vehicles.
Just to let you and others know.
We have been developing bracket types for our Tillett seats which solid fix and types to go on the OEM runners, for the NA, NB and NC cars.
Then you should be able to use every cm of space. Also, if you remove the plastic panel around the seat belt you would be able to get a bit extra leg room too.
These will be released early next year.
Below is my car with the prototype brackets on runners.
Best regards
Steve Tillett
Hi Lokiel,
Thanks for buying the seats and your post. It's always interesting to see how people get on fitting them to various vehicles.
Just to let you and others know.
We have been developing bracket types for our Tillett seats which solid fix and types to go on the OEM runners, for the NA, NB and NC cars.
Then you should be able to use every cm of space. Also, if you remove the plastic panel around the seat belt you would be able to get a bit extra leg room too.
These will be released early next year.
Below is my car with the prototype brackets on runners.
Best regards
Steve Tillett
Yes, we have the NA and NB type for the OEM runners (RMX5 1-2) and the solid fix type for competition and really tall drivers (CMX5 1-2).
The NC and ND brackets (RMX5 3-4) for the runners and the CMX5 3-4 competition solid fix ones are in stock this month. These have been a long time coming. It's hard to get anything made on time at the moment.
These all fit Tillett seats models B6, B7, B6 XL, B7, B7 XL, B8 and B9.
Then we have the TBB5 brackets for the B5. This is a generic bracket for using on top of other runners and we have tweaked it with holes to fit the NA and NB adjustment runners. Not the NC and ND though. (Picture below)
Best regards
Steve Tillett
Yes, we have the NA and NB type for the OEM runners (RMX5 1-2) and the solid fix type for competition and really tall drivers (CMX5 1-2).
The NC and ND brackets (RMX5 3-4) for the runners and the CMX5 3-4 competition solid fix ones are in stock this month. These have been a long time coming. It's hard to get anything made on time at the moment.
These all fit Tillett seats models B6, B7, B6 XL, B7, B7 XL, B8 and B9.
Then we have the TBB5 brackets for the B5. This is a generic bracket for using on top of other runners and we have tweaked it with holes to fit the NA and NB adjustment runners. Not the NC and ND though. (Picture below)
Best regards
Steve Tillett
Wow, great, I'm Jake, so I have just received your response via e-mail as well this morning. Lurking on the internet I came across this particular thread anth that got me thinking about the B5 or B8 seat.
Kindly you suggested me the B8 and it's great to know there are adapters for the runners now... so, if I get ir right, I can use the RMX5 3-4 brackets to mount the B8 seat right on my stock seat runners, rght?
Wow, great, I'm Jake, so I have just received your response via e-mail as well this morning. Lurking on the internet I came across this particular thread anth that got me thinking about the B5 or B8 seat.
Kindly you suggested me the B8 and it's great to know there are adapters for the runners now... so, if I get ir right, I can use the RMX5 3-4 brackets to mount the B8 seat right on my stock seat runners, rght?
Correct Jake, the RMX5 3-4 bracket set gives the possibility to give a very low driving position and bolts straight on top of the OEM MX5 runners.
They are also handed for the left and right side of the car to take account of the offset needed in order that the headrest lines up with the roll hoop and sets the driver in line with the pedals and steering.
How much lower would this setup be compared to my stock 1990 left hand drive seats? Also, would the seat fit a 36” waist with relative comfort? Thanks
On the OEM runners I was about an inch lower. I didn't try to get it any lower because it was not necessary, but on fixed brackets you could get it much lower and further back. Especially if you remove the plastic panels around the belt and bend the seam over. Then the spine goes against the bulkhead.
A B8 will fit a driver of 36 inch jeans size. Once you are a 38 inch then it is better to get the B6 XL, B7 XL if you are crazy about weight saving, or the new B10 XL when it comes out in a few months. The standard B10 is pictured below. This will fit a 36 inch waist but a driver on the limit of two sizes will always be lower in the bigger seat, So long as the runners do not lift the seat more in the XL by virtue of the dome hitting the runners as it drops between them. I have tried the B6 XL in the car and it was fine so the B10 XL should be too.
I wanted to provide a point of reference for NAs. The Bride Low Max rails specific for the NA Miatas are not all that low and recline the Tillett seats way too much for me. I am only about 5'9", and my legs hit my 350mm steering wheel with the slider all the way back, front mounted in lowest position, and rear mounted in highest position. The Bride rails are also offset shifting the US market passenger/right hand seat almost all the way up against the transmission tunnel and leaving probably a good 2-3" of open space between the seat and the door card.
Instead, I decided to reuse my old Goodwin Racing seat brackets/floor mount with the sliders I had bottom mounted on my old Sparco Sprints, and while the seats are still reclined more than I'd prefer (rear in middle and front on lowest on Bride side mounts), it is a decent setup now. I could probably get another 1/2" lower if I modified the side mount brackets and obviously about 1" lower by only removing the sliders, but I should pass the broomstick as is. When side by side, the front of the Goodwin bracket is almost a full 1" lower than the Bride front mounts. Overall, I liked the seating position of the Sparco Sprints on the Goodwin bracket better than the Tillett on the Goodwin bracket, but these seats provide a lot more shoulder room than the Sprints. Can't compare comfort yet, though...
I am also having an issue with Tillett, and the authorized vendor I purchased through, since Tillett did not fulfill the order correctly. The seat cushions I paid for and that were included on the order were not sent by Tillett, nor did Tillett pay attention to the special order comments, which the vendor said is a regular occurrence with Tillett. I understand the UK had a large strike a few weeks ago that froze up the economy/market a bit and now appears to be on a spring break, but for such an expensive option, I expect closer attention on their purchase orders. I am about to file a chargeback since it has been a month with no sign of resolution in sight, and the goods I paid for have not been delivered.
I wanted to provide a point of reference for NAs. The Bride Low Max rails specific for the NA Miatas are not all that low and recline the Tillett seats way too much for me. I am only about 5'9", and my legs hit my 350mm steering wheel with the slider all the way back, front mounted in lowest position, and rear mounted in highest position. The Bride rails are also offset shifting the US market passenger/right hand seat almost all the way up against the transmission tunnel and leaving probably a good 2-3" of open space between the seat and the door card.
Instead, I decided to reuse my old Goodwin Racing seat brackets/floor mount with the sliders I had bottom mounted on my old Sparco Sprints, and while the seats are still reclined more than I'd prefer (rear in middle and front on lowest on Bride side mounts), it is a decent setup now. I could probably get another 1/2" lower if I modified the side mount brackets and obviously about 1" lower by only removing the sliders, but I should pass the broomstick as is. When side by side, the front of the Goodwin bracket is almost a full 1" lower than the Bride front mounts. Overall, I liked the seating position of the Sparco Sprints on the Goodwin bracket better than the Tillett on the Goodwin bracket, but these seats provide a lot more shoulder room than the Sprints. Can't compare comfort yet, though...
I am also having an issue with Tillett, and the authorized vendor I purchased through, since Tillett did not fulfill the order correctly. The seat cushions I paid for and that were included on the order were not sent by Tillett, nor did Tillett pay attention to the special order comments, which the vendor said is a regular occurrence with Tillett. I understand the UK had a large strike a few weeks ago that froze up the economy/market a bit and now appears to be on a spring break, but for such an expensive option, I expect closer attention on their purchase orders. I am about to file a chargeback since it has been a month with no sign of resolution in sight, and the goods I paid for have not been delivered.
Other than that, the seats look great!
I am horrified you have had a bad experience buying our seats. I admit we are slow at delivery because as a manufacturer we make everything to order and it is hard to get dealers to stock enough. I am also annoyed to find out that we got your special order wrong as that should not happen. Please feel free to email me on info@tillett.co.uk and I will converse with you to solve the issues.
Let me know any seating problems you have and I will try and help. In developing the brackets for the MX5 I have fitted every type of our seat in my own car so if there is any way around problems I should know.
Best regards
Steve Tillett
Steve, I think your team replenished the vendor much quicker to help me out, and I really appreciate that a lot. The vendor said at best it would be an additional 10 weeks for the cushions to eventually come in before they could send them my way. Cushions were received on Friday and immediately put in the car, and I stay firmly planted in the seat now. I drilled two new mounting holes in my side rails to drop the front of the driver seat down as much as possible, which was about 1/2", but it is a much better position now. Car is almost ready for summer.
Steve, any updates with pictures of the B10Xl installed in a NA8 by chance? And left side if possible?
Originally Posted by stevetillett
On the OEM runners I was about an inch lower. I didn't try to get it any lower because it was not necessary, but on fixed brackets you could get it much lower and further back. Especially if you remove the plastic panels around the belt and bend the seam over. Then the spine goes against the bulkhead.
A B8 will fit a driver of 36 inch jeans size. Once you are a 38 inch then it is better to get the B6 XL, B7 XL if you are crazy about weight saving, or the new B10 XL when it comes out in a few months. The standard B10 is pictured below. This will fit a 36 inch waist but a driver on the limit of two sizes will always be lower in the bigger seat, So long as the runners do not lift the seat more in the XL by virtue of the dome hitting the runners as it drops between them. I have tried the B6 XL in the car and it was fine so the B10 XL should be too.
07-10-2021, 08:43 AM
Tillett B8 Seats in an Aussie NB
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