wow thats ******* insane considering i payed around $950 for my sparco circuit pro, and that is FIA cert. For $450 i bought my buddyclub seat and that had no cert

 

How much were the slider mounts and hardware? I know my flipside brackets were 300 for the pair.

I get it, but again- .000001% of dual purpose owners need certs.

The cost of certifying a seat is prohibitive for a small company- for me- it is nice having a bolt in ready option that gets me on the road and under the broomstick.

 

Bah! Peasants! Just get the Tillett B5...and let me know how it works out.

 

No lotus-douche-bling in my car, please. Pretty sure I can buy one of Andrew's built blocks for the cost of a pair of those.

 

These are the POS's you're considering? Um, no. For that cash get an FIA certification at least. Nail's is very comfortable.

 

I like mine. I got a drivers side only and it got me (5 10) from where I couldn't put a finger between my head and the softtop to where I can put four fingers there now... with the pads in. With pads out, I drop to where I'm looking directly over the steering wheel.

 

OMG.

FIA is like the new JDM. For all the bawlers YO.

 

It's not for the new JDM bawler status, but why not for $900? It's one thing to get a great looking and comfortable seat with bolt in brackets in a DD, but he races this thing, and is only a few track days away from SM lap records. Spending $900 would be silly without FIA certification. There are lots of FIA seats for ~$400-700, leaving ~$500-200 for brackets.

 

Yes- sorry, no offense meant.

I just think it's funny that everyone gets so excited about spending 9-1200 on a set of garbage lotus seats (plus 300 more in brackets) that don't do more than a foamectomy and are used (and have lousy lateral support and comfort), but when a small manufacturer steps up, everyone thinks it's nuts. Little guys are not going to cert a dual purpose seat- period.

The Z06 corvette guys (and all the Vette guys) really appreciate Marrad and the feedback in the Vette world is very positive. Granted, they could be a hundred or two less, but for me, not having to guess fitment and fabricate rails is worth a couple of hundred bucks. I talked to the guy that owns the business, and I can tell you he has forgotten more about seats than I ever knew!

 

I have the seats. For me they work well. DD & drive to HPDE's (planning on TTs).
My requirements were:
1. Hole for 5 point harness
2. Get me low under the bar, 5'10" long torso
3. Enough width for me to DD, 250 lbs
4. Narrow enough to put in without tunnel modification
5. Bolt-in, no fab or welding

I pull the DD cushions and put in 1" foam from Pegasus racing for HPDEs.
They were a little pricey but come with the brackets and sliders. Actually a little less than a Sparco EVO II with brackets and sliders.
They were comfortable enough for 9 hrs from Dallas to NOLA and back for a HPDE.

They're probably not for everyone. It's a compromise seat for dual use, not great for DD, not acceptable for W2W racing.
They'll be the last seat I put in this Miata.

 

The SPG is very comfortable. I have sat in it and it works. However.

a) NA's have more room than the NB. Everything has more room than the NB.

b) still have to get brackets for the SPG. There are a couple of reasonable aftermarket choices for brackets. Tunnel modification with BFH required.

c) seat will be non-adjustable once installed compared to a seat on sliders.

d) height drop compared to stock after installation is still undetermined.

So even having sat in the SPG there are still a lot of unknowns.

There are people who have FIA seats and FIA harnesses and yet have installed the seat with homemade brackets made from Home Depot mild steel of unknown composition ...

What makes a seat right is different for everyone. This is not going to be a competition vehicle. That will be a different vehicle, and probably 11 years down the road.

 

Lovers can love, and Haters can hate- but here they are!

I should be able to get these installed today, I just need to find someone to take a couple of before and after pictures (mostly before- I can get after anytime) to show any changes.

I also included a couple of shots of the sub belt slot (under the foam) and of the sliders.

Good stuff!!

 

So you can pull out the foam from the seat bottom and it's still bearable to sit on during track duty? Then slap the foam back in for the drive home? I see EricJ above mentioned using some 1" foam from Pegasus on-track.

EricJ - Any pictures of yours installed?


My curiousity is probably mostly idle, but I had to drive my Miata to work a couple of days while the 3-series was in getting a firmware update and the Sparco bucket + 6-point harness combo was a biatch. Just as it was on the drives to and from Roebling and will be on the drives to and from anywhere.

I'm considering something more like these seats + the factory 3-point for street duty, leaving the 6-points installed but tucked behind the seat until track time.

 

Right the DD cushions are about 2 1/2" thick, so pulling them gets me under the bar with my helmet on and increases the bolster height to hold me in a little better. I've done 20-25 minute track day sessions without any foam, and it was fine.
I read about the Pegasus foam on the Flying Miata site, specifically the setup for Targa. I was actually more concerned about my instructors, as they may not have as much natural padding as I do.

I do DD the car around town, everything except my freeway commute.

 

Ok- got the drivers seat in. I had some trouble with mounting, the rail on the sliders hits the bolt that holds the seat bracket to the floor unless you get it JUST right. Took me a bit to wrestle with that. I also spent some time working on the seat angle, ended up on the lowest setting on the rear and 2nd from the top up front.

I dont think you are going to get too much lower than this with a seat. The bottom is scooped out and literally sits on the floor. My sub belt metal buckle was too thick to live to the rear of the seat, I had to reposition it under my thighs.

The stock seat has an aggressive foamectomy on it- and I had max recline (like I would for a track day).

Here is the stock setup





Next picture is with all the puffy foam in place on the Marrad




Here is minus the seat bottom



And finally, no bottom or back. I did have a bit more leg room here.




It's nice and comfy with the padding in, with it out- seemed ok, but I didn't go far. I can tell you, with no padding, I am about as big a butt as you are going to get in this seat.

No wisecracks about how ugly the driver is!

 

Shoulder slots are ok? Not too low?

 

Totally forgot to look- hang on!

 

I think it's okay. Just got all harnessed up, more comfortable than the Konig's I had in my last turbo Miata

 

I may not "need" certs but I like knowing my seat won't explode into a million pieces on impact. Testing shows that the design and materials are adequate to protect you during a crash and that's not something I'm going to overlook just because the track doesn't require it.

 

I may consider the Cobra Racer Pro. I just need to sit in one first.