I recently sat in an OMP HTE-R and really liked it. I have Sparco Sprint's now and they suck. Very uncomfortable.

This got me thinking about full containment seats. I am ready to cut the transmission tunnel and do some welding to fit something comfortable, and I like the added safety of full containment.

I drive the car on the street once in a while and would like to maintain the ability to do so. Which leads me to two questions;

OMP HTE-R vs Cobra Evolution. I have not sat in the Cobra. The OMP seemed a tad wide for me (6' tall, 180 lb., 32" waist). Has anyone sat in both? The dimensions charts don't help much.

Second, the design of the halo on the Cobra would lead me to believe that you would have better peripheral vision on the street. But it also seems like the halo is also larger, which would make exiting through the window more difficult. I would rather not remove the quarter windows. Does the Cobra Evolution halo design really help with peripheral? Does it block more of the egress space or is that just an illusion?

 

FWIW, before I bought a trailer I put a Sparco Ergo with a removable halo in my car for the drives to and from the track. It has pretty similar halo coverage to the OMP HTE-R and is nicer than the tubular Sprint. In the end, I basically never bothered to unbolt the halo supports, since they didn't interfere with my peripheral vision to any meaningful degree.

 

I talked to Johny@OGRacing about this a little bit ago. He recommended the following 4 halo seats as fitting in the miata with minimal massaging of the trans tunnel.

omp hte 400
Circuit 2
Kirley 45
Racetech 4009hr

 

OMP HTE here since early 2010, so that's 6.5 years. Daily driven, I haven't looked back, pun not intended.

 

Happy enough with the Kirkey listed above when it needs to be driven on the street. Like you a bit of a rare occasion, but it doesn't feel unsafe.

 

I can't imagine a full containment seat on the street.

I drove my buddies Miata a few months ago on track, full cage, hardtop, containment seat, outside and inside nets.........it felt positively claustrophobic.

 

Just a heads up to anyone thinking about the Circuit:

I had a Circuit put in my car by a racing shop...to get the seat centered on the wheel, it is NOT light massaging. They had to beat the hell out of the tunnel, and the Circuit 2 is wider so would probably require more bashing.

On a side note, with the Circuit, I couldn't see out the passenger side window at all when strapped in. Absolutely no visibility of the passenger mirror unless I craned my neck like crazy. I don't recommend that seat unless you have a big, convex mirror or a wink mirror, and the shape of it would make getting out the window impossible. I had to buy another non-halo seat (expensive mistake) to feel safe driving on the street at all.

 

Momo Lesmo One fits pretty well, but it's not for large people.

 

Yeah, halo seat on the street sounds like a really bad idea to me.

I think there are seats with removable halo wings so that you can drive it to the track and bolt them on when you get there. No idea how well they work.

--Ian

 

If aluminum halos are an option, the Ultrashield Rally Sport Halo is a nice seat and I still have very good visibility with it. External dimensions were nearly identical with the equivalent sized Kirkey (withing about 1/4").

 

My plan is to fit the containment seat onto the stock mounting points. This way I can swap back and forth between race seats and harnesses and stock seats and seatbelts. I did the whole race seats and 6 points on the street and it gets old quickly.

 

Really like my Sparco Pro-Adv. Was hesitating between OMP HTE too but was feeling something in my back that wasn't there in the Sparco.. Cobra we're nice but somewhat flimsy IMHO.

I love the new Sparco with removable halo, seems like the perfect compromise.

 

I like mine a lot, and it's (Ergo Medium) pretty similar in dimensions and fit to the Circuit II.

My car only has light tunnel hammering, but the wheel is ~1/2" off center, which doesn't bother me with a 330mm wheel.

 

FYI, due to the current pound-dollar exchange rate, parts from Demon Tweeks are crazy cheap. I just ordered an HTE-R 400 for $503 and an ARS-R for $412. Shipping was $300 for one or two seats, so buying two at a time saved a **** ton. Total comes out to ~$1215. AND they came with free side mount brackets (not sure I will be able to use them as they are offset style, but I could probably sell them!). Considering that most places want $950 and $760 for these seats, usually plus shipping, and without free side mounts. If any of you are in the market I suggest you check out their current prices!

 

Another vote for the OMP HTE-R 400. It might be the best Miata fit of all the low-mid priced FIS 8855 seats. I had an OMP RS-PT in Super. More comfy than the Cobra Evolurion in Crusher and thats saying something as Crusher was good. The 400 is basically the HTE-R with a narrower 400mm width halo section. This is crucial to getting a tall driver back far enough and still having the main hoop clear the top. My new S1 car "Vegas" is being built with the 400 for me and an RS-PT that can be swapped in for passengers.

 

​Evo 2, I was trunk to fit it to the stock floor mounts. I had zero room between my knees and the steering wheel. Not enough to make me feel safe anyway.

Emillio, you mention clearing a hardtop with a cage. I had a really hard time doing this. I felt the need to remove the floor, then replace with a wedge. Have you found a better way? I'm only 5'-10" and with a helmet, this was a tough fit.

OP, it will not be light massage. It was sawblades, metal fab and extensive welding for me. I was picky with the fit though.

 

Cobra Evo is wide. RS-PT less wide. HTE-R 400 much narrower than either. No magic in making it fit. Just careful measuring and fabrication by your cage fabricator.
I'm 6'3 but rail thin so my "sit bones" are right on the seat and I have no natural "padding" to raise my torso in the seat. If you are ah, chunky, you'll have a hard time fitting in a Miata regardless of height.

 

Wow, that's a steal. I was already thinking about trying an HTE-R 400 and that may push me over the edge. Anyone close to KY wanna go halvsies on shipping with me?

They also have FIA HANS devices for cheap, and the lowest price I've ever seen on Schroth Enduro belts. Also Schroth Clubmans with 5-year FIA cert (and 2" lap belt, which you can't even buy in the US) for $185.

 

Shipping was also crazy fast. UPS says they will be here tomorrow!

 

I am well aware! Cutting and welding steel is fun, I am actually looking forward to it. The tranny is out already for leak repair so I have full access to both sides of the tunnel. I can't wait to finally have a proper race seat!