Racing Seat Fitment help: Bride Zeta XL vs Recaro SPG XL
 

Looking for a racing seat, primarily to gain head space with a helmet, in addition to the obvious holding upgrade. Without a helmet, i have maybe an inch space from the roof; with a Bell Sport helmet, i have to tilt and bend like an idiot. This won't work on track.

I stopped by Griffin Motorwerke (https://www.g-werke.com), which bills itself as the largest Recaro distributor in North America. Having seen their warehouse, i believe them - they have aisles full of seats AND all sorts of spares parts, plus walls and walls of harnesses and associated components. They will build you a custom bracket to whatever the hell spec you want. They have a showroom with every goddamn Recaro available. Basically, Recaro heaven.

I test fit a Recaro SPG XL, which based on available measurements, was the closest i could get. Legs and hips - perfect! Shoulders? perfect! Now I know what i need:

https://www.425motorsports.com/media...PG_XL_2015.jpg

Massive problem, though: My torso is too tall, putting the top of my shoulders at about the top of the harness pass through openings. Per their harness guy (yes, they have a harness guy), that is going to lead to spine compression and i don't want that.

So now I need a seat is roughly the same dimensions (about 540mm wide at the bottom, 880mm tall, with harness pass-through above 600 mm height)

Unfortunately the closets i can think of is the Bride Zeta XL, but there is no dealer in the area and no one that has one locally. From looking at their measurements:

https://d1vv73x37cbx43.cloudfront.ne...eta3-japan.jpg, it LOOKS like their harness pass-through openings sit higher than the Recaro SPG XL.

Comparo:

https://s.ecrater.com/stores/245188/...a7_245188b.jpg

https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-79xy...=2&imbypass=on

Anyone familiar enough with both seats to be able to tell?

Another option that might be in play is a Sparco EVO II L

Are you dead set on a bucket? I'm 6'4, mostly torso, and had a decent helmet fit with a Sparco Chrono with shaved seat cushion and a DIY seat bracket that mounted it, non-adjustable, pretty much on the floor pan.

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Pretty much set in a bucket, wish to retain slider

In that case... I know there are some good-looking Targa top mods floating around here...

I am 6'1" and have a long torso and fairly wide hips. I have a Sparco US that sits on a Edge Engineering seat bracket. I fit with no issues. There are a number seats that fit your height like racetech and Cobra. The issue is non will be low enough with a slider. In fact you will more than likely sit taller than stock. Check out Sube` Sports they are in Anaheim and have some seats in the showroom. They very helpful too.

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Taller than stock is a no go, the reason i'm going bucket is for lower seating position

Agreed!!! So you will be limited to a stationary mounting setup .

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I spent at least 200 hours researching, experimenting, and pissing away too much $$$ with various seats and mount designs for the 370Z. You can't get lower than OEM with a sliding, side-mounted seat unless you custom-build a mount that bolts directly to the floor pan. So you'd have to weld plates to the underbody. And that design would only work if the bucket was angled up so your legs can bend and actually fit in the car. So with sliders, as you move the seat forward it'd also go upwards.

If you find a way to solve this issue please let us know, bc it stumped the hell out of me.

what about this mount/slider?
https://www.evasivemotorsports.com/s...-370z-09-left/
https://www.evasivemotorsports.com/m...-1_960x960.jpg

The slider sit on the brack which raises the height of the seat about an inch. Buddy Club is the lowest one I know of but it doesn't fit well and isn't seem to be very sturdy.

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This Griffin Motorwerke shop actually thinks they could build a custom setup using Recaro parts and some custom work.

They had pix of a 6'6 guy that could barely fit into his mustang (late model) and with custom rails got him ******* on the floor with 3 inches of space, with sliding capability

That gives me hope that the proper rail/slider combo would gain headspace, in addition to the angle of a bucket


The other suggestion was to use the Recaro SPG XL with stock 3 point seatbelts - any dramatic drawbacks to doing that for noncompetitive track driving?

Totally interested if they are able to fab something up and I don't see any issues with maintaining the factory 3 point system. I use mine for street use as well.

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It would be about $2k with seat, rails, hardware, wiring, all included
They're also only about an hours drive away so at the end of the day I am glad I have the option

I wanna test the sparco lineup but the only dealer is physically located at Sears Point raceway , another hours trip for me, but I'll get around to it

Nearest bride dealer is all the way in socal

I have Cobra Imola GT Seat, for my race car, it is nearly the same internal size as spg xl, but the harness holes are high. You can remove the cushion to get lower when you are on track.

I used buddy club mount in my 370z, I couldn't go lower than stock with big seat (evo2us), also the install was a pita and the slider doesn't work smoothly, I went with PCI slider for my race car, and should be shipped very soon to me (but I heard they are very heavy).

You will not be able to make room unless you take Betty’s experience and advice or fabricate custom rails. I currently have the Bride Stradia II seats in my Z they were not only back ordered for 4-8 weeks but payed full price to get them. If you go with the Bride seats make sure to use the Bride seats rails as they have the best overall fitment with Bride seats but you can get a option for having a low cushion or normal cushion that’s up to you. These Bride seats are observed to be very slightly lower than the base Z seats.

I tested buddyclub setup with sparco evo2L. Couldn't even get in the car. Buddyclub rails are twice as thick as sparco rails, the brackets raise the rails above OEM, and most importantly, the welds are not continuous and are also "Guangzhao" trash welds. I would not entrust my life to Buddyclub.

As for that shop... idk what a Mustang floor pan looks like, but the Z's has a lot of topography. OEM front bolt holes are 3/4" above the pan itself. Im just a mildly-gifted amateur myself, and I'm sure a dedicated shop could come up with a solution. But I'd want to see real numbers before I paid. One thing I learned from my experience is that millimeters really do count when it comes to vertical seat fitment.

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One other thing. After shaving the seat cushion, going for a fixed seat, and fabbing the lowest mount possible, I fit in the Z with a helmet. But...

I was so low that my pedal geometry was all screwed up. Had shift issues even with RJM v3 clutch pedal. And, I could not see over the hood or fenders. Had no idea where the front of the car was, to the point that I stopped using drive-thrus.

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Custom rails are on the table

I feel like Buddy Club rails with the right seat can successfully mount the seat low enough. I have Buddy Club rails with Corbeau FX1 Pros which is not the correct combination and have been looking at different seats to make something work. I've mostly been looking at the side mount positions and for seats that lack a flat bottom to add additional clearance. If you need a wide seat, though, I can see the Buddy Club rails as a limiting factor. But narrow seats can be mounted low if they are capable.

I’m gonna check out your seat today; as I’m 6’6” & 270’ish...mostly up top. :ugh2:
I’ve been following this thread,because the touring leather seats I have are a no-go :shakes head:
I removed the drivers seat from the 11’ model I had & drilled out the mounting legs from the rails- then had them cut down an inch all over & made do with it (lotta work)...better, but probably close to where cloth/base seats position.

Took a day off and put in a call with Wine Country Motorsports at Sonoma Raceway

gonna test out the whole goddamn Sparco lineup! they also have stock of Cobra and OMP

brought my helmet this time too


I must say i am pretty grateful that there are Sparco and Recaro distributors within a couple hours

if only there were a damn Bride showroom around here too

Never even saw this thread. I am looking too. Need a Halo seat though. Thank god I am shorter. LOL

One of a few times being vertically challenged pays off. :shakes head:

Bride Zeta seats are not racing seats, they have no certificate, they are just aftermarket seats. The Recaro seats are FIA seats.

Bride's English website is terrible but they do say the following are certified seats, RACING series, which they say are FIA tested: PROFACE/MAXIS/GARDIS/ZODIA

Is there a difference between fia compliance and fia certified?
The site states that the zeta and vios are compliant as well
https://bride-jp.com/en/seat/zeta/ZE..._XL_black.html
https://bride-jp.com/en/seat/vios/VI...lack_logo.html

sparco evo II QRT
Perfect fit. Harness holes clear shoulders

Only question is how to get it low

Anyone knows if the Bride XL sliders will work? Roughly the same width for QRT and the Zeta XL

Fwiw, the sparco dealer tells me Planted makes the sparco mount/sliders

Really wish the sparco came in red

Planted does and they are fairly low but you will still need to modify the floor if you want to use the slider.

Well this is interesting

https://bride-jp.com/en/news/2019/09...-products.html

They list a Bride Zeta IV XL as upcoming product, no further info

Wait and see. New design feature on the zeta IV is highlighted to be bigger harness holes so its worth checkin out

I saw Zeta 3 XL dimensions and it appears to be nearly the same dimensions as Cobra Imola GT I have, both are smaller outside than SPG XL, but as per diagrams, Imola GT match SPG internal sizing, Imola has a high harness hole.

Anyway, you tried the seats, so I would say go for the one you feel most comfortable in, as well as having a higher harness hole to install harness safely.

Currently Sparco EVO II QRT is the correct fitment

but no reason to buy it now since the Zeta IV XL is coming soon

may as well try it before locking in

I have the Evo II US and it is 45mm less than the XL at the shoulder bolster. My bolster is right up against the door. If the Bride is narrower it would be worth waiting for.

I have used an Evo2US, borrowed from a friend, and yes shoulders where wide for me, better than evo3 but still wide, I liked the shoulder bolster on Pro2000. Not a lot of time on Imola until now to give an opinion about them.

as an aside, i HATE how Sparco names their seats prior to 2020

There were EVO, EVO 2, EVO 2 US, EVO 3, EVO 2 L, and then there was QRT ,QRT-R, QRT-C, EVO 2 QRT, EVO QRT.

The new line is just EVO S, regular, L, XL and its so much easier

A very promising new contender has arisen:

Recardo - PODIUM

https://www.recaro-automotive.com/fi...am-product.png

https://www.recaro-automotive.com/en.../recaro-podium

Brochure: https://www.recaro-automotive.com/fi...-podium-en.pdf

It looks absolutely wicked. M and L sizes available but no exact dimensions listed.

The way the harness holes are positioned on the spine is very encouraging since it looks like the top most set is higher relative to the shoulders than the SPG XL

So if this is just the same size the SPG XL with higher holes . . . its perfect

Hmmmmm...........

So, I just got a Sparco QRT-R and installed it on my BuddyClub rails. If you don't mind the seat leaning back, they can provide equal head clearance with the stock seats. I like my seats leaning back, so it's perfect for me. I autocrossed on them today for the first time and am very happy with the combination. I'm 5'11", 195 with a 34 in. waist. If you like to sit upright and close to the wheel, this may not be the correct combination for you, unless you're short.