Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter
Sparco offroad
I own a seat now for 2 years. I Saw it in other miata's at the club so I know it was possible to make it fit the car. I removed the original seat and used the rails on the sparco. It's a seat in one shelf, it's one piece. I removed the trim of the seat and drilled four holes in the metal plates next to the mounting holes, so I could mount the original rails. I liked the seat, it's a leather look alike, what means the fabric it doesn't fade and doens't get dirty. I have a hernia at the moment, I always had pain in my back because there isn't a lumbar support. The plastic that is used at the seat points is not so strong. If you sit on it with a jeans and stand up, you could break the plastic if it just gets stuck with your backpocket.
Not too bad, no sooo expensive. good if you have a spare rail so you can mount the stock seat on long trips.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
It's the one of major competition one piece bucket seat from Sparco. As such it has quite big shoulder support areas as well as the deep sides. It has rather thicker padding than other competition bucket seat and with the removable centre and leg support chsions you could replace them with thicker padding or different color.
As someone already mentioned it's not easy to install one of these seats in Roadster and hence you will need either Bride's ready made seat rail or to have it custom made. I tried the custom bracket as I want to retain the slider and after several attempts I ended up buying Bride's seat rail. It's specially designed for Roadster with the lowest possible mounting position but as it's designed for Bride's own seat range it won't work with Sparco Seat.
The best option for Sparco seat is IMHO K.G.Works adaptor set. ALthough they don't sell them as the commercial products you might be able to get them as a special favour. :)
An FIA approved racing seat with 5 seatbelt openings.
Comes in varied colors, mine is black. 1 piece fiberglass shell with foam backed cloth lining. Can be mounted from sides or bottom of seat. It's very light, Sparco claims under 13 pounds which seems right.
Installation:
This is extremely difficult (6+ hours if you get it right the first time). The major obstacle to mounting any 1 piece seat is the floorpan of the Miata is not flat.
The front of the stock seat is bolted to a crossmember that runs between the doorsill and transmission tunnel (approx. 2" wide and 2"high). The back of the stock seat is bolted to 2 individual risers. It's hard to decribe in words, but the bottom line is that both sides of the passenger compartment's floor is not a single plane. I would assume in most cars there is sufficient room on the floor to bolt down the L shaped seat brackets (seperate purchase), but in the Miata these crossmembers and risers get in the way. After removing the stock seats, I discovered they are very heavy (I'm guessing 25+ lbs) and they were not symmetrical. The seats mounting points are offset toward the outside of the car.
The Sparco is a symmetric design so the only way to center it with the steering wheel was to make seat mount brackets that would elevate the seat 1" and move it inboard 1" towards the center of the car. I'm 5'8", so I had to elevate the seat in order to clear the transmission tunnel. If you are shorter than me, this seat will be impossible to work with, because the transmission tunnel intrudes more as you move forward. If you are very tall and need your seat mounted far back, the seat may not have a side clearance problem with the transmission tunnel. I don't think it is possible to get this seat low to the floor unless it is moved far back.
Product review:
An excellent product, but not for everyone. The padding is very thin so the ride is harsh. Any drive over 1 hour leads to a sore back. The lateral torso support is stellar. The shoulder "wings" are small compared to other competition seats, but this lets your upper body relax better.
I bought this seat to supplement my competition harness for autocrossing. It was also a bargain at $350 compared to $500-2000 for other FIA approved competition seats. I got it through the internet at Sports Car Accessories. They provided top notch customer service.
If ride comfort is important to you, I cannot recommend this seat. Another factor is steering wheel clearance. Since I had to elevate the seat to center it, there is less room for my legs to clear the steering wheel. Getting in and out of the car requires an acrobatic effort. I am installing a detachable steering wheel to solve this problem. It took me 3 efforts (15 hours) to make seat brackets that would center the seat with the steering wheel. Unless you are tall enough to move the seat all the way back in the driver's compartment, I would recommend having a professional install the seat for you, because you'll need special mounting brackets that raise the seat as well as move it inboard.
Conclusion:
The product is top notch for it's intended purpose. Unfortunately the Miata was not designed to accomodate an aftermarket seat. If you have thought of getting a competition seat you should seriously consider the hassles of installation, ride harshness, and steering wheel clearance. I found that a good 3" harness does a great job keeping you restrained with the stock seat.
Over 30 minutes to remove completely
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20 August, 2002 |