Racing Seat Recommendations

Best thing I ever did was buy a racing seat for autox/track days. The seat is still in the car - used as my daily driver. (yes, I might be a little nuts)

A properly fitted racing seat will hold you in - I don't even wear a belt most of the time because I feel so secure.

I'm using a Kirkey cheepcheep. 20 degree? what feels good to you will depend on your ass - my ass may be different! believe the kirkey is available through summit or speedway.

Long trips are a bother because one can't move around.

Lap times should improve because you won't be holding on to the wheel and/or bracing w/ your foot on the dead pedal.

Off you go . . . . .

Well I'm sure someone will recommend the Corvette seats to you. You already have the engine?

What I did though is I am using Halls recovered seats that resemble the last generation Pantera seat.

My butt fits nice and secure in them and the competition harness keeps it planted.

This seat is supplied with a hand pump lumbar support but what I did after dropping the floor pans 2" and extending the pedal box 1-1/2" was take a Ford Taurus power seat platform and adapt it to the flat Pantera floor plan.

The signifigance of this is not only is the fore and aft adjustment power, but the lumbar support is, as well as the rake and the height.

I tilt the seat back and this puts me in an extended position and I can get the angle just so my thighs are just right on the edge of the seat AND seems to work like a suction cup on my butt. So with the five point harness I'm pretty molded into place.

I'm 6'2". I'll have to check in the mirror if my butt has molded itself to the shape of the seat? I think it might have?

The whole set up helps with the leg position so I'm not as twisted into the car as with the original configuration and the greater pedal length helps me tip-toe the pedals. I almost can't reach the pedals with this extended positioning and my back fits into the bucket as well.

I'm probably not generating the g's that you are though but that's ok, that helps me reach the radio controls?

My son has Recaros in his SVT Contour that you mold into pretty well.

There are a bunch of seats that have side bolsters in them. My SHO Taurus has them and they are power adjustable. Those you can adjust to hold you into place but I'm not sure how practical that would be in a Pantera for everyday use.

In a Pantera though with the side bolsters, it would be very much like climbing into a race car.

I have these from PI.
http://www.pim.net/Seat81200815.jpg
Love them. Very comfortable with good support but not over the top.
Will

Scott, glad you had a great time at Willow. My son and I were headed out there are were about 40 minutes away when my Acura's power steering pump started making big noise...headed home to avoid a monster towing bill.DAMN!

Take a look at BMW 3 series sport seats. They are very comfortable and certainly have good side bolsters. I've read on the other forum that some guys are using them...but if you are tall (6 ft+) they may be an issue. Also not sure if they will work with a 5 point harness.

Also take a look at Scat Procar Rally 1000 and their race series seats. The Procar Rally 1000 is a vintage looking seat. I'm looking to find them locally to measure them but they look like they will work(see diagram below). They have really nice side bolsters and look like they should have come in the Pantera. They've been reviewed as a really comfortable seat. The head rest also looks like a 5 point harness would work. The Rally 1000 series seat is about $330-350 per. Scat has other seats that are about $200.

I fitted M3 MotorSport Recaro CSL - works for me

Seats with side bolsters will hold you in place but they really are not easy to live with in an everyday car.

The PI seats are nice Will.

Thanks guys for all the recommendations!!!

Just saw these. Probably an old posting but these are the Fiero seats.

http://www.detomasoregistry.or...s4Sale/KelmSeats.asp

Incidentally I think once you try the 8 way power seats in a Pantera, you'll love them and wonder how you ever survived without them before.

I didn't try them and I don't think they would fit too well, but the Taurus SHO seats with the power adjustable side bolsters might work for you too?

Mine are worn on the drivers side from climbing in and out, but they do keep you in place and you can really snug them up on yourself.

I have OMP WRC seats in the Pantera and the 308. Super comfortable and supportive. Standard issue in Ferrari Challenge/GTC cars if that counts for anything.

I Used Sparco Seats and had them recovered in leather by Precision Proformance

I use a set of Sparco Pro 2000 seats. They have tons of support and are suprisingly comfortable.