Seat Lowering

[Tony_the_Brit]

I was at the track for the 1st time a couple of weeks ago and found that I have to recline the seat waaay too far back to clear my helmet - so far in fact that I have to move the seat almost the whole way forward to be able to properly hold the steering wheel. Certainly not ideal.

(Interlude for those who don't know if I'm stupid or not - I did have the seat all of the way down.)
(interlude for those who are 6'4" and can fit just fine - my body length etc. may not be proportionate to yours.)

So after looking around for suggestions and finding none using the existing seat - I do not have the Recaros - I took the seat out today to explore my options short of modifying the floor.

What I ended up doing was unhooking the white plastic 4-hook retainer that hooks the rear of the bottom seat springs to a tube across the back of the seat. The pic is of the retainer after I was done. To get to it you need to unhook the 2 elastic loops that hold the rear seat trim in place and also the 2 plastic clips that hold the back of the seat cushion cover down. Afterwards you can just replace the elastic loops. I left the 2 plastic clips unattached.

I was thinking that I might end up having to zip tie the white plastic 4-hook retainer to the tube it was originally hooked around to keep it in place but so far that does not seem to be the case. I will be driving the car to see how it goes and will report back as to whether I need to make any adjustments. In effect you end up sitting on the floor (and the other stuff under the seat) but I'm a little on the wide side so between the front 1/2 of the seat and the sides it doesn't seem to go all of the way down even if I bounce.

If it crushes down too much I will likely make up a custom foam piece to go under the seat with cutouts for the various connectors to smooth things out but we will see.

After trying with the helmet on I believe that I have gained about 1.5" after settling in with harness on. Still not enough - I really need about 3" - but better than before. It effectively gains me about 3" of leg room as I don't have to recline quite as much.

If this doesn't work out I'm going to investigate modifying the floor to drop the whole thing a couple of inches if practicable. Has anyone done this?

I'll be at Gingerman for the season closing Oct 24/25 if anyone is interested...

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[Arknsawchuck]

I know this is kinda out of the box, but did ya give any thought to maybe your helmet is built taller/thicker at the top? I know my motorcycle helmets with the vents on top seem taller in the top area of the helmet. Just a thought.

 

[Tony_the_Brit]

Good thinking! I have a very basic XXL open-face helmet model BF1-R88. My head is very long so I'm limited as to options but I will keep my eye out for one that helps.

 

[Arknsawchuck]

Maybe you can drive to a shop with helmets and they will let you take them outside to see how it fits. I have a G Force full face without the air ducts and it clears nicely. But I'm not you and I'm 6'3" so ya never know.

 

[nordique14]

I bought a fixed back seat and essentially bolted it to the floor using a custom fabricated mount. Not a great solution if you are worried about your side airbag or having other people driving your car, but you will get maximum headroom. With a helmet on, I need all the headroom I can get!

 

[460Fred]

You average size guys have no idea how real the struggle is for us bigger than average guys.
Cars don’t fit, motorcycles don’t fit, clothes don’t fit right, shoes are a royal PITA.
Last October or so a buddy and I headed to a C8 Corvette reveal event for the sole purpose of seeing if I could fit in it. All eyes were on me when I squeezed in...not enough head room although leg room was great. There you go, another car I cannot own although thinking about surprising the Mrs with one some day.
The first thing I did when I got home with my new GT350 was to try on a MC helmet in the front seat. Barely fit but I also know quality MC helmets have a bit more thickness to them.
Yes, head to a speed shop and try some helmets on in your car.
Again, the struggle is real.

 

[Tony_the_Brit]

The seat trick seems to have helped quite a bit. Maybe more than I initially thought. Having a harness is something I strongly recommend for taller guys as it prevents you from hitting your head/helmet on the roof so hard. My local track, Gingerman Raceway in Southeast MI is fortunately very smooth compared to many.

If I still have problems the next things to look at are:

1. Have an upholsterer build me a new bottom cushion & cover for the seat without the higher sides - which are what are holding me up right now.
2. Check into whether there are non-powered seat rails that will fit the seats. (Anyone know??)
3. Have the floor lowered (if practical).

I'm not going to change seats because this car will do a considerable amount of road miles and I want to keep the airbags etc. I am open to removing the heat/cooling but I don't see that that is going to do much as the thickness of the fan etc. is about the same as the space you have to leave below the seat for the wiring connectors.

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