Seats

[ukchris]

My seats are standard Caterham fabric but are kind of tired, sun bleached and one has a hole cut for the sun belt. I’m debating whether to have them recovered or whether to replace them with Kirkey racing seats.

 

Any thiughs on the pros pros and cons either way? I just got a price estimate of $500 to have both redone and the hole/slot for the sub belt tidied up. I think Kirkey seats with covers would run about $400 each. I don’t know that I NEED race seats but figure they would look good, be fairly comfortable and also make for more room if necessary, just not sure how they compare for comfort day to day driving around. I’m not likely to be in a track, I’d expect 95%+ would be touring around.

 

Id welcome any comments or suggestions as to how “livable” race seats are (with padded covers).

[xcarguy]

Chris,

 

I'm sure Cat owners will chime in,but I’ll start from a perspective of someone who runs race seats (Ultra Shield) in his car. My car is street legal, however, I drive it less and less on the street. Some of the reasons are:

• I have a full cage and it’s a hassle to climb over everytime I get in and out of the car.
  
• My race seats are a very tight fit; great for track duty, but not so much for long road-going trips. While I’ve installed aviation foam (1” thick firm in the bottom and 1” thick medium at back) that adds to the comfort/safety of the seat, it’s still not as comfortable as a street oriented seat.
  
• Just as the roll cage, the six-point harness is a hassle for street use.
  

 

Again, all these features are great (necessary) for a track oriented car, but the trade off is long term comfort and overall dual purpose usability. If you are going to use your car primarily for street use, I’d spend the money to have the existing seats recovered. You’ll be money, and comfort, ahead.

[papak]

I have Kirkeys in my Birkin as I have had in previous track cars. I ordered the 17" road race seats and, while the bases fit perfectly, the shoulder supports were too wide to clear the rear fender arches. This was with them sitting in the SS3XS, the 100mm wider Birkin. I ended up cutting them down a bit and having the covers modified as well. Were I to do it over, I would order the Kirkey drag seats in the same size. They are made with the same inclination but don't have the shoulder supports. The covers that come with them should fit fine. Remember, with Kirkeys. all of the padding resides in the seat cover.

[ukchris]

Do you find the Kirkey’s comfortable (with covers)? My car came with a Kirkey but it’s a 15” which is a little like wishful thinking, if I go that way I was thinking the 5t Drag in 17” too.

[papak]

I find them very comfortable. If the padding becomes too compressed, you can always add some "backsaver" foam or memory foam under the seat cover. In order to get the fit right, attend an SCCA or PCA event and ask if you can try the seat for fitment. A lot of guys run these and Butlers in the Northeast. Everybody is usually accomodating.

[ukchris]

Sounds like a plan, thank you, I’m looking in to whether there’s anywhere local that stocks them because as you suggested I’d like to sit in one to get the size right.

[ukchris]

While looking up prices on the Kirkey seats I stumbled across others at Summit, I haven't looked in to details on size/fit/brackets but they have some pretty nice looking seats that have good reviews and are inexpensive.

 

http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=14041&stc=1

[papak]

The only place I’ve ever seen one on the floor is at Racer Parts Wholesale in Ohio. I happened to be there on business about 10-12 years ago.

[Kitcat]

I think the stock cloth Cat seats are very comfortable (once you add a lumbar pillow). I have tried lots of race seats and they are usually pretty hard/confining/difficult to ingress/egress. Given your emphasis on touring/blatting, I'd stick with the stock cloth seats, re-cover, or just buy a new set?