Bucket Seats

[(steven)]

I am thinking of putting a budget track day/ring car together. What is the general opinion on bucket seats as a safety device? Will I be okay using a CG lock and standard (sport-ish) seats or are proper seats the way to go.

Having had a quick browse on the internet, it looks as if I can spend anything from £50 on ebay to £2000+ on seats.

I guess my key questions are

• Should I buy some?
• Reclining or fixed (If I am driving them to the ring they need to be comfortable)
• What kind of harness?
• How much should I spend?
• What would you guys recommend?

[agtlaw]

i'll leave others to comment on seats.

i have a cg-lock and would recommend one. however, their claim to offer 80% of the benefits of a harness is very optimistic.

[shim]

yes have a cg-lock also and i think 50% would be optimistic although def value for money if not full backet and harness fitted.

[tertius]

If you are fitting a harness then I think a fixed (not reclining) bucket is essential, as you are relying on the structure of the shell of the seat.

I would buy a recognised brand (Sparco, Recaro or similar) and if you are concerned (not unreasonably) about comfort/fit I would go somewhere you can actually try them out - Grand Prix Racewear stock a small selection and have some set out so you can sit in them.

[FezzaO]

One of the biggest improvements to my track day car was fitting of Recaro Profi SPG shell seats, with the added value of saving about 80kg of weight. I did not like the CG lock as it dug into my hip - but that's personal.

I do not mind driving long distance in these Recaro but I have narrow sized heap (size 30 jeans). I have not driven longer then 300 miles though.

I think that any seat will be good as long as you try it first for comfort - GP Direct have good display but do not do Recaro. Not sure weather Demon Tweaks have a showroom where you can try - worth asking.

I am using Luke harness because that's what my garage recommended. I do not think it makes huge difference. In fact, with the Recaro, even the normal seat belt, which I kept for the road.

Be aware that fitting such seats might require some creativity, depending on the car. It certainly was not straight forward fitting them in the correct alignment and height in my car (M3) and given that I am only 5"6'. Keeping the standard seat belt also required some creativity attaching the pre-tensioner.

[cavebloke]

If it's just for trackdays you can get used harnesses just out of their FIA certification pretty cheap off ebay.

[System-G]

The bucket seats I got were fairly cheap, not too dissimilar to the crappy ones found on ebay. The are reclining and have runners fitted to the underside. We decided to go this route due to both my partner and I driving the track car. She is much shorter than I.

We also have 4-point harnesses fitted, as we have heard too many horror stories of seatbelts alone not doing the job sufficiently. I have also retained the OEM seatbelts for two related reasons - the car is still road legal & driving on the roads with a harness is too restrictive. CG Locks weren't about when I made the decision and I doubt I would bother using them now.
It should also be mentioned that the harnesses should not be "load baring" on the seat wheather it's a fixed back or recliner.

In an ideal world and the car was solely for my use on track I would have gone for a fixed back and had the seat welded/bolted to the structural parts of the floorpan. I would also have gone for a 5 or 6-point harness.

When it comes to safety on track, but the best you can afford.

[boxsey]

I would also recommend a CG lock while you make up your mind. At 32 quid from some suppliers it's a steal. Although probably not realistically 80% of the security of a proper seat and harness, it is easily 100% better than just using the belt normally.

Like yourself I'll enventually get new seats but of equal priority to me is the weight reduction they will offer. Ideally I'd like something that fits on the standard rails so that I've got forwards/backwards adjustment. Whether this is possible I've yet to find out.

[andye30m3]

If you going to fit harnesses i'd recomend you buy the slightly more expencive 3 inch think ones as from what i've heard the 2 inch thick straps really hurt should you have a heavy impact.

I use a Cobra Evolution fix seat which seams fine for up to an hour or so (not driven further than that) I thick you can get additional padding from bucket seats.