Are chimera seats not very supportive or is it me???
Discussion
I am a little bit dissapointed with the way the my car feels going round corners. Some of it must be the change from a Westfield to the chim, but some of it I think is the seats. They are not very good on latteral support and I think this is causing my lack in confidence in corners. Obviously I need to hitch a ride in another car to see if my suspension is OK or may be in need of new set of Gaz shocks and bushes.
Your thoughts/experiences!??
Your thoughts/experiences!??
More helpfully, the seats aren't particularly supportive although I never had an issue with mine. I always found that pulling the belt tighter helped.
Can't comment on the shocks, but if they're original, they may well be getting tired...
The Chimaera and the Westie are very different tools though mate, the former being much more of a GT in comparison.
Can't comment on the shocks, but if they're original, they may well be getting tired...
The Chimaera and the Westie are very different tools though mate, the former being much more of a GT in comparison.
Edited by Podie on Wednesday 17th October 22:08
You are not wrong!!!
The Chim and Griff seats are useless at holding you in place whilst cornering fast, I have come from a Porsche 968 where you are gripped by vice like seats I have to use my knee against the transmission tunnel to stop the movement I have only done two track days in my Chim 500 but seats are VVVVV high on the improvement list.
Anyone got any good suggestions on a straight swap.
Tim
The Chim and Griff seats are useless at holding you in place whilst cornering fast, I have come from a Porsche 968 where you are gripped by vice like seats I have to use my knee against the transmission tunnel to stop the movement I have only done two track days in my Chim 500 but seats are VVVVV high on the improvement list.
Anyone got any good suggestions on a straight swap.
Tim
MPETT said:
I am a little bit dissapointed with the way the my car feels going round corners. Some of it must be the change from a Westfield to the chim, but some of it I think is the seats. They are not very good on latteral support and I think this is causing my lack in confidence in corners. Obviously I need to hitch a ride in another car to see if my suspension is OK or may be in need of new set of Gaz shocks and bushes.
Your thoughts/experiences!??
You're not far from me. You are welcome to pop over to Crowthorne and see what Nitrons do to the handling. Alternatively, if you can get to this meet on Sunday there are a few Tivs expected:Your thoughts/experiences!??
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
David
Podie said:
Cerb seats also fit. Take your pick! 
But apparantly raise the seating position. Which isn't good - I'm only 5'8" and even I feel a little high up in the standard seats.Podie said:
or just be done with it and get a rollbar and some harnesses... 
Yes, good call Pods. It's on my TODO list. 
The standard seats are indeed crap, but they're so narrow that options are limited for replacements.
I also dont like my seats! - As quite a tall person i dont feel they offer much support to the back or hold you in very well - The back of the seat id not very high.
If i hadn't spent so much on my car this year i would be looking to get them changed, but have to wait for another time!
If i hadn't spent so much on my car this year i would be looking to get them changed, but have to wait for another time!
Podie said:
MPETT said:
I saw some tuscan seats in a chim in SPRINT magazine. Looked nice!
Cerb seats also fit. Take your pick! or just be done with it and get a rollbar and some harnesses...
I'm still looking for a seat which will fit both me and the car.
Zumbruk said:
Podie said:
MPETT said:
I saw some tuscan seats in a chim in SPRINT magazine. Looked nice!
Cerb seats also fit. Take your pick! or just be done with it and get a rollbar and some harnesses...
I'm still looking for a seat which will fit both me and the car.
They are indeed pretty crap. They offer no latteral support, and they also put your back in a crappy posture. The crappy posture position may feel comfortable, but that doesn't make it a good position to leave your back in for any great length of time. If you have any lower back problems, sitting in the Chim without additional lower back support will do you no good at all. Having slipped a disc, I got an appropriately shaped cushion from my physio for all of about a tenner which improves this enormously.
Like many others on this thread I have been wanting to replace the seats for several years. There are several threads on Pistonheads in which people in my position have been asking for others' experiences, but the threads usually come up blank.
In my case, as I am tall, I need to sit lower in the car to get my head below the top of the roll bar. For me that seems to rule out the Cerbera seats as, from what I've heard, they actually raise you a little. My g/f also drives the car, so the driver's seat needs to be on runners.
If you measure the available space in the cabin it is clearly going to be a tight fit or outright impossible to fit many after-market "sports touring seats" ... i.e. ones with adjustable back rake. Full-on racing seats would probably fit in with less difficulty, but that isn't what I'm looking for either ergonomically or aesthetically. Clubman style seats would fit, but then you are replacing pretty much like with like, and I would expect the same set of problems with them.
You're in a catch 22 where the width of the cabin is too great for the original or clubman style seats to work well, but neither does it seem wide enough to accomodate many of the available sport-touring seats.
If you take a catalogue and compare the measurements of the after-market seats to the dimensions of the cabin, it is very hard to be confident about what will and won't fit. The cabin shape is quite complicated, and the available width varies depending how far back the seat will be positioned and at what height you measure the width.
The only solution seems to be to go to a retailer with a range of seats in stock and sit outside in the carpark with a spanner seeing what will actually fit. I finally got a slot in my diary where I could go do this, and I was all set to drive down to St Leonards and work my way through Corbeau's stock ... when there was a big fire at their premises and they closed up shop to sort things out.
Like many others on this thread I have been wanting to replace the seats for several years. There are several threads on Pistonheads in which people in my position have been asking for others' experiences, but the threads usually come up blank.
In my case, as I am tall, I need to sit lower in the car to get my head below the top of the roll bar. For me that seems to rule out the Cerbera seats as, from what I've heard, they actually raise you a little. My g/f also drives the car, so the driver's seat needs to be on runners.
If you measure the available space in the cabin it is clearly going to be a tight fit or outright impossible to fit many after-market "sports touring seats" ... i.e. ones with adjustable back rake. Full-on racing seats would probably fit in with less difficulty, but that isn't what I'm looking for either ergonomically or aesthetically. Clubman style seats would fit, but then you are replacing pretty much like with like, and I would expect the same set of problems with them.
You're in a catch 22 where the width of the cabin is too great for the original or clubman style seats to work well, but neither does it seem wide enough to accomodate many of the available sport-touring seats.
If you take a catalogue and compare the measurements of the after-market seats to the dimensions of the cabin, it is very hard to be confident about what will and won't fit. The cabin shape is quite complicated, and the available width varies depending how far back the seat will be positioned and at what height you measure the width.
The only solution seems to be to go to a retailer with a range of seats in stock and sit outside in the carpark with a spanner seeing what will actually fit. I finally got a slot in my diary where I could go do this, and I was all set to drive down to St Leonards and work my way through Corbeau's stock ... when there was a big fire at their premises and they closed up shop to sort things out.
Interesting discussion so far. My car was fitted with a roll bar but I removed it as I was hitting my head on it (6'). The Westfield I owned before had nice seats but the back was not adjustable. I also own an e30 with recaro's. They are fully adjustable and very comfortable, but I am not sure they would be in keeping with the Chimera's styling. The Cerbera seats sound like the way forward!
ATG said:
In my case, as I am tall, I need to sit lower in the car to get my head below the top of the roll bar. For me that seems to rule out the Cerbera seats as, from what I've heard, they actually raise you a little. My g/f also drives the car, so the driver's seat needs to be on runners.
If you measure the available space in the cabin it is clearly going to be a tight fit or outright impossible to fit many after-market "sports touring seats" ...
Good posting. You seem to have been down exactly the same route I have, spending many hours poring over manufacturers sizing charts and wandering around accessory shops with a tape measure. The real problem seems to be the "wings" that most seats seem to have at shoulder height. Several of the other sprinters have solved this by unstitching the covers and cutting them off, which is unacceptable if you care what they look like. I'm also considering a Tillet seat (http://www.tillett.co.uk/ - sit down before you look at the prices) or having one made.If you measure the available space in the cabin it is clearly going to be a tight fit or outright impossible to fit many after-market "sports touring seats" ...
Podie said:
Zumbruk said:
Podie said:
MPETT said:
I saw some tuscan seats in a chim in SPRINT magazine. Looked nice!
Cerb seats also fit. Take your pick! or just be done with it and get a rollbar and some harnesses...
I'm still looking for a seat which will fit both me and the car.
JonRB said:
bobfather said:
Get a CG-Lock. Problem solved!
Apart from the fact that they aren't compatible with the seatbelts of the Chimaera.(There is a workaround to "make" them fit by turning them round the wrong way or something, but it doesn't look safe to me)
How to fit a CG-Lock
I now use this
How to make a reversing clamp for a CG-Lock
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