Fixed Back Racing/Bucket Seat in a Gen 2

Thanks to Lewis and Brandon in the other thread I have had my own successful racing seat install in my 2010 MPS.


I hit a point at track days where the seat was noticeably holding me back. I need more feel from the car to be able to drive it consistently at the limit and I always find myself sliding around in the seat and having to constantly re adjust my position. Also bracing my knees against the sides of the footwell not only left bruises at the end of each track day, but also causes my entire body to tense up, further limiting my driving.


So I did some shopping around and found the Sparco Evo2 fitted my body shape better than the others. I also tried OMP, Velo and Cobra seats but the Evo2 stood out because it fitted my shoulders better than all the others.


Next step was to get the mounting hardware sorted and the best option for this car was a Planted base plate and side mounts. The problem I had was my car is right hand drive and I wasn't sure if their brackets that are made for US spec cars would fit. A quick email to the guys at Planted had them asking me for a photo and some measurements and they confirmed that their right side mount was the correct fit. Very happy with their service.


Bracket ready to go.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...tos/Seat/2.JPG


I also picked up a set of Sparco Sliders but they ended up being a dud purchase as they don't actually bolt up to this combination of side mounts/bracket/seat which I happen to have bought so I ended up bolting the seat in a fixed position.


Everything ready for install.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...tos/Seat/1.jpg


Test fitting the bracket.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...tos/Seat/3.JPG


Test fitting the side mounts and seat. Since I ended up going for a fixed seat position I needed to drill a couple of holes into the base plate to fit the brackets in the right spot.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...tos/Seat/4.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...tos/Seat/5.JPG


Completed installation. I am picking up eye bolts and a 6 point harness and on Friday so will have everything sorted to go racing this weekend.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...tos/Seat/7.JPG

Very nice :)
How'd you go with the airbags? Guessing it's tripped a warning light at least?

Airbag light is blinking so no getting around that. There are bypass parts that you can plug in to stop that but apparently they only work for the steering wheel airbag. I will probably swap this seat in and out just for track days so that shouldn't be a big problem. Certainly will need to swap it back to at least pass rego.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...tos/Seat/8.JPG

Nice work. Much more snug than the factory ones. How much work is it to switch them over each race day?

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Now that I have the harness all set up it is quite easy to swap the seats out. Just 4 bolts.

The hardest part is getting the OEM seat in and out without scratching the bodywork, since the rails are attached to the seat they have a habit of snagging where the sun don't shine while you're moving the heavy bastard in and out.

You've probably tried this as you seem pretty handy but lower the seat as much as you can and even fold it forward to reduce how much space is required to get it out.

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Folding forward not only reduces area but pulls the weight towards the center when held horizontally. Throwing a blanket over the seat can help too.

You can also push the steering column in to give you more room.

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The opposite is to lay the seat back straight and take them out through the back doors

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Sounds fun :s Yeah, towels sound like a good idea...and a box :D

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Track day on Sunday - it was stinking hot so I couldn't set a decent lap time but the seat performed quite well. I guess the best way to describe it is you don't really notice while you're out on the track which is the way it should be.

Now the standard seat is back in the car it feels like I am driving a bus all of a sudden, I used to think the standard seats had good bolstering but now it feels like they have none at all. Also the seating position is ridiculously high by comparison.

It is nice being able to get in and out of the car without twisting my knee tho. Also nice to drive for more than 30 minutes without it starting to get really uncomfortable. I guess you just can't have it all.

Nice thread of DIY. I guess I don't have the same issue with the seat since I'm just *that* much bigger and heavier than you (I'm a much larger person than Reedy if anyone wants to know) and I don't track my car. My weight keeps me planted, just the bolstering that causes some issues if anything... but once again, with my weight, not as much of a problem.

It's a pity the sliders didn't fit the plate properly and swapping seats is rather a pain. You'd think it'd be easy in, easy out... oh well. Nice one Reedy!

Alright, I have a permanent solution for the airbag light issue now.


For those playing along at home, when you remove the seat, you also disconnect and remove the seat airbag. This causes the airbag light to some on, and the airbag computer to throw an error code. Not only is the light annoying, but the error code in the computer also stops all other airbags from working properly, not the result you want.


https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...Resistor/1.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...Resistor/2.JPG


After doing some reading, most airbags can be bypassed using a variety of 2.2-3.3 ohm resistors. I couldn't get any hard data on what the MPS does so I made a best guess based off other Japanese cars of the same era and grabbed a 3.3 ohm, 1W resistor.


https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...Resistor/3.JPG


Then jammed it into the airbag plug under the seat and started the car up. No airbag light, no more error code in the ECU. Great success!


https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...Resistor/4.JPG


The 1W resistors work well as the wire gauge fits snugly enough in the plug to hold itself nicely in place.


Next I grabbed some heatshrink and spaced the legs out to give the resistor a little bit of structure.


https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...Resistor/5.JPG


I ended up making 2 resistor setups, one of them has a 2A automotive fuse wired in series, while the other is just a bare resistor. The fused one should blow in the event of an airbag deployment while the unfused one will probably just let the magic smoke out and go pop. Either way, in that event i'll have much bigger problems to worry about but at least my airbags should be back to working normally now.


https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...Resistor/9.JPG


https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...esistor/10.JPG

Hi Reedy. I've been looking at getting a set of Corbeau seats for my Gen 2, and I'm thinking the Planted seat brackets are the only way to go - however we are a little stuck on the actual seat belt tab and it working properly with our RHD cars. Did you have any drama with yours fitting with the standard seat belt, as I read you are only using the aftermarket seat for track work.
Any help you could give is much appreciated!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 190MPS

Hi Reedy. I've been looking at getting a set of Corbeau seats for my Gen 2, and I'm thinking the Planted seat brackets are the only way to go - however we are a little stuck on the actual seat belt tab and it working properly with our RHD cars. Did you have any drama with yours fitting with the standard seat belt, as I read you are only using the aftermarket seat for track work.
Any help you could give is much appreciated!

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Only just noticed this!

All you need to get is a 7/16 UNF hi tensile nut and you are good to go. There is a tab on the bracket that the seatbelt buckle bolts into, but you need a nut as it just has a through hole rather than a thread.

You will also need to unplug the wiring on the buckle that activates the seatbelt alarm.

I still use the standard seatbelt with my race seat, altho I use it with a booster cushion both for comfort and also for safety, as the seatbelt rests on the seat bolsters instead of my hips when clipped in normally and that can be pretty dangerous in an accident.