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So I just spoke to a rep at Sparco and a rep at Corbeau with some questions. It looks like the Sparco seats will match up to the Bride rails exactly as they are all 271x345. Bonus! Thank you 2GoRNot2G.
Corbeau had their dimensions in inches 11 3/8 x 13". The 13" is front to back and translates to 330.2 mm so that should match up. The 11 3/8" is 288.925 mm so I am assuming they will match up or I may have to modify the holes slightly.
The guy at Corbeau said their seat rails with slider are only 8-10 lbs so if the Bride rails really are 15-18 lbs, that means the Corbeau A4 with their rails could weigh as much at 15 lbs less per seat. However, this would also mean that I would need to pick up coupe seat rails and try to have them modified to fit.
The guy I talked to at Sparco also recommended I take a look at the Chrono Road seat. I had previously passed on this seat because I thought it was only in vinyl according to their website, but it is available in cloth.
The holes in the mounting plates that Bride supplies with their brackets/sliders are elongated, so you do have a little bit of adjustability for variation between seats.
I believe most manufacturer's list the weight of their brackets without the top mounting plates. The Bride brackets came with those mounting plates separately so the brackets themselves probably only weight about 10 - 12lbs, but the mounting plates are pretty beefy and probably weight another 5 lbs. I can't see how you could make the bracket much lighter unless you made it our of aluminum, but then you'd probably need to make it out of thicker material so it would be strong enough to hold up in a crash. Also worth mentioning is that the Bride brackets come with the seat belt mount (for the OEM lap belt) on the slider where some manufacturer's don't even supplied a bracket for mounting the OEM lap belt.
All that said, I would just go with the Bride brackets. It will just make the whole install more straight forward and simple taking out a lot of the hassle for you.
Also, I really like that Sparco Chrono seat. I think a pair of those is well suited to the G interior.
Well, that might be the easiest route yet if the mounting pattern matches up.
Speaking of easy, were the modules you need to plug into on the driver's seat (one for the power mirrors and I think one for the seatbelt) impossible to get off of the factory seat without screwing up too much stuff? I ask because I believe you ordered these parts off of ebay or similar instead of taking them off of your factory seat.
Forgot to include this in my response.... The module is super easy to remove from the old seat... Just two bolts and a couple of connectors to remove. But to get the wiring harness out of your OEM seat is going to be a difficult task. So I didn't have to completely dismantle the OEM driver's seat I just picked up both parts on ebay. The part number for the wiring harness will be listed on a white tag on your OEM wiring harness. I just pulled that part number and found matching harness. I can see if I have pics of those part numbers but they may not be exactly the same for your car since mine is a 2008 G35S and not sure if they changed anything in the later years of the G37S.
FYI... Here are a couple of pics of the Bride bracket boxes so you will have the correct part numbers for the sedan brackets. Also included a pic of the instructions showing the seat mounting plates and seat belt mount I was talking about above.
The holes in the mounting plates that Bride supplies with their brackets/sliders are elongated, so you do have a little bit of adjustability for variation between seats.
I believe most manufacturer's list the weight of their brackets without the top mounting plates. The Bride brackets came with those mounting plates separately so the brackets themselves probably only weight about 10 - 12lbs, but the mounting plates are pretty beefy and probably weight another 5 lbs. I can't see how you could make the bracket much lighter unless you made it our of aluminum, but then you'd probably need to make it out of thicker material so it would be strong enough to hold up in a crash. Also worth mentioning is that the Bride brackets come with the seat belt mount (for the OEM lap belt) on the slider where some manufacturer's don't even supplied a bracket for mounting the OEM lap belt.
All that said, I would just go with the Bride brackets. It will just make the whole install more straight forward and simple taking out a lot of the hassle for you.
Also, I really like that Sparco Chrono seat. I think a pair of those is well suited to the G interior.
Thanks for all the good info. You are like my aftermarket seat hero! I am beginning to agree with you on the bride seat brackets. How long did you say they take to get, about 6 weeks?
I can see if I have pics of those part numbers but they may not be exactly the same for your car since mine is a 2008 G35S and not sure if they changed anything in the later years of the G37S.
Wait, you have a G35?? ****! So you have G35 seat rails?
Seats should be exactly the same, if it's a V36 I think you will be fine.
That's a good point. They did make our body style (G37) as a G35 for a bit didn't they? I would assume that means his G35 uses the same seat rails.
I called Evasive Motorsports and talked to Joshua to make sure. He was trying to verify that my car was a "PV36" according to Bride. He said it was on the vin tag. It's not, but I assume that just refers to the V36 body style. They are a bit spendy at $237.50 each, but they do include the sliders, hardware, and seatbelt mounts. They take 8-10 weeks to get from Japan.
That's a good point. They did make our body style (G37) as a G35 for a bit didn't they? I would assume that means his G35 uses the same seat rails.
I called Evasive Motorsports and talked to Joshua to make sure. He was trying to verify that my car was a "PV36" according to Bride. He said it was on the vin tag. It's not, but I assume that just refers to the V36 body style. They are a bit spendy at $237.50 each, but they do include the sliders, hardware, and seatbelt mounts. They take 8-10 weeks to get from Japan.
The PV36 designation is just the Japanese designation for the V36 sedan chassis (the G37 coupe is a KV36 in Japan), so those the PV36 brackets are the ones you should be looking for.
Now I just have to narrow down my seat choices. Tough to do since I will probably not be able to sit in any of them before I get one. There is a Sparco and Corbeau dealer in Chicago (3 1/2hr. drive w/o any traffic), but they typically only stock the race seats. He recommended the Corbeau over any of the Sparcos due to comfort, but I think that was because he was comparing them to Sparco race seats instead of road seats.
I talked to someone else at Sparco this morning- also a bigger guy, Eric. He recommended the R100 even though it has the widest torso support and I really do not want to slide around on track. He recommended against the Chrono Road (choice of other guy at Sparco) because the thigh supports are tall and can be a pain to get in and out of as a result. The weird thing is that this guy told me not to look at the R333 or the R600 because they "have a lot shorter backs and are designed for short Italians." But it is not true at all. The R333 is less than 1/2" shorter than the R100 or the Chrono Road. So I cannot even get a consistent recommendation from 2 guys who both work at Sparco.
I am leaning toward the Sparco R333 or maybe the Corbeau A4. I would still consider the Sparco Chrono Road, Sparco R100, or maybe the Sparco R600.
If you have seen/sat in any of these seats, please advise. I am 6'1" 175 lbs with 32/33 waist. Mainly street driven, but a number of track days too from Spring to Fall here in Wisconsin.
Here is my take so far without sitting in any of them.
Sparco R333
Pro: Looks great, narrow torso width (closest to stock bolsters fully inflated), slots for back cooling, low thigh support for ease of getting in/out daily
Con: Too racy for our interior?, R333 stitching in 2 places probably unnecessary, no white stitching to match interior like the R100 or Chrono Road
Corbeau A4
Pro: Great looking in suede, can get in grippy suede for less $$ than most of the Sparcos, narrow torso and thigh support, low thigh support, can get heated, can get adj. lumbar support, lightest seat of the group, based in the U.S. and may be made in USA too, might be able to get a wide version for the passenger seat so more people can ride
Con: Cloth version looks cheap with vinyl wear areas so is it a lower quality overall than Sparco? (Suede does look a lot better and adds leather wear areas), no white stitching to match out interiors
Sparco R100
Pro: Cheapest seat of the bunch, has the classic Sparco street/race style, white stitching to match interior, low thigh supports
Con: Torso is at least 2" wider than the R333 and A4, seat back and base look a little plain/generic due to lack of any horizontal stitching like every other seat
Sparco Chrono Road
Pro: White stitching to match interior, center panel stitching looks nice, relatively good width for torso (1" wider than R333) and thighs
Con: Ugly- top design with huge harness cutouts just looks weird and very cheap from the back, very tall thigh supports that will probably be a pain to get in/out daily, more expensive then R100 and Corbeau without any benefits
Sparco R600
Pro: Great looking- maybe the best in the group, probably the highest quality seat of the mix, narrow torso and thigh dimensions
Con: Most expensive by a long shot- almost triple the cost of the R100 or A4, thigh supports are high, exterior shoulder width is very wide so it will be very close to A-pillars, no white stitching, suede option is $1,500?!?
Well it looks like if I "Ben Franklin close" myself by adding up pros & cons, I should just get the Corbeau A4 in suede and just try to get over the facts that it has no white stitching and that I really am not sold on the leather patches. Or do I just get the R333 since it does not have the white stitching either and decide the lumbar support it has should be good and I should not need heated seats since it is cloth? (I can still add heated seats later if I want) Decisions, decisions...
The PV36 designation is just the Japanese designation for the V36 sedan chassis (the G37 coupe is a KV36 in Japan), so those the PV36 brackets are the ones you should be looking for.
Thanks for your help! And thanks for all the help along the way. I would probably still be trying to figure out what to do with the airbag light if it were not for all of your help.
So I posted up in the coupe forum to see if anyone had experience with Corbeau or Sparco seats since it seems like 2GoRNot2G is the only one to replace seats in his sedan.
Eyeshield25 suggested Braum Elite seats. They look really good in suede and they also make a cloth Venom seat that looks nice and would probably be more breathable for heat in the summer and track days.
I called up Braum today and everything sounded good until I got to the measurements for the mounting points on the bottom of the seat. Way different than Sparco and Corbeau and nowhere near the holes in the Bride seat rails. Nice seats, but I think this leads me back to the Sparco R333 unless anyone has any other ideas or experience with the R333...
I was at Road America today for the Vintage races and thought I might at least find a few cars in the parking lot with one of the seats I am looking at, but no luck. I think I am leaning toward the Sparco R333 unless anyone has any other ideas. Maybe I will just order 1 to do a test fit and pay return shipping if it is awful.
05-12-2017, 05:42 PM
I am beginning to agree with you on the bride seat brackets. How long did you say they take to get, about 6 weeks?
