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Anyone have experience with Sparco or Corbeau seats?
I have a '13 G37S 6spd. sedan, but I thought I would post up here as almost no one seems to make seat rails for the sedan or change the seats. The other problem is that there is no dealer that carries these seats anywhere near me so I will probably have to get them without ever sitting in them first. My goal is to get rid of the leather and weight of the stock seats without going to a fixed race seat.
Anyway, I think I have it narrowed down to the Sparco R333 or the Corbeau A4 in suede. I might also consider the Sparco Chrono Road, Sparco R100, Sparco R600, or another seat that would fit Bride rails. I am 6'1" 175 lbs with a 32/33 waist. My car is mainly street driven, but it will see a number of track days from Spring to Fall here in Wisconsin too.
If you have seen/sat in any of these seats or have other suggestions, please advise. Thanks!
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...
Have you considered Braum Elite Seats? They weigh 40lbs altogether and costs $699 and been used in M3, Corvette, Camaros and even Gs and Zs.
Good call! Those look really nice in suede. The fake carbon backs are a little weird, but I might be able to get used to that. They might be a little wide for me, but I can give them a call. Have you seen them in person or sat in them? Why have I never heard of them?
Sparco is one of the very few aftermarket seat manufacturers who are also capable of meeting OEM requirements with their seats. I have significant doubts as to the safety of reclining seats made by companies that can't say this. Just an opinion.
I have not seen them in person, but they are apparently very decent seats for the amount of money. This pic is tan on tan interior of a 37 Coupe
I'm not big of the tan, but the style of the seat looks nice. The suede got me thinking that maybe cloth would be more breathable than suede in the summer and on track days.
As a result, I also like the Braum Venom seat. It looks nicer than the Corbeau A4 in cloth too. I wonder if I could get it with gray stitching to match our cars or if I could dye the stitching in the car red to match the seats. Hmm....
Originally Posted by Crazyirish
Sparco is one of the very few aftermarket seat manufacturers who are also capable of meeting OEM requirements with their seats. I have significant doubts as to the safety of reclining seats made by companies that can't say this. Just an opinion.
Good point. I think it is between the R333 and the Braum Venom now.
Originally Posted by Kris9884
How would this effect the side airbags? I don't know about our cars but some cars have the side airbags in the seat itself.
There are no side airbags in any of these aftermarket seats so there is always that issue. You have to wire in relays to keep from getting the airbag light on the dash. The trickier part is figuring out what to do about the classification sensor in the passenger seat. I think I have that figured out now as I found a plug-in for that online. Other people were buying old seats and gutting them for the weight sensor. Pain in the azz. I have a thread all about this seat journey in the sedan thread.
I called Braum racing today and talked to Peter. They sound like nice seats. He also recommended the Venom for staying cool over the suede. The widths between the bolsters seem good for me too.
One big problem. They have very strange sizing for mounting the seats to the brackets- much different than Sparco and Corbeau. As much as I would love to drill new holes into brand new $250 Bride seat brackets, I think I will pass.
The fact that Braum has been around for less than 2 years and that the red stitching matches nothing in my car leads me back to the Sparco R333. I think that is the way to go unless anyone has other ideas or experience with these seats.
You can get custom brackets. I know that the owner of the picture i posted had custom brackets done at a nearby Z/G shop, I think in the neighbor of somewhere around $250-300 for both.
Also what brackets would you be using hypothetically speaking for the Sparco and/or Corbeau?
Bride brackets seem to be the only ones that fit the sedan. What shop will make custom brackets and sliders for a sedan for $250-$300 for the pair? The Bride brackets are almost $250 each?!?
Damn. Well after a closer look it seems like there are only 2 that specialize in Z's so this should not be too bad. How strange that there would be so many shops with the same name in the same state.