7 replies to this topic

[Steve-O]

I've been running an Ultra Shield Spec Miata Seat and am considering an upgrade for increased safety and comfort. I initially picked the seat for its' price and ease of installation. Now that my car is done, I've got a few days under my belt and I'm certain that this (driving the miata) is something that will hold my interest, I'm inclined to explore different seat options.

My question is, given my height (I'm 6'4") what seats have taller drivers had experience with in a miata? Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks-Steve

[Tom Hampton]

One relatively straight-forward option would be to upgrade to an Ultrashield Halo seat. They can custom make a seat to your dimensions. It MIGHT even fit to your existing mounts.

[Scott Malbon]

I'm building a 99 and upgraded my seat to this Kirkey: http://www.kirkeyrac...e&code=Series45 Whether this will fit in your car depends on the cage, etc. I made it easy for
Dan Tilley at
http://www.tispeedengineering.com because I'm 5'4". But he did a very creative adjustable seat. (He also did the cage.)

Scott

[William Bonsell]

If your current seat is mounted to the floor, you might have difficulty installing a more comfortable composite seat such as a Sparco Evo or something similar. I have raced for 2 years with an Ultra Shield, even doing a 90 minute stint, and have found the seat very comfortable, especially if one adds a bit of high density padding. Upgrading to a full containment seat would be the right call IMO, as long as easy ingress and egress was not compromised.

Bill-

[plane]

I am 6'2" 200lbs and just had a OMP WRC installed. Tall enough for me and wide, but noe to wide that it required any wierd intall (bent crossbar behind seat is pretty common for us over 6')

[Clayton L]

I'm 6'6", 235lbs and I went and visited the guys at Ultra-shield in Tyler, Tx since I live in Dallas. Good guys for sure, and they measured me for a custom height seat (which you can fill out a form to give them when you order). If you're over 6' I'd suggest checking into a custom height seat. The belt holes were way too low for me. I got a lightweight road race halo, 17", 20*, 2" taller than normal. I also asked them not to glue the padding to the bottom so I could either trim it or not run foam. It looks like it's going to be my ass vs aluminum seat. 6'4" should be much easier. I fit, but it's a tight squeeze.... but I knew it was going to be for my height. I have it mounted to the floor and a bit of an angle for headroom. The shoulder bolster is contacting the doorjam pillar so I need to clearance it a little. I wish I could lower the floor an inch or two... but of course that's illegal. You really have to play with placement and angle to get the best balance between your legs and head. Without a seat in it at all I was a tight fit. Legroom isn't really a problem as much as getting a comfortable angle for your feet to actually drive the car. If you bolt it flat to the floor all the way back your head will be on the roof... without a helmet.

I think a Ultrashield Halo (in whatever form) is the way to go and keep the US-SM seat if you ever want to have a passenger seat.

I spoke with a tall (6'5") forum member BrianW at an event a couple months ago and he let me sit in his car. He has a Pro ADV seat and he fits in it and I was close, but no dice. He kinda proves a tall guy can make a composite seat work, I just don't think it would for my height.... plus I'm fatter/wider than him.

Check out this thread:
Tall people thread

[Tom Hampton]

Clayton-

I'm not a tall guy, so take this for what its worth....

You can use custom foam to add some contour to the bottom of your seat: either bead-foam, or the mix-up stuff. Even just a little bit of countour around the edges of the seat pan should help provide SOME comfort rather than just hard and FLAT.

https://www.pegasusa...pID=SEATFITTING

If you get the mold right and then just trim off the "outer ring" so that the very bottom of the seat dish is made by the aluminum, it shouldn't raise you up any. the two part stuff is only $40, and it would be worth a try. The two-part stuff is enough to make 3 full seat inserts....so, you should have plenty to experiment with just the right shape (if the first insert doesn't quite work).

Just a thought....

As far as egress goes....I've heard some people remove (or shorten) the outer wing (door side) from the Halo and rely on the cage-side for door side head containment. I removed the driver's vent window, and moved the driver's side rear-view mirror to just below the A-Pillar. Both changes were to improve egress with my VS Halo...I did not trim my halo. Again, I'm a smaller guy (6', 170 lbs), so I could certainly see a need to trim the halo for you giants!

[Clayton L]

Why are there so many 6' + tall people driving these tiny cars. You'd think we'd be into CMC or something that makes more sense

Tom,

I plan on experimenting more with the seat when I get it closer to SM race ready. I will say I'm not fat, but I am shapes... and much of my butt is spread across the seat pan as is. Anything that would add cushion would probably bring me up some. The seatcover does offer a little bit of padding. It may be worth not running the cover on the bottom and making a custom foam insert like you suggest. We will see.

As far as the halo goes, I'm not sure what size halo UltraShield uses on their halo seats by default (I think it depends on which one you get), but I requested them to do a short/short halo. I don't know what would be safer in an accident (or more likely) that the halo would save my head/neck, or the halo would impede my ability to get out of the car in a fire.

This was a bit of a hijack, but I think the topic is applicable