Is sparcos worth the money? i am doing a set of racing seats so i am looking for a value that i can afford... surely i'd take sparcos.. but for less than half i can get something like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT

do you guys think that something like this belongs more on a riced out civic than a mini? im mostly doing race seats for aesthetic and comfort than performance... i do want to keep use of the rear seats

however, the cost is just more than double... is it worth it just to have the 'sparco' stitched on the top of the head-rest?

opinions please!

fyi, looking at ebay, the cheapest sparco with quick tilt system would be the torino, and the pair would run me about 880 at least!

 

From what I've learned, you may want to take a look at Corbeau - high quality at a fraction of the price of some of the pricier offerings such as Sparco, Recaro, etc.

 

I've got the Torinos, 32k still looking good no wears. You get what you pay for...

 

I was going to say the same thing. In fact, the A4's look a lot like the Torinos, I think. The Corbeau is available with an inflatable lumbar support.

I'm struggling with the same decision, but with a twist:

Recaro makes baby seats, and I'm going to be having a baby soon. I really want a Recaro child seat, but that just wouldn't do if I had Sparco or Corbeau seats. Hmmm... It's awfully hard to justify Recaro seats all the way around, but just maybe.

 

I would never buy any seat without sitting in it for at least 15 min.

What is it that you want these seats for? Looks or are you planning on tracking the car?

 

these seats would be mainly for street use, so looks is quite important, that said.. i track the car, and autocross ALOT.... so they need to at least give me a bit more support...

the corbeaus are a good value, but right now i just saw the recaro speed 4 pt., which is attracting my attention... i saw them on hopupracing.com and they have it for 535... dunno if it's for the pair if they can recline either...

 

I've been trying to find people locally who have either seat, with no success. I'm not buying anything I haven't sat in, though.

 

Remember, there is added cost in seat brackets. I don't know that those eBay seats have adaptable Mini brackets. If they don't then you will have to take a whole lot of time and some good money to custom make something.

I've sat in a lot of 'race' seats and I feel that the Sparcos are worth the money, in fact a good value. I will say though that I know little about the recliners.

 

Do you happen to have any pics of your Torinos installed? Were you able to successfully defeat the airbag warning light via the resister method?

 

I installed a Recaro SRD seat in my previous car ('91 SE-R) for track days and overall comfort. Unfortunately the car was stolen for the seat. Car was later recovered sans seat. I replaced it with another SRD and put a coat or towel over it when parked not at home. I sat in as many seats as I could find and nothing compared to the Recaro. The seat ran around $800 with the adapter bracket costing another $150. I still have the (second) seat but will not be putting it in my MINI because I don't want to lose the seat heater, airbag or original looks.
My brother in-law put an SRD in his Mazda after driving my SE-R. I'm saving my seat for a future track only car. It works so well with four point belts. The SRD does have recline adjustment and does flip forward.

Also; if you have wide hips you can forget this seat.

 

Yea... see your old post

 

aminicooper, again your seats and the car look absolutely excellent I also have space cloth interior and undoubtedly the Torino in that particular finish matches better than any I've seen to-date..

Regarding your perspective on installation height; do you happen to recall how the the seat compares to the original -- I would like to get something which will sit lower to gain a little headroom, if at all possible. Also, just to clarify, what type of resistor was utilized to fool the factory air bag warning lamp on the dash?

Many thanks in advance for the feedback

 

thanks for the compliment!

Installation height seemed lower or just about the lowest stock setting. Seats went in about 2wks after I picked up the car, and that was over 2yrs ago to remember.

As for the resistor... I went with a company that sold airbag disconnects, they sent me what appeared to be two resisitors (one for each seat).... of course I paid many times over for cheapo resistors. They worked for me, so I'm not complaining about the cost, less headache. I think they were in the 2-ohm range when I had it hooked to a tester.

 

in the end i am desiring sparco torinos.... i got a good price but total would still be about 1000 bucks.... i saw corbeau a4s for 600.... is the sparcos worth that much more? thats all i want to knw...

 

when you want to go for the best here in germany the dudes goes for

RECARO

everything else is just a bad copy. you dont find sparcos or other brands in serious race cars here.

recaro pole position is THE seat for the mini, very light, not too big but unfortunally not cheap

 

Also, not very adjustable.

 

With respect to the pricing mentioned, does that price include shipping and bracketry? What vendor are you looking at?

 

Are you aware of any users with less aggressive Recaro seating in Minis (i.e. reclining options)? I've had several sets of Recaros in the past in older BMWs and was very happy with them; however, it does appear that brands such as Sparco do offer a very nice product these days.

 

i know of a local guy who is importing them from italy... not sure about the seat brackets yet as i just asked him that question today... i checked sparco's own website and brackets for our car is about 80 bucks each...

 

Has anyone used motorsportseats.com? They seem to have some good reviews

 

Good luck; let us know how it works out!

 

just wondering for those of you with aftermarket seats on a street car, if the airbags still work? I'm guessing theres some kind of sensor in the seat that tells the car if its occupied, I'm guessing the driver one is always on, but if the sensor for the seat belt or the seat doesnt show up, I wonder if the air bags deploy funny?

Just curious, I lost my last car to a pretty bad accident, hit by another car and spun into the center divider on the freeway at 65+mph, so safety is always a big concern for me, however I do like to drive the car hard and bracing with my leg just isnt cutting it.