I currently have the OEM seats in my MINI with the detachable Schroth quick-fit harness for the occasional track day & very spirited canyon driving. Needless to say, I use the OEM belts during daily use. I have to admit though, these are definitely not comfortable seats & my fiancee concurs. I'm now thinking of changing the seats to reclinable Recaros so that mean's I can't use the Schroth harness anymore. It's either I get a harness + harness bar (which will render the back seats useless, not to mention extra $$$) or use the OEM seat belts.

Call it silly, but do you think I'd get the same amount of support with the Recaro + oem seat belt as with the oem seat + schroth?

 

No.......

 

Just get some Sparco EVO's. They're roughly 200 bucks a piece, homologated. It will definitely come out cheaper than the Recaro's, meaning you can get a monkey bar and use your current harnesses. We don't need back seats anyways do we?

However, if you do want to retain the back seat usability, I will let you into a little secret.

Get Recaro Sportster CS's and use your stock seatbelts. Whenever you want to drive vigorously, grab the chest piece of your seatbelt and pull it as hard as you can towards the point of origin while tucking your belly in. Now, floor it from second gear and as you let off the throttle, let go of the seat belt. It will lock up in a very tight position. Sure it's not a harness, but holy crap it holds you well!

 

^ I've been drooling over a pair of Recaro Sportster CS in my MINI but can't afford it at the moment. The Recaros I'm looking at now are SR3s reupholstered in leather.