Interior/Exterior Interior and exterior modifications for Cooper (R50), Cabrio (R52), and Cooper S (R53) MINIs.

Interior/Exterior Racing Seats

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old May 21, 2008 | 04:31 PM
  #51  
AstroBlackS's Avatar
AstroBlackS
5th Gear
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 945
Likes: 4
From: CT
Originally Posted by OldRick
You can also take another approach that is guaranteed to fit, retains the stock adjusters, airbags, and seat heaters, and won't get the car stolen...

Take the car to your local Kustom Upholstery Shoppe and have a discussion about reshaping the stock seats to suit your interests.

They will remove the skin, add foam to what's there (or remove it) and shape it to suit you. Then you go in for a "fitting" to make sure it's just right.

Once you approve the changes in the foam, they cut out the outside fabric panels, cut new replacements to fit over the new foam, and put it all back together looking like a much-better-shaped OEM seat.

My local shop quoted me $500/ seat for the bolster changes I wanted, to narrow the back of my drivers seat for much more lateral support. It's going in next week.
That would be great, except I do not know of any local upholstery places, especially none that would do that. I'd have to ask around and see if anyone knows a place.
 
Reply
Old May 21, 2008 | 04:39 PM
  #52  
AstroBlackS's Avatar
AstroBlackS
5th Gear
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 945
Likes: 4
From: CT
Originally Posted by snid
Please do not buy a seat without sitting in it first.

The name might be right, the look might be right... but if it doesn't fit you, who cares?

There have been two seats I was all set to buy, and both of them were wrong for me. Thankfully, I have a somewhat local (3 hours away) shop that has lots of seats set up for you to test-sit. It would have been a very expensive mistake to buy before trying.
Absolutely. I wanted to try and find someone or somewhere that had the "fighter" seat, but was unsuccessful. I did however sit in a few other Sparco models, and they all felt comfortable. The biggest thing I wanted were the adjustable lumber supports, because when I was sitting in some of the other seats, that was what felt a bit off.
I do wish I could sit in these exact seats though.
 
Reply
Old May 21, 2008 | 04:55 PM
  #53  
OldRick's Avatar
OldRick
6th Gear
iTrader: (9)
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,421
Likes: 4
I let my fingers do the walking - Auto Upholstery in the Yellow Pages.
 
Reply
Old May 22, 2008 | 11:35 AM
  #54  
JCW Driver's Avatar
JCW Driver
6th Gear
iTrader: (3)
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,243
Likes: 0
From: Portland, Oregon
Seats are a LOT like shoes. Certainly not just a "I like the way this looks in my car" kind of decision.

In addition to the style, buy what fits.
 
Reply
Old Jun 7, 2008 | 08:07 AM
  #55  
OldRick's Avatar
OldRick
6th Gear
iTrader: (9)
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,421
Likes: 4
The customized S seats came out very nice.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=140299
 
Reply
Old Jun 8, 2008 | 08:37 AM
  #56  
bean's Avatar
bean
5th Gear
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 915
Likes: 1
sitting in a seat, prior to purchase, is mandatory. if a seat dealer is not nearby, try going to your local track (drag or road course, it doesn't matter) and sit in as many seats as possible.
 
Reply
Old Jun 8, 2008 | 07:33 PM
  #57  
djdport66's Avatar
djdport66
3rd Gear
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 197
Likes: 0
From: OBX, NC
Originally Posted by mini d
They don't sell them in the states. Liability issues concerning the lack of airbags. Sparco Milano are the seats they use for JCW.

What about the Resistor work-around for Aftermarket Seats? Can any one direct me to the instruction to make the 4 ohm pigtail?
 
Reply
Old Jun 8, 2008 | 07:35 PM
  #58  
PGT's Avatar
PGT
Banned
iTrader: (11)
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 7,681
Likes: 1
From: DC Metro
it's not 4ohm by default. you need to measure the seat at the airbag plug (mine were 2.3ohm). to do the pigtail, cut the plug off the body harness leaving some wire on the plug and solder the resistor(s) across the two wires left and tape them up.
 
Reply
Old Jun 8, 2008 | 07:43 PM
  #59  
AstroBlackS's Avatar
AstroBlackS
5th Gear
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 945
Likes: 4
From: CT
Originally Posted by djdport66
What about the Resistor work-around for Aftermarket Seats? Can any one direct me to the instruction to make the 4 ohm pigtail?
Thanks to PGT's advice, I spliced in 4, 10ohm, 1/4 watt resistors, in parallel to the yellow plug for the airbag on the floor. This took care of the airbag light. I haven't had an issue yet.
 
Reply
Old Jun 8, 2008 | 07:44 PM
  #60  
AstroBlackS's Avatar
AstroBlackS
5th Gear
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 945
Likes: 4
From: CT
o, you beat me to the punch.

I didn't solder mine, I used wire nuts, and then used electrical tape to be safe.
 
Reply
Old Jun 8, 2008 | 08:02 PM
  #61  
maxmini's Avatar
maxmini
6th Gear
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 3,446
Likes: 9
From: L.A ca
I have recently installed a pair of NRG CF fixed bucketes in place of my prior set of Status Racing seats. Very happy with the upgrade and the 11 lb weight.

Randy
M7 Tuning

Name:  P2240005.jpg
Views: 1071
Size:  53.0 KB

Name:  P2240001.jpg
Views: 1085
Size:  105.6 KB

Name:  P2240004.jpg
Views: 1188
Size:  97.5 KB


This is what I had before .

Name:  P2220019.jpg
Views: 1049
Size:  87.9 KB

Name:  P2220023.jpg
Views: 1071
Size:  73.4 KB
 
Reply
Old Jun 8, 2008 | 11:15 PM
  #62  
Fracky's Avatar
Fracky
Transwarp - Warp 10.0
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,866
Likes: 0
From: Fresno, CA
Here's Randy's seats in my car now. The Autopower rollbar & harnesses should be in <2 weeks, so I can update the pictures post-install.

 
Reply
Old Jun 10, 2008 | 10:17 AM
  #63  
blumini's Avatar
blumini
3rd Gear
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 243
Likes: 0
From: Northern California
MoMo Street Racers

Not as fancy as pure racing shells but I'm still crazy about my MoMo's
 

Last edited by blumini; Jun 10, 2008 at 10:27 AM.
Reply
Old Jun 10, 2008 | 12:02 PM
  #64  
Malcon's Avatar
Malcon
6th Gear
iTrader: (3)
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,529
Likes: 4
From: Burbank CA
I was looking into the momo's. How are they support wise??? and are they real comfortable??
-Malcon

any more pictures??
 
Reply
Old Jun 10, 2008 | 12:57 PM
  #65  
blumini's Avatar
blumini
3rd Gear
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 243
Likes: 0
From: Northern California
Originally Posted by Malcon
I was looking into the momo's. How are they support wise??? and are they real comfortable??
-Malcon
any more pictures??
Like I said, not as light or supportive as the full blown racing shells but much lighter/supportive than stock MCS seats. I'm 6'0" 175lb. and they fit me like a glove with just the right balance of support and ingress/egress ergo friendliness.
Mini02guage037.jpg?t=1213127673
Mini02guage034.jpg?t=1213127700
Mini02guage028.jpg?t=1213127832
 
Reply
Old Jun 10, 2008 | 01:32 PM
  #66  
snid's Avatar
snid
6th Gear
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 2,021
Likes: 4
From: Burlington, VT
It's slightly pointless to say, as different people fit different seats, but I'm very happy with my Cobra Imola II so far. I've been on a few 4 hour drives in it, and no real problems. Yes, the base of the seat could use a little more padding for long interstate drives, but it's not bad. And on the track it's proven to work very well indeed.

I haven't ridden in the passenger's seat (a Cobra Monaco) yet, so I cannot say how painful it would be. But, from sitting in it for just a few minutes, I can tell it's nowhere near as comfortable as the Imola.
 
Reply
Old Jan 1, 2009 | 06:05 PM
  #67  
bashirsinno's Avatar
bashirsinno
Neutral
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
i just got a pair of sparco sprint 5 seats...they look great and i cant wait to install them.
but i bet they are gonna be a pain.
who cares tho, as long as they look great
 
Reply
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Colt45Magnus
R56 :: Hatch Talk (2007+)
16
Aug 27, 2024 05:03 AM
battlehawk_mini
1st Gear
10
Mar 5, 2021 06:15 AM
rtk90
MINI Parts for Sale
9
Aug 29, 2019 09:08 AM
eatsleepautox
MINIs & Minis for Sale
6
Oct 30, 2015 06:46 AM
Ntety
MINIs & Minis for Sale
0
Sep 2, 2015 08:39 PM




All times are GMT -7. The time now is 02:54 PM.