I sold my black 1986 Porsche 944 to get my 2002 MINI. 'BLK YODA" is all Cosmos Black with the factory white rallye stripes and for now 15" stock wheels. I miss the sports seats from the 944. Does anyone know who (Corbeau, Sparco, MOMO, V-Racing) might make a seat(s) to match the Cordoba Beige interior? I still get lots of great comments from all ages, men and women here in the Virginia Beach area. Future mods are 17" wheels, window tint (gets hot here!) racing style alloy gas cap, exhaust and larger Pia, Cibie or Hella driving lights. Check out the MINI on the cover of the New MINI insert to the British mag "Miniworld". Recently received a"Let's Party" invitation to see the new version of "The Italian Job" courtesy of my local dealer! A large group of MINI's caravaning to the movie will probably get some attention...look out "2Fast2Furious"!

 

Check out John Cooper Works for these hot seats, they are bit pricey, around $2,500US for the set, but they probably will have them to match the Cooper color schemes.
http://www.johncooper.co.uk/cgi-bin/...ssories_FS.htm

Just incase that link doesn't get you there go to:

http://www.johncooper.co.uk

Next click 'Works Tuning'

Good luck!

 

Oh, one other important feature, the seats will include the internal air bags, which will keep your insurance rates the same as well as your warranty, if you care about that stuff.

 

Thanks Hank for the quick reply. My local dealer also quoted me a price of about $2,500.00 per seat, and this was for the factory sport seat!! I'm considering a driver's side only Sparco Milano in grey and black leather. Being a graphic artist I still would like the interior to have a "finished look". Thanks again.

 

I just installed the Corbeau TRS seats in the TEAM MCO car late last week. We got our seats through SoloRacer.com (one of the TEAM MCO sponsors) and I really like them. Be sure to check them out as they retail for less than $800 for a pair. I'll have pictures and additional information on them on teammco.org in the next couple of days.

Mark

 

Hank,

You mention that the JCW sports seats will have internal air bags. JCW has not responded to my question about this point, and several dealers whom I have queried have no information at all about availability or features of this seat.

How have you obtained this information? Can you tell us more? Are these simply repackaged Sparco Milanos? Will they be available in two colors as the JCW web site implies? When will they be available? Any information would be appreciated. Inquiring minds want to know! TIA.

...msmini

 

i think they are Sparco Milanos. i peosonally think there is no way to put the airbag in those seat. i hope their is a way to cheat the airbag sensor so it won't come on. i want the red Milanos from Sparco usa!

 

I believe that on Mini-motorsport.com there is a how to for the seat install, telling you how to cheat that sensor.

 

>>You mention that the JCW sports seats will have internal air bags. JCW has not responded to my question about this point, and several dealers whom I have queried have no information at all about availability or features of this seat.
>>
>>How have you obtained this information? Can you tell us more? Are these simply repackaged Sparco Milanos? Will they be available in two colors as the JCW web site implies? When will they be available? Any information would be appreciated. Inquiring minds want to know! TIA.
>>
>> ...msmini

I've emailed JCW a few times and have yet to get excellent answers to these and more questions I've posed. However, based on the brief responses so far the JCW seats "will be available in all standard interiors of the Cooper and S and will be available throghout the MINI network worldwide."

I asked whether this means they'll be available for retrofit into existing MINIs as replacements for the standard factory seats, answer = yes. I asked whether they will include the built-in airbag like the standard seats with links to onboard electronics which monitor and control same, answer = yes.

I have yet to get any answers about colors, fabrics, other options or pricing. I also asked whether the seats could be ordered directly from them (JCW), no answer.

 

I just called JCW up (from within the USA dial: 011-44-1903-784-784) and spoke with them on the phone.
You can also check out the info that's on their website at which is a bit limited:
http://www.johncooper.co.uk

 

2,500 per seat?!

That doesn't sound right. I thought the dealer $2,500 per set, which is quite expensive enough, I can't imagine spending 5,000 on a pair of seats, that is a bit over the top and will be off my options list if it is the case.

 

>>i hope their is a way to cheat the airbag sensor so it won't come on. i want the red Milanos from Sparco usa!

I'll be providing a how-to on the installation of our Corbeau TRS seats in the next couple of weeks. (Which, by the way, you can get in full leather from SoloRacer.com...one of our sponsors of TEAM MCO and soon of MCO).

I'll have full documentation on how to create a loopback circuit to "fool" the airbag monitoring system that the seat airbags are there. In a nutshell you will need the following:

2 - 3 ohm resistors (1 for each side)
2 feet of 22 gauge solid core wire
A soldering gun
Resin core solder (60/40)
Electrical tape

Creating these loops and installing them takes about 15 minutes so its a pretty fast process. I'll post more information soon on the step by step process of this and the rest of the seat installation.

Mark