CharlieGsanD

iTrader: (1)

Got one of these seats recently & though id post up some pics & my impressions of the seat


first off, shipping was fast, even with the fires here in so-cal messing up everything it still arrived quickly!


The box it was in was a bit beat up & had a few holes torn it. probably from what i though felt like cheap cardboard. luckily though the whole seat was bubble wrapped so even though the box was toast, the seat made it here undamaged aside from some dust & a small white mark on the upper left cushion that supports your arm

one thing i did not realize when ordering is that the Reclineable seats DO NOT INCLUDE SLIDERS OR BRACKETS. that kinda bummed me out but luckily the seat base has some reinforced areas where i was able to drill some new holes & re-use the Kansai Low Seat rails i was already using on my stock seat



another thing i did not realize from the advertisement was that there was writing on the seat cushion, not a big deal, just that the writing looks a bit generic & cheap, IMO either don't put it there, or make it look good. but that may just be me



after i got it mounted & had a chance to sit in it, i realized it was made for someone MUCH smaller than i am, lol. i still fit & i like how much more supportive it is that the OEM seats. my lower body fits nicely & comfortably, but it feels like my shoulders are too wide & my back area is too tall to fit "into" the seat properly.



another sign of how the back piece is made for someone shorter is how low the harness openings are, with the OEM seats the harnesses would come through right about shoulder level, with these seats it is roughly 3" below my shoulder. this creates somewhat of an unsafe condition as my shoulder is now the highest point in the harness & if pulled forward as it would in an accident it would cause the harness to compress your spine





another thing thing that bothers me would be that the seat adjustment lever/knob feels rather cheap & rattles loosely. though the seat back does not move & the adjustment feels solid, there is still a bit of play in the knob that can cause it to rattle at times

also, the seat has a rather strong smell of fiberglass resin though that should fade with time & even seems to have dissipated in the last 24 hrs

despite being a bit small for me @ 5-10 & 200lbs i would have to say the seat cushions & the material used for the seat feel very nice. time will tell how well they hold up, ill update later if i remember

another nice feature is that the seat cushions are removable for easy cleaning, though they could DEFINATLY use some more Velcro to hold them in place. especially the lower ones. even being cautious of it when entering & exiting the car it seems like i mess up the cushions every time







overall, im happy with the seats for the price, but would not recommend them to someone unless they were smaller than me & while i may be a bit stocky i wouldn't say im overweight or that much larger than the average joe. probably the biggest limiting factor for these seats is their size. if your over 5-10 or 175 lbs id definatly recommend sitting on one of these seats to see if you can live with the size

i know its rather crude, but i was a bit concerned about the seats strength so i did some home brew abuse testing by slamming myself into the seatback as hard as i could & i was surprised by how stiff it was

i hope my post doesn't come across as negative or bashing as i AM happy with the seat & F1 Spec i just wanted to post up some of my surprises so others would know what to expect. i will be running this seat as my DD & in track events

to end on a positive note, i have been going back & forth with f1spec in PM's & they have been very quick to respond & answered my questions fully. i also saw some threads on another board where they seemed to take the customers input seriously & made changes to their product based on feedback. always a plus in my book

Jasil

iTrader: (22)

I'm very glad you reviewed these. I knew the pics were to good to be true and you can see they are slightly lower quality seat. i would hate that writing, but it's just writing. I'm 6'1 240lb, so I'm glad I wasn't a guinea pig.

Good luck and thanks for the review!!

CharlieGsanD

iTrader: (1)

got a PM asking how the seat held up over time, thought id update the thread


over about 2-3 months the adjuster for the seat back got worse, eventually seat back wouldn't stay in upright position, allowing seatback to slowly recline back, had to crank it up every few days. a few spots on the fiberglass back were rubbing against the supports, causing it to wear away & become a safety issue. eventually nuts & bolts started coming loose even with locktite, probably from loose manufacturing specs...

basically it didnt hold up to more than a few months of use before it was retired from the car due to safety concerns. makes a nice office chair as long as you dint mind cranking the recliner back up every few days ;p

overall would not recommend it

MRmike

iTrader: (16)

Nice review. I was looking into these seats. Thank you.

ApexRacer

i brought these seats too~make sure if you guys buy these,REMEMBER these are BOTTOM MOUNTED~

I accidentally purchased the BuddyClub super low down's and realized buddyclub is side mounted only

jamesanderson1

Thanks for providing all the links here. They are really good and nice.