Information on custom moulded seat

[cantfindausername]

Hi everyone,

I was talking with someone last night and we got onto the subject of seats. I had initially thought about using the Sparco Pro 2000 seat in my car as someone who is the same height/weight as me rates them very highly. However, the suggestion was put forward of a custom foam moulded seat.

As such I've decided to look into the cost variations of the seat kits compared to the Sparco seats, but have only so far been able to find the pack of expanding foam.

Could anyone here shed a bit more light onto the sort of shell that would be used with one of these kits? And possibly where I could see prices of such shells?

Many thanks,
Ant

[Mats]

Is the "Foam seat" FIA approved? That would surprise me actually.

Other then that the recommendation is to try a lot of seats before you spend any money, measurements does not tell the whole story and comfort is king. Make sure the shoulder strap holes are at the correct height and if the seat has a removable seat cushion, try it without it because that's how you want to use it, give tremendous amounts of feel through your "lower back".

[cantfindausername]

Thanks for your reply Mats. I'm not sure on the foam seat being FIA approved. I would think that would be down to the shell thats used perhaps? Maybe the foam needs to be of a certain fire retardant nature also to pass? Who knows.

I've not really got access to a lot of seats in my local area, so think I'll have to travel around a bit to see how various ones feel. What I have noticed though is that when I sit in a seat on the shop floor, it doesn't give a realistic feel to me, unlike one thats fitted into a car.

I think one big selling point of this custom foam variation is that it would be moulded specifically to me, so comfort should be the best you can get.

Think I'll carry on the hunt for info as they still seem like a very good alternative to off the shelf seating.

[Walezy]

When i was in US few years ago i have visited this racing part supplier https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/group ... EATFITTING
There i have seen those foams. You may ask them how to prepare such seat.
I do not know the manufacturer of the seat foam so that is why i have given the vendor name here(maybe they manufacture it- i do not know that).

[Julian]

The seat frame has to be FAI approved - the foam bag technology just has to meet the fire retardation requirements and be covered with an appropriate (read nomex) material.

They are heavily used at all levels of motorsport - most notably F1 (do you think *they* might be FAI approved?). In terms of crash protection they are better than a simple generic padded seat which is what you normally rely on. Do some digging and you'll find the foam bag seats are actually quite cheap too - they just take more preparation time

[cantfindausername]

Thanks for the link - will look into that.

I've seen that demon tweeks sell the foam mixture (2 part stuff), but I've not been able to find a seat shell on their website. I can't say I've taken note of a fire redardation spec of the foam on that site either.

Currently my car is being prep'd by Phill Lanes of G&G Motorsports. Someone who is well known by Guy and a few of the other members on here. It was Phill that suggested the foam seat as an alternative over the off the shelf options because I'm aiming to run my car in next years Time Attack series. Have to say thank you to Guy for recommending Phill to me.

At the moment there is no requirement for the seat to be FIA Approved, but I think I would rather have a proper FIA seat and harness' fitted as opposed to ones that aren't. My motto all along has been: "If I'm going to do it, I want to do it properly".

[Julian]

Try looking up the likes of Kirkey aluminium seats (come without the padding and cover) if you just want the bare bones.

The alternative is to take a regular FIA approved raceseat and take all the covers and padding off it to get a bare seat shell.

(small correction to my above comments: the bag foam forming compound is used in F1 but they don't actually use it in the car - instead they use this to make a plug that they can then make a seat shell from in composite)

[Guy Croft]

Czech out this new Essex based contact:

http://www.reverie.ltd.uk

The owner Simon Farran is a good friend of my client Steve Parsons (16v conv unit). I have talked to him via email and he has assured me of a nice welcome to prospective clients who contact him direct so mention my name please. I think he does carbon fibre seats. I myself am particularly interested in his airboxes - see photo.

GC

[Julian]

He also does nice carbon fibre extinguisher bottles.
Very popular with the TVR guys, very popular indeed...

[cantfindausername]

yes I've seen some of the reverie products before. Its awesome stuff!! But I think at the moment composite materials are a bit rich for my budget. If I did take the route of going for something like that though, they would definately be looked into as a potential supplier.

Julian, I will have a look around for the company you mentioned.

[Fiat Racer Don]

Most of the posts are correct. You need to supply a shell for the bag to foam to in order to get you body fit. You get a fine alum shell like a kirkey or ultrashield with no padding.

The bag is where you mix the foam. Usually this is in the more layback seats like F2, FF FV.

I have used the Pegasus product (I work within 5 miles of them) and it worked well. However we had a mess up and the bag leaked some foam in the set up and permanently wrecked a vintage Renault suit of the friend I was helping. Be careful as you need to wear your complete race suit for proper fit.

For me in the production racing I actually use a kirkey seat with no pads except the f-16 dense seat pad Pegasus sells. May only be an inch thick but it protects and as one poster made note...gives you excellent feel.

Don Tuscany
124 Abarth GrpIV - slowly progressing.

[cantfindausername]

Thanks for your input Don. I'd be getting it done by someone with experience so hopefully no mess ups. I don't actually have a rece suit at the moment but can see the reason behind doing it in the proper attire. Hopefully it would give me a push I need to stay in better shape... when I get there haha!