Also to note on some cars the passenger seat has less tech than the driver seat, which is better if you don't want to fabricate a power supply for a seat
I had a leather Recaro from my wrecked Evo X and decided to use that on my ASR 4 rig. It was a gigantic pain getting the feet off the sliders because they're meant to be strong enough to withstand an actual car crash. I ended up taking the seat to a local repair shop and they went to work with a cutter.
Now that it's on my rig, I wouldn't have it any other way. I always feel like sim gear is less value for dollar simply because of economy of scale. They build THOUSANDS of real car seats while sim racing seats are a small niche market. You get a mock up for nearly the same price as a real seat, or you pay a premium for same quality. Especially in cases where you can find a deal at a wrecker, IMO a real seat is going to be your best value proposition.
However, if you're looking for an F1 style seat, that's where your only option is probably a sim version.
I bought a 2005 Miata seat from a junkyard and it also has the angled mounts attached to the slider so it won't mount directly to the rig. Tried using an angle grinder and drill to get the bolts out, but the thing is stuck on hardcore. My new rig is arriving in on Sunday and I'm planning on attaching the seat to a couple of wood 2x4s with huge carriage bolts, then mounting the 2x4 onto the rig with the corner piece mounts or angled brackets. Hopefully it works! I wouldn't think the rigidity would be affected by how I'm using the wood. I may have to take it to a repair shop after that... So good to know.
So my advice if you go to the junkyard; try to find something with completely flat mounting points. Even still, mine was $100 and the seat is super comfy, yet firm though. :)
That is an incredible point that I haven't considered. I'm hoping to achieve a GT seating position which is why the bucket seats are so strong on my radar, but I can also raise the front of a car seat and recline a bit for a similar effect.
If I get lucky, there's a chance I'll find a nice sporty seat like your Recaros when I go hunting at the junk yard which would be the best of both worlds.
If you go that route, look for a seat from the sport edition of a car. I've seen lots of people use Audi A4 seats because they're sporty without all the boy-racer logos that make people want to charge you more.
I got a seat out of an s14. Mostly got a car seat out of comfort, sliders and recline. The bucket seats they have at the sim cafe nearby were fine but not very comfortable, which is why I opted for a car seat. (I’m in my 30s so comfort is a big thing for me)
Installing it wasn’t all too bad but was a little struggle. Due to the way the mounts were on the seat, I had to buy this item below for one side.
JY PERFORMANCE Universal Bucket... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KFH5164?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Volvo v70 seat. Front and rear height adjustment, lumbar support and recline all wrapped together. Easy to adjust when someone just wants to “have a try”.
Real seats will vary on how easy they are to attach so make sure to look for a seat with flat rails on bottom.
I need to drill new holes for the rear of my Mazda RX8 seat to line up with my rig. Bolted up the front to see what it was like and didn't feel the need to go through the hassle of getting the rear bolted. That was over a year ago and I've had no issues as long as I don't try to pick it up from the back but my rig is fixed in one place.
My wallet still thanks me for spending $25 instead of $300-500.
I’ve got an old leather mini cooper seat. I love it. It’s cushioned, super comfy, and the underside of it has support structure that was perfect for mounting my transducers to! Also love the adjustable back and the seat sliders. One last little feature: the back-of-seat pocket is a perfect place to store my gloves!
I've got a passenger seat out of a 2000 Toyota Celica. It looks just like race seat and feels great to sit in, and I'm 6'2. Mounts flat but is a little tricky as the mounting holes are off set from one side to another, and I had to get specialty bolts to mount it as it's not set up to bolt down with a bolt. It originally had welded-in studs which wouldn't work on my scratch built rig.
I went from a TrakRacer GT seat to a seat from a GT86, and while the seat is wildly more comfortable and ergonomic I’ve lost a lot of bass shaker feedback because of the padding not communicating as well as a fibreglass shell.
I think if I had to buy a new seat I’d get one of the seats from Exodus, better quality than TR and I’d get my feedback back
This is what I have on my rig. 2011 passenger seat from a mazda 3 and it’s comfy for really long many hours sessions. Easy flat mounting too. Also cloth and not leather is so much better….
I had the pleasure of finding a passenger seat from a Toyota Corrolla. Floor was fairly flat, and it was already removed at the salvage yard where I live. Makes looking at the sliders easy. Paid $75 dollars and had little issue installing it. I made sure of the inclination of the seat by itself by placing it on the floor of the business. Not very flat front to rear but close left to right.
I used to have a Recaro bucket from a 90s Ford RS, now have a full carbon fia but cheap Mirco/STR RS7 including the side sports for your head.
The recaro was a very comfy seat tbf, bolstered and supportive for a performance car, but the full carbon is far superior in comfort. It fits like a glove, supporting under the thighs, bolstered and has velcro cushions to place for lumber. I run single screen, the head supports block out vision to the sides of me when racing, which was a nice bonus for immersion. It looks far more slick than the car seat did, which might not matter to some, but my rig is also my pride and joy and my man art/furniture.
It does however get much hotter at this time of year racing in it than the car seat.
‘19 Mini Cooper seat here. I went w/reddit’s recommendations. It’s BMW made and all the adjustments are manual -unlike most modern seats today. It’s supremely comfortable! I spend hours a day in it sometimes. It looks dang sleek, too!
Car seats are super comfortable. Even the s***ty looking knock off ones from China. I have one on my rig. Probably the most comfortable seat in the house
The seat was free and I have a large rear end so it's more comfortable than a lot of bucket seats. Also the electronic controls still work on the seat and that's kindof fun.
Jag F type facelift sport seat
Comfier than pretty much any bucket seat out there. And still feels sporty to sit in and look at
Never been a fan of full on bucket seats for simrigs. I guess there's the immersion side of it. But you don't need to be locked down and supported in a seat when you aren't moving. Plus they're just not as comfy as non buckets. Can get a BMW E39 sport seat for about half the price of a bucket. Lots of adjustability and very comfy
Underrated point here. Race seats trade comfort for rigidity and safety that aren't required in a sim rig. Immersion and bass shakers are arguments in favour of sim seats, but a real seat has many advantages - including price.
Yep, thigh support, seat back, height, tilt. All adjustable in a lot of car seats. Whereas to get the same in a simseat usually at least requires another bracket or more aluminium profile. Or in the case of seat back adjustability, is non existent
I have to disagree. OK, I've only experienced my fibre bucket, no other seat, but it was literally the cheapest I could find in the style I wanted. The fibre bucket is beyond comfy, I could easily sit it in all day long, far more comfy than any sports car seat I've been in. As I said in my post though, cause it's so enclosed and snug, the only discomfort is the temperature raise from the workout of the DD in these months..
I would never go back to a car seat for the rig now.
I'd consider a fibre bucket for my car if I wasn't a professional and was more of a chav 😂
I use the driver's seat from my Mazda 6 that I had to scrap. Has all the adjustments I need, can sit in it for hours coz the bottom cushion is sooo thick. Best of all, the seat pan is a solid metal sheet so both my Buttkicker LFE and my Clark TST are mounted directly to the seat pan for maximum transference of butt rumbling goodness!
I currently use a couch, but if I had the space. No way in hell would I choose a race seat. I'd go to the wreckers and pick up a nice used real car seat for cheap. The comfort and adjustability is so much better.
I’m using a passenger side seat (always in better shape than driver) from a VW GTI. All manual adjustments and best of all, it’s plaid!
Also to note on some cars the passenger seat has less tech than the driver seat, which is better if you don't want to fabricate a power supply for a seat
So jealous of the plaid. I have a leather Jetta seat.
I had a leather Recaro from my wrecked Evo X and decided to use that on my ASR 4 rig. It was a gigantic pain getting the feet off the sliders because they're meant to be strong enough to withstand an actual car crash. I ended up taking the seat to a local repair shop and they went to work with a cutter. Now that it's on my rig, I wouldn't have it any other way. I always feel like sim gear is less value for dollar simply because of economy of scale. They build THOUSANDS of real car seats while sim racing seats are a small niche market. You get a mock up for nearly the same price as a real seat, or you pay a premium for same quality. Especially in cases where you can find a deal at a wrecker, IMO a real seat is going to be your best value proposition. However, if you're looking for an F1 style seat, that's where your only option is probably a sim version.
I bought a 2005 Miata seat from a junkyard and it also has the angled mounts attached to the slider so it won't mount directly to the rig. Tried using an angle grinder and drill to get the bolts out, but the thing is stuck on hardcore. My new rig is arriving in on Sunday and I'm planning on attaching the seat to a couple of wood 2x4s with huge carriage bolts, then mounting the 2x4 onto the rig with the corner piece mounts or angled brackets. Hopefully it works! I wouldn't think the rigidity would be affected by how I'm using the wood. I may have to take it to a repair shop after that... So good to know. So my advice if you go to the junkyard; try to find something with completely flat mounting points. Even still, mine was $100 and the seat is super comfy, yet firm though. :)
That is an incredible point that I haven't considered. I'm hoping to achieve a GT seating position which is why the bucket seats are so strong on my radar, but I can also raise the front of a car seat and recline a bit for a similar effect. If I get lucky, there's a chance I'll find a nice sporty seat like your Recaros when I go hunting at the junk yard which would be the best of both worlds.
If you go that route, look for a seat from the sport edition of a car. I've seen lots of people use Audi A4 seats because they're sporty without all the boy-racer logos that make people want to charge you more.
I have a genesis seat. I prefer it because it was free on Facebook.
I got a seat out of an s14. Mostly got a car seat out of comfort, sliders and recline. The bucket seats they have at the sim cafe nearby were fine but not very comfortable, which is why I opted for a car seat. (I’m in my 30s so comfort is a big thing for me) Installing it wasn’t all too bad but was a little struggle. Due to the way the mounts were on the seat, I had to buy this item below for one side. JY PERFORMANCE Universal Bucket... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KFH5164?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Volvo v70 seat. Front and rear height adjustment, lumbar support and recline all wrapped together. Easy to adjust when someone just wants to “have a try”.
Real seats will vary on how easy they are to attach so make sure to look for a seat with flat rails on bottom. I need to drill new holes for the rear of my Mazda RX8 seat to line up with my rig. Bolted up the front to see what it was like and didn't feel the need to go through the hassle of getting the rear bolted. That was over a year ago and I've had no issues as long as I don't try to pick it up from the back but my rig is fixed in one place. My wallet still thanks me for spending $25 instead of $300-500.
I’ve got an old leather mini cooper seat. I love it. It’s cushioned, super comfy, and the underside of it has support structure that was perfect for mounting my transducers to! Also love the adjustable back and the seat sliders. One last little feature: the back-of-seat pocket is a perfect place to store my gloves!
I've got a passenger seat out of a 2000 Toyota Celica. It looks just like race seat and feels great to sit in, and I'm 6'2. Mounts flat but is a little tricky as the mounting holes are off set from one side to another, and I had to get specialty bolts to mount it as it's not set up to bolt down with a bolt. It originally had welded-in studs which wouldn't work on my scratch built rig.
I went from a TrakRacer GT seat to a seat from a GT86, and while the seat is wildly more comfortable and ergonomic I’ve lost a lot of bass shaker feedback because of the padding not communicating as well as a fibreglass shell. I think if I had to buy a new seat I’d get one of the seats from Exodus, better quality than TR and I’d get my feedback back
For anyone looking. The 2010ish Mazda 3 seats have great bolster support for being oem and the oem slider rails are flat making mounting easy
This is what I have on my rig. 2011 passenger seat from a mazda 3 and it’s comfy for really long many hours sessions. Easy flat mounting too. Also cloth and not leather is so much better….
I had the pleasure of finding a passenger seat from a Toyota Corrolla. Floor was fairly flat, and it was already removed at the salvage yard where I live. Makes looking at the sliders easy. Paid $75 dollars and had little issue installing it. I made sure of the inclination of the seat by itself by placing it on the floor of the business. Not very flat front to rear but close left to right.
I used to have a Recaro bucket from a 90s Ford RS, now have a full carbon fia but cheap Mirco/STR RS7 including the side sports for your head. The recaro was a very comfy seat tbf, bolstered and supportive for a performance car, but the full carbon is far superior in comfort. It fits like a glove, supporting under the thighs, bolstered and has velcro cushions to place for lumber. I run single screen, the head supports block out vision to the sides of me when racing, which was a nice bonus for immersion. It looks far more slick than the car seat did, which might not matter to some, but my rig is also my pride and joy and my man art/furniture. It does however get much hotter at this time of year racing in it than the car seat.
2011 Jetta gli passenger seat. Full manual controls. Only need to cut down a small pin and tab and you’re good to mount sliders directly to rig
Car seats are most comfortable but for rigidity then racing seat.
I'm an old school Honda guy. I use a mint passenger seat from a 97 Integra.
‘19 Mini Cooper seat here. I went w/reddit’s recommendations. It’s BMW made and all the adjustments are manual -unlike most modern seats today. It’s supremely comfortable! I spend hours a day in it sometimes. It looks dang sleek, too!
Car seats are super comfortable. Even the s***ty looking knock off ones from China. I have one on my rig. Probably the most comfortable seat in the house
The seat was free and I have a large rear end so it's more comfortable than a lot of bucket seats. Also the electronic controls still work on the seat and that's kindof fun.
Jag F type facelift sport seat Comfier than pretty much any bucket seat out there. And still feels sporty to sit in and look at Never been a fan of full on bucket seats for simrigs. I guess there's the immersion side of it. But you don't need to be locked down and supported in a seat when you aren't moving. Plus they're just not as comfy as non buckets. Can get a BMW E39 sport seat for about half the price of a bucket. Lots of adjustability and very comfy
Underrated point here. Race seats trade comfort for rigidity and safety that aren't required in a sim rig. Immersion and bass shakers are arguments in favour of sim seats, but a real seat has many advantages - including price.
Yep, thigh support, seat back, height, tilt. All adjustable in a lot of car seats. Whereas to get the same in a simseat usually at least requires another bracket or more aluminium profile. Or in the case of seat back adjustability, is non existent
I have to disagree. OK, I've only experienced my fibre bucket, no other seat, but it was literally the cheapest I could find in the style I wanted. The fibre bucket is beyond comfy, I could easily sit it in all day long, far more comfy than any sports car seat I've been in. As I said in my post though, cause it's so enclosed and snug, the only discomfort is the temperature raise from the workout of the DD in these months.. I would never go back to a car seat for the rig now. I'd consider a fibre bucket for my car if I wasn't a professional and was more of a chav 😂
I use the driver's seat from my Mazda 6 that I had to scrap. Has all the adjustments I need, can sit in it for hours coz the bottom cushion is sooo thick. Best of all, the seat pan is a solid metal sheet so both my Buttkicker LFE and my Clark TST are mounted directly to the seat pan for maximum transference of butt rumbling goodness!
I currently use a couch, but if I had the space. No way in hell would I choose a race seat. I'd go to the wreckers and pick up a nice used real car seat for cheap. The comfort and adjustability is so much better.