Replacing Factory seats with a race seat

[clubracer]

Hey guys,
Just wanted to know if anyone has done this. I got a race seat lying around at home that I was going to fit but wanted to know if anyone has done this Any problems with the airbags in the standard seats, seat heaters etc etc.

Cheers!

[philthy]

Yup, I think stuwey (? check spelling) put some recaros in his polo due to a crook back.

You wire a resistor across the airbag terminals (haha.. do not take that as a how to) to aviod getting a dash light.

[noone]

Would you have to get some with the folding mechanism, otherwise no access to the back seats?

[clubracer]

Only want to put the one in for track days. Anyone know the legalities of having one fixed seat in? I know back in the old days if you had TWO fixed front seats the car had to be registered as a 2 seater but I dont know the rules for having just one.

[noone]

If you are worried about legality, do it at the track.

[Stuwey]

Yep, a resistor will tell the ECU that everything is still "ok" with the airbags. I've got two Recaros in mine, couple of resistors, no airbags, no faults.

Get an auto sparky to do this one...

[clubracer]

Cheers! Will let you know how I go...

[break]

Just keep in mind, any seat change needs an engineers approval otherwise the car won't be roadworthy and you'll invalidate your insurance in the event of a crash.

Also make sure the seats you buy are full ADR compliant (some Sparco/Recaro's aren't... be careful and shop around).

Do yourself a favor and find a wrecked polo and buy the seat rails from that to modify to fit your new seats. If you chop up your standard seat rails you may have problems fitting the standard seats back in for resale.

One thing to note, the Polo stock seats are quite high because of the under seat tray, keep in mind you will likely be sitting much lower with aftermarket seats on modified rails.

[Stuwey]

Errr... No?

Take your standard seat, measure the seat cushion to ceiling height. Unbolt it, and put it in the shed.

Get your new seat, bolt the runners on. Measure how thick the base of the runners are to the top of the seat cushion.

Now, make a frame which has mounting points which can be used by your runners to keep your seating position at the same height as the originals.

My Recaros are at the factory height but i'm gonna drop the drivers' down an inch or so when i get around to it.

With seat frames, if you don't know what you're doing, leave it to the professionals. The guys at work make them all the time and it still takes them 4 hours each sometimes.

[break]

With seat frames, if you don't know what you're doing, leave it to the professionals. The guys at work make them all the time and it still takes them 4 hours each sometimes.

Exactly my point. Most notice attempts to install a seat were nothing more than drilling the stock rails and bolting the seats in, which isn't always a good idea. Soooo... if you intend on doing them yourself get some spare rails so you don't make a mess of your standard ones.