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Thread: Anyone tried installing recaro seats into Miatas?

  1. #16
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Paul B's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by modernbeat View Post
    The LS Recaro seats don't really fit a Miata if you are over 5'6". The shoulder bolster will contact the body if you move it back far enough to get the legroom desired.

    The Lotus Elise seats similarly have fitting issues. Yes, they fit the car. Yes, they fit low enough to get some headroom. But, if you are so tall you NEED the headroom, you won't like what they do with your legroom. They gain that headroom by pushing your hips forward, placing your knees around the steering wheel.

    There are some shell-style racing seats that fit. And others that fit with a little massage to some of the soft interior panels (no metal cutting). But if you are fairly tall, and want to fit inside the car with a helmet, then you will most likely be cutting off the stock seat mounting humps to get the seat to fit properly.

    My experience with my lotus seats are much different from yours. I'm 6'1". I feel the lotus seats put you in the perfect spot.

    Don't mean to derail the thread.

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    tsingson (11-24-2017)

  3. #17
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! modernbeat's Avatar
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    I'm 6'2" and have a 34" inseam. I tried them for a year. For a drive around town, no problem. For a trip to the autocross, great. For a cross country trip, nightmare.

    Even just crossing the state was uncomfortable. And it was the seats, as I had done similar trips with foamectomy stock seats a number of times.

    Swapped out the Lotus Exige Probax seats for my old ones, and everything was OK, except for headroom under the hardtop with a helmet. I just decided not to autocross that car anymore, so the headroom wasn't an issue any more.
    Jason McDaniel

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    Agent☣Orange (11-24-2017)

  5. #18
    Idling - Listen to it purr...
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    You know, guys, I am thankful for your replies and that you shared your experience with those seats. Yet now the choice became way more complicated for me. Before I considered only Recaros, and now I start thinking of Lotus seats as well.
    Also, it turned out that it's not that easy to find Recaros in the States, as there are tons of replicas and OEMs, yet not Recaros - https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...seats&_sacat=0
    Now, the only place where I found Recaros wants to charge me 3K per each seat, and they say they are the only official retailers in the US. I was wondering, if that's the right price?...
    Last edited by Devin Outlaw; 11-30-2017 at 09:32 AM.

  6. #19
    Nukuler banned! chiefmg's Avatar
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    I had a set of old Recaro LX-Cs in my Miata (you can find pictures of them installed in my build thread). Still have them, but only use them now for when I want to be held in place (like when I went to MATG this year). As modernbeat mentioned, they hit the seatbelt tower before you can use all the travel. You are also limited on forward motion due to their width. I really want to find a set of LX-As (IIRC that is the designation) which don't have the thigh bolsters as that is the only thing that bothers me on long trips. For reference I am 6'01" with a 34" inseam and 34" sleeve.

    There are a couple of places in Thailand that sell Recaros on eBay (where I got mine from). Most of them are older models like mine, although they do occasionally have some more modern seats. Prices have gone up some since I bought mine, but if you get lucky and bidding is low you can get a set of $1000 shipped. I type in "recaro seats" for my search, and then change the category to all.
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