Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

What are the pros and cons of each ?

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

I can think of two reasons. Properly mounted they are safer and feel safer. And they are lighter.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Weight, weight and weight.

And safety.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

As someone who weighs 275#, putting in Kirkey seats on the floor vs the stock bench seat our car had, also had to lower the CG some. A side benefit and possibly not that much, but not a detriment either.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

The weight reduction for 2 seats can be anywhere from 40 to 90 pounds depending on the seats.
The safety factor improvement is huge . just the reduction in mass in the event of an impact reduces the stress on the seat and seatbelt mountings.
The aluminum seat provides rigid protection for your back and torso and lateral support that a heavy , hinged factory seat cannot.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

The only place where an aftermarket seat can be a negative is with a vertical crash. I fractured L1 in my back on a huge wheelstand when I had to abort or crash the car over the wall. my spine compressed when the K frame hit the racing surface and bottomed out the car. This is a rare circumstance, but it happened to me. I have a thick foam pad on the lower pan of the seat now. Hopefully I never have to use it .

They save weight and are safer everywhere else, and feel good to sit in. Lost 60 pounds in the middle of the Firebird when I converted over

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Factory seats typically sit the driver up high in the car. I generally make the new brackets to get the driver down in the car, Get the head/helmet down away from the roof and under the main hoop. Especially for guys 6'+.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Also be aware of your bracket height if you build a Gen 5 and maybe a Gen 6 Camaro.
Because, there’s a fine line between the bracket height, the very ordinary front quality vision and the roof, for a medium size racers.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

The bench is so comfy

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

An Aluminum seat with a cover has limited protection in a crash.
Although they are more expensive, I recommend the use of an FIA approved seat like they are provided with the COPO, Cobra Jet and Drag Pak cars or, a poured seat.
I learned a lot about crashworthiness of seats while doing aircraft passenger seat certification during my time at Boeing and it was eye opening.
Unless you buy a high end sports car that has Recaro seats or similar, the OEM seats are limited as regards to protection.
It is a matter of much your health is worth.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Shameless plug. If you visit my website I make and sell brackets to bolt Kirkeys to replace factory seats. I'm always adding to it, so if you see something missing and are interested, feel free to ask.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Troy's brackets make installation of racing seats into a Stocker a piece of cake.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Does anyone make racing bench seats.

Ron Ortiz
U/SA

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

link?

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

weight savings in classes with a minimum weight requirement is sort of a moot point. What it will do though is allow you to move weight to a more useful area in the car.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Pew Racing

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Troy,

See B body Mopar, don't see A body... in the works?

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Kyle, Pew Racing only has midgets. Midget car racing. Were you referring to pews as in churches. Or are you leading me on a wild pew chase.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Holy smokes you got me. 😂

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Not yet but we could work on a set. Give me a call sometime 816-520-5389

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Kirkey offers a few different hip widths. Can someone offer advice on a measurement? Thank you, Mike

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Thanks ClassRacer!! ;)

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

We have been thinking about converting over some of our stock interior cars to the Kirkey. Like Todd Hoven mentioned, I have noticed limited protection (sticking my hand behind my lower back in the open space) and was curious if anyone has used the poured seat insert with the aluminum seat? Would you have to order a slightly larger seat to compensate for the poured insert?
We did a poured seat in our JR Dragster and I can't imagine not having one in a normal dragster. Ryan Herem spoke about the poured seat he wished he had for his crash.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Where can a person get a poured seat?

Darcy Clarke
6254
A/SA SS/EA

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

You can get a kit from some race car fabricators like:
https://quartermax.com/isp-pour-in-place-seat-kit/
or: https://timmcamis.com/product/isp-pour-in-seat-kit/

Also, I highly recommend to talk about the rule regarding the driver and passenger seats identical appearance section with a NHRA tech before making any move.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Charles Stewart is right. We used this one https://quartermax.com/creafoam-seat...omex-covering/ and watched several YouTube videos to get an idea of what to expect. Pretty easy to do. Took 3 of us to do it: 1 driver to sit in with full suit, and two more monkeys to help (one for each side) mash and move the little foam balls. Reminded me of the ol bean bag days. For trimming the excess, we used an electric knife from the kitchen instead of a hacksaw and used razor blades for the detailing. It comes with a black nomex to (spray) glue on for the cover, but I had an upholstery guy do ours for more of a polished look. One thing I learned the hard way is if there are any wrinkles when it cures, if you use the nomex cover it will show like a wrinkled shirt. Had to do some fine sanding to minimize. It's only $359 bucks and I consider a bargain considering the safety aspects.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

I appreciate the info!! As an injury survivor I agree with you the cost is very insignificant.

Darcy Clarke
6254
A/SA SS/EA

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Take the time to listen this you tube tutorial by Tim Mcamis regarding
the driver compartment.
I know it isn't adapted directly to Stock an SS cars but it will give you some highlight to think before making any change...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLrVdCti53M

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

GREAT video! Always good to revisit safety measures and improve our program. Jeff and Charlotte Helfer with Pro1 Racing and Safety Products posted a video pointing out the cause of his brother's crash in the dragster. Now that we all have some downtime, it is a good idea to take a look at our cars and safety gear (including where the belts bolt up and cage padding). After driving a car with a Kirkey seat, getting back into an oem seat feels very unsafe. Austin Williams' mother was involved in an accident and the Camaro had an oem seat and sustained an injury (related to sliding in the seat) and being stopped by the roll bar. Had it been a Kirkey style, it is reasonable to believe that injury might not have happened or at the very least minimized.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

I've always liked the Jaz aluminum seats. More compact than the Kirkey 55 series. When finished and covered correctly, they look more like original seats in the older cars.

The Jaz seats have had availability issues and the price has gone up substantially. My next project I may look at the Kirkey 16 series as a substitute for the Jaz.

Re: Racing seats vs Stock seats
 

Who do has the best prices ?