Sparco R333
 

Picked up a Sparco R333 reclinable seat from Wine Country Motorsports in Jupiter, FL. Driver side for now due to limited budget:

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/9614/m125.th.jpg
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/5348/nuxi.th.jpg
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/9701/yov9.th.jpg
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/2365/ri62.th.jpg

Fitment is snug against the center console but the shoulder does not hit the door. Wedge bracket and Sparco universal sliders were used, which slightly raised the seating height. Just from a short test drive around the block this seat does hold you in place quite well, even though it's not a fixed-back. Finish is nice and complements the interior well. Subdued R333 stitching on the back and bottom cushions add a nice touch.

Are you still using stock belts or are you going to go full harness?

Stock belt for now. Eventually down the road a four-point harness.

Damn that's nice man, may I ask how much this cost including the brackets and slider? I'm looking to do this in the future, the fact that it reclines is a plus for me.

Thank you! Seat was $499.00, base was $135.00, and the Sparco sliders which go for $70.00 was no-charge, so grand total was $672.04 out the door with Florida 6% tax.

I would not suggest that you go with a four point Harness unless someone makes an anti-submarine harness developed specifically for our car.

Go with a six point harness having the submarine belts (the crotch belts) secured to the front seat bolts. Those bolts are designed to take the impact of a crash. However, you will need to get slightly longer bolts and make sure they are grade eight or better.

Thanks for the info bro. The cost isn't bad at all, I was expecting it to be little more. I also like that it raises the seat height a little more, I cant see past the hood with the oem seats.

Thank you for the tip! Obviously I'm a stranger to the topic of harnesses and I appreciate your input.

Zbrah, no problem. I'll continue to give feedback once I ride more in this seat.

You shouldn't run any harnesses in a car with out a roll cage, ever. That is unless you like spinal compression in the event of an accident. Safer to run stock belts and not risk dying or being paralyzed.

He right you know...
 

This is true. In fact the three point belt is a highly evolved species in today’s automobile. Especially with modern air bags.

The fact that the chest strap allows your head and torso to move prevents 1) getting crushed in a roll over (the problem with a 5 or 6 point harness w/o a cage) and 2) your body submarining in an accident (is that a word?) under the belt and into the floor board (the problem with MOST 4 point harnesses.)

If you don't mind can you take a close up shot of the material on the seats for me? and hows the lumbar support, I'm considering these as another option to replace the cloth seats. Thanks bro.

Why not have run a bride base/bracket so it sits lower? Like the low max bracket.... Just a thought, I had wedge brackets on a set of seats and it was like a highchair so I got different brackets/bases and it was the best move I made.

Also what is the weight of the seat? Was it a weight reduction from stock? The seats look great as well!

Great and life-saving information ITT!

Subbed for future reviews, OP. Seats look good!

$499 wow thats pretty inexpensive definitely something to look into! Thanks for sharing

One thing I haven't been able to figure out with aftermarket seats and our cars:

I don't think anyone has fully been able to get rid of/work out the resistor issue and the airbag warning light....if you put an aftermarket seat and the airbag warning light is on, does that mean that none of the airbags will work or will the wheel/dash bags still function?

From what I was told they will still work. Also heard of paralleling 2 specific ohm resistors together and sticking them in the blank plug will cut the light. Will ask around again and see what I can come up with.

I'll do so in the morning and post them up. Hard to describe in words but definitely has an OEM feel about it. As far as lumbar support, I have no issues with this seat, but every one is different. This is coming from someone who has found that many vehicle lack good lumbar support. In fact, dare I say that these are more comfortable than factory.

It was more for convenience, really, as the bracket was readily available for purchase with the bundle. I'll definitely look into a Bride bracket as you said, the Wedge does raise the seat significantly. As far as weight, I was too stoked to think about weighing the seat, so when the passenger side comes along I'll post up the weight. Thank you for the suggestions!

Thank you!

For sure. And for a respected brand-named seat, can't beat it. Thanks for looking and the compliment.

The remaining airbags will supposedly still function. The code it throws when you rid an airbag signals that it obviously senses that an airbag is now absent from the vehicle; not that the entire system will not work. I remedied this following this tutorial, in which I placed a resistor between two wires that originally led to the seat sensor, and performed the airbag diagnostic reset method. Another thing I noticed was that before I fixed the airbag issue, I noticed that the passenger seat, even while occupied, indicated that the airbag was off (the passenger sensor indicator was lit).

I just read an interesting article in the latest issue of "Modified"....Dispellng the Rollover Safety Myth. It cites references such as the founders of Schroth and Takata.

So... what did the article entail?

Read the same article. Was very informative. Basically to disregard the people that say using a 4 point harness is dangerous; as is using a fixed back seat without a roll cage in a street driven car. Something like 95% of the people hurt in accidents are from body parts going out of the window. That a full roof collapse in a roll over is very very slim. A 4 point harness does a better job at keeping you in a seat and not being tossed around than a factory 3 point. And that if this stuff was dangerous, then why does every big racing harness company offer a 4 point if it was going to kill you?

Close-ups as requested:

http://s13.postimg.org/au53oi96f/IMG_0151.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/bkxtuabjr/IMG_0153.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/hn5gkrzzr/IMG_0152.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/vprdzr5dj/IMG_0150.jpg

Those look excellent :tup:

Are you still having the same problem with your passenger airbag light? It has happened infrequently in our Z but enough to notice. The light is supposed to come on and stay on when there is something in the seat that weighs less than a certain amount (40lbs? I can't remember), but it sometimes comes on and stays on with a full grown adult in the passenger seat. I haven't really been able to troubleshoot anything since it usually works fine. I would have taken it to the dealer, but it would likely be a waste of time as I can't replicate it on command.

Thanks JAR! As far as the passenger airbag light goes, as soon as I placed a resistor between two sensor wires on the driver side then performed the airbag diagnostic reset method, the passenger weight sensor/SRS have not been an issue. If the light stays lit even with an adult (assuming greater than 60 lb-ish), then you may have an issue at hand.

That looks really clean bro!

Thanks ka24. :tiphat:

Thanks for the pics bro. It's a tough choice between these, 40th ed. seats or the black leather touring seats right now.

No problem. Here are some variations of the R333:

http://www.prospeed.bg/uploads/produ...a96bfb242b.jpg

Good luck with your decision.

Got the passenger side in today:

http://s21.postimg.org/3lo6gqojb/IMG_0154.jpg

http://s21.postimg.org/86acvo88n/IMG_0156.jpg

http://s21.postimg.org/8f3c7uvnb/IMG_0158.jpg

The passenger seat does require a lot more work than the driver seat. I soldered the airbag wires with a resistor which is working with no airbag light, alongside the seatbelt. The weight sensor, however, is a different story.

It took me about a good hour to take apart the passenger seat and its numerous metal retainer clips to remove the sensor (two short nosed pliers are definitely handy during this phase). I placed the sensor underneath the new seat, which only floats over bands of fabric underneath the seat. With no solid underneath backing like the OEM seat, it does not register adult weight well. In my case, even if I were to be seated in it, the airbag off light would remain lit. Driving solo the airbag light did not light up which is normal. I just removed the seat and flipped the sensor upside down (white side up), to permanently leave the airbag on. I'll post back with result to notify if this remedied the issue.

Oh the good old days when there were not SRS airbags in the seats!!! My 350z was a breeze with no airbags... Only thing to plug in was the seat belt plug...

These seats look great, I can't believe the price for how nice these are!

Tell me about it. But it was a good learning experience as I've never dealt with this kind of electrical task. Thank you for the compliment Volk. :tiphat:

No problem, they should have put these seats in from the factory!

I wish they did made your black seat with the RED writing for my Nismo :)
The one with Gray is not as sharp looking as your all black

I concur, these seats seem to flow with the interior well. As for red stitching, that definitely would look aggressive. The infinite possibilities with mods... sometimes I wonder how we settled for the things we have instead of other things out there. :rolleyes:

Just wanted to add that I also read the modified mag article about racing seats and/or cages in street cars and it does a great job disspelling all of the rumors. And secondly schroth makes a 4 point belt that has anti-submarining design to it. Basically when you impact the belts with enough force, it tears a small section of stitching in the shoulder straps and lengthens them by a few inches which makes your upper body lean forward enough that you aren't at an angle to dive under the belt.