Recaro seats - seat cushion heights

[Course_Out]

Hey guys

I am currently running stock ADM seats and they suck. I bought Bride Digo Type R's and found they were a bit narrow for my ghetto booty, and lifted my knees up a bit too high, kind of jamming them into the backside of the steering wheel.

Basically what I want to achieve is a similar seating position to the stock seats but with greater holding. I am considering early type Recaros (LS, like those fitted to old Ford Escorts, e30 BMW's etc.) or later sr2/3/4's. I had considered getting JDM ae86 seats as well, but I already have the Bride type MO rails which I am told work with Recaros and have had issues in the past with 80's Toyota seats having sloppy recliner mechanisms.

So my questions is, have you got Recaros, how have you mounted them (Bride rails, modded stock?) and how is the sitting height compared to stock. For reference I am 6ft so opinions from taller people are certainly valued. Only interested in recliners, not keen on a fixed back at all as the car is used for weekend cruises as well as track work.

Thanks guys!

[dove grey 64]

Bride mo rails are 30mm lower then stock height apparently going off nenguns website.
Being bottom mount yes you should be able to mount recaro ls or sr series seats.
I had sr3s once with a modded stock rail and the seat was too high, same issues you had.
I'd get the seat your after, bolt it in and then see how you fit, modify the rail mounts to suit your desired height.
Sr3 seats did a great job of keeping me secure, cant imagine the ls recaro to able to have the same performance considering there isnt any shoulder support

[Course_Out]

Yeah - I bought the MO based on that info but with the Digo seats you definitely sit higher. My research suggests that MO's should fit pretty much all recaros though

I found the shoulder support on the Digo a bit constricting to be honest. The reason I am looking at the older style Recaro's is the cushion thickness, they seem to sit a bit lower than the sr series

[hayashi]

I have a Recaro SR2 on Recaro rails, and it sits higher than the stock JDM seats (which I think are lower than ADM). I'm using a deep dish Nardi wheel to get around the 'knee to steering wheel hitting' feature. The Digo looks to have about the same seat cushion height as an SR2, so it's likely that you'll find no change in height going to an SR model.

You could potentially take off the seat cushion, and maybe just put a thinner custom cushion under the fabric.

Have you looked at Bride Gias/Stradia seats? If you get the low cushion option, you might get a similar seating height to stock seats. Only problem is, they're not compatible with MO rails, you'll need to get RO rails.

[Jimmee1990]

Personally I find all the Bride rails sit me too high no matter what seat is in the car, I would suggest getting out the grinder/welder and making your own rails to be honest. I was driving with no bottom cushion at all in my Sparco fixed back with Bride side mount rails on the lowest setting for example as I'm 6'3". Most if not all the name brand Japanese rails are made for average sized Japanese people.

[Course_Out]

Thanks for the input guys, looks like I might be a bit snookered here then... Don't really want to spend another $2k plus on seats and rails.

My brother has an old style Recaro I can borrow, might try that out and see how it is

[Jacobxxx]

If you want factory seating height mod stock rail to fit seat you're using.

[LittleRedSpirit]

I can share some useful experience for you.

I am also 6 foot and not the narrowest guy, I dont fit in Brides either. I ran a pair of recaro sr series seats on stock ke70 rails, which were just redrilled. The seat height was excellent for my height. I never investigated how different it might be on the bride rails. Basically very similar to stock height as you would expect. Depending on where you drill the rails you can have it move further back or not. I have long legs for my height so I found I ran the seat perfectly comfortable in the rear most position. I had a longish boss kit to move the wheel back and I also packed the steering column down a mm or 5 with some washers to lower the wheel below the dash more which I found more comfortable.

[Course_Out]

Cheers LittleRedSpirit, that is very helpful info!