SvenDriver Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 All my recent fiddling with foam and sitting in the car seat less brought to my attention an obvious point. If you sit on the floor with no seat you are much , much lower in the car to the point where it is a different vehicle with airflow over the cockpit area and tons of headroom on the FIA bar. So, the basic problem with the FIA bar is not the bar but the fact that the seats take up too much height. This follows because Caterham have used a standard car seat runner and then bolted the seat onto the top. We also know that bolting seats onto the ally floor panel may not be the brightest move. So, why couldn't we go for a radical redesign? I'm thinking that you could easily design a seat to use side mounted runners. Side mounted runners would bolt straight onto the frame. They would consist of a narrow piece of U-section mild steel with slots cut out of it. The seat would have a similar piece of U-section but inverted to fit into the frame-fitted U section. A couple of bolts on each side (with bushes) would go through both slots in the two U sections and straight into the chassis. The U sections themselves wouldn't need to be very tall; my guess is that 1-2 cm would be more than adequate. Total width of the assembly needn't be more than .5-1cm. A notched mechanism like now would take care of adjustment. Sensible positioning and seat design would take care of seat belt point clearances. Once you have side mounted runners then a seat base could be flush to the floor without stressing it at all. You could also make maximum use of available height since you only need <1cm of compressed foam under your arse for comfort. I think you could gain 3cm of height easily. I also think you could save a bit of weight with this - you could lose part of the seat frame, make lighter runners and throw away the underfloor reinforcement, use fewer bolts for fixing the seat. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 Sounds Good sense. I found that sitting on the floor was not quite enough to lower my head enough, so I then increased the seat rake further. This foruitously enabled my knees to go upwards behind the dash and so I would fit. I used the original runner mountings in the frame with my foam seat, but made a new seat frame of 30mm flat bar thats about 4mm thick. The bottom of my bum is now just 4 mm from the floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 although the seats are ontop of the runners the base of them is only about 2mm above the ali skin. Although the leather seats have approx an inch of padding. With the Tillets they can be reclined to make them more comfy, and lower your head, by packing with washers at the front. HOOPY 500 kg R706KGU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SvenDriver Posted February 1, 2003 Author Share Posted February 1, 2003 The leather seats have at least an inch of padding at the back - but this compresses down somewhat. I am aware of the fact that the seat base is almost flush with the floor but I thought it might be more than 2mm. The front cushion of the seat IMHO is probably too bulky. Overall I feel that the leather seat may be over-padded. Anyone who is too lardy wont fit period, so you don't have to cater for 19stone lumps. I accept that tillets will give a better position for racers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mav Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 And what is wrong with 19 stone lumps 🤔 😳 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Tully Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 Mav, As you are about the same height as me and also have an SV, how do you go on with the height issue of the FIA bar when wearing a helmet? Have you changed your seat or do you remove the base when on the track? I tried mine to day whilst wearing a helmet and there is about 15 mm clearance between my helmet and the roll bar, but when i remove the seat base there is about 2" clearance. What needs to be the clearance for me to do trackdays and will anyone check? Azure Blue SV 1800 X-Power 140bhp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug phillips Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 No problem................. if you drive a SV... a, mav 😬 Su77on Se7ens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mav Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 Scott You hit the nail on the head. For sprints etc, i remove the seat base and sit on a folded towel for a little comfot. This leaves me with more than the required 50mm of clearance. If i get round to it i'll make a proper foam base this year sometime. Hope all is well, and see you at the next Cheshire Meet in a week or so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Tully Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 Cheers mav, see you at the next meet, hopefully, unless i get summunsed abroad again as is the case in previous months, work really is a pain sometimes!!!! *mad* Azure Blue SV 1800 X-Power 140bhp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifty Posted February 2, 2003 Share Posted February 2, 2003 Mav, You may dwarf me but I don't belive your 19 stone 😳 18st 12lb perhaps *tongue* 😬 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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