Mounting race seats in a Gen2

[Dom426h]

I’ve been thinking about it for years now and am finally ready to order aftermarket seats & safety harnesses for my GTS within the week. I pulled both my seats lastnight to get familiar with taking them in/out and I’ve got a few questions regarding mounting any diff seat in a Gen1/2 that is not stock.

Q’s:

1. What brand/make seat did you put in your Viper? Was it a bottom or side mount? How did you mount it? Fixed/Sliders? Custom mount or purchased prefabed from who?

2. From my internet research I have only found 1 manufacture that makes a slider mount specifically for the Gen2. Corbeau(doublelocking ~120bucks). I assume this mount can be used for nearly any seat whether it bolts right up to a bottom mount seat or if you have to buy or fab some sidemounts to fit a sidemount seat.

3. Stock slider seat bracket. Has anyone removed this from the stock assembly and used it to mount an aftermarket seat?

4. Any other info that you think might be helpful to someone installing aftermarket seats in a Gen2.

Im not looking for advice on picking a certain seat. I know that many have shoulder bolsters that are too wide to fit without cutting or removing the door panel or cutting the seat.

Thanks in advance for any info yall are able to provide.

 

[DrumrBoy]

I have Kirkey seats in mine. Wouldn't recommend 'em. I will pay close attention to this thread since I too want to change. Have a Recaro in the other car and its great but pricey.

 

[Boxer12]

Do you actually plan to race your car? If so, then you should get some solid brackets from Woodhouse or Archer Racing. Maybe DC Performance has them too, I would expect so.

 

[Steve-Indy]

Driver's body size can make a big difference. If you have a medium-to-small frame...you will have an easier install/fit using common after market racing seats. If you have a big frame, you may have to innovate as you go.

One of our Members raced a 2001 GTS...6'4"...290 lbs...weight lifter with BIG shoulders, tall body, relatively short legs. Brackets had to be "fashioned" by trial-mount-error-start-over method. Ultimately, he got the job done !!!

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

I did Sparco Evo in mine which is very popular in the Gen 2. They were floor mounted with solid brackets to my seating specs. Slider not a good idea IMO for racing. The outer seat wings have to be trimmed to clear the inside of door panels unless you remove the door panels. You get a much better seat support by having the seat back fully against the rear area frame.

 

[Dom426h]

Thanksfor the advice Boxer. I dont currently want solid mounts as this Viper is driven around 5K street miles a year and i want to be able to easily adjust for myself as well as other people to fit. Currently running about 2-4 non-competitive trackdays per year plus autocrosses with the possibility of timetrials in the next couple years. Seats im looking at are more combo street/track oriented although i'd rather not get into that and just keep this thread focused on the mounting of any seats. In the future i may have two Vipers and go more ******** with one of them including RACE/race seats and solid/fixed mounts. Also, if i end up with one Viper then i might end up getting a 2nd seat setup that i can swap in/out for trackdays.

Drumr, there are plenty of other threads disscusing diff seats that you can search for with the key words ("race" "seat" "sparco") & ("race" "seat" "recaro") should turn up the most relevant threads . I would like to keep this thread focused more specifically on the mounting of seats.

 

[MTGTS]

Dom, what did you end up doing? I have a set of factory mounts that have been modified to fit my Sparco's but I want to get lower so I'm looking for something. The Sparco side mounts will not work in a Viper.

 

[Rickman6]

I've tried to squeeze in a Sparco Pro 2000 racing seats but failed... due to the fact they are approx. 60 cm wide over the shoulder area, as most (all) racing seats....the max width in a Viper gen 2 is approx 50 cm.

as mentioned the only way to fit a normal racing seat is either alter the seat it self or remove the inner clading of the doors.
As of today I've installed a Sparco Sprint (FIA approved ) racing seat and it fit's with no modifications as it is approx 50 wide, however, it is not made of fiberclass and therfor slightly heavier but lighter than the stock setup...and of course, once seated you want slide around as
with the stock seats.
It's an old fashion steel tubing racing seat. My car is a 90% track car and therfore the seat is mounted solid with no option of sliding. (side mount)
if you intend to use your car mostly on the street I honestly would not exchange the stock seats or if you must then perhaps consider the
gen 3 seats...more bolstering but they are also larger / taller..

 

[redtanrt10]

If anyone is interested, I have a pair (left-right) of custom brackets for Sparco seats. They use the same mounting bolts as the factory seats. Built by Werks II in LA. Can use with the sparco sliders. I tried to put sparco torino's in my '99 ACR. Too tight, sold the seats and have had the brackets and sliders for 5 years. I paid $200 for the brackets and probably another $100 on the two sliders. Love to see them get used and go to a good home, if interested send a pm. Mike