Tim Bancroft Posted May 31, 2021 Posted May 31, 2021 Hi all, I have just been contacted by a CT member who is doing the RBRR and is thinking about the seats for the car whilst on the event. His Vitesse 6 has standard seats that need rebuilding, however, they are not known as the most comfortable, can anyone suggest an alternative that he can use for the RBRR? Regards and thanks, Tim Quote
ferny Posted May 31, 2021 Posted May 31, 2021 You're looking at MGF or MX5 really. All take a little bit of thought to fit. MGF can feel high, early MX5 fit but are very old... and latter MX5 seat require tweaks. Lotus Elise/Vauxhall VX220 seats will probably fit. Mine are mk2.5 MX5 seats and they're handed which you need to be aware of. Apparently they don't fit... Being heated is awesome. They'll not recline flat because they are wider and hit the b-post. You also lose the nice flat lines on a convertible with the roof down and they really don't hold you in on the twisties, despite their shape. I want better seats but don't want to pay for them. The parts to rebuild Herald seats was around £250 when I fitted mine and I bought a whole MK1 MX5 with mk2.5 seats worth £350 for £490. It was a no-brainer for me but not all are so lucky. Quote
mikeyb Posted June 1, 2021 Posted June 1, 2021 MX5 seats are the favoured upgrades for Spit/GT6, Healds and Vitesses will take MGF as Ferny said. Rover 200/400 recaros are comfy and easy to adapt, but getting harder to find now. Quote
RobPearce Posted June 1, 2021 Posted June 1, 2021 Just to be perverse... I always found the original Mk1 Vitesse seats really comfortable - better than most modern car seats. Quote
ferny Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 17 hours ago, mikeyb said: MX5 seats are the favoured upgrades for Spit/GT6, Healds and Vitesses will take MGF as Ferny said. Rover 200/400 recaros are comfy and easy to adapt, but getting harder to find now. I tried to fit some standard issue leather Rover 200 seats as well. They ended up way too high and rubbed the b-post. Recaro seats may be a tiny bit smaller? Quote
mikeyb Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 Was that with the original runners? They do sit higher on them. Quote
Jason Posted October 5, 2021 Posted October 5, 2021 Has anyone found a low level runner solution for the Vitesse - the Bond seats in my Vitesse are fixed, fine for a single driver but not great when sharing the car. I don't want to add any height but I do need something - I don't have any runners to try so will need to buy/acquire something just thinking what others have figured out? Quote
thescrapman Posted October 5, 2021 Posted October 5, 2021 They fit to standard Vitesse Runner I think. Quote
Baxter Posted October 7, 2021 Posted October 7, 2021 Tim kindly started this thread for me, so I should report back. I opted for MGF seats on the basis of the classic look of the MK1 seats and the reasonable cost/availability. Plus fitting was simple per the easy to find guide (from Adam in NZ for tssc?). We're really pleased with the results. Can't recline past the B pillar, but sliding forward to allow enough recline still left our legs comfortable. We each had one good solid 2hr sleep per night on RBRR, and it was probably adrenalin and minor car/route/event issues that prevented more. Re height: I've used the mgf runners. The seats do sit a little higher but not much, and we didn't notice it while driving. We did notice that being wider we're slight further over toward the door, making the steering wheel sit to our left. Soon forgotten. Photo below gives an idea of height difference. On the side-by-side photo, the vitesse seat is without runners, the mgf on its runners but with the 4 corner fitting brackets cut and ground off. 1 Quote
mpbarrett Posted October 7, 2021 Posted October 7, 2021 MX5 seats in my 13/60 convertible, had cloths faced seats but now have leather (and heated) ones. If I am honest the cloths ones were more comfortable than the leather... The seats are narrow enough to recline past the B pillar. I have mounted them on some home made spacers and use the original MX5 runners. I was lucky to find these red and black leather ones that suit the Red Herald! Mike 1 Quote
Steve P Posted October 7, 2021 Posted October 7, 2021 Bond seats in my Vitesse on original runners,i am 6 foot 1, really like them,not tried sleeping in it though. Steve Quote
Jason Posted October 7, 2021 Posted October 7, 2021 OK so it sounds like I need some original seat runners then 😁 Anyone got any close to Reading, Berks? Quote
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