Found an STI front seat for $250 on Ebay, but I also found a nice Sparco R100 Series seat for $300. The Sparco seat provides the back support I need, but I could just buy cushions for the STI Seat. Have any of you swapped your seats to something different?
That's what I'm doing. I don't think it's immoral to get a general idea of what to get after the car.
I had a set of Evo 9 Recaros in my WRX. Liked them a lot. I would sit in the seats before you buy anything.
The Sparcos have the back support I do need, whilst the STI seats do not. But that can be fixed with some simple cushions. I have. The R100s felt like I was more protected/comfortable. The STI seats felt like WRX seats with Blue stitching.
So, as someone that has back issues, and had Sparco seats in his WRX for 8 years, I can assure you, the stock seats are easier on the lower back than Sparcos. But you're 16 and have extensive seat time in both stock Subaru seats and budget Sparco seats, so please, continue your pre-car-ownership parts accumulation threads.
I had stock WRX seats for almost 10 years and then swapped to 04 STi seats. Huge difference! But now that i think about, the 06/07 WRX seats are very much like the STi seats. So, my bad!
I have STI seats out of a GR sti and that's about as bolstered as I'd like for a daily driven car. Coming from stock Forester seats.
Actually, the 2010+ Taurus seats are heated, cooled and massaging. Also, Scott has a great point, those '89 4Runner seats were damned good for factory seats.
Pssh. I got a set of 96-99 SHO front leather buckets that I've been saving to put in something. Talk about luxury.
My opinion. Buy your car. Try the Stock seats. If they bother your back then look at your options. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
The stock seats are fine, but I felt like they could be a little more comfortable for long distance driving.
Ugh. 02-04 WRX seats are more comfortable than most. These are the same as the two-tone 06-07 WRX TR seats, just different fabric. Good support, good bolstering. 04-07 USDM STI and 05-07 WRX seats are the same with different fabric. They all suck. Flat, little support, wide bolstering. JDM STI/EDM STI/JDM WRX, etc. seats are the best Subaru factory choices are the best in my opinion. These provide the best support and very good bolstering to hold you in. They were designed with international markets in mind, so they are made for people that don't weigh 500 lbs. They also do not have the side airbags built in, so those will be missing. Newer than that, I think the only thing I've sat in was an 09 WRX. Those seats were also a very nice change up and felt comfortable enough. Not as "huggy" as the JDM seats, but a huge improvement over the 05-07 options. As has been pointed out many times, you should get a car before trying to spend your money on parts. Even on top of that, any money you're spending on parts should be for repairs and maintenance before upgrades or you're just wasting your money and time. This information will still be available for your research after you get the car.
I know, and thanks for the information. I'm just trying to get an overall list of what to get after I maintain the car when I purchase it.
http://www.motorsportseats.com/recaro/orthoped.html or http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/400788795815?lpid=82&chn=ps or https://www.suncoastparts.com/product//997GT3SEATS.html
They're laughing at a combination of you parts-whoring before actually owning and driving the car + your ignorance in regards to stock lower cushion support and shock absorption from stock seats vs 300 dollar 'tuner' seats as it applies to long distance use and back pain. You see, we see these threads about once per year. Someone comes in, asks for advice, gets tons of advice that flies contrary to the idea they have in their head, and then they make up tons of useless excuses and reasons why they are just going to go through with their initial idea rather than listen to experienced and reasoned advice. Stock seats are going to have MORE cushion for your ass, and MORE shock absorptive qualities for your ass, which translates to LESS shock to the lower back and spine ESPECIALLY during long distance travel. If you want same or better ergonomics to the stock seats, prepare to pay roughly 1000-1500 PER SEAT. Because 300 a piece "tuner" seats exist for one reason, and one reason only. For looks. Sparco/Recaro/Bride/etc... aren't going to put the time, effort and R&D into the ergonomics of a low consumption, niche market seat that is only going to command 300 bucks. And they certainly aren't going to layer it in thick, high quality foam and materials and only charge you 300 for it. You will likely get a 2" thick commodity foam seat pad on steel suspension springs. They also wont have anything for lumbar support, so, have fun buying velcro backed pillows to put back there...the Sparco branded ones will wear out pretty quickly, so keep 30-60 bucks on hand to buy them about once every 6 months. Bottom line, less ass foam and support = more shock absorbed by your lower back, hips and spine in general. For reference, I said it up thread, I had mine for 8 years. The drive from San Diego to here was brutal, and I was 24 at the time, so it wasn't like I had old man back problems for real yet. I am almost certain that alot of my lower back issues stemmed from driving that brick around town in Sparco Torino seats. They are meant to hold you in place for the sort of lateral forces you experience while racing, they are not made to give you a comfortable daily driven experience, and they offer you ZERO comfort or shock absorption around Minnesota on our third-world highways and roadways. If you REALLY have ACTUAL back issues, then you will heed my warnings and just stick with OEM seats. If you buy <$500 "tuner" seats under the excuse of "i have back problems" then you are just full of **** or too rock stupid to listen to the advice you asked for. In which case, enjoy your lifetime of back pain from riding around on rigid frame tuner seats in a daily driver.
On a side note the brz seats are pretty good as well. Just finished a 900+ mile drive and the seats were great. on the other hand did realize I should soften my dampers a bit...
Seats are a highly personal item across the board. When i was a fatty, the 04+ WRX seat was a great option, because the milder bolsters worked fine for a wide dude. When i became not fat, they were like sitting on a park bench. I can guarantee you that unless you're spending a gaping pile of money on a custom memory foam insert for a race bucket, it will be infinitely less comfortable than any stock seat option a subaru has ever come with. (yes, ever.) This is from a guy who drove 1200 miles in Cobra Imola 2s last year. And those are NICE race buckets. But hey, don't take my word for it. Put a 4 ft tall piece of plywood on the vertical portion of the seat of whatever your driving. You're now simulating a race seat.
Sorry for the poor picture, I forgot to get a better one of just the seat. I gutted a truck at work today and pulled out these two seats. For the time being, we pimped out our break room. Anywho, that royal blue one (aka, STi interior...) is like 6-way adjustable and roughly a trillion times more comfortable than my stock WRX seats. So it might be a little snug fit, and you'd have to rig up an air system to take advantage of all the features, but it feels like a damn couch when you sit on it. I'm contemplating trying to stuff it into the Legacy (minus the air-ride frame).
Thanks , and yeah, I'm probably going with the stock WRX seats with a leather cover. That seat looks so comfortable... I would do anything to put that into a WRX.
OP please continue not listening to anyone. I love the couple times per year that someone like you comes along before you take your toys and head over to tceuros or tcstangs where you will fit in better.
Threads like this are why I keep my bat$h!t ideas to myself. Too many people feel the need to share too many things nowadays.
