For anyone looking for an alternative to the Wedge brackets. I already went through the headache of "tweaking" the fitment of off the shelf options for ideal fitment:

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-parts-sale-wanted-44/custom-low-mount-fixed-back-seat-brackets-driver-passenger-229178/

 

After reading this...I'm still not sure about what to do with the seat position sensor to get rid of the airbag light.
Am I suppose to use the sensor from the OE seat?
If not....what to do...i'm totally lost in the department of electronics....

 

dude I'm in the same boat as you. Im looking into getting a set of new seats as well. But with the possibility of loosing the airbags, I'm double guessing myself now. I haven't found any info on what to use to trick the sensor either. Oh well more searching and asking noobish questions

 

Unbolt the seat position sensor from the factory seat and plug it back into the wiring harness on the floor after you've installed your racing seat. For the air bag plug, you'll need a 2.2 ohm, 0.5 W resistor (don't quote me on those specs, search "air bag resistor" for confirmation). Once you've plugged this in to the yellow port on the floor, seal it up to keep dust and crap out. You can even use a plastic sandwich bag with a zip tie.

And I have to do this for legal reasons...

Disclaimer: I'm not a Mazda representative, and any advice you take from me regarding the air bag or driver restraint system is at your own risk. I assume no responsibility for injuries or deaths resulting from this advice.

 

Just had a quick scan though this thread. I'm in need of some Rails for my Recaro SGP's are the bride ones the only ones available? where is the cheapest place to get them from?

 

Is it necessary to get rid of the airbag light, or is it just an annoyance to some?

 

Just an annoyance to some.

 

Not sure if our car is one of them, but many cars, especially newer in compliance with US laws, will not deploy the airbag in the event of an accident if the airbag MIL on. Something to consider.

 

Argh! I did this wrong, then did this right, have soldered everything in place, and I get airbag code 49 (four blinks, pause, nine blinks). That's not on the list of airbag codes!

Car has not thrown any DTC codes

https://www.rx8club.com/tech-garage-...-codes-164676/

Thanks for any help

El Kabong

 

I have some new seats and am getting ready to put them in now..... Pics and news to follow...

 

^ Cool. What kind of seats?

 

so it seem that most racing seat with sliders are going to sit slightly higher than stock except for the low max rails which may be too low for someone like me who is 5'10".

would side rails allow most of these seats to sit any lower versus slider rails?

 

Why was the custom work required? Does the wedge bracket force the seat off-center from the steering wheel?

Back when I had an E36 M3, the corbeau bracket sat the seat off center from the steering wheel. Needless to say it was immediately returned.

 

The seat sat pretty high on their regular bracket. I had them push out the sides of the bracket so the butt of the seat could drop down in between, and then I made my own side mounts to get it that low.

 

... but the centering of the seat seemed fine.

 

Thanks ottocycle!

 

This may be off topis but I kept a second stock drivers seat that I removed the cushion, made a thin covering for it, did the lowering trick and swapped it out for track days. I could change it out in about 10 minutes. This enabled me to be much lower but keep the side air bag.

 

Totally on topics!! This is a cheaper and potentially less headache than properly fitting a racing seat and adapting belts. I did this ("foamectomy") on my 1995 Miata and my 1993 eagle talon. It made big improvements in headroom and lateral support.


I've searched and searched to see if anyone had done this on an RX8, but to no avail.


Couple of questions:


1. I haven't done this because I'm afraid the metal bar that runs side-to-side in the lower seat back will cause issues. Did you pad or modify that metal bar, or is it not an issue?


2. Is "lowering trick" the one when you use the extended bolts to drop the rear of the seat pan down? I have done this, which is why I can feel that metal bar in my lower back.


3. What material(s) did you use for the lower covering?


4. Lastly, any pics?! ;-)


Thanks so much for sharing!! I was planning on tearing into this over the winter, and your feedback would be a huge help.

 

The stock seat I modified was purchased on ebay. I am only 5'8", but with a long torso. I felt uncomfortable on track and did not want to mod my leather seat beyond the lowering trick. I did the lowering trick to the stock seat with appr. inch long spacers rather than washers to be more of a clean install. The seat i purchased was cloth, in great condition with no wear on the bolster etc. I got really good at unbolting and tilting the seat, unplugging the harness and putting the modded seat in. I had a working air bag in a much lower seat. I padded the seat with a nylon covered closed cell foam approx 3/4 inch thick. I just drove to the track with a stadium cushion on top of that. Surprisingly comfortable. I just put foam over the back bar that runs across, perhaps I needed to do more with that than I did but felt much more secure down lower, my posterior held in place by the sides on the metal seat bucket, not unlike a racing seat. A compromise for sure, but much better than being too high. I payed $250 plus shipping for the seat. I no longer track the RX8 but still have the seat sitting around. You could do this to your seat and replace the lower cushion without hurting anything, but having a separate seat with the padding on it is much easier. I can put the stock lower seat back together and sell it for what I bought it for, if I'd take the time to do so. I can email pics if you want. Haven't figured out how to post them.

 

Is there not one company that makes a true bolt-on seat bracket with a very low position? It seems most of everyone on this thread has to custom weld/cut/fabricate an existing bracket.

 

My buddy has bolt in Sparco brackets and seats and the seating position is not centered to the wheel and it was annoying as hell. He just installed R3 seats to replace them. The problem I have seen in RX-8's is that they have to move the seats over to clear the doors. My other buddy had brides and the seating position is off as well. My other buddy has Corbeau's but I am not sure what becakets he is using.

 

That's really annoying dude.

Planted Technology makes brackets specifically for the car, but they are a universal fit to most major seat manufactures. Their brackets are also extremely low-rise.

 

They also have an extra wide mounting surface so you can move the seat to the side a bit by drilling new holes. I think the Sparco has that too, but I can't remember. I just ordered the planted base tonight, so I can report back once it's in the car.

 

Thanks in advance for the feedback. Hopefully those slotted holes come in handy for centering behind the steering wheel.

 

Please let us know how they fit