Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

I know that to the hardest of hardcore anything is streetable, but would kirkey aluminum racing seats be bearable to ride on for a couple hours to go to porky's or whatever, possibly for a work commute?

I am looking at the intermediate 20* layback seat, the 2nd cheapest model they have because I want something light, and something that will hold on to me in the corners, but I don't have $600 to spend on a seat.

Any opinions?

http://www.kirkeyracing.com/images/seats/36000.jpg

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

That looks very uncomfortable. There is a buldge between your legs >.> I think for seats you shouldn't go cheap. I would hate to get in an accident with some cheap seats holding me in.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Kirkey makes good shit I think, thats what a lot of the circle track guys use up here. I would talk to a dirt tracker or two and see if you couldnt sit in theirs quick. I wouldnt want to spend more than a half hour or so in one of those. If you are looking for some cheap seats, I have heard that APC's are fairly comfortable but I cant imagine they are actual "racing" seats. I dont know what I am going to do for racing seats when it gets to be that time, but I will probably just watch tuners and dsmtrader.com for some used better brand seats.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Kirkey's aren't bad. They make some versions that don't have the wings of that one for the side bolsters. That would be the worst part, trying to get around the side bolsters. Once you are in they should be fine.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Have fun with that.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but from what I understand kirkeys are cheap because they are no-frills, function over form racing seats, not because they are poorly made.

That's just from what I have read though.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Not a daily driver seat in my opinion.

They are good seats, but I wouldnt want them for a street car.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Well, this would be a weekened car, maybe 3 days a week at the most. I have a daily that has a/c and stock seats, where as this car has no a/c, poly bushings, no sound deadening etc.

Would they work for that kind of application?

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

I still wouldn't do it man, at least get some comfortable race seats (adjustable or nonadjustable). You also want to make sure you have a seat you can move around in at least a little bit for visibility while driving. I'd personally never do harnesses in a street car either, I drove one once with them and hated it, but thats your call.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

I couldnt bear those seats in my summer car. Keep the stock seats and maybe just add harnesses to hold you in?

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

You can get non-adjustable Corbeau's for cheap. They aren't too bad, way more comfy then those I'd think. You looked at those at all?

Otherwise there was a brand of seats called DAD. Everyone who used them praised them. Said they were basically Sparco's but with a different name stitched on them.

I'll dig up some links or something for ya when I have some time.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Sounds good, thanks man

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

DAD seats


Corbeau Forza seats

Back when I was going to get seats, those were the 2 I was looking at. Cheap, but seemed to be decent

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

As long as you have the pad, Kirkey's are plenty comfortable. If this is a weekend cruiser like mine, the Kirkey's are just fine. They actually have a real nice contour to them, just make sure you lean them back to a proper angle.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Save up and purchase a set of Recaro/Sparco/Bride/Corbeau.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

If you arent driving more than 20min or so at a time they wouldnt be bad. They are light weight and definitely fit the coutour of your body, you just better make sure to have some padding. I know they offer different covers for the seats, some better than others.

They were made for a track seat, if you plan on driving to RF or CF you will probably get sick of them.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

I roll Mine almost every day to work in the summer. 20 min each way and over 100 miles each way to rock. Once you get in they're great . They limmit your visibility a little so you have to get used to double checking your mirrors before any lane changes. Id go with them again Id maby do the drag style for the smaller side bolster. though I know I could never afford any correba or sperco's so these are the way to go. I'm a function over form guy anyway.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Another thing to consider is unless you have a cage these seats are less safe then your OEM ones (especially if used with a harness) since it doesn't allow you body to slide to the side if the roof gets crushed in an accident. Probably not a huge deal for what you plan to do (although if you're going to Porkeys you may be out there to do some "spirited late night driving" as well).

One other note that the guy from Apex Performance noted when a friend and I were looking at seats is that you can't reuse these seats after an accident. Something about deforming or the structure being compromised. Which both me and my friend got a kick out of because the last thing I'd be worried about in an accident would be having to replace the seat. But I guess if you're a serious racer that could be a factor.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

I've got 1-piece Sparcos and I love them, but even used, they ain't cheap. I got mine off Ebay from a Porsche racer in Cali.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Well, that harness issue is true with any seat and I don't plan on running 4/5 point harnesses for a while. Also the thing I have been reading about the cheap racing seats is that many of them aren't as safe as OEM because of lack of build quality, so I am trying to maximize build quality while staying on budget.

I guess I keep looking at kirkeys and start looking for used sparcos.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Yep, but with the seat you posted you'd be F'd with a factory belt as well with those bolsters.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Not in a quest, it would just take a while to thread the belt through the little holes near the bottom. :)

I like those DAD seats. 2 in buckskin, please!

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

I think you missed my point. In an accident you need to be able to slide to the side if the roof crushes in on you. You can't do that with those bolsters and a factory belt, and you can't do it with a 4-5point harness with any seat.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

I know that, I was responding to the belt-working issue you said, I should have said that when i responded.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

Again, only what I've "heard" but those DAD seats are basically Sparco's. The frame and everything is the same. But It'd be interesting to see for sure, since that is only hear-say. Steve you willing to cut up your Sparco's to compare?

And Corbeau's I've always thought were decent too. Research up a little on them before knocking them as cheap and brittle crap.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

If you have questions and don't want to buy junk, go here:
http://www.apexspg.com/

He's local and he knows his stuff and he's a really nice guy.

Re: Kirkey racing seats. Streetable?
 

I rocked that same Kirkey (minus the side bolsters) in my CRX as a daily driver and did a few trips up to Bemidji (3.5-4 hours each way) with it in there. Absolutely very comfortable. The only thing I had to do for long trips was put a small amount of foam under my butt. As far as the belt, I unbolted mine from the floor and passed it through the left side hole and then bolted it back down to the floor. Then when I sat in it, I put the buckle through the right hole.

As far as the roof collapsing in a roll, the back of the seat is higher than your head. It will take a good amount of force to buckle the top. Of course mine doesn't have the large bolsters like that. That back is also a hell of a whiplash saver as well. You're probably ten or more times likely to be hit from behind then you are to roll over. And if you're rolling the car, either A: you're driving absolutely stupid, B: you slipped on ice travelling way too fast causing a spin (again, go back to A in most of these cases, but not all of course) or C: went off the road due to either high speed cornering or a freak part failure on the car. In a daily driver or a weekend crusier, you SHOULDN'T be seeing any of these possibilities except for part failure. I would, however, suggest at least a main hoop with supports if you do put the seat in seeing as it will probably be seeing some spirited driving from time to time and probably a little track time as well.

Of course I'm not saying it's out of the realm of possibilities that you could roll over in any kind of accident, just highly unlikely with normal driving.

You would be very surprised at how comfortable that seat is even with the little bit of padding it has. It holds you in all the right spots. I can't speak for the bolsters as I don't have those. I set mine up on sliders with a slight recline. Never had a complaint.

Damnit, all this talk about those seats and now I'm itching to put the CRX back together and drive it rather than sell it off like I'm trying to do.

Incidently, if I do sell it without the seat, I"ll have a seat available for those with narrow butts.

Another option is to set it up with brackets so you can take it out and put the regular seat back in whenever you want to. That way if it's used for more daily driving, you can use your original seat if you don't feel comfortable about crashing. I mean hell, it's only 4 bolts.