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MG MGF Technical - Seat Advice

Hi all,

Has anyone any experience with different seats on their MGF/TF? The standard seats in the TF (Leather with Alacantra) give me back-ache after about 3 hours on the road so was looking at alternatives. Tried the Cobra Daytona in my local Halfords and found them to be quite comfortable. When I asked about them at the desk the guy checked with COBRA and another maker and found that they didn't do a bracket.

Does anyone have any experience with these seats, can they be fitted, how comfortable are they "long term", do they lower the sitting position at all? Are there any other better seats that people would recommend? Where is the best place to get them, do they fit them as well?

Sorry for the barrage, any help would be appreciated though.

Chris.
Chris Ponder

Try fitting a lumbar support - I did and it made a huge difference.

A hell of lot cheaper and keeps the car 'original'

See details on Mike Saturs web site.

Ted
Ted Newman

There are a few (very few) MGFs out there with aftermarket seats, AFAIK there are no TFs (yet?) The mounting holes are the same for both cars and you are correct, no one does an off the shelf adapter kit for the F/TF.

The Fs i know of with so called 'bucket' seats had to have bespoke brackets made up in order to allow thier fitment, beyond this i don't know what was involved.

There is an official racing seat, as used in the MGF/TF racing cars, i have no idea how much this is, or even if it is available to people outside the race teams, but this is maybe worth checking out as it is likely to be a straight swap.

So, your options regarding aftermarket seats are pretty limited, but there are other alternatives.

Ted has already mentioned the adjustable lumbar supports that are available, there is also a 'seat lowering kit' available from Newton Commercial which lowers the base by approximately 20mm (this is virtually on the carpet and is as low as it is possible to go).

You already have a revised seat design in your TF, Mk1 MGF seats were higher still, due to more foam in the base and back. If comfort is a priority it may be an idea to have a drive in a Mk1 F, just to see what the seats feel like. This tends to be a bit of a trade off though, more padding in the seats makes the seat more comfortable, but also reduces cabin space (specifically leg room). If you feel Mk1 seats are more comfortable, then you can pick them up cheaply from places like the MGF Centre (linked from the banner ads at the top of this site).

SF
Scarlet Fever

Wonder if Recaro ever did anymore about their seat that was in the Supersports F?
Chris

If you browse the Lotus archive you will find out how to make your own seats using a bin liner[1] and some chemical foam. You will also find a fwe very funney stories involving not reading the instructions on said chemical foam packets, one hallway, and a full set of inlaws.

[1] black sack, not dyslexic terrorist
Will Munns

Thanks guys, most helpful.

Chris.
Chris Ponder

Will

I am sure a lot of people would love to make a seat out of him:-)

Ted
Ted Newman

Chris, I was looking into alternative seats for the MGF.

As the chaps say, there isn't an awful lot of choice - the limiting factor is the width of the seat 'well' - and keeping the central cubbies.

After a little bit of research, I found that Cobra Imola seats WOULD fit. In the end, I decided against this option, as bucket seats are difficult to live with on a daily basis.

From the archive...

>> >>
BTW, just recieved this from Mark @ Cobra:
>>
The Imola is the only real option for the MGF in terms of getting the right width. This was the model used in the Mountune car. You could get the Sportline in as this was original fitment to the MGF Trophy race cars. Also the Evolution and Suzuka have been used by Roversport, but at a pinch! Try Securon, they make a retractable harness and also Jamex (it's the same one made by Securon with different colours and badging!)
<<
The Imola range starts at 174.95 each. No idea for the sub-frame adaptor- but reckon on 20-30 quid per seat. Imola doesn't seem to have a leather option Kier- but it may be possible as we are talking to the manufacturer direct. We can discuss this with him if this is a serious consideration?
Rob
<< <<
Rob Bell

<<Imola doesn't seem to have a leather option>>

but...

http://www.rennsporttulsa.com/cobra_imola_cf.html



paul weatherill

a little birdie told me Mike Satur might also have an option in the near future.

paul weatherill

>http://www.british-cars.co.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=lotusbbs&mode=archiveth&subject=2001&subjectar=2001&thread=200011211645097610
Will Munns

Oh Will you have just managed to bring my complete office to a standstill - if only these BBS could pick up background laughter!

Ted
Ted Newman

Chris,

having owned a Mk1 F for 6 years before my TF160, I can confirm that the Mk1 seats are more comfortable than the TF seats. I also found that although you were slightly higher, the driving position was better because of the clutch position.

However, I had half leather seats which were if I remember only avaialable in red leather with red/black material centres, or black leather with green/black centres. The full leather seats were an expensive extra.

I'll be stcking with the standard TF seats though.
David Mills

>>
<<Imola doesn't seem to have a leather option>>
but...
http://www.rennsporttulsa.com/cobra_imola_cf.html
<<

Paul, that was cut and pasted from the archive, so contains out of date information - was correct at time of writing! ;o)
Rob Bell

As mentioned above there is not many options available for the seats.

I have looked into different manufacturers like Corbeau, Recaro and each time get the same answer no they don't however I believe Corbeau did fit some seats in an F but it cost them so much money as the owner get complaing about the position, they have never bothered again and onlt recieved there latest catalogue the other day and still no runners for the MGF.

The main problem is that there are no seat runners designed for the F and due to that most manufactures fir the seat belt mountings to the chassis the runners only hold the seat in position.
However on the F due to the width the seat belts are mounted on the seat rather than the chassis.

If you want the bucket seats like those used for racing then fine no problem at all as seats belt are normally the race harness which on the road I reckon are a waste of time specially if driving in narrow roads with bad junctions. But these are easier to fit as runners are much simpler.

If you are willing to spend the money then yes you could get so runners made as there is a well known F specialist who did have some runners made up based on the supersport versions. This still involved having brackets weld to the chassis. However I believe only 1 set was ever made and cost quite a lot, maybe if there is an interest they could be made in larger quatities which would bring the cost down.


Tom
Tom Randell

This thread was discussed on 26/06/2003

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