Best Seat Choice for Autocrossing a 1963 Beetle

[WesleyGarrard]

I have been taking my 63 Beetle to autocross events lately and been having a blast. One small niggle, even though I am cinched tight in my harness, the stock seats do a very poor job of keeping me in place. Hard turns leave me going slowly while desperately grasping the steering wheel to keep in place. Bad for lap times and for safety.

As such, I have a conundrum. Which seats would be best suited for autocross fun while still seamlessly coalescing with the early 60's cool of my Beetle.

I currently have a tattered pair of 914 seats that are in need of recovering. However, seat covers in the gray vinyl I want seem non existant. So I would have to make seat covers myself.

Next choice would be the EMPI Roadster seat. But again, no gray. I would have to dye the seats the color I want. But at around $200 each, not bad.

Final choice is the Corbeau Low-back suspension seat. They come in the gray I want and are priced at $199 each. But how would a suspension seat act on a street driven vehicle?

I am equally torn across the three. Maybe less so on the 914 seats as the side bolstering is not quite as deep and the extra work of making new seat covers. But it would be cool to keep things in the family.

Thoughts, experience, and opinions are welcome. Please help me make up my mind!!!

[Q-Dog]

Maybe you could find one seat that fits you well, mount it to a stock frame to use the stock sliders, install it when you race, and reinstall stock seat when done?
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Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[WesleyGarrard]

The plan for any one of these it to mount them to the bottom half of the stock seat frames. I also would not mind the look of a late 60's period racer. I would really like to have some seats that could be installed long term and not just for racing.

[hitest]

914 gets my vote.

Empi is Empi- they are not in the business of making racing seats.
Corbeau's are super nice, but so are Recaros. Mastercrafts, etc. All modern and all boring- and far from period.

Thinking of it another way, the 914 was the first production car to be reportedly able to pull a "G" in the slalom, Not bad for early 70s. I can't prove it, but I'd bet they used a factory 914 with factory seats for the testing.
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[Teeroy]

Not a big modern day EMPI fan, but I saw and sat in a set of their seats at my friends shop and they are pretty nice for the price. Real close in look to the Outlaw Speedster seat
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Pres. Rivercity VW Club www.rcvwclub.org
Founder Derr Wheat Panzers (DWP)
ARR #3
www.autosportsnorthwest.org

[Teeroy]

I'm in the same boat. I have Recaro's in my 61 now but want to go back to low backs when I put the car back together. Was thinking about adding bolster to stock seats or doing the Speedster style
_________________
Pres. Rivercity VW Club www.rcvwclub.org
Founder Derr Wheat Panzers (DWP)
ARR #3
www.autosportsnorthwest.org

[Sharp64]

Another member was looking for seats for their dune buggy and came across these.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/311941074748?dispItem...noapp=true
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1960 Indigo Blue Ragtop (Blue Barry)
1967 Ghia
1985 Westy Money Pit
“...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” - Michael Caine

[WesleyGarrard]

[Sharp64]

Yep. Especially since they come with sliders as well. I have a dunebuggy I’m redoing and these are in serious play as an option.
_________________
1960 Indigo Blue Ragtop (Blue Barry)
1967 Ghia
1985 Westy Money Pit
“...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” - Michael Caine

[hitest]

Wow- those are a nice looking best-of-both-worlds choice. Odd they have JDM" in the name- when they look like European knockoffs from the 60s. I guess like OEM, JDM is a catch phrase used to sell all kinds of stuff.
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[Sharp64]

See I didn’t even catch onto the JDM thing. Guess it’s somewhat ironic with JDM and then the nod to Germany with the use of “werks”.
_________________
1960 Indigo Blue Ragtop (Blue Barry)
1967 Ghia
1985 Westy Money Pit
“...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” - Michael Caine

[WesleyGarrard]

I appreciate everyone's input. However, I have made a decision that has gone against the consensus.

Two things influenced my decision:

1. I had a coupon

2. My lady's expert opinion

I purchased the EMPI Roadster seats. They are quite nice! Comfy and they look like they will keep my back side in place during spirited drives.

CIP1 had a coupon deal so I took it. I also purchased some vinyl dye so I can match them to the rest of my interior. I am going to clean them up tonight and start spraying them tomorrow. I will post pictures once the color change is complete.

[Jay-Rod]

*AHEM*

Pics of your Beetle auto-xing? I miss the auto-x life.
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1963 Beetle

[WesleyGarrard]

I don't have any pics, but I have an onboard video.


Link


You can sort of see how hard I am gripping the wheel to keep from sliding around.

[Mr. Mike]

Wow! That looks fun! Oh yeah, looks like you're holding on for dear life. I hope the new seats help
Cheers!
Mike
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1964 Sedan 6 volt

[hitest]

[Jay-Rod]

That. Is. AWESOME!
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1963 Beetle

[WesleyGarrard]

As promised, here are photos of the EMPI Roadster Seats after they have been dyed.

I am quite pleased. I am eager to get them in the car.

[vwuberalles]

Do you have a build thread or anything? I'm curious what all you've done to set the car up for autocross use.
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1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040

[WesleyGarrard]

I do not have a build thread that highlights everything I have done.

The car does have widened wheels. I run 195/60R15 Goodyear Eagle GT tires.

I have lowered the rear to get a few degrees of negative camber.

Added Superior Control Bars to the rear.

The engine is a 1600cc Single Port. Dual Solex 34PDSIT Carbs, Engle 110 cam, 1.25:1 Rockers, Stainless Sidewinder 1.5" Exhaust.

The interior is mostly gutted. I removed the rear seats, rear side panels, and the headliner.

So it has a little more grip, a little more power, and a little less weight.

I did not really set it up for autocross. We just hopped down the rabbit hole recently when we had an event locally. It showed me what limitations the car had. So far, my butt staying in the seats have been the only limit.