Here we are. An encore post about the Elise seats. There’s a good handful of Miatas running around with Elise seats installed, but the world can always use a little more information and a lot more photos, right? That’s what I think anyway. And not just cause I’m way happy with the seats.
If you happened to miss the other Elise seat posts…
So first, we the promised seatbelt receiver detail shot. I took the short seatbelt receiver off my stock 95 seat and bolted it right onto the Elise seat. Lotus uses this same bolt hole, so why can’t I? It’s supported by my crazy-thick side bracket and should be stronger than the flimsy stock NA Miata configuration.
This is the stock NB seatbelt receiver as mounted on the stock seat. My wife’s car, Bucky, donated the seat for this shot. Looks to me like NB owners can just unbolt the receiver and bolt it straight onto the Elise seat if they so desire.
Elise seats mounted in an NB Miata – this is another common question on miata.net. Well, here ya go! I ripped out Bucky’s driver seat and mounted Sharka’s Elise seat for a few photos. As you can see, they fit great. The headrest rises up nearly the same height as the 2001+ seats. They also fit fine with the NB interior panels. These seats might even fit better than the STOCK seats. Kinda cool.
Some readers are probably saying “HUH? Matching cars????” Yeah. Sarah and I have matching cars. Some couples do track suits or hats. Nope. We have MX-5s. One green, one blue.
And here, finally, is my dorky self-portrait seat comparison. I borrowed my wife’s spiffy fabric cutting mat to give a bit of a grid background. The thing is huge, but it could have been another few inches higher. Still, it does the job with the help of a magic Photoshop line. Neither the camera, the car, or the grid moved between shots. The only thing that changed is the seat. I positioned both seats where I like to sit for driving and sat in a natural posture. No slouching or neck stretching. As you can see, I sit a good bit lower and my head is protected much better by the actual headrest.
Okay. I promise I won’t talk about these seats for a while.
Well, you’re gonna need to talk about them for awhile, Adam! How else am I going to know how comfortable they are for daily transport?
It looks like you are stilling a little lower too. i really want to do this now.
I’ve been looking to do something like this for so long now. My miata is actually starting to give me back pains ever since I put in the double hoop roll bars from boss frog. Your seat rails are very impressive and look factory. Ever think about making sets for sale?
3 comments!!! Sweet. Thx for the love.
Bryan: amazingly comfortable considering how they’re just thin padding over plastic/composite. They’re NOT as comfy as my posh 31k mile stock 95 seats, but they’re comfortable in a different way. You feel bumps more, but they’re not painful at all. You’re just more aware of them.
T: About an inch lower. My steering wheel no longer hides the top edges of my gauges. And everyone totally needs Elise seats.
Franchise: have you considered the popular seat foam mod? You remove the hog rings from your seat back (about 4 or 5) where the butt and the back meet. Then you can pull up the center section of fabric and remove the center back padding. It’s easily reversible and totally changes the stock seat. It might be enough to take care of you.
As for the rails, I farmed them out. I didn’t make them. I can supply phone numbers to the guy that did if anyone is interested.
I think the best for the community would be some measurements with a measuring tape because not everyone will go to one guy. But, its understandable if you dont want to do that.
Excellent site, keep up the good work
Hey Adam…any chance you can update that fitment pic now that you’ve changed the front bracket? Any reason why you didn’t just use square steel tubing for it?
Do you mean the one with my dorky head in it? Might be a while. It’s gonna be hardtop season for a couple more months.
Steel tubing: The L tubing makes for a stronger connection on the front bolts. At least that’s my theory. It’s just what my buddy came up with.
Yeah…I was thinking of the dorky shot. I was just wondering if you lost some height. I think you were saying it made quite a bit of difference in comfort, right?
So basically you’ve got L-tubing across the front attached to a square bracket?