Lotus Elise Seats in a Miata

Elise Seats installed

Elise Seats installed

Finally. There are Elise seats in Sharka!!!

(updated with some links for future searchers)

Elise brackets

Elise brackets (click for large sized)

Driver's side bracket - click for larger

Driver's side bracket - click for larger

rear support

rear support - click for larger

Front brace - click for larger

Not bad eh? Soren at rent2race.com made me some kickass brackets. They’re incredibly strong. The rear sides are 3.5mm in thickness, or .137″. That’s thicker than the FiA WRC requirement of .125″ which makes me quite happy. The fronts are 1.8mm in thickness. Basically, the sliders will fail in a wreck before these brackets will. That’s a GOOD thing. Also, they bolt up to the seats easily and sit me pretty darn low.

Driver's side bracket - click for larger

Tunnel/tilt detail shot

Seatbelt receiver - click for larger

Seatbelt receivers - click for larger

I was originally planning to use the early NA seatbelt receivers that mount to the transmission tunnel. I have two in amongst my huge stash of spare Miata parts. They didn’t fit too well. They made the belt ride up on my belly rather than down low on the hips, so I went in search of another solution. I discovered that Lotus actually mounts their belt receivers to the seats just like this from the factory. Then I discovered that the late NA Miata seatbelt bolts are the same size and thread pitch as the holes in the sides of the Elise seats! No brainer. I bolted the receivers right up and didn’t look back. They fit great. The lap belt rides right over the hips as it should and there’s no gap anywhere by the leg.

seat clearance - click for larger

My head is completely covered by the Elise headrest. Before with the stock seat, my head was pretty dead level with the rollbar and NOT supported by the headrest. Now, both me and the seat live below the hoop. Life is good. I feel very safe sitting in this seat.

Probax!

Want a ride?

The seat fits me very well. They seem designed for about a 5’10” body. I just happen to be that height. The Probax padding is amazingly comfortable without being plush at all, and the cloth that Lotus (or rather Nubax) used is very grippy. AND the seats weigh almost nothing! And they’re easy to get in and out of compared to a race seat.

But don’t get me wrong, Elise seats are not any sort of ultimate seat. I understand why so many owners get rid of them fairly quickly. The seats are nothing near as supportive as a real race seat. If I bought an Elise for track day playtime, I’d probably upgrade the seats too. But for around-town driving? Man, are these seats great. They’re staying in Sharka for a long time.

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  • Stan says:

    Amazing work, Adam. Looks great!

  • revlimiter says:

    Thanks!!!!! Wish I could take more credit for it, what with farming out the bracket job and all.

  • leo says:

    Amazing! Where did you make your braquets?!

  • mx5 says:

    What is the weight of an Elise seat?

  • revlimiter says:

    mx5: Not much. But I can’t believe I’ve not actually weighed them yet!!! I’ll try to do that shortly for a final Elise seat post as well as trace and scan my rear brackets.

    You can pick up the entire seat/bracket combo with two fingers lifting from behind the headrest lip. I’d guess them to be around 10-14 lbs each.

  • Luka says:

    Hi, great idea.
    I have a Elise Seat for my miata.
    Can I ask you the dimensions about your custom seat runners?
    So i can copt your super work.
    Thanks to advance.

    Luka, Italy

  • Neil says:

    I’m looking to install an Elise seat in my RX-8.

    How far apart are your brackets? i.e., how wide is the base of the seat?

    I’m trying to figure out how much fab work might be required for the side brackets. Thanks very much for the template drawings!

    Thanks,

    Neil

    • revlimiter says:

      I just braved the cold and measured for ya.

      The rails are as wide as a regular old Miata seat. I think 14″ or so? That’s a known measurement you can probably find on the miata.net forum/

      My front cross bar is just over 15″ long. About 15.125″

      The front Elise seat bolts are right around 11.25″ apart, center to center. This could be off an 1/8 of an inch. I didn’t take the seat apart for a perfect measurement.

      Does that help?

  • david says:

    Hello,
    Some time ago you had put your site the rails of the seats of Lotus.
    The link is broken, apparently, is what you would have the kindness of my sending it?
    Thank you 😉

    And a big hello from France.

  • J says:

    Hello,
    I am french, and i want to make it on my miata.
    But i don’t find the seat in france.
    Can you give me a contact, or shop, or ….where i can buy it.
    Thanks for your help
    best regards.
    J

  • Mark says:

    Hi revlimiter!

    Nice seats! I have the seats now and am trying to send them for fitting soon. In your blog you mentioned u did not use the original NA seatbelt receivers. What receiver did you use then? Many thanks and thats a gorgeous car u have there!

    • revlimiter says:

      I used the NA receivers that came on the 94-97 cars. They come bolted to this sliding rail thing and attached to the seat rather than bolted to the transmission tunnel.

      NB receivers are actually the same, but the NB sliders are a bit different. The seatbelt rail is welded onto the rail rather than bolted onto the seat.

      And thanks for the complement!

  • Neil says:

    Well, I went and did it! I got an Elise seat to fit in my RX-8:

    Thanks for the inspiration, revlimiter!

    Here’s the thread from rx8club.com, with pics:

    http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=210217

    – Neil

  • […] Originally Posted by Hboy828 I think I'll get a miata, does anyone have some probax seats they're willing to sell? How do you mount them on a miata? I bought cloth ones off a forum member. I had the chance to buy leather ones in Toronto . The guy still might have them if you are interested. I am just finishing off my mounting bracket. Will PM you a photo when completed. they are a bit different than the two designs on this site. Lotus Elise Seats in a Miata — revlimiter.net […]

  • Roadz says:

    I gotta get me some of these.

  • […] Lotus Elise Seats in a Miata — revlimiter.net Do you want just the seats or the fabricated brackets as well? Stock Elise seats or full race versions? I think I can do either one with or without brackets. email me at mrvwcastner@yahoo.com easiest way to ship seats is inside a uhaul wardrobe box. Cheapest is usually greyhound. […]

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