Buying guide for best racing seats
If you’ve always dreamed of driving a race car, your daily commute is not the place to live out your dreams. Driving at racing speeds on your local interstate or highway is eventually going to cost you significant traffic fines. Instead, consider dressing your car up like a race car, starting with shopping for the best racing seats. You then may be able to try racing your car — safely — on an open day at the local track.
Racing seats emphasize safety and support over comfort, so it takes a bit of an adjustment period to learn to enjoy them. A seat made to mimic the look and feel of a race car seat is tighter against the body than your typical passenger car seat. It also moves you closer to the steering wheel and the vehicle controls, ensuring you can make the quick responsive movements required for racing.
There’s plenty to learn when choosing a racing seat to install in your personal vehicle. Many seats ship with brackets that allow for proper installation in cars, trucks, and SUVs. When you’re shopping for the best racing seats, our list of products can help you find the perfect model. We’ll explain everything you need to know.
How to buy the best racing seats
Look for certified seats
For racers, it’s important to purchase racing seats that have certification, which means they’re safe to use for actual racing.
FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) certification is the most important type of certification for those involved in racing. This is a worldwide organization that has been providing safety certifications for motor vehicles for more than a century.
Part of the certification process involves ensuring the seats will perform as expected in case of a crash. Additionally, the FIA tests things like shear strength in the mounting brackets and measurement of tension during twisting movements.
If you aren’t participating in actual racing, you may not need FIA certification in your racing seat. However, the seat should safely accommodate your vehicle’s seat belt or a harness system to help you in case of a crash.
Accommodations for accessories
When selecting your race seat, think about whether you also want to add a racing harness or roll bars to use along with the seat. Some seats only work with certain models of harnesses, for example.
The race seat also should fit well with whatever type of race car helmet you decide to wear.
Comfort in the seat
Racing seat manufacturers don’t focus on providing comfort, especially for seats made for serious racers. However, when you’re seeking racing seats made to go in your personal car, some manufacturers compromise a bit on support to deliver more comfort. If this is important to you, look for comfort features like:
- Lumbar support
- Side support
- Adjustable backrest angle
- Extra padding
Some people refer to racing seats as bucket seats, but the seats made for racing have a tighter and more precise fit than a typical bucket seat.
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What features do the best racing seats have?
Head support
Racing seats offer significant support in the head and neck areas. They have tall headrests that protect the head and neck from snapping back during accelerations or sudden stops.
Some headrests have airflow slots to help with comfort. They may also have openings made to support harnesses.
Some units have wings that wrap around the left and right side of the head for additional support. If the head support wraps around your head, make sure it has room to accommodate your racing helmet.
Torso support
The back panel of the racing seat delivers significant support for the back, protecting you when acceleration forces are occurring. Though some racing seats have lumbar support, this isn’t common.
Some seats include a wraparound area in the mid to lower torso area, designed to provide protection for the sides of your torso and your ribs by holding your body in place.
Seat support
The bottom of the racing seat protects the upper thighs, using a contoured section in the middle of the seat to protect the inner thighs. Along the outside of the seat area, there’s often wraparound protection for the outer thighs.
All these design features help to hold your hips and legs in place when going around turns. Rather than sliding around on the seat and risking losing control of the vehicle, the support areas in the seat should hold you in place.
The seat should have some cushioning to make it a little more comfortable to use, but cushioning isn’t the primary function of this area. Additionally, you should find openings to accommodate a lap seat belt in this area.
Weight
Racing seats typically weigh between 10 and 20 pounds apiece, though some weigh as little as five pounds.
In a race car, less weight is important to keep the overall design of the car as lightweight as possible. When placing a racing seat in your passenger car, however, reduced weight is not as important. You may want to go with a heavier seat, as these styles of racing seats tend to offer a greater level of comfort and padding.
The base of the racing seat typically consists of aluminum, fiberglass, or carbon fiber, all of which are sturdy materials that don’t weigh much. The seat cover may consist of PVC leather, cloth, or suede, while the padding is made of molded foam or high-density foam.
DID YOU KNOW?
Because the drivers in race cars must withstand a lot of force, the racing seat helps them absorb bumps from the road and g-forces without losing control of the car.
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How much do racing seats cost?
You can purchase race seats as a matching pair or as a single seat. These prices focus on the cost of a single seat.
Inexpensive
The least expensive seat for a race car is in the range of $100 to $150. These seats can consist of thinner fiberglass or aluminum as the base. Most of these seats have a simple design in the cover, usually available in black only.
Sometimes, seats in this price range ship as the frame only, so you have to spend a bit extra to add the cover and padding.
Mid-range
A mid-range racing seat costs $150 to $225. The seats in this price range provide a greater level of stability for the driver than cheaper seats by using a thicker frame.
These types of seats have more style and color options available than the inexpensive models. Leather covers and carbon fiber base units are possible in this price range.
Expensive
The priciest racing seats cost $225 to $400 apiece for a standard seat made to fit into a race car or a passenger car. However, you could pay $1,000 or more for a high-end model that fits official certifications for racing organizations. For a custom-made seat that delivers the highest level of comfort and safety, you could pay several thousand dollars.
The most expensive car seats made for racing have excellent style and multiple color options, as well as maximum reinforcement and thickness in the base material, whether it’s aluminum, fiberglass, or carbon fiber.
Some race car seats don’t ship with mounting brackets and other necessary hardware. Read the product description carefully to be certain what hardware ships with the seat.
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Tips for finding the right fit for the racing seat
When looking for racing seats for a passenger car or a race car, it’s important to select a seat that will fit properly in the car. This is easier than it initially sounds, as most seats for racing have a design made for an adjustable fit. Manufacturers use brackets and adapters to adjust the fit and ensure the correct size. Here are some tips for finding the right fit.
- Seat sizes are not universal. Race car seat sizes don’t use the same sizing system from manufacturer to manufacturer. Always consult seat sizing and fit charts from the seat’s manufacturer before purchasing a seat.
- Be careful when measuring. If using a tape measure to take your measurements, be certain to hold the tape tight. Don’t bend it at all, as race seat manufacturers depend on straight measurements.
- Make the seat fit your body. To obtain the best fit for your body, manufacturers recommend taking a precise measurement of your hip width when you’re in a seated position. (You may need to have a second person take the measurement for you.)
- Consider standard sizes. If you’re looking for an inexpensive race car seating option, you may not be able to order a specific width size to fit your body. The majority of standard seats fit a hip width of 16 to 17 inches. If you need more or less of a hip width in your seat, you may need to purchase a more expensive seat with more size options.
FAQ
Q. Why do I need racing seats?
A. When professional race car drivers are participating at a track, they need a racing seat for safety. Without the right seat and other safety gear, racetracks don’t allow the driver to run in a race. In a passenger car, people choose a race seat for style or for occasionally racing a car recreationally.
Q. Do racing seats help you drive better?
A. Although it takes a little while to become familiar with the feel of sitting in a racing seat while driving, it can help you drive better. The seat helps you stay in place without sliding around when taking sharp turns. It also helps you maintain a steady hand when driving over rough roads.
Q. Will the race car seat be as comfortable as my passenger car seat?
A. Not necessarily. Seats made for racing don’t emphasize comfort in the design like a passenger car seat does; racing seats emphasize safety and fitting the body of the driver precisely. If you’re driving several hours on a day trip, your race car seat will be noticeably less comfortable by the end of the day than a traditional car seat.
Q. Is it difficult to install a racing seat?
A. Compared to some of the other installation and repair work you could tackle on a car, swapping out a traditional seat for a race seat is one of the easier DIY jobs. Racing seats should ship with all the brackets and bolts needed to go inside the car. If you know how to remove a bucket seat from your current car, you should be able to install the race seat.
