[MR2] MkII Seat Considerations

[Ken Blake]

Hi James,

                No problem. One thing about the Recaros that I will
caution you about: they use a set of aftermarket slider rails that raise
the seating position significantly. I had the opportunity to try a
Recaro SRD in my 93T for a day, and was bumping my head on the t-top
glass, with the insert out. I'm 6' tall, with my height pretty evenly
distributed between legs and torso. If I had been wearing a helmet, I
would have had to either recline the seatback, or risk breaking the
glass.

 

Ken

 

From: James [mailto:seawa.anon at gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 3:58 PM
To: Ken Blake
Cc: mr2 at mr2.com
Subject: Re: [MR2] MkII Seat Considerations

 

Thanks Ken, 

 

I checked out Classic Soft Trim because of Loki; there's a shop close to
me here too.  As it turns out, I think they're the ones who put leather
in my Subie when I bought it and it looks great, and has been holding up
well too.  They seem to know what they're doing more than the other
folks I talked to (there's also a local Katzkin supplier here), and were
able to quickly print me out a sheet on what they could do for an MR2.
They also loaned me two batches of fabric samples for me to match colors
with what's in my interior.

 

I'll ask them about Alcantara, as the "suede-like" samples they loaned
me didn't look very suede-like at all.  He DID say though, that they
were getting in some new material that they didn't have samples for yet.


 

My plan was to keep the original tan color of my seats, but Classic Soft
Trim can't come close to matching it.  Katzkins can come closer, but I
don't like the difference in color between what would be the suede
center section and the leather outer portion.  There's a MR2OC write-up
on a Leatherseats.com instl though, and it said that light-colored
fake-suede tends to stain very easily, and will even darken from contact
with blue jeans, etc.  That's when I starting thinking about Recaros
again (Recaro Speeds), but I guess if I could deal with black Recaros, I
could instead just go with a darker color from Classic Soft Trim and
save a lot of money.