I bought a set of Corbeau FX1 Pro seats in microsuede and I am planning on mounting them in my 1998 Civic LX soon. As some of you might know these seats have provisions for either a bottom mount or a side mount.

My question is which do you prefer? I understand that side mounting a seat results in being able to mount the seat lower in addition to being able to recline the seat to fit your driving style, but does it make THAT much of a difference?

Also, do you notice an increased amount of rigidity when side mounting a seat?

Thanks!

 

Yes. side mounts can give you an extra 2-3" of headroom...depending on the mount and room you have under the seat.

Also, you can adjust the mounting positions so you can have some incline to the seat as well... with bottom mounts, you usually have to add washers.

Hard to say... from a structural standpoint, I couldn't accurately say one way is more secure than the other.

 

The seat brackets will give you some extra security and relieve some pressure on the fasteners for lateral movements. If you do the floor mount you have both accel/decel and lateral movements acting on the mounting bolts.

And YES YES YES the adjustability is worth it. I have run into issues with my rally car where the seat was sitting to straight and I would develop lower back pain as the day goes on. I can spend up to 8-12 hours a day on race weekends sitting my my seat so being comfortable is a must. I wouldn't have been able to recline the seat if it was bottom mounted.

 

Adding to the previous posters about heigh and angle adjustment, i would also mention that side mount would have less flex paired up with a strong side bracket such as PCI.

 

sorry to thread jack but i kinda have a question regarding this, is it possible to do a side mount on a factory seat some i can lower it a few inches? i neeed more head room

 

probably not.


as to the OP... side or bottom mount = sheer stress. its the same force on the same plain. SO... IMHO side mount is better because it offers more positions.

thats what she said.

 

untill i can buy a set of seats and mounts.. wat can i do to lower mine to gain some more room and what not.

 

trim the seat cushion, buy mounts that allow you to lower it.

otherwise, not much. The effort/cost to modify stock seats is usually more than just buying the proper equipment.