Danny Hsu
Well-Known Member
- 83
- 19
Will the airbag light come on if I throw in some Recaros?
Bucket Seats
- Thread starter Danny Hsu
- Start date
Monk
Well-Known Member
ClearCutSi
Well-Known Member
Yes. There are sensors under your seat. A good car mechanic will be able to trick those with resistors if I'm not mistaken and have the light shut off.
JonnyRotten
Well-Known Member
Keep us posted if you do decide to go through with replacing the seats @Danny Hsu. I'm sure there's a number of people on this site that would like to see that!
Monk
Well-Known Member
If you do get them, will you install a 4 or 5 point harness?
Do not do it. You will die. Seriously. Just google racing seats in a street car.
Not only will your airbags not work if the light is on, you will be removing the airbag in the back of the seat as well. Also a 4 point harness is very dangerous on the street and a 5 point should not be used without a hans device and a helmet. The cool factor really isn't worth the risk IMO. You can and will submarine out of a 4 point harness. Those green takata straps everyone loves will kill you in even a small accident. They will not hold you in place like the stock lap belt would.
It's incredibly dangerous all the way around.
Also most recaro seat are knockoffs unless you are paying top dollar. Like $1000 a seat. Any less and you are simply risking your life to save a buck.
There are several videos available that show both recaro and bride seats failing to support passengers in a low speed rear impact crash. Watch both seats basically kill the occupants. These seats are meant to be braced by a roll bar behind them. However, if you are not running a full cage, and you are not welding the harness bar to the frame, a cheap bolt in bar is not going to survive with these type of impact forces.
I'm not telling you not to get the seats, just be prepared to die.
Here is a great image of one of those "bolt in" harness bars that you are going to want to run. Yeah, looks like it held up very well and especially after the driver was slammed into the steering wheel from not being restrained properly by his "legit" 4-point death harness. Also banging your head against that bar will cause a serious head injury which is why you should also not use one unless you have a helmet on. These bolt in bars fold very easily under any type of impact. No one puts more engineering into your seats and safety belts than the manufacturers. Use the stock eqipment.
Recaro SR Sport Seats:
Bride Brix seat:
Not only will your airbags not work if the light is on, you will be removing the airbag in the back of the seat as well. Also a 4 point harness is very dangerous on the street and a 5 point should not be used without a hans device and a helmet. The cool factor really isn't worth the risk IMO. You can and will submarine out of a 4 point harness. Those green takata straps everyone loves will kill you in even a small accident. They will not hold you in place like the stock lap belt would.
It's incredibly dangerous all the way around.
Also most recaro seat are knockoffs unless you are paying top dollar. Like $1000 a seat. Any less and you are simply risking your life to save a buck.
There are several videos available that show both recaro and bride seats failing to support passengers in a low speed rear impact crash. Watch both seats basically kill the occupants. These seats are meant to be braced by a roll bar behind them. However, if you are not running a full cage, and you are not welding the harness bar to the frame, a cheap bolt in bar is not going to survive with these type of impact forces.
I'm not telling you not to get the seats, just be prepared to die.
Here is a great image of one of those "bolt in" harness bars that you are going to want to run. Yeah, looks like it held up very well and especially after the driver was slammed into the steering wheel from not being restrained properly by his "legit" 4-point death harness. Also banging your head against that bar will cause a serious head injury which is why you should also not use one unless you have a helmet on. These bolt in bars fold very easily under any type of impact. No one puts more engineering into your seats and safety belts than the manufacturers. Use the stock eqipment.
Recaro SR Sport Seats:
Bride Brix seat:
Taken from club wrx:
http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/interior-mods/134349661-seat-belt-harness-bar.html
As far as safety restaint system, yes, all harness bars are absolute crap. Glad you can see the dangers here. A collison at an autocross is highly unlikely, but just having that bar in your car on the street, even if you're using your OEM 3 point belt, it can be a fatal mistake.
Okay, I'm making this post in an attempt to save the OP or anyone else who wishes to install a harness, harness bar, or roll cage from ending up paralyzed or dead. I see improperly used and improperly installed equipment on a regualr basis, and it kills me to see people risking their lives and their passengers lives simply because they don't have the pertinent information.
You NEVER mount harnesses to the floor, period. What is keeping you from doing a face plant on the steering wheel/dash in a front end collision? The seatback? That seat would snap like a toothpick. Not only that, as you fly forward into the dash, and you will, in even a low speed accident, the harness is going to pull down on your shoulders and compress your spine causing a debilitating or fatal back injury.
Furthermore, harnesses, harness bars, and roll cages have no place in a street car, period.
DO NOT USE HARNESS BARS for safety equipment. Use a bolted or welded in roll cage. But you are putting your life on the line if you use a roll cage, or even a harness bar without wearing a helmet AT ALL TIMES in the car. I know of someone who was killed in a 25mph collision when he bumped his head on his harness bar.
DO NOT USE ROLL BARS/CAGES on the street. You should never get into a car that has any type of roll cage or roll bar in it unless you wear a helmet at all times. See above for a further explaination of why a helmet is necessary.
DO NOT USE 4 POINT HARNESSES. Use 5 or 6 point harnesses. The reason you submarine out of a 4 point harness is that your upper body does not lean forward and over the lap belt like it would with a 3 point. Thus, the g forces force your body out under the lap belt. The act of submarining out of a belt is going to seriously injure and potentially kill you, but once you've submarined out of the harness, you can also be ejected from the car. Also, if you have a 5 or 6 point harness and it works as it should, it decelerates your torso instantly in a frontal impact, but your head will continue moving forward. This will result in a debilitating or fatal neck injury or instantly fatal basular skull fracture. Oh and that front airbag, forget about it because you'll never reach it if the harness works. Never use a harness on the street, period.
Next, harnesses should only be mounted at shoulder level and mounted only to a welded or bolted in roll cage, period. Mounting to the floor, or rear seatbelt mounts, causes the harness to pull down on your shoulders and crush your spine when you are in a frontal impact, causing a debilitating or fatal back injury. Also, you will be hitting the steering wheel/dash with full force if you've bolted the harness to the floor. The only place I would say that it is remotely safe to use an improperly installed harness is the autocross. This is because collisions at autocross events are more than rare, so you would not be at much risk of using the harness as a safety restraint. But, injuries are still possible, at least you can now weigh the risks and make an informed decision as to whether or not you use this equipment in your car.
STREET CARS DO NOT USE AFTERMARTKET SEATS. Well, they don't when they have integral airbags in the seats. When you remove the seats with airbags, the airbag light comes on, and you have now DISABLED EVERY AIRBAG IN THE CAR. You have no more front, side, or curtain airbags. You have also put yourself in hot water with your insurance company by removing your factory safety equipment. If you or someone else is injured or killed in your vehicle, even if the accident is the other guy's fault, you are going to get sued, along with the guy who hit you.
I've had several people mention that 'race cars' use this type of safety equipment, but....
Also consider that accidents in race cars are NOT usually as severe as accidents on the street. Everyone is going the same direction on a race track, so no head on collisions. The track is lined with tire walls and barriers so that it is highly unlikely that you could hit a solid object like a tree. The track is set up so that collisions are deflected and cars can't deccelerate all at once. There should be no spot on a track where you can go head on into something and deccelerate intantly. On the street, the hazards and potential impacts are far greater in likelihood and severity than on a track.
Furthermore, The safety equipment used in 'race cars' is a system, period. You cannot pick and choose what equipment you want to use. No harness without a HANS, no HANS without a helmet, no cage without a helmet, the list keeps going in cirlces. YOU NEED EVERYTHING. Race car drivers do not piecemeal their safety equipment together.
The factory safety equipment is the best possible design for street use and is also a system. When you remove or change one piece, nothing else works like it should. It kills me to see people risking and losing their lives so that they can have some Race Inspired Cosmetic Enhancements on their cars.
If self preservation is at all alive within you, use your factory safety equipment AND ONLY YOUR FACTORY SAFETY EQUIPMENT on the street.
http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/interior-mods/134349661-seat-belt-harness-bar.html
As far as safety restaint system, yes, all harness bars are absolute crap. Glad you can see the dangers here. A collison at an autocross is highly unlikely, but just having that bar in your car on the street, even if you're using your OEM 3 point belt, it can be a fatal mistake.
Okay, I'm making this post in an attempt to save the OP or anyone else who wishes to install a harness, harness bar, or roll cage from ending up paralyzed or dead. I see improperly used and improperly installed equipment on a regualr basis, and it kills me to see people risking their lives and their passengers lives simply because they don't have the pertinent information.
You NEVER mount harnesses to the floor, period. What is keeping you from doing a face plant on the steering wheel/dash in a front end collision? The seatback? That seat would snap like a toothpick. Not only that, as you fly forward into the dash, and you will, in even a low speed accident, the harness is going to pull down on your shoulders and compress your spine causing a debilitating or fatal back injury.
Furthermore, harnesses, harness bars, and roll cages have no place in a street car, period.
DO NOT USE HARNESS BARS for safety equipment. Use a bolted or welded in roll cage. But you are putting your life on the line if you use a roll cage, or even a harness bar without wearing a helmet AT ALL TIMES in the car. I know of someone who was killed in a 25mph collision when he bumped his head on his harness bar.
DO NOT USE ROLL BARS/CAGES on the street. You should never get into a car that has any type of roll cage or roll bar in it unless you wear a helmet at all times. See above for a further explaination of why a helmet is necessary.
DO NOT USE 4 POINT HARNESSES. Use 5 or 6 point harnesses. The reason you submarine out of a 4 point harness is that your upper body does not lean forward and over the lap belt like it would with a 3 point. Thus, the g forces force your body out under the lap belt. The act of submarining out of a belt is going to seriously injure and potentially kill you, but once you've submarined out of the harness, you can also be ejected from the car. Also, if you have a 5 or 6 point harness and it works as it should, it decelerates your torso instantly in a frontal impact, but your head will continue moving forward. This will result in a debilitating or fatal neck injury or instantly fatal basular skull fracture. Oh and that front airbag, forget about it because you'll never reach it if the harness works. Never use a harness on the street, period.
Next, harnesses should only be mounted at shoulder level and mounted only to a welded or bolted in roll cage, period. Mounting to the floor, or rear seatbelt mounts, causes the harness to pull down on your shoulders and crush your spine when you are in a frontal impact, causing a debilitating or fatal back injury. Also, you will be hitting the steering wheel/dash with full force if you've bolted the harness to the floor. The only place I would say that it is remotely safe to use an improperly installed harness is the autocross. This is because collisions at autocross events are more than rare, so you would not be at much risk of using the harness as a safety restraint. But, injuries are still possible, at least you can now weigh the risks and make an informed decision as to whether or not you use this equipment in your car.
STREET CARS DO NOT USE AFTERMARTKET SEATS. Well, they don't when they have integral airbags in the seats. When you remove the seats with airbags, the airbag light comes on, and you have now DISABLED EVERY AIRBAG IN THE CAR. You have no more front, side, or curtain airbags. You have also put yourself in hot water with your insurance company by removing your factory safety equipment. If you or someone else is injured or killed in your vehicle, even if the accident is the other guy's fault, you are going to get sued, along with the guy who hit you.
I've had several people mention that 'race cars' use this type of safety equipment, but....
Also consider that accidents in race cars are NOT usually as severe as accidents on the street. Everyone is going the same direction on a race track, so no head on collisions. The track is lined with tire walls and barriers so that it is highly unlikely that you could hit a solid object like a tree. The track is set up so that collisions are deflected and cars can't deccelerate all at once. There should be no spot on a track where you can go head on into something and deccelerate intantly. On the street, the hazards and potential impacts are far greater in likelihood and severity than on a track.
Furthermore, The safety equipment used in 'race cars' is a system, period. You cannot pick and choose what equipment you want to use. No harness without a HANS, no HANS without a helmet, no cage without a helmet, the list keeps going in cirlces. YOU NEED EVERYTHING. Race car drivers do not piecemeal their safety equipment together.
The factory safety equipment is the best possible design for street use and is also a system. When you remove or change one piece, nothing else works like it should. It kills me to see people risking and losing their lives so that they can have some Race Inspired Cosmetic Enhancements on their cars.
If self preservation is at all alive within you, use your factory safety equipment AND ONLY YOUR FACTORY SAFETY EQUIPMENT on the street.
Bulkybear
Well-Known Member
- 1,665
- 749
So what about putting in better seats, putting a resistor on the airbag plugs so the airbags still work and using the factory seatbelt? Basically swapping out your seats properly.
Bulkybear
Well-Known Member
- 1,665
- 749
Nvm. Just watched the crash dummy videos
Bulkybear
Well-Known Member
- 1,665
- 749
Wait a sec though, the racing seats both broke at the hinge, whats to keep a stock seat from doing the same thing?
The stock seat is designed to withstand the impact of a rear end collision. The "racing" seats are meant to be braced from behind by the harness bar. They are not designed to hold up to that type of impact on their own.
I have been down this road of wanting "cooler" seats in my car. It just comes down to safety. Ultimately, I decided it was not worth the risk. If i had an older car that didn't have so many modern safety features I might consider an OEM recaro/sparco from something like the new Fiesta/Focus ST. An OEM "take-off" part like a recaro should be able to withstand the type of impacts shown. Aftermarket vs. OEM are completely different.
If you could get an OEM seat and overcome the SRS system I think you would be ok. Again, not the best but if you have to have them, I think thats your safest option.
I have been down this road of wanting "cooler" seats in my car. It just comes down to safety. Ultimately, I decided it was not worth the risk. If i had an older car that didn't have so many modern safety features I might consider an OEM recaro/sparco from something like the new Fiesta/Focus ST. An OEM "take-off" part like a recaro should be able to withstand the type of impacts shown. Aftermarket vs. OEM are completely different.
If you could get an OEM seat and overcome the SRS system I think you would be ok. Again, not the best but if you have to have them, I think thats your safest option.