Replica bucket seats/ Everything you should know about Bucket seats
I know most audi Owners don't have racing seats but this is good general information and I don't feel like making another account on a different forum.
Everything you should know about bucket seats. First of all there are a lot of companies to chose from. Some popular names are recaro, sparco, momo, Status, Braum Bride, Bimmarco and corbeau. All these Brands carry FIA certification on some of their seats. Check their website to learn which ones they are. If you are serious into racing you will need a FIA approved seat. I have found that Bimmarco seats are the cheapest seats that come with a FIA certification. They are from Poland.
If you can't afford the FIA certified seats and your racing sanction doesn't require a FIA approved seat you have more choices. On the expensive side you can pick up a racing seat from the brands mentioned above. Some additional brands are Invictus, Cipher and NRG and F1 Spec.
Now here is where the problem lies. Most seats under 250 start to fall into the weird category. This is where you will find NRG, Invictus seats and fake sparco, bride, recaro seats. The problem is the fake bride seats are kinda thrown together with cheap stuff. NRG seats seem to be damn well built for under $400 a pair. For under 250 a seat you are looking at cheaper material and potentially worst build structure. No way to test for sure just how crappy the seats are. I personally have owned NRG and Invictus seats and no see any problems. Seems that NRG is just able to bang these out for really cheap and since they make so many the prices on the market are able to be lower.
FAKE SEATS
I have looked at various replica seats racing from bride and recaro. You might ask why? Well because with everything in this world you can usually find a fake for it. The replica bride are the best ones if you need to satisfy the JDM look. Pretty much perfected the match with the real one. Only problems usually include the material having a little stretch or sag. Recaro fakes is a different story. The ebay ones not only look fake but are more fucked up with the stitching. I checked out a pair from facebook marketplace and it seems the replicas added to many accents but don't know how correctly sew them on. I strongly advise AGAINST buying the xl recaro ones because you will get called out at a car Meet. Save the awkwardness. The recaro ones with the black "RECARO" logo are the worst so be on the lookout. Almost all replica seats include some "FIA certification". This sucks because now people can get tricked into buying these on accident.
Looking at price points compared to safety I would rate them like this: Popular Brand name seats> Invictus> Nrg > F1 Spec > fake seats
NRG seats just don't have as much padding which makes your ass hurt after sitting for 2+ hours.
A lot of mis information on a lot different forums. I've seen people say that because fake seats do not carry a real FIA certification, they are the same quality as the real name brand non FIA certified seat. Come on now, The fake seats DON'T use the same material. The real brand name seats do some basic testing even on the non FIA certified ones. Call them up if you don't believe me.
You will know fake seats because most of them say "Trademark in Canada or Taiwan". Those are fake seats. Most ebay sellers say in the fine print that they are non FIA certified. But when you receive the seat it will have the sticker on it.
RECLINING fake seats:
Fake reclining seats look to be the most unsafe. Most mechanisms are not not built well. They will work for regular driving but a crash will probably instantly break. I know these video links are old but you will understand what im talking about. These seats used in the video are real recaro and bide seats. Fakes can't be much better.
Recaro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xoauIutCmc
Bride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4Qsd4-8IMo
I would definitely not suggest reclining fake seats. You will need some serious balls to have those. Also the reclining way 30+ pounds according to amazon shipping so not all that much weight reduction as a full bucket seat gives you.
>>>So what you should take away from this<<<
FIA certified seats are the best. Buying them from a well known website will ensure you get a real product.
Non FIA certified seats like NRG, Cipher, and Invictus are good for a budget race car. Good material. (My nrg lasted around 3 years sold it with the car)
Fake seats are a hit or miss. If you really need to complete that racecar look but can't use NRG or Invictus, at least buy fake brides. Yes they will wear out quicker than the nrg ones and yes they could me more dangerous but who knows, I'm just a guy on the internet.
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