I threw in a low bid on a pair of seats local to me and I won them. I didn't check sizes or anything as I just bid the minimum and nobody else bid. The seats are quite large but I can fit them in the Viento with zero space to spare. The side bolsters are bent in slightly by the tunnel and side panels. Both seats came with Fiat Bravo brackets and sliding rails. Having removed the Fiat stuff and adapted the sliders to fit to the seat I put them into the car.

As you can see from the photos there is not much room between the top of the SWMBO's head and the rollcage. Shes a tall girl (5ft- 11). The seats will be approx 6mm lower than the photos due to a sheet of 6mm ply I have placed tempararly underneath the seat. The only way I could get the seats lower is by

1. Buying fibreglass seats and selling these (boring and the SWMBO doesn't like them)
2. Removing the sliding rails (not really a option in a Viento)
3. Buying some seats that are thinner at the bottom (these ones are about 40mm thick)

I don't feel that good about my head being higher or the same height as the rollcage, any thoughts????

Cheers Kev


Description

Description

Whats your front vision like at that height? You may lower the seats and find you cant see over the scuttle... Admittedly i'm short so think of these things.

I wouldn't want to be much lower visionwise. It seems as if the rollbar could have been a 50mm higher. I am perhaps worrying over nothing.

I have to admit the thought of rolling it is a bleak one. Has anyone ever seen a full caged Viento?

Thats what i thought, comparing it to the rear parcel shelf area. It looks like the cage is quite low and that might be the problem.

Risk of rolling a seven is very low indeed but you might want to get the cage altered.

Do you plan on using it for anything other than road or trackday use? if you plan to do amy sort of motorsport then its an issue.

Also watch out for the aspect change in the rear view mirrors.
I failed my SVA on that!

ie dont sort the mirrors until you have fixed the seating issue.

IMHO the roll bar on Vientos is a tad on the low side.

I fitted Cobra seats and they are as low as I can get them, and my (Motor Bike) Helmet is just about level with the top of the bar.

I only plan to do the occasional trackday. I went to Halfords to compare my seats with some others but they didn't have any. Stupid shop. If I put the seats flat on the ground then I think the seats put your bum about 40mm of the ground at the lowest point. This doesn't seem a lot.

Other than glass fibre seats are there any thinner seats heightwise?

[Edited on 9/7/12 by Irony]

I kinda know where you are coming from on this, at 6' 4" I sit just under the bar with NO helmet, but just above the bar WITH a helmet.

Oh and I got my seats from the people that do all the Cobra car trim stuff at the shows. linky link

These are them out of car


and in car


and yes they are reclinable/adjustable back rake.

From the way that you have described them and what I can see, it looks like you have the same seats as me. I had fitted mine, but have taken them back out now. I can drop one back in tomorrow and check where my head comes. I'm 6'2" and went for a Viento partially based on feeling that my head was too far above the role bar than some others I tried - although I guess that the seat might have been lower.

How far above the side of the car does the role bar extend? I'll measure mine tomorrow as well.

I guess that the critical dimension is whether you are under a straight line from the top of the bar to the front of the chassis as this is where the car will rest if it rolls, rather than a horizontal line at the height of the bar. I would not want to rely on it, but I suppose that you have a couple of extra cm in terms of how much you would personally compress/deform and how much the seat padding would compress before you start snapping vertibrae

If I draw a imaginary line from the top of the roll bar to the nose cone then I will have to sit more or less on the floor.

Heres the MSA guidance. But if you dont plan on Racing, sprinting or hillclimbing then its not much of an issue.
(Other than if you roll on the road/trackday and get squished!)

I would think the most likely place to draw that line to is the nosecone on the Viento. It seems to stick up quite high. I'll get a long piece of wood and sit in it with the wood over my head.

Can't believe that no-one commented about the fact that I balanced the spirit level on the SWMBO's head. And the fact that shes wearing her PJs and a dressing gown.

quote:

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Originally posted by Irony
I would think the most likely place to draw that line to is the nosecone on the Viento. It seems to stick up quite high. I'll get a long piece of wood and sit in it with the wood over my head.

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On mine, the highest point that might offer some structural resistance is the front of the engine as this is higher than the chassis.

Kev - I put my seats back in today and my head comes about 1cm below the top of the roll bar. The top of the role bar is 39cm above the chassis. However, I have a more recent Viento than you and the roll bar bolts on (four mounting points with 3 bolts in each) Given my lack of clearance, I might put an extra inch worth of steel plate between the mounting points and the chassis. If you really decide that you need to raise yours, maybe you could cut it off and turn it into a bolt on type. Might be easier to buy seats with less padding though.

...Or you could change your SWMBO for a lower height one

Viento with full roll cage in this thread (scroll down to see the pictures)...

full roll cage

I have bolted the first seat down now and I think my head comes about 30mm lower than the rollcage. That seems to work out correct with your measurements as you are a couple of inches taller than me steve.

I have seen the viper Viento before and I actually saw it a Newark show on the back of a trailer once. It was the cars on the Luego owners stand that year that made me want a Viento. However the Vipers chassis was completely modified to take the viper engine including I think the addition of the rollcage. Shame the Viper project was abandoned really, I think he put the engine in a Sierra in the end.

It wouldn't make a difference if I swapped the SWMBO for a shorter version. I am only concerned about my head.

[Edited on 11/7/12 by Irony]