Seat questions

Hi guys,

Just got my beautiful 360 Modena the other day and I'm head over heels in love.. Except for the seats. More specifically, the driving position I guess you could say.

I'm 6'2 and a bigger frame (about 225#) and a bit long in the torso with shorter legs. My problem is headroom primarily.

I've been searching here all weekend for a seat swap / bracket mod for my standard power seats to fix this and was encouraged to find that some of you have successfully fit 458 carbon fiber back, Sport seats in your 360's and 430's. I think they look fabulous and from what I read, get your a$$ closer to the floor in most cases.

I've been looking on Ebay and the usual places for some donor seats as I've resided myself to having custom leather work done to match my Crema interior. Ideally I'd find some seats with some less than perfect leather etc to save on my upfront investment since the seats will need to be recovered regardless obviously.

Can anyone confirm what model Ferrari seats I should be looking for to get the lowest possible seating position? Also because of my larger frame, I'd need to find a seat wide enough between the bolster area to squeeze myself in there too. Beyond sitting too high in my car, my current 360 seats are a bit tight in the bolsters so I'd like to remedy that with this project as well.

Any help at all sourcing these seats or a nudge in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking forward to getting a lot of seat time in my new baby but these seats are sucking alot of the fun out of it for me right now.. :/

 

Have you looked at or contacted Exotic Auto Recycling? www.exoticautorecycling.com You are probably looking for the Large size sport seats and brackets. Go to a Ferrari dealer and see if they will let you sit in a car with that size sport seats to try out the fit.

 

I know of other 360 owners who have fitted 430 and 458 racing seats to do exactly what you are hoping to achieve. Unfortunately the cf racing seats aren't cheap. Best wishes for your search.

 

I have a set for my 360 that are f430 race seats. But now I want to find another set for the 360 so that I can put these in my F430. It's an obsession.

 

Thanks for the replies.

Is it safe to assume that basically any carbon back, manually adjustable Ferrari seat will offer the same seating position when fit in my 360? Or is there a specific model seat that I should be looking for? Since I'm planning on new leather, I can open up my search to lots of different Ferrari seats obviously but I want one that will get me the best driving position possible. I hope that question makes sense?

I'm seeing lots of price points for many different Ferrari original seats and I'm overwhelmed a bit. I'm also concerned about the type of tracks these seats have and what models will bolt right in with no modification to the car.

 

Nope. That's wrong.

You can use a 360/F430/458 race seat (CS, Scud, Speciale included) with no modifications but you can't use 355 seats, or seats from the other model lines without having to make mods to the seats or rails.

Btw, manual regular 360 seats will give you a little more headroom, too.

 

OK great! Thank you for clearing that up.

I take it that the lack of motors under the seat allows for it to be positioned lower? If I just wanted a lower seating position, would you think the manual 360 seat get me as low as the other options you just listed? This would certainly be the most cost effective way to achieve what I'm after. Obviously there's other advantages to the 458 seats being lighter and more modern appearance etc. But if that wasn't a concern maybe the 360 seats would be a good option for me.

 

I have a set of black manual 360 seats in my basement (red piping). Make an offer if you want them. I don't have an electric 360 seat to compare it with but I can try to compare it to my electric seats that are in the F430.

 

Do you think if I posted a picture of a measurement at a specific location on the side of my seat, you could take the same measurement and we could possibly be able to tell how much lower your manual seats sit in the car? That would be great. Maybe we can make a deal on your seats then if it's enough of a difference? I appreciate your help!

 

Let's try it.

 

Another advantage of the manual seats is that they are not just lower but lighter also. Easy way to drop a little weight.

Sherpa, just curious, are your 360 seats Daytona with red piping?

 

Non Daytona.
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Hey man.. Don't come sliding in on my seats.

 

Bahahaha.

I'm sure Eric doesn't want my seats. He has pretty special Bordeaux seats in his car.

 

I have a line on some seats from an Enzo. They're manufactured by "Cobra" and the owner is telling me that he bought for his F430 but never wound up using them. He's also certain that they'll bolt right into the 430..but I don't have much faith in this. They're obviously a Carbon back "race" seat and I think they'd get the job done for me but I don't want the install to become a massive undertaking and I'm absolutely unwilling to drill or modify the cars floor in any way.

 

No worries... I place myself very strategically in a F leather seat. You'll never know I was there till I'm gone and maybe the seat too

You're in good hands w Sherpa. I've bought f parts from him... Would happily do so again. Just not those seats.....

My needs are very specific... Gonna be a long patient search for me for the right seat replacement.

 

That would be unusual. The 360 and F430 seats of that same era are made by Sparco. The race seats for the challenge series were made by OMP. I don't know enough about Enzo seats to say who they are made by but I would be extremely surprised if they were made by Cobra.

I would ask to see pictures first.

 

That's what I thought as well. I saw pictures and they look very "close" but I've actually been doing some more research this evening looking at more detailed pictures of actual Enzo seats and I think he's "mistaken"..

Since I have to recover whatever seats I find (including yours), I think that yours are over qualified for the job. I need to find some that have leather in need of attention and are priced accordingly. Yours look pretty perfect and certainly too nice to act as donors.

I really like the 458 Sport seats.. Not much out there though it seems. I've got some emails out to some of the dismantlers so hopefully tomorrow I'll get some hits. I need to address this pretty soon because driving my new car is not as enjoyable as it outta be right now. :/

 

Makes perfect sense. Please pm me with what you find. I'm extemely curious as to what's out there. Thanks.

 

In my Modena the distance from the lowest point of the seating surface to the headliner is 36 inches.

In another recent similar thread I mentioned that the manual seats might go lower than the electrics, but other posters insisted that the electrics will go as low as the manuals. If someone could take the same measurement with the electric seats, it might help settle this question.
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I'm 6'1" and could not get a comfortable position in my 430, I always felt 3" to high in the car with the stock Daytona seats.

I purchased as beautiful set of 360 CF sport seats made a world of difference, I love driving the car now, it feels much much better. They are pricy but well worth it imo
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I have electric seats and just went out to measure. I tried to position the seat in the same spot as you did and also lowered it all the way down in front and back. The result is 36 inches. I think that settles this.. Unfortunately. :/

 

It would be great if we could still add a measurement of someone with sport seats!

I own a 360 Spider with regular (not electric) seats and have also wondered if the sport seats would give me some extra head space.

 

I've contacted all the sources I've read about on here as well as looked through eBay as well as international Ebay sites.. There's some 360cs as well as 458 Sport seats out there but crazy money imo (13-20k).

I'm now considering aftermarket seats. Anyone have any experience with the common brands? Sparco, Cobra, Recaro etc?

I have seen some threads about these but not seen any really positive reviews about results of these installs.

I think it's my best option at this point. It's just about finding the right fit which will give me the lowest seating position possible but also offering the tilt back and slides for front and back adjustment. Obviously the ideal way to mount a seat for the lowest possible seating position is a fixed side mount with no tracks at all. But that's not an option for me.. I don't think I could live with that.

I'd like to find a carbon shelled reclining seat and I'd havean upholstery shop create custom covers for them to match the Crema interior in my car. It's important to me that they look as much like an original equipment seat as possible and that could certainly be achieved by a quality trim/leather shop. At that point you could also have the padding within the seat adjusted to better fit you individually. I've had this on the list of projects for my Aston Martin also. My DBS has alcantara inserts in the seats and door panels that I'm not to fond of. My plan is to do a diamond quilted pattern on a portion of the seats as well as the door panels. This look was an option on the DBS and I've always liked it a lot. I sourced several complete hides from the Aston Martin leather supplier in Scotland (Bridge of Weir) and they're currently laid over a bed in a spare bedroom awaiting this project..coming soon hopefully does anyone know the leather supplier to Ferrari? I want to make sure to get an exact match.. Or as close as possible to my original interior.

I'm liking the Cobra "Misano" seats best right now.. Anyone have any experience with this marquee?

 

I don't think there's much doubt that the sport seats will give you extra head room. Whether it be the scuderia seats, CS or 458 Sport seats the general and overwhelming concensus by those who have done this is a pretty significant improvement in headroom, comfort and seating position.