488 Hill Engineering Race Seat Lifter Kit

Having struggled with my 488 race seats being a little low, and not having the factory seat lifter fitted I approached Hill Engineering to see if they had a fix. They didn't !
Working with my car, a 2017 Spider, they have developed a kit which I am testing currently in France.

The kit consists of two machined black anodized blocks which can lock together if needed which raise the seat 10mm, 20mm or 30mm. The kit has the bolts for all three configuration included. It took about 15 mins to fit, and initially I raised it by 30mm, which for me was a bit high. After a ten minute adjustment I am now sitting 20mm higher and it really changes the way you can place the car in tight situations. When in situ it looks completely unoticable.
Tests will be completed shortly and they will be available from Hill Engineering soon. I have no connection with Hill Engineering other than being a serial buyer of their excellent products over the years.
I can fully recommend this kit as a simple and effective way to raise the seat.

 

Great news for those that need it... Thanks for the post.

 

Will these fit 458 seats?

 

Will these fit for a pista?

 

Not sure 're 458 . May be an idea to contact Hill Engineering directly. I thought all Pistas had a lifter as standard, if not they must be the same seats as 488 Race seats and should fit.

 

Can you post contact info for the person you're working with at Hill? make it easier for all of us! ;-)

 

Sorry for the delay in responding but I have been away in the car. The raised seat made the driving experience even better. Great piece of kit.
The best contact for any enquiry is [email protected]

 

Curious to see how these worked out for you. I need to raise my seat as well. Any more feedback would be appreciated.

 

Noticed the kit is now available, if anyone is interested.

https://www.hillengineering.co.uk/seat-spacer

 

How are you getting on OP with the kit?

Anybody else have feedback or fitted to Pista?

No seat lifter is the only thing missing from a car I have seen that I’d like to purchase and this would be a game changer if a suitable remedy!

 

Obiviously is a working solution as HE products are of excellent quality. I would recommend all of them very highly.

 

Great thats just made my search a lot easier!

 

A year on, and I have forgotten the kit is even there. No adjustment has been required, nothing has come loose, its an invisable fix.

Driving position is perfect.

One thing that does get better all the time...........my appreciation of just how good and how capable the 488 is.

I recently aquired a 2006 Ford GT, which I have been driving quite a lot, amazing car.
One interesting thing was when I got back in the 488 straight after driving the FGT, the 488 felt as if I was driving an S Class Merc Limo (in a very nice sort of way). Its somtimes easy to forget the amazing suspension on modern Ferrari's, they are just so compliant.

 

I have a set of these for sale. Sold my Pista before I had a chance to put them on. Putting an ad in the classifieds. Cost me $220, will take $150.

 

Still available?

 

Hill Engineering still sells them and currently only 136 BP or about $172 USD

 

I purchase a set and had them fitted about a month ago. Makes a big difference if you fit all 3 (30mm lift)

 

OP here, I still have my 488, and after 17k more European mountain blasting miles since my last post I have completely forgotten I even have the seat kit fitted, it's just part of the car.

Re the 488 Spider.....its just awesome....full stop. Its as it left the factory apart from a remote controller for the exhaust valve ( although it's permanently open). I love it's looks (grigio titanio with plenty of carbon), and to be honest, on the road you don't need more power. The handling is sublime, and it's a practical touring car ( unlike my beloved FGT).
How we are so lucky to enjoy such wonderful things .

 

Just wanted to post my experience here. This thread was super helpful as I picked up a 488 w/ race seats but no seat lifter, and I'm 5'8" and was unsure about my height position. For what it's worth, 5'8" is FINE without a seat lifter, but I did buy this Hill Engineering lift kit and it arrived from the UK to the US in a few business days. The company was responsive about my questions and the parts are well-made.

Only my experience, but thought it'd be useful for anyone trying to do this:

1. You need a M6 wrench, and one with a relatively short height to get under the front seat. The front bolt towards the center console is a real ***** to get to.
2. This was absolutely not "a 5 minute job." FFS, it was more like a 1 hour job for one seat, but hopefully you can learn from my mistakes here. The trick is to NOT detach all 4 bolts completely as this would allow the seat + 2 rails to be free floating (and hard to move the seat front/back relative to the rails) and cause more work.
3. First, move the seat as far back as possible. Loosen both front bolts but make sure they are still adequately engaged.
4. Then slide the seat as far forward as possible. Completely undo both rear bolts and remove them.
5. Put your desired amount of Hill spacers under the two rear rears and put in the new washers and bolts. Do not fully tighten the bolts.
6. Now slide the seat as far back as possible, and remove the front screws and put in the Hill spacers and new washers and bolts. Now you can fully tighten these.
7. Tighten the rear bolts.

I put in all 30 mm. Once tighten it feels OEM and there is no slop or wiggle. I find the driving position and ingress to feel more natural and overall it is worth it. Please see the pictures below of the seat with the 30mm spacer (driver's seat) compared to the OEM un-lifted height (passenger seat).

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Helpful write up for any owners wanting to fit this kit. I also have it installed and wouldn't be without it.

 

Just did the passenger side today, and it took probably around 2-3 hours. Maybe easier if I used a short M6 ratchet, but what the heck, my dumb way with a hex wrench probably built character.

Pictures show the space around the front bolts, and there's also a picture of the rear bolts for comparison. Interestingly on my passenger seat there are two flat metal pieces w/ a ridge under the OEM bolts (in place of the washers) denoted by the yellow arrows. Not sure why those pieces are there as they aren't on the parts assembly diagrams, but the seat seem to function perfectly without them.

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Rear bolts with passenger seat fully forward.

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Picture showing the front bolt near the center console, with little room for the hex wrench.

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