F355 Track Prep/Race Seat Installation Kit

Hi All,

Recently we had been given the task of designing & manufacturing a race seat installation kit for a very tall customer who tracks his 355 exclusively. We know that the 355 has a low roofline and there is not much headroom if you are in the 6' area - now try putting a helmet on without compressing your spine!

In order to meet the customer's criteria of an extra 2+ inches of headroom over the factory seats, without molesting the interior, we got to work.

Our first order of business was choosing the right seat for the job. Since this particular customer has long legs, we could not use a seat that had high side bolsters, as this would force his legs into the steering wheel. Using our experience with many different seat manufacturers, we opted for an FIA approved Cobra Imola Pro GT. It would have been nice to fit an Italian made OMP, but they did not offer anything that met our criteria. The wide GT width seat necessitated a custom bracket in order to re-locate the emergency brake lever slightly outward.

Next, we designed a mounting system that allow us to set the back portion of the seat right onto the carpet, for the lowest possible mounting solution. Our mounting system also has provisions for the lap & anti sub belts to mount directly to them, without any drilling through the floor. We are also able to retain function of the stock seat belt for the occasional street cruise.

Ideally one would have a slider to be able to adjust the seat forward and back, but, without major revisions to the floorpan, the amount of headroom lost with a slider forced us to fix the seats - they are able to be adjusted fore and aft, but you must unbolt them to do this. Most owners will not have a problem with this.

We can provide a system with sliders, but it is not recommended for those over 5'7".

This particular customer was also in need of better braking performance for his 355, and so we turned to OEM supplier Brembo for their GT kit, both front & rear. When installing this kit with the stock wheels, we discovered it was necessary to use a 3mm spacer for front caliper clearance. We manufactured this spacer in house on our CNC equipment and gained the clearance we needed while still maintaining hub-centricty of the wheels. The big red calipers and 2 piece floating discs really set this car apart and give it a really great, focused look. Braking performance is outstanding, and this setup also shaved off some unwanted unsprung weight from each corner.

All in all, this setup shed 69 lbs from the car! Most importantly, the customer left with a big grin on his face. And now for the pics:
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