Reducing weight in stock seats

aread · 08-20-2018, 05:27 AM

I had my turbo seats out of the car the other day to do some interior work and was blown away by how much these suckers weigh.

In an ever-going battle between weight savings for track days and preservation of a stock-looking car, I find myself wondering if there are any ounces to save in these 86-95 turbo style seats.

My thought is the electric motor could and do a block off plate for the switches, as the rails and seat back are manually adjusted and I have never used the buttons since I first set the seat to my preferences.

But is it worth it? What if any weight could be saved there?

Just a thought, curious if anyone else has tried this.

P.S. I know there are plenty of other LW seat options in lieu of the stock seat, but I'm not interested replacing as I am quite fond of their support

aread · 08-20-2018, 05:30 AM

Geronimo '74 · 08-20-2018, 05:32 AM

Modifying stock seats (especially sport seats) for weight reductions seems silly to me.
I say, keep'em stock, and buy a set of lightweight bucket seats.
lighter and much more support than stock.

Geronimo '74 · 08-20-2018, 05:34 AM

if you modify those nice seats, you deserve to be flogged.

they're worth a pretty penny, a shame to mess with those, IMO

aread · 08-20-2018, 05:42 AM

Geronimo you bring up a good point. In my head I was picturing "component removal" that could easily returned on re-sale if needed (I have a crate full of parts like that). Not looking to do irreversible damage.

BK911 · BK911's Garage

Eat a salad.

aread · 08-20-2018, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BK911

Eat a salad.

...Original

reachme · reachme's Garage

I have had these apart and thought the same thing-the seats are ridiculously heavy. The vast majority of the weight is the steel frame of the seat. (the cushion and leather are both light already and no ability to lighten further)

There are already some holes drilled in the frame and sure you could drilll some more but it would not make a huge difference and it would be better to start off with a seat designed from strong plastic.

AG81 · AG81's Garage

I changed seats.... yes there is weight to be saved. I put my factory seats in the backyard for the dogs to lounge on.