Interior Exterior
Q:
Hi All:
I'm 6'5" and just about an inch away from being comfortable in the Elise I want soooo badly. Has anyone had any experience with modifying the seat rails to drop the stock seat all the way to the floor? I asked the dealer and was told that they couldn't help because of liability issues.
Final trick will then be to work out how to get out of the car without looking like a complete dork...
Thanks,
Matt M
Burbank, CA
A:
Matt-do some searches here. I have heard of this being done, but don't remember who did it. Good luck.
A:
It can be done...somehow. Touch base with "chococar" in this forum. Maybe call Mark Starr at Hunting Ridge Motors, a dealer in CT. He's a big guy..around 6' 4" and upper 200s in weight.
A:
6'6", 250 lbs, 36" inseam, size 12 shoe. (for reference)
I fit allright. Most of my height is in my legs and there is a fair amount of legroom (all things considered). The service tech / sales dude told me that he knew of at least one person who pulled the rails and mounted the seat directly to the floor. He claimed this gains you ~1". He also mentioned that shims can be added to the front, tipping the seat back a bit and helping with the leg-room issues. Also consider that the hardtop has more headroom than the soft top. I have not "tried on" a soft top, so cannot comment. IMHO, it is not really a convertable if you need tools to take the top off.
Replacing with a racing seat is an option. I know of at least one thread covering it, complete with compairison pictures of the owner sitting it a normal seat and the low profile seat. Sadly, my search-fu is too weak to find the post.
How to get in/out? I tried a couple different strategies, and this one worked best for me:
-put your right foot in.
-turn facing ~8 o'clock.
-back in slowly, twisting your knee under the steering wheel.
-twist around to 9 o'clock and with one hand on the steering wheel and one on the seat bolster, twist/drop your butt into the seat.
-try to ignore the scary plastic pop/clank noise, it is just the seatbelt reciever. (I hit it every time and it scared the hell out of me)
-carefully pull in left leg.
I have heard some people say that getting out is the reverse of getting in. I did not have much luck in that respect.
Graceless method for getting out:
-carefully lift out left leg.
-grab steering wheel in right hand and put the left hand far out on the sill.
-lift butt and twist out.
-slide out butt first
-remove right leg.
-look around with an embarassed look on your face to see if anyone saw this utterly graceless manuver.
A:
6'6", 250 lbs, 36" inseam, size 12 shoe. (for reference)
Also consider that the hardtop has more headroom than the soft top. I have not "tried on" a soft top, so cannot comment.
I am 6'0", 204 lbs, 29" inseam, size 12 shoe. (for reference) I know, I should be in a circus
I have found that the soft top has slightly more head room than the hard top. I can not be in the car with the hard top on and have a baseball cap on, the button on top of it will touch...
Slight hijack...The best thing that those of us with very long torsos can buy is the Sector111 micro mirror, I could not see anything out the right front of the car before I got that.
A:
Final trick will then be to work out how to get out of the car without looking like a complete dork...
Bad news, Matt -- it can't be done -- I'm 6'3" and have spent four months trying. At least I've stopped getting bruises all over my body!
-Mike
A:
I got 1" more head room and 1" more leg room and, most importantly for me, some more hip width. Check out this thread:
You're welcome to sit in my car and see how it fits you. My car alternates between Santa Barbara and Palo Alto.
A:
I cooked up a similar setup for my 1971 DeTomaso Pantera vintage racecar. I took a Racetech fiberglass seat and cut out the bottom so it sat flat on the (lowered) floor pan leaving nothing but a quarter-inch of padding and a thin steel plate between the car and my most tender parts. Off-track excursions and high "gators" will definitely get your attention. I guess I could do the same thing with the Elise but I kind of like the stock seats and would be worried that the shoulder wings of any replacement seat might not allow the windows to roll up.
Thanks to all for the input.
Matt M
Burbank, CA
A:
I don't think you can lower the stock seat at all.
If you slide the seat forward and try to stick your hand underneath the bottom portion of the seat, you will find that there is very little clearance left...maybe 1cm (maybe more because I have touring carpet). Therefore, you will have to gain head room by removing padding from the seat or buying a thinner seat.
Just my educated guess...
- J
A:
Matt - what's the concern re: rolling up the windows?
A:
Well, I guess my newbie Elise inexperience is showing... but after I installed the racing seat in my Pantera (my first one, a street car) I closed the door and discovered that I had about a gnat's eyelash between the seat's shoulder wing and the door glass. But it wasn't anything that a few minutes with Mr. Grinder wouldn't have fixed, I suppose.
MM