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MG MGF Technical - Seat height for tall people

Hi

I'm six foot four and would love to buy an MBF. But when I get into one, especially with the hard top, my head hits off the roof.

Is there some way that the seats, or at least the driver's seat, can be lowered an inch or two? That would just make all the difference as the rest of the car I love after several test drives.

Many thanks

John Beattie
John Beattie

I did see something on a previous thread about some way of lowering the seat.

However I think that this just involves removing some of the seat springs - making the seat softer. Consequently you sit lower - but it stretches the seat leather.

Anyone heard of any more satisfactory solutions? I'm 6'3" and although I fit in the F (just) I wouldn't be adverse to sitting a little lower!

cheers,
Rich
rich

Hi Guys,

Mike Satur does a seat lowering kit that lowers the seat a little.

Have a gander around his web site for more info.

Cheers,

Daniel.
Daniel Ginger

All th eseat lowering kits i have heard of are replacemnt spring efforts, that like you say basically make you sit lower in the seat, and don't actually lower much. quite a few people round hear seem t be ok with them, but i have heard bad reports aswell. I'm 6'3'' aswell so was considering it, but i have decided to leave it as it is.
Matt

Try Newton Commercial at: www.newtoncommco.uk as they also do a lowering kit for about £10; dunno if its any good because I'm short and don't have this problem. ;)

Matt

Matt

Not keen personally on using the replacement springs option, anyone actually replaced the seats in their F?

Surely there must be different style seats (buckets anyone?!) that would really make a difference?
Rich
rich

Tom has done some research on this subject. The major stumbling block with respect to seat replacement is the re-location of the lower outside seat belt mount- as standard it is on the seat runner- not necessarily an option on a seat replacement.

Paul Sharpe has had his seat replaced with reclining buckets. Very nice too, but expensive at over 1000 pound sterling to buy and fit (because of the need to replace the lower seat belt mount).

Other buckets have been fitted to MGF racers- but they are not necessarily ideal for a road car.

Maybe Mike or someone else could re-engineer a standard seat? I believe there may be problems with the cross-brace box section under the seat that ultimately limites seat lowering, but I am sure that something could be done.

Rob
Rob Bell

Hi,

John, are you test driving a new or secondhand car? The seats in the MK2 are, I believe, set a little lower than the MK1's so this may give you some leeway. The MK1 leather seats are also taller than the standard offering. If you find the MK2 seats are too high then I don't think there's a straightforward answer, except push the seat right back and join the rest of us headbangers.

Actually the thought of the hood frame smashing against the head in a sideways impact is er, petrifying!

Regards, Kes (6'3")
Kes

Thats why i don't think about it Kes
Matt

Are they not 'Side impact bars' for REAL men?

Ted
Ted Newman

Hmm I'm more worried about scalping myself should I be daft enough to roll it!
:-
rich

I drive with my head between my legs just incase
Matt

Thanks for all the replies. I have acutally been test driving a 2000 model, and the seats still seem high.

As someone said above there must be the ability to make a new seat that sits just a couple of inches lower.

I sat in the new MR2, and almost unbelievably it has plenty of room with a hard top but your hands get trapped between the steering wheel and the inside door handles. Plus it's not an MGF.

If anyone hears of a seat, or a mechanism to really make more head room, please pass it on as it seems as though a few people would like to feel a bit of air between the tops of their heads and the hood/hard top. It does rain in Britain you see.

Thanks again

yours

John Beattie
John Beattie

Folks

In the book Project Phoenix it mentions that the F was desinged to accomodate 95% of the UK population. If you are not in this group, I suspect your chances of fiiting in the F are slim. I am 6'1" and I feel I only just slot in.

The problem witrh lowering the seat by any substantial amount is surely that the bulkhead behind the seat slopes into the cabin. Thus the further down you sit the more you are going to br forced forward.

Cheers

Patrick
Patrick

Hi,

Project Phoenix also says that when the first production bodies came from Mayflower the torsional stiffness was poor, relative to the hand-made prototypes. (This is not a reflection on Mayflower, they were making them to spec.) To bump the stiffness back up to an MX5-beating level box sections under the seat were fitted (along with the undertray panel and various other mods). Thus the seats are high, with little leeway to lower them.

Regards, Kes.
Kes

The springs are cheap, easy to fit and do lower the driving postion by about 10-12mm for me, (drops more with time or i am getting fatter). I'm 12 stone so if you are heavier it will drop you lower, they do mean that the leather stretches, but its not too bad.

This is all irrelvant for MK2 seats of course!
Paul

Why is it irrelevant for Mk 2 seats?


Yours

JB
John Beattie

As Rob mentioned I have looked into of the shelf seats and runners, but to date have had no luck.
Both Recaro and Corbeau say they have no seats runners to fit a F which could be down to a lack of room and the seat belt needed to be mounted somewhere.
Reacaro seats do fit as Paul has them in his car but it is not cheap and so far only Techspeed can do the work.

I will do further investigating when I am ready to change seats but until then I will be sticking with the std seats which are comfortable but are not to good for support round corners.

Tom
Tom Randell

> In the book Project Phoenix it mentions that the F
> was desinged to accomodate 95% of the UK population.

Most things are designed with the 95th percentile in mind. That is why those of us over the 95th percentile get used to banging our heads on anything low and always stoop when going through a door.

Chris
P715 XTN
Chris Reeves

But the MGF is better than its competitors, i couldn't drive an MX5 safely, my legs were round my chest. i guess its handy having the engine behind you.

Paul, how do the springs effect the comfort?
Matt

John, re comment 'Why is it irrelevant for Mk 2 seats?':

because i don't know what the construction of the new seats is like, so there is some chance that the springs made to fit the MK1 seats wont fit the Mk2 seats.

Matt, re comfort:

as before i guess, it does change your postion in the seat but you get used to that. Personally i have a bad back so to i had to mess about with the backrest angle a bit as my body was a little lower, after the first couple of days i couldn't get comfortable and considered taking them out, but i adjusting things and am now used to it. I guess the fact that i had to adjust things does back up the fact that i was lower, its a little difficult to tell how much lower as my head was never touching the roof before. I fitted then to sit lower in the car rather than for increased headroom

Paul

Interesting to hear everyones comments about the seat lowernig. How much affect does this have on the problem that I have which is that my righ knee only just fits under the steering wheel when braking and when i turn the steering wheel i find myself pushing the brake pedal from and angle. Is there any way of lowering the brake pedal / clutch pedal ???
Kieron Sykes

Thanks for all your comments. I've bought the VVC, and Newton Commercial are trying to get the seat down a couple of inches for me.

I'm running the car in at the moment, banging my head off the roof.

Hopefully I'll keep all of you fellow six feet four people up to date with how it goes.

thanks again for all the help

John Beattie
John Beattie

I am over 6 feet tall and have fitted the Newton Commercial springs to my 97 VVC half leather seats. The seats are now much more comfortable and as the centre panel is cloth there has been no stretching. The increase in headroom is not huge but any extra is welcome.
Jason Harris

This thread was discussed between 22/05/2000 and 02/06/2000

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