I'm finding less and less time to go to the track and now with a baby 4 months out, I'm not sure how often I'll get out there so I'm playing with ideas of making my car less track focused and more street friendly.

My car came with the base, comfort seats and they were really bad on track. Essentially zero lateral support in the turns. My current Sparco Circuit is self explanatory as for how well it holds you in place, but it's less than ideal on the street.
I'm curious how the factory Recaros place between the two. Does anyone have experience with all three seat types on track? (Any bucket seat for that matter, does not need to be a Sparco Circuit). Do the Recaros do a decent job holding you in place on track?

I suppose I could just swap back to the comfort seats and put the Sparco in storage for track days but I like a "one size fits all" approach.

Anything that has full leather will be a problem. The factory recaros to me look like leather armchairs. My friend has the leather version of this that came in the Renault Megane and he wasn't happy overall.
My fabric inner, leather side version is sensational for a dual purpose seat. Just add harness and don't move.
From my quick search all the GT350 & 500 seats have the suede style inner panels for grip.

I had a 16 GT350 without Recaros and those tech pack seats were the most comfortable seat I’ve ever street driven in any car- never tracked that car but they wouldn’t have been good. Drove that car across the country to TX and bought a 17 350R. Finished the drive to Florida in it. The Recaros are ok on the street and are ok on track in both that car and my CFTP- but they are nowhere near a proper race seat. While I’ve done long days in them, they’re most uncomfortable seat I’ve ever had in a street car. The Recaros split the difference- question is is that a good trade?

Unfortunately body shape plays into this conversation quite a lot too- there are folks who claim to find the Recaros more comfortable (I say claim because I have to wonder if they just love the look and raciness of the Recaros and look past the downsides). Im 6’/185lbs- ymmv.

Although in an S197, I went from the premium leather stock seats to a set of cloth recaros out of a Boss, both with a schroth 4 point removable harness. I’ve also spent a lot of time in true race seats on track. The difference is pretty much exactly what you would expect - the Ford recaros are way better than stock seats on track but definitely far short of a true race seat. Together with the 4 point schroth harness, I would describe this set up as decent but not great when you’re really pushing. The side bolsters just aren’t big enough.

On street and for just fun 7/10ths driving, I like them a lot. I love their street functionality and adjustability, folding seat back, etc. For me, this is the best “go everywhere street and track” setup I could come up with. So it’s kind of a B+ across the board, sort of a compromise everywhere if you will. Personally I find the recaros very comfortable even for long drives. But I agree with @Bouncing Soul , this probably depends on individual build. I’m 5’10 and 165.

Those seats posted by @GAR944 look sweet, kind of like the Ford recaros but a little more substantial side bolstering perhaps?

Sounds like perhaps I should just stick with swapping between the comfort seats and the Sparco.
Thanks for the responses, everyone!

GAR944 said:

Anything that has full leather will be a problem. The factory recaros to me look like leather armchairs. My friend has the leather version of this that came in the Renault Megane and he wasn't happy overall.
My fabric inner, leather side version is sensational for a dual purpose seat. Just add harness and don't move.
From my quick search all the GT350 & 500 seats have the suede style inner panels for grip.

View attachment 111300

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Those shoulder strap openings look really low. That may be a concern. Otherwise, these look great!
ChatGPT suggests they are 3 inches lower than a Circuit II

I think the Recaros are the best dual purpose. I've had 0 issues with long trips and with a set of Schroth harnesses they hold me in place enough for the types of violent maneuvers we come across in autocross use.

GAR944 said:

Anything that has full leather will be a problem. The factory recaros to me look like leather armchairs. My friend has the leather version of this that came in the Renault Megane and he wasn't happy overall.
My fabric inner, leather side version is sensational for a dual purpose seat. Just add harness and don't move.
From my quick search all the GT350 & 500 seats have the suede style inner panels for grip.

View attachment 111300

Click to expand...

What seat is this? That looks like a pretty good street/track compromise seat.

Ewheels said:

Those shoulder strap openings look really low. That may be a concern. Otherwise, these look great!
ChatGPT suggests they are 3 inches lower than a Circuit II

Click to expand...

Never noticed but you are correct apparently now i've done a bit of a deep dive. I'm 5'10 so no issue on my end. So many of you guys seem to have DNA from giants and are well over 6'.

Deadly0ne said:

What seat is this? That looks like a pretty good street/track compromise seat.

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I got them originally because "road car" and to be street legal here i needed a seat with airbags and these have that as an option. Seat heating was another bonus.
They work damn well, i have never moved in them and they are actually comfortable.

stevbd said:

Those seats posted by @GAR944 look sweet, kind of like the Ford recaros but a little more substantial side bolstering perhaps?

Click to expand...

They were actually used by Ford in the Focus RS.

Like others have said- Schroth Quick Fit is a game changer for a streetcar- big improvement.

If you watch Misha vids he does talk about his opinion on potential downsides of using harnesses like that without a cage but it definitely helps you focus on driving.

It seems a lot of experienced track rats put this discussion into three categories of acceptable options: oem belts and seats, Quick Fit system with oem seats, and full 5 or 6 point harness with true race seat and roll bar for proper harness attachment and belt angles etc. Always use neck restraint with any harness. There are a lot of valid opinions on this subject but that basic breakdown of options always made sense to me.

stevbd said:

It seems a lot of experienced track rats put this discussion into three categories of acceptable options: oem belts and seats, Quick Fit system with oem seats, and full 5 or 6 point harness with true race seat and roll bar for proper harness attachment and belt angles etc. Always use neck restraint with any harness. There are a lot of valid opinions on this subject but that basic breakdown of options always made sense to me.

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See the Quickfit system mentioned many times on here.
I'm of the understanding that they have been discontinued.
A search on the Schroth website doesn't show a listing.

Well that’s discouraging. A quick search shows lots of listings for 2005-2017 but not for the newer cars.

Ewheels said:

I'm finding less and less time to go to the track and now with a baby 4 months out, I'm not sure how often I'll get out there so I'm playing with ideas of making my car less track focused and more street friendly.

My car came with the base, comfort seats and they were really bad on track. Essentially zero lateral support in the turns. My current Sparco Circuit is self explanatory as for how well it holds you in place, but it's less than ideal on the street.
I'm curious how the factory Recaros place between the two. Does anyone have experience with all three seat types on track? (Any bucket seat for that matter, does not need to be a Sparco Circuit). Do the Recaros do a decent job holding you in place on track?

I suppose I could just swap back to the comfort seats and put the Sparco in storage for track days but I like a "one size fits all" approach.

Click to expand...

Personal opinion if you can find the Cloth Recaro's from Earlier cars aka base PP1 2015-2017 this are the best seats I ever sat in out of the Mustang ones.
The OEM Premium seats and the Recaro premiums are equally bad which is why I just drive with the OEM Premiums.

Hope this helps.