Opinions on Kirkey seats?

I'm 6'2" 215 lbs.  Car is 2002 Mustang.

Right now my driver seat is a Sparco Evo II.  The passenger seat is stock from a 2013 Mustang GT.

It bugs me that the seats don't match but another Sparco is pushing $1000 with the bracket. 

I'm interested in a set of Kirkey's.  Possibly a halo seat for the driver.  Anyone have experience with them or can recommend one?  The car is used for AutoX, track days, and time trials.  It's trailered to the track so comfort isn't high on the priority list but is a bonus.  

In reply to Patientzero :

Each seat and person is different.  For example my Kirkey Challenge seat is perfect for me and it's use.  The same seat beat poor Pete Gossett up bad.  It bruised his sides so much I still feel bad about it 18 months later.

In reply to Stampie (FS) :

He's right.  People come in all sizes and shapes. My Kirkey Seat fit me very well. So comfortably I often fell asleep on the grid waiting for the start engines call. Some I lent my car to loved it and a few hated it. 

I've got ~6-7 hours in a few different Kirkeys of different sizes styles. Two of them were set up for drivers much larger than 6'0" and 145lbs me. I was quite comfortable and solidly attached to the car for 2.5 hours at a time.

I have a model 47 intermediate road race seat in my NA and I can spend a lot of time in that without too much complaining. If I stuff a pad under my butt I can drive it all day.

I had some sort of drag or oval track Kirkey in my NC and that was pretty brutal to spend any time in, and that was after I trimmed some of the bolsters around the rib cage down to try and make it a little more livable.

In reply to tremm :

I think he was too small.  I'm a fat ass so I'm packed in there like a sardine in a can.

I like them.  I have a friend who doesn't.  Sparcos style tube framed seats kill my legs to death.

In my stock car, I special ordered a ten degree layback seat, because a Neon has a ton of headroom, and being more upright lets my arms and legs reach the stuff they are supposed to.  I have a friend who has to stuff towels under his butt to reach the pedals.

There are few choices in life more personal than the fit of a race seat.  Find the seat you want to buy and sit in it.

Streetwiseguy said:

  Find the seat you want to buy and sit in it.

Easier said than done.  I live in the middle of farm country in the midwest.

Maybe they will be at SEMA?  I don't remember seeing them but I was never looking for them before.

Go look at Murray Motorsports. You can get an Evo for $591 and shipping is surprisingly cheap. If you wait for a holiday sale, you can usually get another 20% off the price as well. 

If you were closer, I'd offer to sell you the Evo that's sitting in my passenger seat now, since it's getting replaced with a halo seat soon.  And like you, I get annoyed that it's red and my driver's seat is black :)

check out Ultrashield in North East Texas. 

only aluminum seat I'd put myself in.. 

I have a pair of Ultrashileds in the TR6 project car. The car is so narrow, that most seats don't fit. Anyway, this was my first experience with aluminum seats.

One thing I like about them is how you can essentially have them custom-fit to your body. I'm 6'2" with long legs and and pushing 240 lbs. and it's hard to find an off-the-shelf seat that fits me perfectly.

I had a Kirkey circle track seat in my MR2.  I credit it with saving me from significant damage when I wrapped it around a F150 at a rather high rate of speed.

Patientzero said:

Streetwiseguy said:

  Find the seat you want to buy and sit in it.

 

Easier said than done.  I live in the middle of farm country in the midwest.

Maybe they will be at SEMA?  I don't remember seeing them but I was never looking for them before.

How far a drive is SafeRacer down in Joplin from you? Might call them and ask what they have in stock, make a day of going down and trying out different ones?

irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

Go look at Murray Motorsports. You can get an Evo for $591 and shipping is surprisingly cheap. If you wait for a holiday sale, you can usually get another 20% off the price as well. 

If you were closer, I'd offer to sell you the Evo that's sitting in my passenger seat now, since it's getting replaced with a halo seat soon.  And like you, I get annoyed that it's red and my driver's seat is black :)

Murray actually has a 10% off sale going on this weekend (for the UK "Bank Holiday" or something). FYI. 

Had them in the GT when I was doing track days. You order them by size. If your wife ever rides in the car, better not be too small or you will die.

Comfortable enough for me . Being that well anchored while driving was a revelation. As I did still drive the car on the road,getting in and out kinda sucked. The "upholstery" neither last, fits, nor stays in place.

I have modified Kirkey #63's in one of my cars. If I were to do it now I'd use the intermediate road race seats instead which weren't available then. I find them comfortable. I'd assume since they were designed for the NASCAR guys to sit in them for hours at a time they kept comfort in mind.

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In reply to Patientzero :

You are welcome to try out the 39 series kirkeys in my locost.  I am in Jefferson City MO

Claff said:

I have a model 47 intermediate road race seat in my NA and I can spend a lot of time in that without too much complaining. If I stuff a pad under my butt I can drive it all day.

I had some sort of drag or oval track Kirkey in my NC and that was pretty brutal to spend any time in, and that was after I trimmed some of the bolsters around the rib cage down to try and make it a little more livable.

I have the same seat in my NA, bolted straight to the floor. If I take my shoes off so that I can stretch my legs out behind the pedals on occasion, it's comfortable for multiple hours. However, I'm 6'3 and mostly legs, so my problem is really that I'm too big for a miata.  

Be sure to use a seat back brace on anything not FIA approved. And having the correct width makes a big difference - if I was any wider I wouldn't fit in my seat at all.

z31maniac said:

How far a drive is SafeRacer down in Joplin from you? Might call them and ask what they have in stock, make a day of going down and trying out different ones?

I had no idea SafeRacer was in Joplin.  Only about a hour from me.  I'll have to make a trip down there soon.

*Edit- There is no address listed on their website and google maps says Permanently Closed...

Patientzero said:

z31maniac said:

How far a drive is SafeRacer down in Joplin from you? Might call them and ask what they have in stock, make a day of going down and trying out different ones?

I had no idea SafeRacer was in Joplin.  Only about a hour from me.  I'll have to make a trip down there soon.

 

*Edit- There is no address listed on their website and google maps says Permanently Closed...

 

Their site is still up, I'd shoot them an email or give them a call. Google has had the wrong address for years and they haven't been able to get them to correct it. When I went years ago to buy a helmet, Google takes you down some country road outside of town that is a few miles from the actual location.

EDIT: Just checked Google maps, the location they are showing is nowhere near wear the building actually is. And the number Google has listed doesn't match the number on their site.

In reply to z31maniac :

Where are you?

I've got a Kirkey 65000 series seat in my car and I love it. Most comfortable seat I have ever had. It is one of the older ones without the adjustable backrest. The guy I help with the dirt track car has used Kirkey, Ultrashield, LaJoi's, and Butler's. He has a Kirkey in the new car we just finished. Really just depends on the driver and the seat, he loved the LaJoi, but it just wasn't comfortable for me. Somehow it just didn't "fit" right.