Procar seats any good for a daily driver?

My daily driven Buick has a pretty worn out driver's seat. The last time I went looking for a junkyard W-body seat, everything I turned up was in even worse shape than what I have. So I was thinking of an aftermarket seat. The Procar by Scat line is quite affordable - are the seats any good, or are they something I'd start to hate after my first commute?

Specifically, I'm considering a Sportsman Series 1606:

Or a Pro-Sport Series 1790:

Both would look absurdly out of place in my Buick, although that's part of the appeal.

FYI Jegs has a Procar 1790 replica for a little less:

https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/702110/10002/-1

No experience on either.

The only reason I’ve not yet bought one(or possibly a pair) of 1790’s for the Miata is if I make ingress/egress any more difficult I’ll probably drive even less than I do now. 

MadScientistMatt said:

Both would look absurdly out of place in my Buick, although that's part of the appeal.

Yes!!

Pete Gossett said:

The only reason I’ve not yet bought one(or possibly a pair) of 1790’s for the Miata is if I make ingress/egress any more difficult I’ll probably drive even less than I do now. 

Good call - maybe I should make up a fake side plate and see how much harder it makes getting into my car...

MINIzguy said:

FYI Jegs has a Procar 1790 replica for a little less:

https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/702110/10002/-1

 

No experience on either.

Thanks for calling that out - I suspect from the part number that it's being made by Procar and sold as a "white label" part.

I have Procar evolutions in my truck, but it only sees a couple thousand miles/year these days.   I'm happy with them though. The sliders definitely aren't as nice as the factory ones, but I don't often have to use them in a regular cab truck.

If you're thinking of getting their seat brackets (do they offer some for a W body?) get the dimensions first. Their custom brackets for my truck would've raised the seat bottom a couple of inches higher than factory.

My experience is that fixed-back seats with high side bolsters make it difficult to get in and out of a car. Cars with long doors make the problem even worse.

If someone parks within a door length of my Camaro I'm basically boned.

Seats are like shoes, you have to try it on to know if you want to sit in it for more than 2 minutes. Find a shop that has one on the floor that you can sit in. This is about more than ingress/egress.

TurnerX19 said:

Seats are like shoes, you have to try it on to know if you want to sit in it for more than 2 minutes. Find a shop that has one on the floor that you can sit in. This is about more than ingress/egress.

Good point. I may need to see if the Summit warehouse in McDonnough has a few on display I can test sit. Glad to hear from others that they're not an unmitigated disaster in the quality department.

There's no adapters available for my car - I was planning to find some way to get them attached to the stock power seat sliders. These are relatively flat on top, and it shouldn't be that hard.

Got the seat installed on the stock seat rails with some angle iron. I need to find a better way to mount the switches and cover up the seat track on the left, but everything is functional. It looks less out of place than I expected.

Will have an install video posted when I get the chance. I'll put that up in the builds and project cars forum.

Looks good and at a glance not out of place. Let us know how they feel in daily duty. 

Looks like it came with the car!

rattfink81 said:

Looks good and at a glance not out of place. Let us know how they feel in daily duty. 

This. If they aren't awful I might look into a pair for my SN95 daily.

Partially because of this thread, im considering a set of the rallys in beige canvas for my e46 touring dd. At closer to $400 a pop each, its still a big pill..

Any safety concerns on the Procars for a DD? I’ve thought about putting a pair in my E82 to get rid of the leatherette seats that i keep sticking to. 

In reply to skylarhagler :

Procar/ Scat has been around since at least the 1980s.  They're not an FIA seat, but if you're replacing non-airbag seats I wouldn't be too concerned.

Now that I've got a couple commutes on it, here's my comments on comfort and some other questions.

1. It squeaks a little bit. Not sure if this is a break-in thing that will get better over time.

2. I'm a big guy, about 6'2" barefoot, and ~220 lbs. The lower bolsters are set about an inch too close together for my liking, but this seems to be something I'm getting used to, or there's a little breaking in for the bolsters. Needless to say, this also means a lot better side support.

3. The padding is a good bit stiffer than the La-Z-Boy like upholstery on the stock Buick seat, but I kind of prefer it that way.

4. The cloth makes the car feel a lot less hot than the stock Buick's leather, which is a definite plus in Georgia.

5. They don't bother my back after riding for about an hour. That's more than I can say for the stock seats in my wife's Accord, which start getting uncomfortable for my back at around that point.

6. As for safety, it has a steel frame and is about the same weight as a stock seat. It's not a FIA racing seat (it's also a reclining back design), but is likely not to be any worse than stock parts, and is probably safer than the cheap fiberglass or plastic drag race buckets.

I have some Pro Car Rally seats in my Maverick. They are comfortable and look good. My only problem were they were in red and the material faded to a pink/white. Pro Car customer service said they would sell me new covers at their cost but I opted to have a local upholster cover them in a ultra leather material in black.

Matt, how does the velour feel? I got small samples of the fabric in the mail from procar yesterday in the beige canvas and velour. I like the canvas a lot, but the velour is a better color match. Im worried about how the velour will wear, especially in a DD that will see some baby transport starting in august.

Pirate, those look fantastic! You're not anywhere near DC, are you? Or does anyone know of a dealer nearbyish to test sitting in some?

In reply to bluej :

Alabama Gulf Coast

wait, im in Alabama, where on our coast?

Daphne, Al

bluej said:

Matt, how does the velour feel?

Pretty decent, although no idea how it will hold up. It "breathes" pretty well for circulating air on hot days.

In reply to pirate :

i have a friend and coworker that lives there, im in Montgomery.  If you see a Triumph Thruxton in dark green thats him.  I plan to visit him soon in my Miata for some beers and seafood.

Seat installation video is up now.