Seat upgrade alternatives to Ford Recaros?

matt5058

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I'm sure I'm not the only person who regrets not getting the Recaro seats when I bought my Mustang. Seeing as how they are crazy expensive to buy now, I'm wondering what other seats people have bought/installed and your experiences have been. I'd love to get some better seats for my 2014 but paying $2500+ for used Ford Recaros is a bit too much to stomach. I don't need a full-on racing seat but something more solid and comfortable than the stock seats would be nice.

I came across TMI and some of their seat options for the 11-14 look pretty nice but I haven't much in the way of reviews.

2013-14 Mustang - Browse By Vehicle - Ford

So basically, if you've switched seats and found a decent/affordable alternative to the Ford Recaros, please feel free to share photos and your experiences/thoughts. Thanks. :D
 

scotp71

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I swear I logged on here to make this post and found that you had the exact same train of thought that I did. So even though I didn't buy my car new, I'm still in the same boat at this point. I love the look of the Recaro's but it just seems like you can get an equally good (or maybe even better) seat for less money. Surely someone out there has done this already?
 

matt5058

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For some reason I didn't get any notice when these replies came in.

04yellowgt - I think those look intriguing and the price seems reasonable for a pair but I'd definitely like to at least sit in them and see if I fit in them well.

scotp71 - yeah, I haven't seen a lot of examples, even on instagram, where folks have racing/racing style seats that are different than the factory Recaros.

BTW, given your avatar, I figure maybe you'd appreciate my license plate frame. :cool: I got by DudeStang on some of the other forums.

IMG-6504.jpg
 

matt5058

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So I went to the American Muscle show in Maple Grove this weekend. Lots of awesome Mustangs but I saw this one that he these pretty badass looking seats. I thought that the logo said TMI in the middle, and indeed, there are some similar style seats on TMI's website here, though they are in the universal section rather than the Ford section so I don't know how well their brackets work. I wish I could have talked to the owner of this car but nobody was around when I was checking it out.
IMG-7608.JPG
IMG-7609.JPG
 

matt5058

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Those look nice but those bottom side bolsters are steep. Seems like it would be a PITA to get out of.
Yeah, I'd definitely have to try them out in person before purchasing anything like that.

I reached out to TMI and confirmed they are the TMI Pro-Razor Sport X Highback Sport Seats 47-9933RL-6525-RS-SGR

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tip-2110

$480.99 a piece - not bad compared to some others.
 

Schmity

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Not sure if this thread is still going but I went with the pro viper junior series seats in my 2013 and was pretty happy with the result. The only complaint I have is that they are pretty tight for people with broader shoulders. Also I had to modify the seat brackets some by welding some flat iron to allow the mounting holes to align properly...

Here are some pics:

Schmity
 

scotp71

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Well, I'm back to this search again. I replaced the power seat motor on the driver's side back in June of '18 and the POS, cheap plastic gears in the horribly design piece of junk just broke last night. Over $600 and it only lasts a little over a year. And of course it only comes with a one year warranty.

Long story short, I'm done with these power seats. I'm going manual and not looking back. I just have to find a decent set that still reclines and isn't a huge pain in the butt to get in and out of.
 

scotp71

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I finally bit the bullet and got some Corbeau LG1's. Overall, I like them although I'm kinda kicking myself for not getting the wide version. I'm a good sized dude and these feel a little snug. I'm still wrangling with the passenger side airbag light, but other than that the install was not bad. It's definitely nice to be able to move my seat forward and back again.

49196842602_f26c0cb410_c.jpg
IMG_1482
 

Stangra

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I finally bit the bullet and got some Corbeau LG1's. Overall, I like them although I'm kinda kicking myself for not getting the wide version. I'm a good sized dude and these feel a little snug. I'm still wrangling with the passenger side airbag light, but other than that the install was not bad. It's definitely nice to be able to move my seat forward and back again.

View attachment 1613499IMG_1482
Do they retain the airbag functionality?
 

scotp71

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Do they retain the airbag functionality?

They aren’t. But that’s not the problem. I used resistors to bypass the seat airbags. The problem I’m having is coming from the bladder system for the passenger dash airbag. I transferred the bladder over and hooked it back into the wiring harness but I’m still getting the “passenger airbag off” light whether the seat is empty or if someone big is sitting there.


Sent from my iPhone using the svtperformance.com mobile app
 

13COBRA

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Go big or go home. I love my Tillet seats.

upload_2019-12-10_8-49-2.png
 

fuelforfire87

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I'm sure I'm not the only person who regrets not getting the Recaro seats when I bought my Mustang. Seeing as how they are crazy expensive to buy now, I'm wondering what other seats people have bought/installed and your experiences have been. I'd love to get some better seats for my 2014 but paying $2500+ for used Ford Recaros is a bit too much to stomach. I don't need a full-on racing seat but something more solid and comfortable than the stock seats would be nice.

I came across TMI and some of their seat options for the 11-14 look pretty nice but I haven't much in the way of reviews.

2013-14 Mustang - Browse By Vehicle - Ford

So basically, if you've switched seats and found a decent/affordable alternative to the Ford Recaros, please feel free to share photos and your experiences/thoughts. Thanks. :D

I ended up going with the TMI reupholstry kit on my 14 that had base cloth seats. It reuses your stock seat frames so you still retain all of your side airbags and don't have to deal with any annoying airbag lights on the dash that you would get if you swap to a full blown racing seat.

Sport R Highback Seat Upholstery - 2013-14 Mustang

Has basically the same look as the recaros but the only downside is it doesn't have the holes in the seat for a 4 point harness like the recaros, in case that's a deal breaker.

They are pretty comfortable and the material is definitely good quality. The only negative thing I've noticed about the seats is the lumbar support isn't as good as the stock seats so on long drives your back may start to bother you a bit. That seems to be how racing style seats are in general though.
 

13COBRA

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OP says he has time stomaching $2.5k for some Ricardos and you hit him with those?

lolololol.

Stop.

OP said he had a hard time stomaching $2,500...doesn't mean he wouldn't spend that. I have a hard time stomaching the $11k bid I just got for redoing my master shower, but guess what... I'll probably end up doing that haha

Say he spends $800/seat, assuming he does two. Well $800 a seat is $1800 after taxes and shipping. Then you have to buy brackets, $400. Then you have to either add airbags ($$$$), or deal with a light.

$800 seats easily turn into a $2,500-3,000 set quickly.

I wasn't telling him to spend $5k+ on Tillets, I was telling him to buy the nicer ones now and that he wouldn't regret it.

So, stop.
 

matt5058

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I ended up going with the TMI reupholstry kit on my 14 that had base cloth seats. It reuses your stock seat frames so you still retain all of your side airbags and don't have to deal with any annoying airbag lights on the dash that you would get if you swap to a full blown racing seat.

Sport R Highback Seat Upholstery - 2013-14 Mustang

Has basically the same look as the recaros but the only downside is it doesn't have the holes in the seat for a 4 point harness like the recaros, in case that's a deal breaker.

They are pretty comfortable and the material is definitely good quality. The only negative thing I've noticed about the seats is the lumbar support isn't as good as the stock seats so on long drives your back may start to bother you a bit. That seems to be how racing style seats are in general though.
I have been interested in these kits but I'm not sure how I feel about spending that money, and then having to do the work on the seats myself, lol. Thanks for the note about the lumbar support...I actually use a lumbar support pillow on long trips because the stock seat lumbar support is so bad.

Do you have any pics of the seats in your car? How was the process of switching out the upholstery?
 

ZYBORG

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OP said he had a hard time stomaching $2,500...doesn't mean he wouldn't spend that. I have a hard time stomaching the $11k bid I just got for redoing my master shower, but guess what... I'll probably end up doing that haha

Say he spends $800/seat, assuming he does two. Well $800 a seat is $1800 after taxes and shipping. Then you have to buy brackets, $400. Then you have to either add airbags ($$$$), or deal with a light.

$800 seats easily turn into a $2,500-3,000 set quickly.

I wasn't telling him to spend $5k+ on Tillets, I was telling him to buy the nicer ones now and that he wouldn't regret it.

So, stop.

you know you just wanted to show off them seats. Lol
 

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