How much headroom with a helmet? - Page 2 - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

X25 · 06-19-2015, 10:16 PM

Could one of you guys move the seat back as much as possible and then measure the available room from the rearmost bottom to the roof?

I do have a 1LE. With regular seat, I had 37.5" clearance. With the manual Recaro seat (with no logo), it reduced to 36". With the full power Recaro (with SS logo; I suppose the one that comes when you order the car with it) had 37" room.

I wonder if you guys have 36" or 37". If you guys have 36" or so, selling your seat and buying the full powered version might help. FYI, full powered version didn't feel much heavier than the manual version.

JTRATX · 06-20-2015, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z28-TX

My car is at the shop over at Winding Road on Burnet having a race tech seat installed. they will have the car at least through next week. Stop by and since my seat is out maybe they can throw a couple of the seats they have in stock into the car for demo. I'm 6'6" and test fit with the Racetech was superb.

If I can make it over there this week I will, thanks for the offer.

Otherwise maybe we can meet up at another time and I can sit in your car.

X25 · 06-20-2015, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by X25

Could one of you guys move the seat back as much as possible and then measure the available room from the rearmost bottom to the roof?

I do have a 1LE. With regular seat, I had 37.5" clearance. With the manual Recaro seat (with no logo), it reduced to 36". With the full power Recaro (with SS logo; I suppose the one that comes when you order the car with it) had 37" room.

I wonder if you guys have 36" or 37". If you guys have 36" or so, selling your seat and buying the full powered version might help. FYI, full powered version didn't feel much heavier than the manual version.

Anyone? It's very easy to measure. If it turns out to be 36", we might have a solution for tall Z/28 owners besides the racr seats, which also retains the OEM look and all the airbags.

razorz28 · 06-20-2015, 07:46 PM

5'10" with a long torso, my head is sideways with my helmet on, only reason I just sold it yesterday to get a Z06. I fit in my ZL1 much better with no Recaro's.

X25 · 06-20-2015, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by razorz28

5'10" with a long torso, my head is sideways with my helmet on, only reason I just sold it yesterday to get a Z06. I fit in my ZL1 much better with no Recaro's.

Ok this supports my point. I am also 5'10", and I was easily rubbing the roof with the helmet on. However, with the powered Recaro version, I regained 1" of the almost 1.5" lost, and it is acceptable now.

johnr265 · 06-21-2015, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTRATX

Super bummed. Went to dealer yesterday with helmet and sat in the Z, my helmet hits the headliner and A pillar. I have about 1" of headroom without the helmet. Not too happy.

Next thought is to just buy a race seat ans swap out on track days, but that's a pain.

Why would you have to swap it out for the street? I like the idea of the Ergo seat because it has removable halo extensions. Safer to use halo on the track (dangerous and likely illegal on the street). Removable halo = great solution. I haven't taken the plunge because I am reluctant to lose my backseat right now (for harness bar) and I am only planning a few track days a year. Unfortunately, I realize this is poor logic because it only takes one thing to go wrong on one day to wish you had better safety equip (and I run in the instructor run groups so cars are hauling). Let us know what you decide.

X25 · 06-21-2015, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnr265

Why would you have to swap it out for the street? I like the idea of the Ergo seat because it has removable halo extensions. Safer to use halo on the track (dangerous and likely illegal on the street). Removable halo = great solution. I haven't taken the plunge because I am reluctant to lose my backseat right now (for harness bar) and I am only planning a few track days a year. Unfortunately, I realize this is poor logic because it only takes one thing to go wrong on one day to wish you had better safety equip (and I run in the instructor run groups so cars are hauling). Let us know what you decide.

You can skip harness bar and use Schroth Rallye 3 ASM with any seat you'd like. I currently have one, attached to 3 seat belt anchor locations (C pillar, bottom of B, and seat belt receiver on the seat).

Z28LS7 · 08-06-2015, 07:43 PM

I'm 6'3" and went with an aftermarket seat, not enough room for a helmet in a proper driving position otherwise.

ansibe · 11-29-2015, 11:31 AM

I'm 5'11", and don't fit with a helmet. Not even close really. Has anyone tried removing the slider, and remounting the seat in a fixed position?

POINTBY · 06-18-2017, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ansibe

I'm 5'11", and don't fit with a helmet. Not even close really. Has anyone tried removing the slider, and remounting the seat in a fixed position?

I'd like to know this as well.

Also, has anyone removed the seat and had the bottom padding thinned?

I'm falling in love with my new Z, but the headroom sucks. And I know it will be an issue on track in the proper seating position. Chevy almost built the perfect car too....

Supercup · 06-18-2017, 09:38 PM

Last month we had both seats out when installing the Brey Krause harness bar. One of my goals was to lower the seat 1" to 2" from lowest position (with handle on side fully cranked down).

The seat base system has a hinge in the front and that is how the seat is raised and lowered on with the handle on the side. We found no way to lower the with drilling new holes or looking for alternate attachment points. It looked like the only way to do it would be to either cut out the hinge and modify the exiting bracket bolt up points or to fabricate a new bracket, that would no longer allow the "up/down" feature to work (removing the hinge should get you 1" at least). But any of these solutions means cutting up the bracket and given up use of one of the seats functions - plus no guarantee of safety on your new design without some real engineering.

After looking everything over I decided to leave it "as is" for now because to fabricate a one off bracket would cost more than to simply by a real track seat and put in a planter base plate or slider system. This will get you 1"-2" lower retaining a slider and 2" + with a fixed position for the seat.

For real track duty, I think you need to replace the seat, fix it in place for you and call it a day. That will hold you in the best and give you the head room you need.

Don't forget as you get headroom and get "lowered" in the cockpit, it will make it incrementally harder to see over the hood and the splitter in the rear. So something gained and something given up, as is usually the case.

POINTBY · 06-18-2017, 09:43 PM

Thanks for the info. I would like to keep the stock seat due to the airbag and it being designed for the car in crash testing (for street driving). I agree that a race seat is best for the track, but I plan to enjoy the Z more on the street with occasional (2-3 times per year) track sessions. And I don't feel comfortable driving the car around in a race seat with 6 point harnesses on the street.

With that said, maybe I'll swap in a harness bar and seats for those few occasions. But what a PITA that would be.

06-19-2015, 10:16 PM	#15
X25 Drives: '16 C7 Z51 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Redmond, WA Posts: 3,056	Could one of you guys move the seat back as much as possible and then measure the available room from the rearmost bottom to the roof? I do have a 1LE. With regular seat, I had 37.5" clearance. With the manual Recaro seat (with no logo), it reduced to 36". With the full power Recaro (with SS logo; I suppose the one that comes when you order the car with it) had 37" room. I wonder if you guys have 36" or 37". If you guys have 36" or so, selling your seat and buying the full powered version might help. FYI, full powered version didn't feel much heavier than the manual version. __________________ '16 Corvette C7 Z51 1LT (Build Thread) '14 AGM 1SS 1LE [COTW 11/17/14] (Build Thread) (SOLD) '13 Mazda MX-5 Club (Build Thread) '17 RAM 1500 Crew Cab 4x4 Night Edition '15 Nissan Rogue S AWD

06-20-2015, 07:46 PM	#18
razorz28 Drives: 2017 Jeep Rubicon, 2016 Z06 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Abbotsford B.C. Canada Posts: 547	5'10" with a long torso, my head is sideways with my helmet on, only reason I just sold it yesterday to get a Z06. I fit in my ZL1 much better with no Recaro's. __________________ 2014 Z/28 Black VIN #176

08-06-2015, 07:43 PM	#22
Z28LS7 Driver's Club AZ Drives: '14 HPE Z/28, '16 2SS convertible Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: AZ Posts: 42	I'm 6'3" and went with an aftermarket seat, not enough room for a helmet in a proper driving position otherwise.

11-29-2015, 11:31 AM	#23
ansibe Drives: 2015 z28 Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Toronto Posts: 7	I'm 5'11", and don't fit with a helmet. Not even close really. Has anyone tried removing the slider, and remounting the seat in a fixed position?

06-18-2017, 09:38 PM	#25
Supercup Life Is Short Enjoy It! Drives: Original Owner 15 Z/28 #934 Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: S. Cal Posts: 891	Last month we had both seats out when installing the Brey Krause harness bar. One of my goals was to lower the seat 1" to 2" from lowest position (with handle on side fully cranked down). The seat base system has a hinge in the front and that is how the seat is raised and lowered on with the handle on the side. We found no way to lower the with drilling new holes or looking for alternate attachment points. It looked like the only way to do it would be to either cut out the hinge and modify the exiting bracket bolt up points or to fabricate a new bracket, that would no longer allow the "up/down" feature to work (removing the hinge should get you 1" at least). But any of these solutions means cutting up the bracket and given up use of one of the seats functions - plus no guarantee of safety on your new design without some real engineering. After looking everything over I decided to leave it "as is" for now because to fabricate a one off bracket would cost more than to simply by a real track seat and put in a planter base plate or slider system. This will get you 1"-2" lower retaining a slider and 2" + with a fixed position for the seat. For real track duty, I think you need to replace the seat, fix it in place for you and call it a day. That will hold you in the best and give you the head room you need. Don't forget as you get headroom and get "lowered" in the cockpit, it will make it incrementally harder to see over the hood and the splitter in the rear. So something gained and something given up, as is usually the case.

06-18-2017, 09:43 PM	#26
POINTBY Drives: 2020 ZL1 1LE Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Marietta, GA Posts: 219	Thanks for the info. I would like to keep the stock seat due to the airbag and it being designed for the car in crash testing (for street driving). I agree that a race seat is best for the track, but I plan to enjoy the Z more on the street with occasional (2-3 times per year) track sessions. And I don't feel comfortable driving the car around in a race seat with 6 point harnesses on the street. With that said, maybe I'll swap in a harness bar and seats for those few occasions. But what a PITA that would be.