Hello all,

I have had a look about on here at threads discussing replacement seats. I had a few questions that I hope the superminds of briskoda could answer:

1. Is there is a size limit; will most 3rd party seats fit?

2. I know I need a fitting kit but do you need to order it to match the car or are they generic?

3. How easy is it to remove the seatbelt.... plugs (is that the right word?) on the seats?

4. Is it a tricky job?

Has anyone got any tips? I’m looking to do this as my driver’s seat has lost some of the padding around the right thigh support and I find the seat just doesn’t hold you in place anymore.

I was looking at these as replacements:

http://www.recaro.com/en/product-areas/aftermarket-seats/products/recaro-speed-cross-speed.html

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Jamie

Jamie, doing seats that way will cost a fortune, but with the right brackets from recaro their seats will fit no problem, as for fitting recaros from another oe car, that should also work assumung they are not too big to start with and that you have the right adapters.

Do what i did, get an s3 interior which is recaro and are electric movement and heated with elec bolster support, they are the best seats i have tried in the VAG range. They will also fit, without any isssue/modification and seat belt clips come already mated to the seat and will fit your belts no issue.

Changing the interior for another VAG product is easy, the vrs doesnt really have many elec connectors, only a seatbelt warning so to take out seats minimal effort is required. Good thing is rear seats are a straight swap too so will match your fronts. Get the loom if you can when you buy, then wire in your seats to have elec function (required on these to use tilt etc)

These seats can be got for around £500

Edited 8 March, 201115 yr by Oet

Just replace the seat foam.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/169597-seat-foam-base-replacement/page__st__40__p__2307258__fromsearch__1#entry2307258

but the standard seats are cak, changing the base is a start i guess, but its a pain, and not particularly cheap for what it is (£65ish) to repair what is still a substandard seat imo

they dont even come close to a proper recaro seat for support or comfort

I hate to disagree with OET as he knows his stuff, however spending £500 on seats for a VRS seems insane when it's so easy & cheap to replace the foam. Can't say I ever thought of the VRS seats as cak & lacking support other than when the base has crumbled. Yes the Audi Recaro's are particularly nice, I had them in an S3 a few years ago, but unless you drive on the limit, I don't see the benefit to a VRS. Certainly won't add £500 to the value of the car.

Edited 8 March, 201115 yr by pauldazzle

Certainly won't add £500 to the value of the car.

But will still be worth around that figure if you strip them out when you come to sell the car

I personally quite like the VRS seats but some people might get a bad back from them and want to change due to that?

Dont get me wrong, for a cheap fix ie if you are happy with the support and comfort the vrs seat offers then the changing the base is def the way forward, it was literally one of the first things i did on my car, and certainly improved the feel/comfort.

I did however kind of assumed the OP would have considered this and by the fact that he was talking specifically about recaro meant he wanted more support than the vrs seat could offer.

I have sat in worse seats, they vrs seats reminds me of my mk2 golf seats, not a huge difference tbh, however for all round comfort and support the s3 seat is at the other end of the spectrum, its much nicer...dare i say it...than even the r32 konings, whilst still allowing you to retain useability and comfort.

I have used my s3s on trips to Italy and have done it in the old seats too, in the old seats, it got very uncomfortable after a few hours, with the s3s thats not the case, bolster support is also much better as you can see from my pic, and the lumbar support is also better again. There is also the leg squab adjustment available too for long journeys which helps.

As Mike said, you can always sell these on pretty much for what you paid if you look after them so you won't lose out, guess it depends what you want in your car. Seats are usually the first thing i fix/change in my cars...and as Paul said (thanks for comment ) spending £500 on seats if you are happy with your own is madness!

So is spending any money on these cars come to think of it....

Edited 8 March, 201115 yr by Oet

So is spending any money on these cars come to think of it....

Too right

I think the o.e seats are very comfortable and do the job nicely and look very good with the vRS logo on them however they do lack latteral support. The best seats I have had in a car for the sportier side of driving were in my Integra Type R. Very comfortable and keep you planted. Bare in mind electric seats are quite heavy, depends what your after but these do the job very nicely

Edited 8 March, 201115 yr by OllieH

to be honest I'm not the bigest of people and I find that they lack support on the sides and I end up sliding towards the middle of the car!

I like the S3 Seat option, how hard was it to fit the loom?

not hard at all, block connector on original loom fits into seat, then wired into perm live under steering column, tucked into central column so you cant see wire.

The vrs seats sadly do lack any proper support, try doing a 14hr drive to Italy....not fun! The S3 the seats arent too heavy, rears are lighter than the original vrs rears, to help offset overall weight, one of the best mods i did to my car in terms of overall effect/change inside the car.

Edited 9 March, 201115 yr by Oet

did they make any S3 seats which are NOT heated and NOT electric? i was kust thinking that this might be the simplest install of all. i have checked ebay and all the seats are either heated, electric or both.

any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

i think they all came heated (wired in even if not used in the car) and with elec motors, easy to fit in, just wire to decent power supply and earth.

An alternative would be leather Recaros from a mkiv Golf.

How much hassle would it be to fit the recaros out of a corsa vxr they are half leather so you will not slide around so much.

You can fit seats from...

- Seat Toledo

- Seat Leon (Cupra R could be interesting)

- Golf Mk IV (R32, V6 4Motion, V5, GTi... they all had some sort of interesting seats)

- Bora

- Audi A3

Not sure about Audi A4/VW Passat, etc. Someone will probably be along shortly to tell you though.