Does anyone know anything about Corbeau seats?

I want new seats and I was thinking Recaro. i had always discounted Corbeau because they were cheap.

However I just picked up European car and they did a seat comparo.

Not only was the Corbeau A4 lighter than the other comparable seats (25lbs) but it got better ratings (support, Holding) than the much more expensive Recaros.

What do you think guys? Only $295 @ Hopupracing (per seat) and around $500 for leather A4s.

Anybody have any experience with Corbeau?

 

If youre not brand name conscious these seats will do their jobs. Try sparcos as well. The only reason why most of the people here prefer Bride or Recaro is because of their exclusive price and racing heritage. But cummon now when will you be drifting your car in a race track? These Corbeau's are great seats.

 

Bump!

Come on anyone else?? Opinions people, please!

 

If it helps, I think it looks nice! What's the total cost including shipping and brackets?

 

my brother runs Corbeau in one of his cars (FC RX7) - non reclining ones, but VERY light, and pretty supportive.

Biggest issue is the brackets they use (Wedge), leave alot to be desired.....

We are a dealer though if you guys are interested

 

They look nice, but you get what you pay for.

 

Exactly. We are a master warehouse distributor for Sparco for a reason. Their seats are put through some VERY rigorous tests and get all the safety approval ratings they can get their hands on. They do these tests both in and out of the car. Very few comanies will test these in the car. Most will do the testing out of the car. I don't know exactly what process each seat manufacturer follows, but I do know what Sparco does. Nearly all of their seats are FIA certified. I would much rather pay a little more for a seat that has been put through these tests as opposed to one a little bit cheaper that has no guarantees on it.

 

Just a little more info on the FIA certification process.

FIA stands for the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile.

FIA is the most important sactioning body in the world, and the FIA stamp of approval is recognized by most, if not all sanctioning bodies in the United States. The test that the seats are put through is FIA 8855-1999. In this test a dummy is strapped to a seat with harnesses and put through three different tests.

1. A rearward impact with a deceleration of 20-plus G's lasting 50 milliseconds;

2. A side impact with a deceleration of 15-plus G's lasting 50 miliseconds;

3. Rearward impact with a deceleration of 10-plus G's with a duration of 50 miliseconds to simulate a multiple impact.

The FIA then inspects the seats for damage or cracks and based on their findings, they determine if the seat with pass or not.

Just so you know, the Corbeau A4 either was not tested or did not pass that test.

 

We are big Sparco fans as well, but jsut to clear something up

all of Corbeu's competition level seats are FIA approved as well...their street seats are not.

Not sure which of Sparco's street seats are or are not FIA approved.

Experience has taught me the Corbeau last every bit as long as the Sparco's do as well, though both do not tend to last as long (in cloth form) in comparison to Recaro and Bride.

 

I'm ordering gradiant bride zeta III's so excited =]. The corbeau seats are nice, provide great support and are made out of good material, the name just isn't as popular. They are most likely constructed similarly to the more popular brands with perhaps less rigorous testing, it's your decision, great alternative for those wishing to have racing seats while keeping a low budget.

 

thank you trent! the reason i bought my recaros was for the same reason listed above. SAFETY!!!! FIA approved is VERY important. the "im cool because i have recaros" isnt true for everyone! (not that you were saying that bbbt) then again, the sponcer thing helped too but if a company offered me a FREE set of non FIA approved seats to put in my Z, i would decline! i have in fact heard stories of non FIA seats comming apart in a crash! who knows if they were true??? but i would just spend the extra $$$ to know they have been tested. and if not, you can get a non tested racing seat at pep boys much cheaper. (no j/k intended.)

 

as I said, many of the Corbeaus are FIA Approved as well

J Pizzle -we may have the Bride's in stock if you need em

 

I'm getting Zeta III with gradiant centers and brackets from bobowah

 

I bought these exact Corbeau seats for my last car. The model is called "Carrera." They ran me $400 each plus $79 for each bracket. They were defnitely lighter than stock and everyone loved how they gripped your sides, and also reclined. IN a couple months I began to see why they cost a lot less them Momo and Recaro though....

These seats turned out to be defintely cheap in quality. The cloth weared almost immediately, the lining of the seat was pulled as tight as possible and it was still not staying fastened on the velcro, causing the white padding to show on some spots. I spoke to a couple other people at a Hot Import Nights car show who had the same ones in (Black Carrera's) as I did, and they said that their seats faded in color very easily becasue of exposure to sunlight. One kid had to respray them with a fabric dye. IMO, I would say spend the extra money and go with Recaro.

 

Thanks for the info.

These are not called Carreras though. They are called A4s!! i understand what you have to say though

However I called up Corbeau and found out that this seat is available in leather for around 500 bux!
Thats about half of what it costs to get my current seats upholstered. I might just try em out!

 

Just went to their website. The A4 is 320 bucks per seat and the C1 (Which is what I had) is $399 per seat. So, If anything the seats I had were the most expensive ones they sold granted I didn't get leather. Just make sure you ask them about the warranty and what happens if excesssive wear starts to occur, etc. I went with Corbeau for the same reason you are......they are half the proce of other racing seat manufacturers. I just remeber sitting in the EVO 8's seats when I test drove and felling how nice of quality the Recaro seats were. Well, good luck.

 

So, what seats did you go with? j/c

 

Nothing yet! Too many other priorities!
I think the Z seats are nice enough that I can wait awhile. Gotta put on the body kit first then FI....

 

a friend of mine says "if it doesn't say corbeau you paid too much" ...

personally, name brands matter to me just as much as performance, that's why i would never even consider buying corbeau seats ... i guess that's why i can justify spending $400 per harness for takatas.

i went with recaro pole positions and couldn't be happier with thier appearance, quality and performance. the price isn't bad either