[fullerton]

I have had this idea in my head for a year now, but I finally got around to doing it. Everyone knows that the stock spring/struct combo on the STi causes some bobblehead on certain pavement conditions. Lots of us upgrade our springs to help lessen this bobblehead effect. I did, with a set of prodrive springs.

Problem is, springs, and even coilovers don't fix it 100%. That's because some fo the bobblehead is caused by the soft springs in our stock seats. I have seen many people get new seats to get rid of this effect. I didn't want new seats and still wanted to get rid of this problem.

PROBLEM: Soft seat springs.
CURE: Get rid of the springs.

HOW-TO: Short of removing the springs and replacing them with a block of wood or something, how can we stiffen them?

Well, take a look under your seat and you'll see two 1/2" thick bars going perpendicular to the direction of the vehicle. One is in the front of the seat, one is in the back. Take your hand, with your head still looking under the seat and push down on where your butt goes. Notice how easy it is to compress the seat cushion and move the springs? Let's fix that.

MATERIALS: I was originally going to just use some rope sitting around to do so, but I didn't know how to get it nice and tight. Boondocksaint gave me the idea to use a cable tie. I did some googling and came up with these 250lb, 40" ties:

Originally Posted by www.buycableties.com

Product Name: 40 Inch 250lb Cable Ties
Part Number: Y402500L
Color: Black
Unit: 50 Bag
Description: 40" 250LB Cable Ties 50 Bag
Price: $25.00
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $25.00

So I gave them an order and waited.

PROCEDURE: I received them today and went to it. I wrapped the ties around the two bars. As you can see below, I used 4 ties total, giving a good amount of support. All I did was feed the male end above the bars, with the smooth side pointing up. Mated it up to the female end, which obviously had the smooth side facing down. Once mated I tightened them as much as I could with my hands. That felt nice, but it could get better. Still a bit of sag in the seats.

I broke out my vicegrips and was able to get about 10 clicks tighter out of each tie. Now, instead of a bass guitar note (sorry, I'm no musician), I get a much higher note that a guitar would make when I pluck them. They are plenty tight.

RESULT: Sitting in the seats now feels completely different. No longer do you sit IN the seat, you now sit ON it, like a real race seat. Instead of sinking into the seat (and bouncing), you now stay put.

Here are some images of the job. Yes, I need to vacuum.





I'll give you my review when I get back out on the road.

Originally Posted by fullerton

Just got back from a drive.

You definitely sit higher in the seat. I guess that is a trade off.

DEFINITELY LESS bobblehead.

I'll let you know more as I drive more.

[520]

nice ben!

[BluSTi]

Nice work. Sticky?

[boondocksaint]

Woot. I await your long-term road test.

So you strung the ties around the bars? Do the springs actually do any of the supporting now? Difficult to tell with the pictures. Did you use four just on the driver's seat or did you do both seats at two each? Need better pic.

Also, I see you did these with the seat in the car. A big plus for lazy PostWhores like me. Good job!

[fullerton]

Yes, I know the picts suck. They are wrapped in an oval round the front and rear bars.

I didn't want to take the seats out, so I did "more" work with them in, but less work since I didn't remove them.

The springs still will flex a bit, but I bet the seat only sags 1/2" now. I couldn't sit on the seat and see the real flexing going on at the same time, but sitting in the seat tells me I sagged down quite a bit.

[fullerton]

Originally Posted by BluSTi

Nice work. Sticky?

Pending my road test, I would say so.

[fullerton]

BTW- Since I bought 50 ties, and only need 4 per seat, I will sell people 10 each for $12 shipped. I don't need them that bad, and this will save some people a few bucks. First 4 get them.

[stretch]

Wow, that's some really good outside-the-box thinking. I may try this.

[Inertia]

Anyone think of someplace I could just buy some of those?? I think those are the biggest zip ties I have ever seen...
I will report back if I find a retail source.

[JZeezSTi]

soo... any more review on this? overall results?

[DoctorSTi]

looks good. It's a great idea.

I havn't looked yet but what do the springs attach to on either side? Is it also a bar. I would think that maybe adding short, very strong, bungee cords may also be an interesting solution. "ghetto" but interesting and possibly effective.

I wonder if adding the stiffening braces parallel to the existing springs with yeild different results from your perpendicular arrangement.

[austinpike]

I kind of thought part of the seat's problem, was that you already sit "on" it, and not "in" it.

Regardless, I will give this a shot. PM'd you.

[fullerton]

PM'd you back.



Just got back from a drive.

You definitely sit higher in the seat. I guess that is a trade off.

DEFINITELY LESS bobblehead.

I'll let you know more as I drive more.

[fullerton]

Maybe the next person who tries this could go a bit looser first and see what that feels like. If they want to tighten them, they always can.

I am a slight bit dismayed that you lose some of the side bolstering in the seat, but it is not like there was a lot to begin with. I need to strap myself in with the CG lock and see how it feels in the corners still.

[Matt-]

Originally Posted by fullerton

Maybe the next person who tries this could go a bit looser first and see what that feels like. If they want to tighten them, they always can.

I'm on my way out the door to try this out. Going to run some AutoX tomorrow as well. I'll let you know how it feels.

Originally Posted by Inertia

Anyone think of someplace I could just buy some of those?? I think those are the biggest zip ties I have ever seen...
I will report back if I find a retail source.

I'm going to use some slightly lighterweight ties (175 lb), because I have a bunch lying around. The only difference will be how much tension you can put on them, but that's more an issue with the clasp than the strip itself. I believe I picked them up at a Fastenal, but they're pretty generic.