Put a Real Car Seat on your Simracing Cockpit! How, Why, and Why Not!?

Car seats are fantastic. A lot of people work really hard at making them comfortable and long lasting - so in many ways they're perfect for use every day in your simracing cockpit, but it's not necessarily simple or easy to put one on your own simrig.
In this video I go through my process for fitting car seats to my rig and discuss some of the challenges I encountered in my own project - Hopefully this is useful for your upcoming cockpit plans!
0:00 Introduction
0:40 Choosing a car seat
1:16 Cleaning the seats before installation
1:34 How to mount your car seat
3:30 The installation
5:08 Issues and troubleshooting
6:44 Final thoughts
Filmed with my Canon R6 mark ii
Edited in Davinci Resolve
Intro music - Gang by Jiglr
Other music by Epidemic Sounds
Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
#simracing #volkswagen #golf #hyundai #imax #formula1 #fanatec

[@peadookie]

Grinding metal on carpet in what's seemingly an abandoned office building to get a seat mounted to a sim rig.... I have found my people.

[@DrAlanQuan]

Hahaha I'm glad you enjoyed my process

[@bmorr]

Drove down to the junkyard yesterday and picked up a nice Subaru Forester seat with plenty of adjustment. It only cost me $25. I am so thankful for this video; it saved me a ton of money!

[@DrAlanQuan]

That's a great deal, I'm so happy for you! Is the seat on the rig yet?

[@ni7e]

This was super helpful to me. Gave me the confidence to order an Audi S3 seat from ebay. Successfully mounted to my rig, and it's SO comfortable with tons of adjustment compared to the 'racing seats' the rig companies sell, like GTOmega, TrakRacer, etc - and cheaper too!

[@DrAlanQuan]

Man, that really brings a smile to my face. I'm so glad you came back to write your comment! Did you have to use the brackets the way I described or did the S3 seat bolt directly on? My favourite thing about my VW seat is the lumbar adjustment. That's a life saver!

[@ni7e]

@DrAlanQuan No, thank you! In the end it bolted right on because the rig I have (gt omega prime lite) has a wide enough platform for the seats rails. I anticipated having to deal with the guide pin but that wasn't an issue in the end, luckily!

[@Cevap05]

I like that you did represent an example of what can be done with a trip to a hardware store and junkyard* seat (we like to call them). Even F1 style seating is possible for the cheap. I am an absolute advocate for these seats as the price to quality ratio can not be matched. I know you do acknowledge this but just to reiterate, it is substantially easier to mount in a sort of GT style, especially if your seat is level by the rails. I just want to point it out so if anyone is unsure of attempting this for their rig, don't hesitate! IMO you deserve many more subscribers for your calm yet professional presentation, editing, and so on. Hope to see you make more videos!

[@DrAlanQuan]

Thanks for commenting and reiterating the point about how fitting a junkyard seat is USUALLY pretty straightforward and that my difficulties were mostly from my insistence on a formula style seating position. The width of the seat rails really did catch me off guard, it wasn't something I even remotely considered when I was walking through the junkyard picking out a seat. Hopefully my video helps people look out for potential issues that could trip them up, but also to address these issues when they arise. I appreciate your kind words and look forward to publishing my next video!

[@blueice14633]

I passed on so many seats in the junkyard and went home empty handed because of the bracket angled feet issue. I came across this video and the solution you provided was so simple and right in front of my eyes the entire time. You're a genius my guy. You've earned a subscriber. 🤙

[@DrAlanQuan]

Wow that's such a kind comment to share! I am a big fan of simple and practical solutions and I'm so happy you appreciate my approach :) Thank you for the good vibes!

[@LucasJodokast]

just picked up a WRX Seat for $50 AUD, gonna make the height adjustable as i dont want to commit to dimensions until im sitting in it, cheers for the video, made me pull the trigger on using a real car seat

[@DrAlanQuan]

That's awesome man. You got a great seat, at an awesome price, and you'll get a fun DIY project out of it too. An amazing situation! Have fun :)

[@lndex_1440]

I may end up doing something similar to this, thanks for showing how you did yours! I’ve always been interested in sim racing and recently pulled the plug on some good deals I found for the holidays. This also seems like a good way to save some money! Can’t believe you don’t have more subscribers! Top quality content right here. Thanks again!

[@DrAlanQuan]

Nice! I love a good bargain and it sounds like you're off to a great start :) Thanks for your kind words, really appreciating the love

[@user-ny7rr6ky1h]

This comment is a little off topic, but love the rotating time lapse shot(s) haha - quality of the videos are only getting better!

[@DrAlanQuan]

That's very much on topic and very much appreciated!!

[@NathanielBlank]

How in the hell do you only have 404 subscribers? The quality top to bottom is amazing! I've started my own KZbin channel and your style and execution is inspiring me. Amazing job!

[@DrAlanQuan]

Hi Nathaniel, thanks for the words of encouragement. It's early days I guess. I'm not too focused on numbers, just want to make good content. I'll check out your channel now!

[@SimracingPC]

Amazing production quality, good work!

[@DrAlanQuan]

Thank you :D

[@HoracioJimenez]

Hi Alan. Incredible job. Can’t wait to see your solution on the formula seating position. I’m also in Perth and would be very interested in one of those shaft extenders as I also own a DD1 😀 TIA

[@DrAlanQuan]

Hi Horacio. The shaft extender video is my first priority to complete at this time, but the flu has delayed that somewhat. I promise I'll have it completed ASAP though :)

[@RyuKyu316]

Damn your videos are very high effort in quality and explanations. You should get more subs! Luckily I stumbled onto your vid. Now I can switch my full bucket seat into my car and my car seat into my sim rig without modifying the original car seat at all!

[@DrAlanQuan]

Thank you! So interesting that you want to do a switcheroo between your rig and your car, I haven't heard that before haha. But yes, totally reversible process so have some fun with it! Thanks for your support ❤️

[@RyuKyu316]

Yeah because I keep getting flung left and right in corners when I go to touge my car and I don't think I need a bucket seat on my sim rig because no g force😂😂@@DrAlanQuan

[@heinsteyn1025]

Well done mate 👏🏻

[@DrAlanQuan]

Thanks for sharing the love!

[@Mathias-RetroFutureTech]

I've used a BMW 1 Series Sport seat just recently and added it to self built painted/wooden plattform. These seats obviously are perfect for the Job, because I just had to use 4 M10 bolts and a couple of rubber bushings to mount it. Was very straight forward, so I definitely can recommend these!

[@DrAlanQuan]

I was actually looking for an F series BMW to pull a seat from, as I found them to be very comfortable but none were available at the time. The VW seat I settled on is much less adjustable but still works well enough (until I added motion to the rig). You chose a great seat, glad to hear it was a straightforward install too!

[@TwoDogsFighting]

Nice, concise video. Thanks.

[@DrAlanQuan]

Thanks for the watching and commenting! Glad you found it concise, sometimes I feel like the videos ramble on a bit but there's so much information I want to convey

[@jimmymiddleton1307]

I've done similar with my rig, but I found removing the slide rails altogether (being that you're not using them anyway, it's then possible to bolt 2 lengths of 4040 extrusion to the rail mount points, then you can essentially attach those to the extrusion anywhere you like. Food for thought. ✌🏼

[@DrAlanQuan]

James you genius. I never considered taking the rails off! That being said, so much sweat went into getting that seat onto the rig I am not taking it off anytime soon if I can help it. Maybe for the next rig!

[@aeppikx]

and i let my rails on and put 4040 under the rails across xd i could ez attach them to my rig and i can use the sliders

[@michal.w.2159]

Nice video its gonna be useful when i get my aluminum profile rig in few days, i currently use a mk5 jetta passenger seat on a cheap amazon cockpit, the mk5 jetta seat it the best option for sim rigs imo because the holes in rails face straight up and down and are all on the same level so the seat basically drops into position without needing and washers or brackets

[@DrAlanQuan]

Hi Michal thanks for commenting. Did your seat have an indexing pin on the seat rails? I was under the impression that every OEM car seat did

[@DarrenMartin-bw8zi]

Excellent video, Dr. Quan! I'm using a stock 2014 Subaru Impreza seat on my wooden rig. It works great for now until I can buy a decent reclining bucket seat.

[@DrAlanQuan]

Sounds like you're set for a long time! Why do you think you'll switch to a bucket seat in the future? Thanks for watching and commenting :)

[@DarrenMartin-bw8zi]

@@DrAlanQuan Immersion, really. Besides the Impreza seat is from a base model, so not the most comfortable

[@TheJAke922]

Please respond if you can! Great video and exactly what I was looking for for over a week! I have my asr 3 8020 rig coming this week and a jetta car seat. I was going to grind/cut off that little tab at the front of the seat that makes it sit lopsided. But i was curious what you did with the height adjustment pin? Did you keep it on and is it useable? Or is adjusting seat height not possible when mounted to the 80/20 rig? Btw the pin im referring to is located at back of seat on left I believe if you are behind seat. You adjust it will a lever you push up or down on side of seat. Hope to hear soon thanks!

[@DrAlanQuan]

Hi Jake. Grinding the pin off and just mounting the seat straight on top of some level profiles will be the simplest way. I left the pin intact and just used angled brackets like shown in the video. The pin has nothing to do with seat adjustment (at least mine) it's just a fixed indexing pin. With or without that pin, my seat still has full height adjustment once mounted. I hope this answers your question, if not feel free to reply and hopefully we'll get to the bottom of it! Edit: ok sounds like you're talking about both the fixed tab, as well as a separate height adjustment pin. Sounds like your seat is different to mine. My seat sliders have little pins that allow forward back adjustment, but the height adjustment on my seat doesn't have any pins that protrude - not that I recall anyway

[@aeppikx]

i always had real carseats on my rig my first was an merc. c class seat and now an old merc. slk recaro seat . mounting was never an issue for me 2 profiles front and back from side to side and than attach it .....EZ but i have more upright GT style position . if a ever need another one i would always search for an used seat again instead of buying a unconfomfortable bucket seat , although they look nice

[@DrAlanQuan]

That's awesome man, I never thought to use profiles on the seat - I always felt that profiles are precious and can be used for other creative purposes - but I'm definitely appreciating easy installs these days and that's worth $$$ Also I'm actually starting to be convinced in buying bucket seats - they can be so much lighter than car seats, and the install process is so dang quick. A real quality of life improvement, just costs a few extra beans.

[@aspr_08]

Wish you made this video before. I have my seat from an old rustbucket. it works for now. (even had to do some welding myself) But the struggle is real. you have to consider so many things. most of which you have mentioned. Great video mate..

[@DrAlanQuan]

Hahaha the question is, if you saw this video months ago would it have stopped you giving it a red hot go? Probably not right? Haha, I hope you had fun with it I'm a couple of days away from releasing another video (it's a big one!) where I've actually found a limitation of using a junkyard seat so I'm looking at race seat options now actually. Thanks for the comment and sub! Looking forward to seeing you in the comments again

[@aspr_08]

@@DrAlanQuan Probably not. 😁😅 Great.. looking forward to your videos. you earned the sub, you got some quality videos mate.🙌🏻

[@JesperSandersen]

I have almost the same VW Golf seat on a DIY wood rig with more upright position. The assymetric seat caught me by supprise too. I solved it by shifting wheelbase position instead. Ideally I should have put a bit incline on the seat mount, but didn't think of floating the seat on brackets like you did.

[@DrAlanQuan]

Thanks for sharing your experience! With the Golf being so popular, it makes sense that a significant number of these seats find their way onto rigs. I do like rigs which allow left-right mounting flexibility of the wheel for exactly this type of scenario. My direct drive side mount, though very strong, dictates a midline mounting position which made mounting this seat very difficult.

[@user-zv4bu7zr1o]

Really nice and neat content, I wouldn't grind metal on a carpeted floor though.

[@DrAlanQuan]

Hahaha nor would I usually. It worked out ok this time but probably wouldn't do it again! Thanks for the comment, glad you took the time to do so

[@DonUtz1975]

I did the same about a year ago. Went to the junk yard and bought an old Audi A3 driver side seat there. It was a bit tricky to mount it do my DIY wooden rig but once installed it is super comfortable. Costed me 40 Euros.

[@DrAlanQuan]

They definitely present very good value, plus the confidence that it will be very hard wearing over time. A good investment!

[@gadnuk666]

I have a sports seat from an E46 BMW (passenger side) for my SimRig (aluminium profiles). Thanks to the straight seat console of this model, I was able to bolt the seat perfectly onto two 40x40 profiles. Due to the adjustment levers of the seat, the construction only had to be aligned about 10cm horizontally so that it was centred in front of the wheelbase. However, since I prefer rally and street car sims, I didn't have to mount it in such an extreme "resting position" as you did. Now I have an optimal seat in my rig that I can adjust completely to my liking and that only cost about 50€. The only "disadvantage" is the lack of rock-hard "padding" on which you get back pain after 2 hours. That somewhat destroys the immersion a bit. 😉

[@DrAlanQuan]

BMW do great seats! I actually wanted an F series seat (I have an F10 and F22 in the garage and they both have great seats) when I went looking in junkyards but I couldn't find any 😭 And you make an interesting comment about the lack of rock hard padding 😂 I have a Recaro bucket on the RaceKraft rig that I'm reviewing, and it's such a snug fit but so so comfortable. If you watch my Sigma Integrale DK2 review you'll see how the VW seat bounces around with the motion - that is a limitation of junkyard seats that I didn't recognise when I made this seat install video. But for non motion rigs, the car seats are cheap AND comfortable and a great choice. Thanks for commenting!

[@MrKlawUK]

I bought an F21/22 passenger seat recently on ebay - refurbed and was in great condition. Thigh support, flat mounting points should go straight onto profile, and even seat base tilt. Also from a 3-seater so the backrest can fold forwards to give more passing space behind.

[@DrAlanQuan]

@MrKlawUK you lucky man! Great seat

[@karlallen6055]

I've always used a BMW M Sport seat from a 1 series needs to be a 1 series as non of the adjustments are electrical. It's been a fantastic seat as it adjusts up and down, tilts, lumber, recline and an extension for under the thigh. It's half leather and only cost me £35 of Ebay, It was a young lad and his girlfriend had somehow put a 2 inch scratch in the leather.😱😁 Other than that it was like new as it was the passenger seat. The key is to find ones that aren't electrically operated..Was a bit of a pain to get my bass shaker on it as there are airbags and it's built like a tank.

[@DrAlanQuan]

Yes manual operation was high on my list of features wanted. I wanted an F series BMW seat but couldn't find any so Golf seat was not a bad alternative

[@Kydexx.]

how do you only have 2k subscribers with this kind of video quality!

[@DrAlanQuan]

Started at zero, that's how hahahaha thanks for the support

[@Gabouytb]

What kind of motorized black magic machine did you use for the timelapse ???? amazing video quality, even more considering the subscribers count !

[@DrAlanQuan]

Thank you! The rotating camera jig is something I put together for a few hundred dollars - I will eventually make a video on it but there's a lot of video projects that are currently higher priority for me at the moment. I'm so happy that you appreciate the effort that goes into these videos, I wanted to do something different and high quality :) Lots more stuff coming!

[@henriksteamroller]

Is there any precautions to take regarding in-seat airbags?

[@DrAlanQuan]

I am not the authority on this, and I had my reservations as well - but I figured that if a car can hit speed bumps all day and not accidentally deploy airbags, I'd be safe. I read that airbags need to be electrically energised to deploy, so as long as I don't connect the airbag electricals to anything I think I'm fine. If this seat had electrical adjustment and I had to hook it up to power to adjust it, I'd do a lot more research - but I'm happy to find and use manually adjusted seats for my rig

[@pietspatbord3183]

whats the width of your rig? i need to know! nice video btw

[@DrAlanQuan]

Thanks for watching :) My cross beams are 480mm + 2x 40mm main rails = 560mm wide rig

[@benhodkinson6467]

With all the money you have spent on your rig, I think trying to save a couple of hundred pounds like this is counterintuitive, I would have somehow “survived” without a robot vacuum and bought a dedicated seat, I can recommend Cobra seats, I have the Missano recliner and though it has some flex compared to a bucket it looks very nice, and truth be told it was originally designed to stay in my front room and the rest of the rig detached for storage.

[@DrAlanQuan]

Hi Ben, thanks for presenting your take on simrig seats. I get your perspective about saving a buck or two here when I've spent close to 5 figures on the rest - the truth is I enjoy tinkering and it was a really satisfying (albeit sweaty and - at times - frustrating) project, and it's something a lot of people have undertaken and will continue to do - whether it be for economic reasons, or because they "must have a GTR seat" or something along those lines - and I thought my technique of mounting the car seats is able to adapt to any seat anybody can find out there who is thinking of doing the same thing and might not be sure where to start. Is it perfect - heck no. Is it the easiest solution - heck no. But I appreciate value for money, and this is the cheapest way to get a full featured seat onto your rig. If I consider the amount of time I put into it, and put a dollar value on that, it probably evens out with buying a nice, expensive bespoke seat with mounting system. But I had some fun and got to make a video about it - and then you and I got to have this conversation! I'm glad you enjoy your Cobra seat - I bet it's super comfortable and makes the sim rig look and feel like a race car. My hope is that I'll soon have another rig in the studio much more like yours so I can enjoy rigs from both philosophies :) I really appreciate you taking the time to write your comments! If there's anything you'd like to add let's please continue this chat, otherwise see you in the next video :)

[@benhodkinson6467]

Thank you for your reply, no doubt your video will be invaluable to many! I love your set up and wholeheartedly agree with your assertions about tinkering and creating personal solutions to the hurdles you encounter. The MOST enjoyable aspect of this hobby(after the racing)is the rig design and constant modification. As I mentioned before my rig was first built 2017 for use in my lounge with a PlayStation and large TV, for this reason the seat and its base of profile were detachable. My children were a lot younger then and I couldn’t play with them around, so I would get everyone to sleep and then retrieve the other half of the rig from the shed, install the electronics, connect it all and then be too tired to achieve much! Within a year I gave up and sold the electronics. However as my children grew up, my mind returned to my hobby and I started to think seriously about a dedicated room. I had kept the seat and frame and redesigned it for monitor and direct drive use. There is so much pleasure in creating and perfecting something that you are going to use regularly. I wish you luck and speedy progress.

[@benhodkinson6467]

On the subject of my “nice” Cobra seat. On the first day I had it assembled and in my lounge(6years ago) my youngest son who was two years old at the time, bought a stone into the house and decided to make patterns on the piano gloss mirror finish seat back! He totally destroyed it and I haven’t been able to fix so far…..

[@vic-issaczavala4323]

Bought one off facebook marketplace and was still best option and agreed never again 😂 will i do this again.

[@DrAlanQuan]

Hahaha no regrets, just never again. At least you're comfortable and you got a great deal!

[@nhojyelbom]

all good until you decide to make the electronics work, im in the middle of can bus hacking now just to allow electric seat controls to work. I thought can would only affect heating, cooling, neckscarf!

[@DrAlanQuan]

Haha and that's how a 2 hour project becomes a 2 week project Do you have any concerns about activating the airbags? I am not confident enough in my electrical skills to stay away from the airbags

[@nhojyelbom]

@@DrAlanQuan no issues with that, stay away from any yellow plugs. I thought about setting them to trigger when you crash in the sim, more realistic 😂

[@luciusthegod]

what about using "universal seat sliders"?

[@DrAlanQuan]

Most car seats will come with their own sliders, so it's just a matter of figuring out how to bolt the seat to your rig in any way. Because the mounting points vary so much between car manufacturers, I didn't feel comfortable buying a dedicated mounting bracket - and the loose brackets, though fiddly, are very economical

[@benhodkinson6467]

Where as a dedicated seat from a manufacturer has standard(and straight) mounting points allowing for a MUCH simpler installation.

[@DrAlanQuan]

@@benhodkinson6467 100% agreed. That was pretty much my take after finishing my seat install. But I do love to tinker so no regrets about doing this the cheap and difficult way - just not sure I'd do it again!

[@RobbieLancelot]

Tip: get a passenger car seat rather than a driver one. They are used less, therefore will have less wear and tear.

[@DrAlanQuan]

Interesting take! Makes sense ❤️ Do you have preference on trim - cloth vs leather? I quite like the cloth, although there are still stains that I can't quite clean out

[@RobbieLancelot]

​@@DrAlanQuan I like half leather seats, same as the ones in my car. Try to use a carpet spot cleaner against tough stains - car detailers love them.

[@manapunk3085]

What backrooms level is this?

[@DrAlanQuan]

🤔

[@modellbobby]

Jesus. This is the worst DIY I have ever seen

[@DrAlanQuan]

Thank you! Super cheap, super accessible and has stood the test of time. I'm sitting on those very same mountings right now! Your are truly blessed that all the DIYs you've seen so far have been better than this, because this is great!

[@glinx1]

Thank you for this great idea on how to mount the seat. I just bought a new profile cockpit that I haven't built yet. I have a Subi seat I want to use but has the same downward angled front mount. Thing is, I went to a local Home Depot and couldn't find these types of L brackets. I'm not sure what department I would find them in. Can you give approximate dimensions of the ones you used? I want to set up my rig for GT racing. Thanks.

[@DrAlanQuan]

Hi thanks for commenting! The bracket dimensions really come down to what is available at your store but for reference my brackets - the small ones are 40 millimeter and 80 millimeter and the large one is 150 millimeter and 210 millimeter At least at my local hardware store they are in the same section as the bolts and the casters. Good luck!