Review: Cobra Nogaro seats (uniquely street friendly fixed back bucket seat)

[heinzboehmer]

For reference I’m 5’7”, 160 lbs, 30-31” waist (athletic build).]

I'm 5'11" (long legs/short torso though) and my view out of the car is pretty much the same.

Haven't measured my torso, but for reference, my shoulders sit just barely below the top edge of the harness holes on a Sportster CS and right in line with the bottom edge of the harness holes on a Pole Position ABE.

[SQ13]

Just wanted to chime in for the other short kings and queens who are unsure if they’ll be able to see over the steering wheel. I’m using the top hole in both the front and rear, and I think the position is perfect for street driving. Hopefully the photo lets you get a sense of what it would be like. I could prob use the bottom hole in the rear, and it would be about the same height as my old Sparco Circuit.

Can’t speak for leather or vinyl center cushions, but with the dynamica/suede cushions, I stay planted in the seat. I just made a 2.5 hour drive this morning, and I had zero discomfort.

For reference I’m 5’7”, 160 lbs, 30-31” waist (athletic build). If you’re in Austin or the Houston area (Katy) and would like to check out the Nogaros, feel free to reach out.

[SQ13]

I received the BK seat mounts this afternoon, and they added a second hole in the rear for height adjustment. I’m hoping it was to increase the height, and not to add an even lower position. They could’ve added a third hole on top of the existing two in the front to allow for more tilt, since there is enough space for it. I was also surprised to see that the packaging changed from the shitty cardboard + clear plastic to bubble wrap.

[Cubieman]

Damn, those CSL seats are nice! Would have bought those but got a great deal on the standard seats.

As far as seating height, I'm 5'10 and I set the seat in the upright position, I can see fine as I stuffed another bit of foam padding into the cusion but the upright postion is quite uncomfortable in my opinion.

Last night I set the seat to the reclined position, sitting in it I can't quite see the bulge on the hood, feels to low for me however I have yet to drive it.

[0-60motorsports]

WOW! I love those! I would buy those and put my OE CSL seats in the store LOL

[Cronenberged]

Link doesn’t work for me. Could you please post a picture of them? Thank you

[0-60motorsports]

Cobra made 18 CSL clone Nogaros using the correct alcantara and center insert cloth. Not my cup of tea but still pretty interesting.

https://shop.cobraseats.com/collecti...-limited-stock

Also, for my short kings and queens, what did y’all do to be able to see over the steering wheel? I’m installing my seats today or tomorrow, but I have a feeling that I’ll need to raise my seat a little.

Link doesn’t work for me. Could you please post a picture of them? Thank you

[SQ13]

Cobra made 18 CSL clone Nogaros using the correct alcantara and center insert cloth. Not my cup of tea but still pretty interesting.

https://shop.cobraseats.com/collecti...-limited-stock

Also, for my short kings and queens, what did y’all do to be able to see over the steering wheel? I’m installing my seats today or tomorrow, but I have a feeling that I’ll need to raise my seat a little.

[Casa de Mesa]

My wife won't think unscrewing and remounting the seat before each time she wants to drive the m3 is an acceptable solution... haha!

Ha! Seems like a perfectly viable solution 😁

Point taken.

[liam821]

The crunching noise has happened to me on OMP and Sparco seats as well on first install. Always assumed it was the nuts settling into place, and always unsettling.

liam821 have you looked at the dimensions on that other brand mentioned a couple pages back in this thread? Speed Engineering I think based in Germany. My main hesitation for not considering that brand is it wouldn't allow the seats to get low enough, but they *might* have more vertical height you're looking for. That's pure speculation on my part as I never reached out to ask. I'm currently a little fatigued by the hassles of importing parts which is also why I never pursued it further.

Edit: this post:

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...865#post194865

I saw that, yes. Looks like they can mount higher, but I want something I can move up and down without having to unscrew the chair. My wife won't think unscrewing and remounting the seat before each time she wants to drive the m3 is an acceptable solution... haha!

[Casa de Mesa]

The crunching noise has happened to me on OMP and Sparco seats as well on first install. Always assumed it was the nuts settling into place, and always unsettling.

liam821 have you looked at the dimensions on that other brand mentioned a couple pages back in this thread? Speed Engineering I think based in Germany. My main hesitation for not considering that brand is it wouldn't allow the seats to get low enough, but they *might* have more vertical height you're looking for. That's pure speculation on my part as I never reached out to ask. I'm currently a little fatigued by the hassles of importing parts which is also why I never pursued it further.

Edit: this post:

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/415-review-cobra-nogaro-seats-uniquely-street-friendly-fixed-back-bucket-seat?p=194865#post194865

[heinzboehmer]

Tried a few different things for seat cusions, including ripping the foam from my doner heated seats, but my hot wire foam cutter didn't really work at all there, need to buy a particular knife.

Try a bread knife from your kitchen. Sounds ridiculous, but works extremely well: https://youtu.be/xne0qjhFVNY

Also, did any of you hear an unsettling crunching noise while torquing the seat bolts?

Yeah same here. Stopped as soon as I heard it and disassembled everything. Looked fine so reassembled and torqued through the crunching. Went all the way to the 45 Nm that was listed on the seats.

Still don't know what that crunching was, but the seats are well secured. Tried ripping them out of the brackets after install and was unable to do anything. No more noises either.

[liam821]

On another somewhat unrelated note I like to reclined position of the seat but found that it sits me too low, in fact even in with the seat bolted to the top two holes I still sit down a bit too much for my liking, that is unfortunate as there really isn't a lot to do about that.

I may try shimming the rails up a bit, I'm 5'10", but I guess that's not enough, I love the seating postion of the Nogaros in the 996 GT3 but too low in the M3 for me.

I generally like a low seat position as I'm 5'11, but my wife who is 5'4" cannot see over the dashboard with low seats. And honestly, that's the biggest reason stopping me from ordering a set of Nogaro's today. I really wish somebody would make a height-adjustable seat mount for the Nogaros (or any aftermarket seat for that matter) for the e46.

[Cubieman]

Cubie - one other thing re: the seat height, have you driven the car? I like to be as low as possible and would go even lower if I could. I'm 6' even and don't see the height being an issue.

Drive it some, Heinz has similar observations as you and I believe he's come to appreciate the low height.

I don't need to tell you, but the M3 is a vastly different thing than your GT3. Even tho the seat is the same, it's definitely not an apples to apples comparison because the cars are so different. The M3 is a sedan masquerading as a sports car!

I have yet to drive the car, BK is sending me different brackets for the driver's side, the passenger side went I quite well, it seems like the seats tilts inward toward the trans tunnel as opposed to being staight on, but I could be completely wrong.

Tried a few different things for seat cusions, including ripping the foam from my doner heated seats, but my hot wire foam cutter didn't really work at all there, need to buy a particular knife.

May just go get another soft kneeling pad as that seems to be just about the correct thickness, or may buy what was suggested previously.

Also, did any of you hear an unsettling crunching noise while torquing the seat bolts?

I stopped at 22ft lb. (just under 30nm) as it sounded as if the threaded inserts in the seat were going to break loose, I'm sure I'm just being paranoid and they are well secured.

Cobra has 45nm listed on the seats, when I bought seats for the GT3 HMS Motorsports recommended 40nm max and 35nm minimum.

[heinzboehmer]

I'm 6'3" and I can't see the hood. Seats ride surprisingly low, but in a good way.

Drove to t-hill today for over 3 hours, the back was getting sore along with the shoulders. I stuffed my jacket around lower/mid back and it was infinitely better. When I drove to Laguna a few weeks back it was not as noticeable, but that drive was only about 1 hour for me. Need to figure out a cushion/pillow situation that works. Will try something from the house couch, I am not sure I want to splurge on the Cobra branded pump cushion for $150 at this point (saw some very similar items on Amazon for like $20).

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Have a bunch of foam and fabric from making cushions for mine if you want any. The difference in comfort between the seats as they came from Cobra and the seats with the extra back cushion is ridiculous. Can sit in them for hours without issues now.

Oh and I also ordered some ebay lumbar inflatable things to stuff into the lower back cushions I still have to make. No idea about the quality, but they were like $10 each so worth trying out.