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

[heinzboehmer]

Oh super interesting. So you actually removed the stitching?! Brilliant idea. Do you have closeups you could share?

Put some info up on my journal about blacking out the stitching and removing the logo in case you or anyone else finds it useful: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...371#post199371

[BTB]

$30!? Where!?

When I asked HMS they told me it would be $150 for two (+ wait time for new shipment to come over to the US), so I decided to do it myself instead.

Hmmm, I probably got my numbers mixed up, it was a year ago when I asked. Thought it was reasonable but $75 a piece is probably right.

[heinzboehmer]

How'd you end up blacking out the stitching? Sharpie?

I used a fabric marker that I got at a local art supplies store. Tried sharpie as well and while it did work, you had to be super careful with what you painted since it stayed on the vinyl as well. The fabric marker ink only stays on the stitching so you can be super messy with it and then wipe away the excess that gets onto the vinyl.

Thank you much for doing this, Heinz. So basically no difference between the weight of the seats I received and yours. This was with the bolts or without?

I'm in conversations with Driftworks and trying to gather as much info as I can.

Oh super interesting. So you actually removed the stitching?! Brilliant idea. Do you have closeups you could share?

No problem! Hope you get this resolved soon. Bummer that driftworks had the incorrect weight listed on their website. Edit: oh and this was with bolts

And yep, stitching is gone. The logo is still noticeable, but it kinda looks like it's embossed now, which I'm fine with. Still need to wrap up the work, but I'll be posting a bunch more pics and info to my journal when I'm done.

Dang, pretty cool ! FYI if you want Cobra will sell you just the pad with no Cobra logo, IIRC around $30 a piece.

$30!? Where!?

When I asked HMS they told me it would be $150 for two (+ wait time for new shipment to come over to the US), so I decided to do it myself instead.

[BTB]

Don't have the most accurate scale in the world, but average of the weights I got was 18.2 lbs per seat.

Lol you know me well. Also sneak peek of my own DIY black stitching and logo delete (as in used a seam ripper and removed the embroidered logo):

Dang, pretty cool ! FYI if you want Cobra will sell you just the pad with no Cobra logo, IIRC around $30 a piece.

[Casa de Mesa]

I will once I get them, still haven't shipped likely as a result of the custom order (stitching/logo delete). Heinz will probably beat me to the punch here.

Thanks much.

Don't have the most accurate scale in the world, but average of the weights I got was 18.2 lbs per seat.

Thank you much for doing this, Heinz. So basically no difference between the weight of the seats I received and yours. This was with the bolts or without?

I'm in conversations with Driftworks and trying to gather as much info as I can.

Also sneak peek of my own DIY black stitching and logo delete (as in used a seam ripper and removed the embroidered logo):

Oh super interesting. So you actually removed the stitching?! Brilliant idea. Do you have closeups you could share?

[Pklauser]

How'd you end up blacking out the stitching? Sharpie?

[heinzboehmer]

Can someone who recently received (or will soon receive) a GRP Nogaro weigh the seat? Preferably, if you have the standard vinyl and Dinamica upholstery.

Looking for the "as shipped" weight.

Gracias,
Casa

Don't have the most accurate scale in the world, but average of the weights I got was 18.2 lbs per seat.

I will once I get them, still haven't shipped likely as a result of the custom order (stitching/logo delete). Heinz will probably beat me to the punch here.

Lol you know me well. Also sneak peek of my own DIY black stitching and logo delete (as in used a seam ripper and removed the embroidered logo):

[Cubieman]

Can someone who recently received (or will soon receive) a GRP Nogaro weigh the seat? Preferably, if you have the standard vinyl and Dinamica upholstery.

Looking for the "as shipped" weight.

Gracias,
Casa

I will once I get them, still haven't shipped likely as a result of the custom order (stitching/logo delete). Heinz will probably beat me to the punch here.

[Casa de Mesa]

Can someone who recently received (or will soon receive) a GRP Nogaro weigh the seat? Preferably, if you have the standard vinyl and Dinamica upholstery.

Looking for the "as shipped" weight.

Gracias,
Casa

[SQ13]

Could probably spend the $7200 difference to make up for the additional 14 lbs in some other way lol

[bmw m3 s50]

The seat(s) I weighed and have is presumably the wet carbon overlay variant.

I did not know there were 3 variants of the seat when I ordered them. The 3 being:
1) fiberglass / GRP
2) wet carbon overlay
3) full carbon

If you follow the Driftworks' link: [url]
...based on advertised weights in their description (which is a copy & paste from Cobra's main site, not Cobra's US site), it reads like they sell variants 1 or 3. I thought I was getting variant 3. I didn't even know variant 2 existed until I weighed them. And I only thought to weigh them because when I picked them up, they felt like they weighed more than 11.7 pounds.

I'm truly surprised Cobra even makes variant 2. What's the point for the paltry weight savings over variant 1 other than purely cosmetic/bling? For something that functional (it's not something like a #happybuyitnow diffuser or carbon interior trim), I literally do not see the point.

I thought so too because of the prices. The GRP is the cheapest at around $1k each which weight about 19lbs. The carbon overlay which are $2600 each and weight 17lbs. The full carbon are actually $4600 each and weight 12lbs:

https://www.jegs.com/i/Save+A+Battery/240/NOGS-CCVDBK/10002/-1?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0O2fxOWi_AIVEvjICh2ikw5rEAQYAS ABEgL9vvD_BwE

Remember those prices are for each seat. You have to normally buy two seats so those prices are x2.

Like you, I thought that the price for the full carbons were $2600 which seems like alot but reasonable for 12lbs seats. $4600 starts to become a bit much. $9200 for two seats and 7lbs less seems a bit too much.

[Casa de Mesa]

Are the seat that you weight the wet carbon overlays or the full carbon seat?

The full carbon is like $5k, right and the wet carbon overlay is $2.5k while the fiberglass is $1k?

The seat(s) I weighed and have is presumably the wet carbon overlay variant.

I did not know there were 3 variants of the seat when I ordered them. The 3 being:
1) fiberglass / GRP
2) wet carbon overlay
3) full carbon

If you follow the Driftworks' link: https://www.driftworks.com/cobra-nog...port-seat.html

...based on advertised weights in their description (which is a copy & paste from Cobra's main site, not Cobra's US site), it reads like they sell variants 1 or 3. I thought I was getting variant 3. I didn't even know variant 2 existed until I weighed them. And I only thought to weigh them because when I picked them up, they felt like they weighed more than 11.7 pounds.

I'm truly surprised Cobra even makes variant 2. What's the point for the paltry weight savings over variant 1 other than purely cosmetic/bling? For something that functional (it's not something like a #happybuyitnow diffuser or carbon interior trim), I literally do not see the point.

[Obioban]

Are the seat that you weight the wet carbon overlays or the full carbon seat?

The full carbon is like $5k, right and the wet carbon overlay is $2.5k while the fiberglass is $1k?

Overlay.

[bmw m3 s50]

And the verdict is...

With the 4 mounting bolts in the seat as shipped (a nominal amount of weight, but I will remove them for total accuracy tomorrow) and me balancing the seat with one hand while taking a photo with the other, they weighed in at about 8.16 kg / 18.0 lbs each. While they are lighter than the quoted weight on Driftworks' site of the "standard" GRP seat, that's quite a ways off from 5.3 kg / 11.7 lbs per seat.

I'll get better accuracy around these tomorrow when I'm not single handed, but clearly these are not what I thought I ordered (a total of around 8 lbs saved between both seats, rather than ~22 lbs). In my mind, these are definitely not worth the 3X price differential over the standard GRP seats. These look absolutely mint, don't get me wrong - the quality, fit and finish is extremely good - but not what I thought I was getting.

I'll send Driftworks an email.

Note: These photos are the best I could manage. While the figures below are close, there is definitely some measuring error here.

Are the seat that you weight the wet carbon overlays or the full carbon seat?

The full carbon is like $5k, right and the wet carbon overlay is $2.5k while the fiberglass is $1k?

[BTB]

Awesome looking car! You clearly have impeccable taste.

Thank you-- heh! In fact just bought 2 additional 18x9.5 ET35 EC-7s during Apex's holiday sale. Glad I chose these way back when ~9 years ago

Harris Hill is alright. Super bumpy, so I don’t drive my M3 there anymore.

Thanks! I’m working this weekend unfortunately, but I’ll PM you so we can coordinate. Could do a Lime Creek run if you’re interested.

Didn't know about Harris Hill-- I probably would not love it in that case lol. Sounds good, HMU anytime