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

[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

[SQ13]

Oh dang, good to know! I was also signed up for Track Night in America at Harris Hill but ended up not being able to make it, would like to drive that track at some point.

You can try out the Nogaro anytime, just PM me-- this weekend could work. For now I just have on driver's side with Brey-Krause mounts.

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.

[Casa de Mesa]

Maybe the quoted weight is with a different upholstery? Having said that, it's hard to believe it would be a 6 pound difference...

The fabric is the same as the GRP seat. And yeah, 6 lbs of upholstery is a LOT of upholstery.

[BTB]

Chin Track Days also hosts events at COTA. PCA runs an event called Austin Schnell Fest twice a year. Both are much better than Edge Addicts events at COTA IMO.

Lime Creek Road is what you’re looking for. It’s near Lake Travis and is really popular among the Austin car community. Just be careful..recently more cops have been posted up along that road.


Also, any chance I can sit in your Nogaro seats in the near future? I’d def like to make sure they work for me before I spend thousands on them.

Oh dang, good to know! I was also signed up for Track Night in America at Harris Hill but ended up not being able to make it, would like to drive that track at some point.

You can try out the Nogaro anytime, just PM me-- this weekend could work. For now I just have on driver's side with Brey-Krause mounts.

[elbert]

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.

Maybe the quoted weight is with a different upholstery? Having said that, it's hard to believe it would be a 6 pound difference...

[SQ13]

Ugh, wish it wasn't so expensive, seems Edge Addicts is the only real option? Early 2023 is likely no bueno for me, but mid/late 2023 could be good!

Any good country routes outside of town? I have a short loop I do out near Manor (I live in north Austin) but still have yet to explore much outside of Austin, west hills etc.

Chin Track Days also hosts events at COTA. PCA runs an event called Austin Schnell Fest twice a year. Both are much better than Edge Addicts events at COTA IMO.

Lime Creek Road is what you’re looking for. It’s near Lake Travis and is really popular among the Austin car community. Just be careful..recently more cops have been posted up along that road.


Also, any chance I can sit in your Nogaro seats in the near future? I’d def like to make sure they work for me before I spend thousands on them.

[BTB]

NAM3F COTA track day when? 🤔🤔

Ugh, wish it wasn't so expensive, seems Edge Addicts is the only real option? Early 2023 is likely no bueno for me, but mid/late 2023 could be good!

Any good country routes outside of town? I have a short loop I do out near Manor (I live in north Austin) but still have yet to explore much outside of Austin, west hills etc.

[Casa de Mesa]

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.

[Casa de Mesa]

Same wheels, same tires, same seats (well almost, I’ve got FRP). Great choices

First time using the seat on track last weekend (COTA)— surprised to notice the slightest of movement around the hips but I suppose in part that’s the difference between a full racing seat and something I’d want to drive in every day (also I’m tall at 6’5” but pretty slim at the waist). Needless to say, I love this seat

Awesome looking car! You clearly have impeccable taste.

[SQ13]

Same wheels, same tires, same seats (well almost, I’ve got FRP). Great choices

First time using the seat on track last weekend (COTA)— surprised to notice the slightest of movement around the hips but I suppose in part that’s the difference between a full racing seat and something I’d want to drive in every day (also I’m tall at 6’5” but pretty slim at the waist). Needless to say, I love this seat

NAM3F COTA track day when? 🤔🤔

[BTB]

Oh super weird. I posted that yesterday from my phone and when viewing this thread from my phone, I see the pic. But when viewed from my desktop web browser, I do not see it.

Here is what I tried to post, albeit with the images cut down in size a bit:

Same wheels, same tires, same seats (well almost, I’ve got FRP). Great choices

First time using the seat on track last weekend (COTA)— surprised to notice the slightest of movement around the hips but I suppose in part that’s the difference between a full racing seat and something I’d want to drive in every day (also I’m tall at 6’5” but pretty slim at the waist). Needless to say, I love this seat

[heinzboehmer]

However, if the version I got is this news-to-me 17lbs wet-overlay carbon version and not the ultralight weight 5.3kg/11.7 lbs version... not gonna be happy.

Oof yeah that wouldn't be great. Let us know how much they end up weighing.

[Obioban]

I noticed that it said GRP, but assumed it was an error by whoever wrote the tag on the assembly line.

[Casa de Mesa]

Thanks guys. The only thing I had to do with these seats is exchanging enough coin to give me buyers regret! 😶 It's quite a leap above the GRP seats for only 22 lbs weight saving total, so maybe question my sanity some.

Also - while going to dig up the actual weight savings stats I just quoted, I just found this. The bold text below feels like it's new copy on this link, though I may have missed it before (I doubt it):

https://www.cobraseats-usa.com/item/nogaro

Two shell options are available to suit all tastes, pockets and weight-saving requirements. Choices range from the standard GRP lightweight option, to the beautiful wet lay Carbon Shell. The Wet Lay Carbon version is not fully made of carbon, and weights 17LBS. The standard GRP version weighs 19LBS. There is a Full Carbon Nogaro available, however the price is significantly higher and it's not available online. No matter what OEM seat you are running, these will save an incredible amount of weight over the factory seats.

From Driftworks' site:

https://www.driftworks.com/cobra-nog...port-seat.html

GRP (10.2kg) or ultra lightweight carbon (5.3kg) shell material options

10.2 kg / 22.5 lbs vs. 5.3 kg / 11.7 lbs is where I got my 22 pounds savings.

However, if the version I got is this news-to-me 17lbs wet-overlay carbon version and not the ultralight weight 5.3kg/11.7 lbs version... not gonna be happy. I won't get a chance to weigh these for a couple of days (because Christmas!!). The total box weighed in at 40-some lbs so my fear is I spent a LOT more for a 2 lbs weight savings per seat. There was not 20 lbs of packing materials. Also looking at that sticker above, I'm pretty sure that sticker says "GRP" for the construction.

[Obioban]

I’m jealous.