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

[BTB]

You're just using the standard BK lever with stock sliders on passenger seat, huh? Just pulled the trigger on passenger side Nogaro to complement my driver's seat. I'm not tooo concerned about rear seat access but kinda figuring they will just be unusable now, except for reaching back there to put/pull stuff into/out of the rear seat area when already seated.

[HC1963M3]

Lumber support and additional padding in lower section (where your ass resides) made the seats not seem so rigid to me.

I also don't like how the seats force my upper body out and want to concave my shoulders into a shitty position.

I may go back to stock someday honestly, not knocking the seat. I didn't do my due diligence before buying, although finding another M3 around here is hard enough, one with Nogaro's, not happening.

I removed the standard (and very soft) piece of foam in the base section (where your ass resides) and replaced it with two pieces of, from memory (but will check and report back) 3/8” thick foam. One was a reasonably firm memory foam, and the other piece a slightly softer piece of open cell foam. It lowered me in the seat sufficiently to alter the angle between the base section and the back section, but still provided sufficient support and cushioning that it was more comfortable than the soft 1” thick original foam, and with the addition of the Cobra lumbar pillow (barely inflated) I find the seat comfortable for long drives, though I’m aware of my shoulders being pushed forward relative to my spine.

I’ve spoken to Mark at Cobra (I’m in the UK) about widening the seat across the “wings” to allow those with broad shoulders to better fit in it and not have their shoulders pushed forwards. Regrettably he said it would make the seat too wide and thus he was considering flattening out the back of the seat in the area of the wings/the occupants shoulders, to solve the problem.

[Cubieman]

Lumber support and additional padding in lower section (where your ass resides) made the seats not seem so rigid to me.

I also don't like how the seats force my upper body out and want to concave my shoulders into a shitty position.

I may go back to stock someday honestly, not knocking the seat. I didn't do my due diligence before buying, although finding another M3 around here is hard enough, one with Nogaro's, not happening.

[Gearhead55]

I added the inflatable lumbar support to mine and I like it much better now, fwiw.

[SQ13]

To credential myself slightly: I race in Champcar in a Racetech seat of some form mounted in an E36 without sliders. I drive 2 hour stints with less discomfort in that seat than I had in the Nogaro after 20 minutes driving around town. This isn't me bashing the seat, as they're so subjective, but pointing out that I do have some understanding of fixed-back seats and my body.

Lol our Champcar cars also have a Racetech halo seats, and we go for two hour stints as well. They make the most comfortable seats out of the box imo. I think before you do anything else, add something in the lumbar are behind the cushion to see if that helps. Foam, bubble wrap, paper box stuffers, whatever you have on hand.

[SQ13]

I think most bucket seats are shaped like that, even the OE Porsche LWBS. FWIW I’ve found every fixed back seat I’ve run uncomfortable until I added lumbar support. With lumbar support I can drive for hours without any problems, while I struggled with OE seats even with lumbar. Wing supports pushing shoulder forward is just something you have to get used to, and if you have your seat positioned right, your shoulders should curve anyways when holding the wheel at 3 and 9 o’clock. These are features of a fixed back racing seat, and the Nogaros are essentially racing seats designed to be more street car friendly.

Body shape and size is also important obviously, hence why it’s a good idea to try and sit in a seat before buying. Sparco, Cobra, Racetech, and Recaro FIA seats fit me well, while Sabelt seats are meh and OMP seats are terrible. I was worried about Nogaros working for me, and thankfully BTB let me sit in his. I’m a midget at 5’7 160-170ish lbs with wide shoulders and a natty bodybuilder shape (cuz that’s another overpriced hobby of mine).

Dang it-- any idea if the 'pre-facelift' Nogaro is still available? Was thinking I'd get a matching one for passenger at some point ...

FWIW I like the white/gray stitching though the black is looking good too

Cobra and HMS are very flexible, so I’m sure you can order the old style center cushions.

[Pklauser]

Dang it-- any idea if the 'pre-facelift' Nogaro is still available? Was thinking I'd get a matching one for passenger at some point ...

FWIW I like the white/gray stitching though the black is looking good too

Not sure, reach out to HMS and report back what they say. Maybe they have leftovers?

Just went for a drive with seats installed as-is. Unfortunately these are putting up a fight with my body. I don't know if I've sat in a less comfortable seat 😂
I'm going to try and describe what I'm feeling in case it helps anyone considering these seats:

It's not that the angle between the seat base and back is too upright, it's that the seat back has a curve to it. If you looked at the seat from the side you'd see a profile like: _). I find my lower back is collapsing into that curve, and my upper back is being pushed forward. I'm basically being forced to slouch. I think the lumbar support will help part of this problem, but then it will net out that I'm still too far forward.

It looks like there is room underneath the seat to recline it further, granted that will move my head down vertically. I may give this a shot as an attempt to better support my thighs, while also mitigating it feeling like my upper back is being pushed so far forward. Ideally I would add a mounting hole to the front of the mounts to raise the front instead of lowering the rear, as my substrap is also interfering some with my carpet like repoman89 , but alas there is not enough material left in the mounts to add a hole there.


To credential myself slightly: I race in Champcar in a Racetech seat of some form mounted in an E36 without sliders. I drive 2 hour stints with less discomfort in that seat than I had in the Nogaro after 20 minutes driving around town. This isn't me bashing the seat, as they're so subjective, but pointing out that I do have some understanding of fixed-back seats and my body.

[BTB]

Just installed one of these today and wanted to share the differences featured by a Nogaro ordered from HMS as of late 2024, and my impressions.

Stitching is all-black now, cushion pattern is parallel instead of the previous curves, and the logo has shrunk dramatically. I was told by HMS this was their doing, which is great because it means an off-the-shelf Nogaro now looks a lot better imo, while not needing the cost of a custom seat.

Sitting in the seat in the car, I'm finding that there's what I would describe as "negative" lumbar support. Playing with the seat in my house, I could mitigate this greatly by increasing the amount the seat is reclined. I know heinzboehmer has also tackled this with custom cushions. I'm still pondering my angle of attack here, but would it be ill-advised to potentially add another rear hole to the BK mounts, allowing for more lean-back?

Dang it-- any idea if the 'pre-facelift' Nogaro is still available? Was thinking I'd get a matching one for passenger at some point ...

FWIW I like the white/gray stitching though the black is looking good too

[SQ13]

Forgot to mention the cushion pattern/shape changed to be less "curvy" than it was, another welcome change imo.

Yea I'll give it some time. Ordered an ebay lumbar pad to experiment. Not ruling out the "official" Cobra lumbar option, but want to try something cheaper first.

I use this. Works great for me.

https://corbeau.com/inflatable-lumbar-support/

[Pklauser]

Stock black stitching seems like a good update.

If you look, I suspect there isn’t space under the seat to lower the rear hole. That said, most people recline WAY too much— I bet if you give it a week, you won’t even want to recline it more anymore.

Cobra has an adjustable lumbar pad.

Forgot to mention the cushion pattern/shape changed to be less "curvy" than it was, another welcome change imo.

Yea I'll give it some time. Ordered an ebay lumbar pad to experiment. Not ruling out the "official" Cobra lumbar option, but want to try something cheaper first.

[Obioban]

Stock black stitching seems like a good update.

If you look, I suspect there isn’t space under the seat to lower the rear hole. That said, most people recline WAY too much— I bet if you give it a week, you won’t even want to recline it more anymore.

Cobra has an adjustable lumbar pad.

[Pklauser]

Just installed one of these today and wanted to share the differences featured by a Nogaro ordered from HMS as of late 2024, and my impressions.



Stitching is all-black now, cushion pattern is parallel instead of the previous curves, and the logo has shrunk dramatically. I was told by HMS this was their doing, which is great because it means an off-the-shelf Nogaro now looks a lot better imo, while not needing the cost of a custom seat.

Sitting in the seat in the car, I'm finding that there's what I would describe as "negative" lumbar support. Playing with the seat in my house, I could mitigate this greatly by increasing the amount the seat is reclined. I know heinzboehmer has also tackled this with custom cushions. I'm still pondering my angle of attack here, but would it be ill-advised to potentially add another rear hole to the BK mounts, allowing for more lean-back?

[Obioban]

Obioban

Sir I just found your post on google about the cobra seats. Can you say these were the lowest seats you tried compared to pole position? I am tall and tired of my head hitting the headliner! Amazing looking car by the way..

thank you.

Seat height, for fixed back seats, generally depends more on the mounts than the seats.

If you really want to go as low as possible, the BK mounts that don't use sliders (direct to floor) are going to be your best bet. A good friend of mine is 7'1, and they allow him to sit upright in the car with a helmet.

[1284712]

Obioban

Sir I just found your post on google about the cobra seats. Can you say these were the lowest seats you tried compared to pole position? I am tall and tired of my head hitting the headliner! Amazing looking car by the way..

thank you.

[nachizl8]

Splice it with something like this

Thanks man, I was overthinking it. This worked perfectly well, loving the seats. Can’t wait to get some real seat time 😁