Installed a SPARCO EVO II in my S3

[soulflyer]

...

Installed!! was a PITA and took 3 hours... including some customization of the side mounts. This seat is an SPARCO EVO II which barely fits into the car. Anything bigger needs additional customization i.e. cutting..
The seat is very tight and not really comfy but the 'road feeling' is so much better, perfect for the track.
There are only two trouble codes left, the warning for the side airbag and the seat position sensor.

[will13k7]

rollcage and 5 point harness next?

[onequick4door]

You don't have run a cage with a fixed back seat. If I'm misreading the comment, just ignore my post. All the clubs I run with, allow it. Are their advantages and disadvantages, yes, but let's not debate that here.

Side note though Tyrolsport is currently developing a harness bar for the S3. They said it won't involve cutting, they also said to call back mid May and should be close.

SOULFLYER - please let the forum know how you addressed the codes. i will probably be getting the recaro CS sportster's and will have to deal with the codes as well.

I do miss a full racing bucket in the car. It's a 1 - 1.5 second per lap gain, sometimes more, by knowing exactly what the car is doing vs. the sensitivity you lose by having to hold yourself in place with the dead pedal and hand/arm pressure in the corners.

[soulflyer]

You don't have run a cage with a fixed back seat. If I'm misreading the comment, just ignore my post. All the clubs I run with, allow it. Are their advantages and disadvantages, yes, but let's not debate that here.

Side note though Tyrolsport is currently developing a harness bar for the S3. They said it won't involve cutting, they also said to call back mid May and should be close.

SOULFLYER - please let the forum know how you addressed the codes. i will probably be getting the recaro CS sportster's and will have to deal with the codes as well.

I do miss a full racing bucket in the car. It's a 1 - 1.5 second per lap gain, sometimes more, by knowing exactly what the car is doing vs. the sensitivity you lose by having to hold yourself in place with the dead pedal and hand/arm pressure in the corners.

In order to remove the seat you have to take the battery off. And that alone counts for bunch of error codes when you turn the ignition back on. Once I drove for a few kms I stopped and cleared them all. Then I scanned again and now I am left with those two:

9440027 - Driver's side; side-airbag igniter
B100B 1B [137] - Resistance Too High
MIL ON - Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Mileage: 39444 km
Date: 2016.04.17
Time: 00:01:00

9444885 - Driver's seat position sensor
B101E 15 [137] - Open or Short to Plus
MIL ON - Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Mileage: 39444 km
Date: 2016.04.17
Time: 00:01:02

I talked with the tech guy at my dealership when I brought the car in yesterday to get the Audi Sound Enhancing Resonator Delete Kit installed and he told me not to worry about those two codes. Once the original seat goes back in (Winter Season) I can clear them again.
So basically I am driving around with the airbag warning light on all the time.
Another thing to consider is the seat belt warning chime. Don't forget to code that one off.

The biggest pain was to get the trim off to get access to the seat belt tensioner in order to unhook the seat belt so I can thread it through the side of the seat. But the Repair manual I bought of Erwin USA is very detailed about it so I was able to avoid too many pitfalls.

And as mentioned, that seat gives a whole new dimension of how you are connected to the car. Absolutely amazing!!!

[will13k7]

rollcage and 5 point harness next?

You don't have run a cage with a fixed back seat.

it wasn't a loaded question, I literally was wondering if the OP was going to add a roll cage and harness next.

[DWP]

More info for the Erwin manual please.

[soulflyer]

More info for the Erwin manual please.

Erwin.audiusa.com
register, pay 35US for 24 hours access. Enough to download everything, including all TSBs that have been issued so far...

[soulflyer]

it wasn't a loaded question, I literally was wondering if the OP was going to add a roll cage and harness next.

Nope, can't do a cage, I have a 7 year old kid to drive around... but maybe a Schroth Quick Fit Pro.. We will see how it goes on the track...

[onequick4door]

Nope, can't do a cage, I have a 7 year old kid to drive around... but maybe a Schroth Quick Fit Pro.. We will see how it goes on the track...

Someone on here I thought commented on the quickfit pro and problem with one of the bolts being too big or small. I'll have to try and dig that out. They're a really good company so you may want to call them about if they have fitted it specifically in our cars.

Thanks for the information on the coding very useful. Now I just need to get vagcom.

[soulflyer]

Other things to consider:

pro:
- your body will not move in the car
- you feel everything on the road
- you sit lower which is good for wearing a helmet.

cons
- your body will not be able to move in the car... reaching to that ticket at the parking or the drive through counter can be a bit of a challenge... or just turning around to check on your kid in the back will make you wish for the standard seats...
- I have a fixed installation so I can sit even lower (maybe 1-1.5 inch) but that means no slider for back and forth adjustement... getting in and out of the seat can look comical if your older and stiff like me ...


Regarding the Schroth Quick Fit. I saw that post about the issues. And the people that organize the track days told me that they do not accept 4 or 5 point harness without a roll bar or a cage... however the guy who helped install the seat is an ex-instructor for that organisation and told me that this is all BS.. well he also is specialised in constructing custom roll bars and cages (https://www.facebook.com/BuiltBySeb/ he does speak English...) so I am not sure which way to go. I personally would like to install a Quick Fit...

Other than that I do enjoy the new and different quality of ride. 'Tossing' the car around a corner has a whole new meaning!