I realise where you are coming from - but from the hypothetical numbers produced by these manufacturer(s )of these good looking taditional style Ac Cobra seats have been to my understanding have been produced for a number of years (probably going back over a decade)and the break-even would have been achieved and it STILL doesnot justify in my opinion the EXHORBITANT PRICE charged.
A good figure should be $1100 which should equate to a similiar type seats which could be imported from the UK which are IVA COMPLIANT.
The UK manufacturer that makes a similiar product would have the same costs and
still is making money which is 50% lower than what could be made locally.
The UK manufacturer supplies the UK Ac cobra market .

How many of these companies will stay and would also still be around if they had priced to a high volume market instead trying to rake back costs in their small local market!!

Too many here struggle to move product because their pricing is unattractive to the now savvy consumer that now has the tools to source a like product from elsewhere.
I would also say that the supplier here is lazy in getting their selves and product to a mass market they expect the consumer at home to be the bunny and say yes to this cost ,guess what the consumer now says NO WAY am I going to pay that!!!
....so your now left to carry all those costs you were trying to pass on..where you could have sold those 100 and more!!!! plus the other stock and services you offer due to the increased traffic through your business...

..the CONSUMER will now, usually find substantial cost saving including delivery to their door by looking WORLDWIDE!!

I know the 2 below are mass distributors and not manufacturers but what they offer is selling into a mass market..if your product is good enough and R&D to meet local and other market requirements you'll have volume and margin!!

JEGS and TIRERACK are perfect examples of ultra competive pricing and exceptional customer service.
Try and get an Australian organization to have your product despatched within 3 hrs(JEGS) from ordering and here in 3 -4days at the 1/3 to 1/2 the price of a local like product!!
TIRERACK 4 tyres delivered to your door from the otherside of the world at the price of 1 1/2 or 2 tyres here and then have get them yourself!!!!!!

I maybe way off track???....M2CW :p

Oz The Tirerack door is closing, I am told they cannot supply to Aust unless they include original paperwork from manufacturer citing testing and compliance testing with their tyres. Dunlop and some others are excluded as they sell in Oz. So Tirerack have refused to supply and ship here as its too much red tape. So much for competition in the market place and a level playing field. Cant wait for the GST to kick in on internet purchases. Whats the cry Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy No No No.

I got my Mickey Thompson tyres from outlaw speed shop, very good price.
JD

Have I got this wrong... Tire Rack won't ship tyres to Australia unless the tyre manufacturer also sells here? Which major manufacturer doesn't sell tyres here? :confused:

That was my first thought as well!!!!:)

....so nothing has changed!!!!:3DSMILE:

I was chatting to Ethan Burns at TireRack yesterday and he informed me that they are still shipping to Australia. They recently had to make changes to their dealer arrangements with Yokohama, Hankook and some Michelin's. They are no longer permitted to ship these brands out of the USA. Only some of the Michelin tyres are still ok for export.

In order to get an accurate quote from them, you will need to supply your name. billing address, shipping address if different to the billing address, email address,home telephone No, including the country code and another telephone No if you can be reached elsewhere.

After they put together your order and have it weighed, he submits the order to shipping companies for quotes. Once he has the quotes, he chooses the lowest price and sends you an email with the total price. If you change the order in any way, start again from scratch.

They collect for shipping charges only. Any duties, customs, brokerage or taxes is the responsibility of the buyer. Tire Rack cannot accept credit card payments for international orders, only use bank wire transfers.

I think Ethan has taken over from Fred Helmuth, the man we all used to deal with. Hope this helps. I think I might duplicate this quote as a new thread
as it applies to just about all of us.



Baz

I just bought a set of MX5 seats out of NA model(ebay) and which to concur that the seats will not fit my RMC Cobra which is a copy of Arntz cobra out of the States.
The MX5 seats donot have to be modified but the internal sunken floor and its configuration has to be modified by cutting and re-fibreglassing.
I bought a pair of seats on ebay for $100 which are red in color and they were fitted to a older Cobra circa 1987 which were specifically designed for a DAX cobra.
A batch of DAX cobras were imported in Victoria in the late 1980's in suburb of Brighton as advised by this gentleman who lives in Gippsland.

These seats are a modified SAAS seat specifically built for the cobra but I consider them to be too narrow for my back side.
Apparently the seats are brand new and the previous owner decided not to use them in his cobra and elected to buy a brand new seats from Tony at Classic Motor Trimmers at Eltham presumably acquired for $2200.
It is good to work in Gold Mine!
Tony has told me that his seats are NOW ADR3-03 complied and will validate.

We used a set of seats out of an S2000 Honda they fit very nicely and not to high.

I just got a pair of these from the US.

http://static.speedwaymotors.com/RS/...91070058_L.jpg

http://static.speedwaymotors.com/RS/...970057GS_L.jpg

The plan is to weld a bracket to the back of them for a removable head rest.

They are surprisingly comfortable.

Cheers

Michael

What about the seats from a smart car? They actually look half decent and are definately designed for small cars. Theres some on Ebay right now - would look good with a recover I think

SMART FORTWO / SMARTCAR FRONT SEATS 2003 - 2007 | eBay

Interesting find Ryder but they don't meet the current ADR, being manufactured in 2007.

SMART Car Seats like this you mean :)

http://bencobra.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/photo1.jpg

I got these a few weeks ago, haven't posted details due to lack of time. They're 46cms wide, 3cm narrower than the Alto seats I posted about earlier, and are a good deal lower/thinner. I have looked in some detail and as far as I can tell the current For2 SMART has the same seats, they dont seem to have changed at all. I got mine from a 2008.

Justcobra

I'd concur that the standard MX5 seats are a tight fit. The G-Force cabin is much the same as the RMC and my standard seats fitted but gave me no room for adjustment.

I solved this by cutting the floor shells down the middle and then retacking the halves together on both sides narrowing the seat pans by 50mm. I needed to similiarly modify the backs to match but as a tubular frame this too was very easy to achieve.

The seats are still very comfortable but now they give me room to manouvre the seats to a position that suits.

You are not going to find an easy option for a good seat fit unfortunately.

I have a cr and the biggest hurdle is the wheel arch when the seat is right back. I'm waiting on my wheels to see if I can cut into them and refibreglass.
JD
Did the smart seats fit squarely to the steering?
JD

So... just to clarify...
If you use seats from a car manufactured after 2007, will they automaticly pass the new ADR?

I tried reading through the ADR paperwork, but it made me fall asleep. Then I had a dream some crazy old guy in a suit was trying to strangle me with red tape. Also, I'm not very good with legal stuff - so if it's as simple as using a seat from a newer car then I'll be happy :)

Ryder, my understanding is that the 3 year grace period for the previous ADR for seats (3/02?) expired in July 2011, which means you need a seat from a car manufactured after mid-2008. Best to check with your engineer though.

I'm so confused,

Ben,
when do you have to register before time runs out on the Smart seats ?

Dave

As I understand it in Victoria you have to comply with all current ADR's at the time of registration. However you get three years "grace" from the "major" start point of the build, so say you purchase your chassis in Jan 2011 and then an ADR changes in June 2012, and you register in Jan 2014, you would not have to comply with the changed ADR from June 2012 because it changed within three years of your initial "major" purchase. If your three years runs out before reg then you can apply (through engineer) for an extension. Of course this is only relevant if there are actually ADR changes while you are building.

Putting it more simply, you need to comply with what was current at time of chassis purchase, but once 3 years has gone unless you get an extension then you need to comply with whatever has become current at the time of reg. Again, this is for Victoria, and is my understanding.

So for me the only way my Smart seats will run out is if I am not registered by September 2014 (chassis purchased September 2011) AND the ADR changes AND the seats do not comply with what will presumably be ADR3/04.

If the ADR doesn't change, then the seats will stay current until it does, and even if it does change it does not mean they become null and void depending on what changes in the ADR. When ADR3/02 was revised to 3/03 the only change was relating to the headrests and height, which is why the Smart seats are legal now even though the design has not changed since the 3/02 days - even the 3/02 ones meet the 3/03 specifications.

Not sure why you're confused Dave :p

It depends on the car you are getting them from. THe requirement came in on the 1st of July 2008 for all new models. If the model did not change then it can contiue to be produced with old compliant seats.

In other words if a commodore xyz model is released in 2007 and continues to 2009, it doesnt have to comply with the new ADR unless it is a new model. If they release a new version of the commodore after July 2008 then it needs to comply.

Modena, what is the height of the seat back?