Ok, I have a WRX SL wagon with the leather seats, these are basically the same as Spec-D and GB270 seats bar the fact that the SL's are heated, which is coming in handy ATM.

My seats being cleaned/conditioned whilst also cleaning the carpets...I know, a bit OTT but all part of my de-contam' from previous owner!


They're comfortable enough, trouble is you feel like you're sat 'on' them rather than 'in' them so I started looking for a better pair of seats that would bolt straight in. There's been some discussions on here recently about what are the best seats and the bug STi versions seem to get the vote as the blob/hawk versions became wider fitting and not so snug.

So here they are, the best OEM seats you can get


And the best seats to get if you are going to re-trim them in leather are bug WRX seats which are exactly the same shape bar a few differences in the shapes to the material 'panels'.

So here's some I picked-up earlier! They feel amazing to sit in, really grip you and feel very comfy, though definitely not for fat blokes!

They're in superb condition considering the age except for a bit of bobbling on the drivers seat thigh bolster and the foam underneath this area will need re-building.


There was a little bit of rust to 3 of the 8 feet which I have rubbed-down and treated/painted black.




Also removed all the plastic trim and put my new parts wash bath to good use...(definitely not our daughters bath, honest).



On a side note, this isn't my first seat project, here's a pair I did earlier for my old B7 RS4, I have a thing about seats...


Sourced the leather for the trimmers from a suppliers in Germany to match the metallic anthracite colour and used a local trimmers for the leather work

And the best bit...


Did all the carbon lamination myself...very very labour intensive but looked amazing and is one of the only 2 RS4s in the country with custom carbon backs


Getting back to the bug seats, at this point I was supposed to get the seats done at the same trimmers I used on the RS4, but he took one look at them and wimped-out because the fabric is bonded and removing the fabric destroys the foam! Bugger.

Next stop Transcal a large commercial trimmers in Livingston just outside Edinburgh.


Transcal are more expensive but they have done lots of STi seats before and know what to do with the bonded fabric, i.e. they make-up templates from the seat covers in situ and bond the new seat covers over the old, simples. The standard of work is amazing (they had a Range Rover in the fitting area awaiting a new interior), only thing is they're not cheap! They also tell me they can match the blue Alcantara on the STi seats for repairs and re-trims.

I talked through the re-trim options with Sam one of their fitters and marked on with chalk the changes I wanted to the panels and left the seats with them.




They've just had a large order from a clients so unfortunately they won't be finished until January, but it gives me time to source the heated seat pads they'll fit for me.

 

**** me, those RS4 seats.

 

Awesome. I just shifted a set of Bug WRX seats so that I could get the blue STI ones to match my car colour

Good to know they can match the blue though. I might have to get the rear bench done at some point.

 

A few jobs to do before the seats are finished.

First fit 3.3ohm resister to seat airbag connector (bug WRX seats don't have airbags)


Pushed the resister into the connector


Stripped the connector back to expose the pins so I could test that the resistor was shorting the 2 pins correctly


pushed bluetak in around resister to hold in place then wrapped with insulation tape


also needed to buy a drivers seat belt catch from a bug STi as the standard bug WRX seats don't have a seat belt warning switch fitted


Next job, heated seats...

went for the carbon fibre seat pads that can be cut (in length only) to suit the seats


and wiring loom for each seat


Fortunately the OEM heated seat switch works in the same way as the one supplied with the heated seat kit so was just a case of cutting the wires to after market switch and using crimp connectors to connect new loom to OEM switch




Then install loom from centre console to under the seats ready to plug in...


Had a call from Transcal this week to say they may have the seats completed by next week which means I can get them fitted over the holidays...

 

Collected the seats from Transcal today, very impressed with the quality of work

Leather looks amazing, really happy with the blue contrast stitching, tried to mimic the style of the bug STi seats







Blue stitch is exact match for the stitching on the steering wheel


Looking forward to getting these fitted over the next few days, going to spend plenty of time conditioning the leather before they're sat in to make sure they sat looking brand new.

 

They look lovely!

 

Bloody good job there mate

 

Nice! Not a fan of leather seats any more, but they do look very smart indeed.

Regarding the differences in 'snugness' between the blob and bug seats - is it really that noticeable?

 

The difference between the leather SL seats and the bug seats is night and day, so blob WRX seats will be somewhere in between. Not having sat in a blob WRX seat I can't confirm 100% but they do look pretty shallow and wide to me.

 

Would look better all black
Looks like a seat cover tbh
No doubt the work is amazing

Wiley

 

Never really been into black on black...work is amazing and looks nothing like seats covers mate

 

Update on fitting the seats. Before fitting I completed the heated seat wiring. Decided not to use any of the existing wiring at all and connected into the cigarette lighter power & earth.

2xfuses tucked away in centre console


Connected the new wiring to the OEM switches



Connectors from each seat ready to plug into switch wiring



Old heated seat wiring taped-up and tucked way


Now on to the seats, all plastic trim, handles and latches cleaned ready for re-fitting, all in perfect condition with no scratches


And the best bit, fitting the seats







Loving the attention to detail in the stitching


Spent some time conditioning the leather to help them stay looking new...



Heated seats fully integrated with OEM switches, and heat up in just a couple of mins where as the OEM seats took 10-15mins!

 

Hi mate i just fitted sl interior i have all the switches and plugs do i just tap into cig lighter like to power switches and do i put a inline fuse in between lighter and seats

 

Whats happened with the SL seats?

I'm slighly confused, as if you had a SL, then all the heated seat wirring will all be fitted, just just need to wire new seats to current OEM wirring?

 

No i have a jdm blob sti but bought a sl interior with all switches and seat plugs just need to know if its just live and earth or if i need a relay

 

Hi Peter, unfortunately I know nothing about the OEM wiring to the OEM switches as I didn't want to play around with it and it was far easier to just use the relay/wiring with the aftermarket heaters. Yes I installed an inline fuse for each seat to the cig lighter.

You will need a relay for each seat but the loom is quite convoluted and I haven't made any notes or drawn up a wiring diagram. I'll look through what notes/pics I have and post back.

What wiring do you have?

 

I have black blue and two greens for switches then black and two greens for seats

 

From forrester forum i read
Blue-live
Black-earth
Green-illum to show seat turned on

 

ok, lay out the wiring you have and connect the switches and take a highres pic of them

 

Do it once home cheers

 

sorry about pic quality its my phone so top 2 plugs are for seats bottom ones are for switched

 

What i can make out is bottom ones plug into switches
Blue wire to power source
black earth
Greens will be seats hi/lo settings
So do i just wire blue into cig light live and put a 20amp fuse inbetween cig lighter and switch or just wire without fuse

 

It's not that simple, power splits between the switch and relay

Thought they might have given you the complete looms as what you have will be a pain in butt to work out

This is all the help I can provide on the oEM wiring:

after market loom for each seat


aftermarket kit relay for each seat



OEM switch pinouts, 1=low 2=high

 

Ok cheers i thought i read on forrester forum the relays are nuilt into the switches

 

very smart mate.

personally not a fan of leather in imprezas. had a sl model once and first roundabout slid accross the seat - prefer material holding me in place.

 

I know what you mean, and that's why I had to fit better/closer fitting seats as I felt like I was sat on rather than in them!

 

http://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/...TI204_019x.JPG

Now these are seats!

 

arrh yes the ultimate Impreza seats, I wondered how long it would be before you gave this thread the 'not as good as the S204' stamp!

 

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What you planning Darrell?