(S) removing rear seats

another day tomorrow.. of doing... well.. nothing
going to rip out my rear seats..
but was thinking maybe the seats act of kind of a rear brace ?
is this right
or can i rip em out and just drive right on ?
or is it not recommended
i know it'll look turd
but i will mdf it out etc.

take em out!! loads n loads n loads of peeps have done it including myself, many for cosmetic purposes ( adding installs etc ) or some in order to loose weight, the cinq rally cars have no rear seats and im sure they wouldnt remove them if the added extra support!!

yeh you can take it out, makes no difference to handling, mines stripped.

Yeah the rear seats brace the chassis and there is noticeably more flexure in the rear of the car. However if you put the lower seat bracket back in cut a piece of Al tubing to size and thread it up bolt that in it'll more than make up the difference. Also you'll need to fill all the bolt holes with something .

alainax, rally 'centos have roll cages in this will more than compensate for any more flexure in the chassis.

rear seats hardly much of a weight reduction in any car. Answer a few questions below and you will know

1. Do you use rear seats much?
2. What is main purpose of the car
3. Ring up insurance company and see if it drops (it should as you can carry less people in the car)
4. Do you like quite ride or noisey? (taking seats and sound deading out will increase noise
5. What do you want to do with the space? ice, rally look?

yes there is more flex in the rear on removing rear seats, easily rectified with a roll cage or homemade strut brace.

Its also a hell of alot more noisy, myself i like this, but worth considering keeping your rear seats incase you dont, and choose to refit them.

As for the weight issue, of course it reduces weight! try weighing just the seatbelts you remove alone, you will be surprised!!

It doesnt look pants, no need for the MDF

take the plunge! good luck!

Of course theres gonna be some flex due to removing the seats but really doesn't make that much difference as far as i'm concerned. I can't tell the difference in mine. I did look at it when i took it out and was dubious but having thrown it into some of my fave corners i swear it sticks to the same point as it ever did with the seats in, can't see much point in putting a bar across where the seat were tbh. I intend to get a cage at some point i'd expect that to make a noticeable difference.

blu73, cornering isn't where you get the most flexure, it's going over crests on a diagonal and bumps. My Sei got really unsettled without that bracing, though that is just a temp fix I may get someone to weld up a low brace to the roll cage when that lot gets fitted.

xracer, on -20mm springs with a full tank of fuel with seats in the tyres are just slighly overlapped with the top of the rear arch, with the seats out it's got about 10mm before overlap. As for noise level, it's about the same level as when the rear seats are down.