Somewhere else! All Racetech seats are proudly manufactured in Wellington, New Zealand using a combination of materials sourced locally and abroad. Their small, dedicated team take immense pride in crafting each seat and RT celebrate each championship win like Racetech were driving the car.
Racetech strongly believe back-mounting a seat improves driver safety in an impact and increases driver ‘feel’ of the vehicle. It is no surprise that this same philosophy is now prevalent in international touring car categories such as V8 Supercars and NASCAR. This video explains the concept further. When the Racetech 119 and 129 series seats are crash-tested by the FIA, they are mounted with both back-mount and floor-mount brackets. It is therefore mandatory that these seats are installed using back-mount brackets to achieve FIA homologation.
The test method for the new 8862-2009 standard differs significantly from that of the older 8855-1999 standard. The old standard simulates three successive impacts; 20G rearwards, 15G laterally and another 10G rearwards by using a crash test dummy and rapidly decelerating a sled. The new standard is quasi-static, meaning the seat is fixed and the loads are applied by hydraulic rams to the head, shoulder and pelvis areas of the seat simultaneously. There is both lateral and rearwards tests where the seat must withstand;
It is difficult to compare the two standards accurately except to say that the newer 8862 standard is much more rigorous and simulates an impact of approximately 70G.
The other point to note is that seats meeting the new FIA standard are required to use stiff, energy absorbing foam in the head, shoulder and pelvis areas, improving safety for the occupant.
No, this is not a defect. The 009 series seats are designed with four threaded mounting points per side in order to allow smaller (10mm rather than 20mm) incremental changes to seat mounting height and angle. In a typical installation, you would only use two mounting points on each side of the seat.
No, Racetech don’t re-homologate seats.
Apart from (discontinued) 9100 Sprintcar seat models, it isn’t recommended that you remove the seat cover for cleaning. The cover is glued down and not designed for removal. With the seat cover still in place you can use a combination of mild detergent/soap and water to remove dirt and dust. Use water sparingly, as excessive water will soak through the seat fabric into the foam and extend drying time.
At this stage, RT don’t. Their goal is to produce advanced motorsport seats for serious competitors. In a high speed side or oblique impact, the loads on the seat mounting brackets/rails are very high. Many sliding rails available are not designed to handle these loads and may deform or break, increasing your chances of injury during an accident.