MX3 Seat Swap....Review
 

Well, finally got the MX3 seats (well, just one seat for now) and here is a quick review.

Pros:
1. Lower center of gravity
2. More supportive
3. Forces you look ahead more (because you now sit lower)
4. One peice seat/headrest, Sportier Looking.
5. Main Color matches pretty good (dark blue in my case)


Cons:
1. Elbows get knocked on center console and door panel
2. More sun glare, visors aren't as effective
3. Less under seat clearance (if you have gear mounted or whatever
4. actually sits about 3" lower (not the 1" i had heard of)
5. Mini-Me profile :)
6. Fabric Patterns don't really match and not all that nice either
7. Shifter is bit too high (The MP3 shifter might be a good swap)
8. Steering wheel could come down about an 1" (even with tilt all the way down)

So, there ya have it, a few more cons than Pros, but the most important part for me is the extra support, which is definetely has. I will know for sure if the seats are good when i test it racing next week.

here are some pics of the MX3 and Pro seats installed, so you can see the difference between the 2 visually.

http://www.scnax.com/photos/MX3_seats_01.jpg

http://www.scnax.com/photos/MX3_seats_02.jpg

http://www.scnax.com/photos/MX3_seats_03.jpg

http://www.scnax.com/photos/MX3_seats_04.jpg

http://www.scnax.com/photos/MX3_seats_05.jpg

That's a nice looking seat :) I have MX3 seats, but they must be from the GS or whatever, because they're different, and not as nice. I wasn't too happy when I got them in the mail. They're still 400x better than the stock 323 seats that I had!

Here's the seats that I'll be getting someday, within a year or so:

http://www.corbeau.com/brochure/gts2.shtml

Best. Seats. EVAR! :D

BTW, I'm going for the clean-stock look. No racing seats for this guy!

looks good. you may have just changed my opinion on the MX-3 seats for my 323. :)

How much did you paid for them at junkyard...

I'll probably buy one or two for my next 323.... It's even better because me too I'm tall :)

nice nice, I just hate the colors they come in... :/

Looks very nice. I am having 2nd thoughts about doing this conversion in my car now that you mentioned they are THAT low. I'm 5'8" and I autoX and stuff.... so i need something that'll give me a good agile posture (steering control, view, etc). I feel like the stock seats are just not cutting it for side support when i corner real hard.

w00t
 

I've got the MX3 seats in my Escort Wagon, also. And I dropped my steering wheel about an inch as well. It completely gets my arms in a more natural position when driving, and since I have a long torso, it finally put my head in the area where i don't have to lean forward just to see a stoplight across an intersection.

I've got to say that it's a totally great swap to do. They're MUCH more supportive in the autocross realm than my stock escort seats were, or even the pair of 94+ MX3 seats that I had in there last year. If you want the good ones, get 1993 or earlier model year seats.

I've got a B&M shifter on the way, as soon as it's off of backorder, and I'm thinking it will help the reach to 1,3,5 just a little bit better, too.

Next stop, Stainless Steel brake and clutch lines, DOT5 brake fluid, and some EBC GreenStuff or Hawk pads for autocrossing. And I want to get a 5-point harness, too..

Anyone know a good place to get a 5-point camlok harness inexpensively?

--sarge

My idea for the steering wheel is to use 2 peices of metal pipe, one inside the other for strength. hopefully the bolts are long enough, i suspect they are though...or try to extand the tilt range...i haven't looked at it closely yet.

My idea for raising the seat, was to make a rail-riser out of 1" thick square tubing, replicate the mounting angles for the seat with plates and then again to mount them to the floor. (a bit more involved than metal pipe extenders :) )

I'm 6'1" and i notice a pretty big amount of extra headroom (although good for helmet clearence, but it really wasn't much of an issue anyway)

Also, after 13 years driving the same car, ya kinda get used to the seating position, so it was a HUGE change for me.

do u guys know if the 3rd gen seats will fit on the 1st gen? :D

cuz i sit in my friend's 3rd gen all the time and his seats are dam comfortable. my car kinda hurts my back sometimes

just a thought :)

Ah man..those automatic seatbelts must suck-ass. Worst automotive idea ever....if you don't know how to put on your seatbelt, than you shouldn't be driving(same thing with automatic headlights and whipers...). Did all the American Pros come with those?

Also, Mazdaspeedwest...what's up with your door panels? That's the only time I've seen those particular panels, other than on our 93 GTs here.

Nope, I'm too little of a guy for those! I think anyone who's 5'8" is going to have a problem sitting that low. Darryl - did you use the stock rails off your old seats? If you did I thought that would've helped somewhat with the seat height ...

I tried to get some of these seats once from a local junkyard here (LKQ). They didn't have any in the yard, so they had to source them from their other yards. I had two different sets shipped down. Both sets were crap and I refused them. I'm glad now that I didn't take them because I don't think I would've liked them. When, and if, the time comes, I think I'll go with some Corbeau's as well, but I'll have to do some research to make sure they sit up high enough for me.

Hahaha... Yea, I'm 5'8", it probably looks really funny watching me drive down the road in my car. It's obscenely low. I'm assuming the Corbeau's will be better, because they make custom seat rails, and they probably make them close to the same height as the stock seatrails.

I'll surely buy one set of those...

I'm tired that the mirror is lower than my eyes in this car...

This is just in case someone reads this and decides to buy MX-3 seats.

1992-1993 are the seats you see above. At 1994 they changed them to a split seat/headrest design and less sportier. They go upon years, not models as they are the same for a 1992 RS or GS.

Later years they had more of a fuscia/green combo with the usual dark blue.

I like my stock seats, but they could be more supportive. For stock, they're great, but for seroius competitive AutoX or racing, they're not good enough.

It's funny though how you find them low, because I think they're high. It's probably the way my interrior is set up compared to a Protege I guess.

I wouldn't mind lowering mine anout 3" to be honest.

~A

what about mx-6 seats??? has any one tryed these?? or they hard to put in or what..,.. ive been on the forum a while and have never sceen this topic covered... any one have any info?? thanks

Door panels are stock (except for the speaker grille) 90-91 had these panels, 92+ had different ones.

I have no problem with the autobelts, work just as good. But totally suck ass for racing, a harness is a must.

Nope, i dropped em in as they came. I looked quickly and IIRC the rails are near identical, it's more the seat design...but i could be wrong, i did only take a quick peek.

I obtained them through a barter deal, i really have no idea what they cost....come to think of it, i have gotten alot of parts like this...and mainly from the same guy :)

(one for example is still primer color....:rolleyes: )

Before you run into problems, just a quick note about your pipe idea for steering wheel lowering. you'll have to use 2 different lengths.

In its stock position, the flange on the column matches perfectly to the mounting flange under the dash.

When you lower the wheel, the lower (towards the firewall) side is actually closer to the mount than the upper (towards the steering wheel) side.

I just used some washers, and had to use less on the lower side to make all 4 bolts hold solidly.

--sarge

Here is another thing to think about:

Since someone was nice enough to tell me that I had '94 MX3 seats, instead of the nicer ones you guys have, take this as warning:

The '94 seats that I got did NOT directly fit. This could be maybe because the mounting points are different between a 323 and a protege, OR, the seatrails that come with the '94 MX3 seats are a different pattern. I reused my seatrails from my stock seats, and my dad and I had to do some creative grinding to get the stock seat rails to mount up to the MX3 seats.

I test fitted some leather mx6 seats in my car and the rail are totally different. I think you can swap you stock rails with a little mod and make them fit but I had a deal for mx3 seats for 75 bucks so I didn't worry about it and LOVE my mx3 seats.

Oh yeah, one more thing although I like my mx3 seats, when I get them recovered and redo my interior I am going to extend the brackets that hold the back of the drivers seat on cause my torso is long and when I sit in it even leaning back quite a bit the head rest does not come up high enough to give me enough protection if I get rearended. but other than that:D

So for those of you that have done this mod, did anybody reuse the stock rails? Was the difference in height the same?

I just wish I could get the 323 seats to go a little further back , I guess this is something I will have to look into ..

on another note.
the junkyard down the block used to have a mx-3 in there , but when I went there today it was gone ....
that sucked...
on goes my search
Bruce

I can only report for the Ford Escort Rails, I'm not sure if the Protege ones are slightly different.

But, the rails themselves sit least a full 1.5" or more taller on the escort than on the MX3.

Also note, the best rail/seat combo would be to use the rails from the 94+ years, but the seats from something else, because the seat adjuster uses a shielded cable (like a throttle cable) to actuate the release mechanism, rather than the el-cheapo twisted-on-the-ends single steel wire of the 91-93 rails.

I actually removed the rails from the seats, to route the seatbelt light wire, and they're only held on by 2 12mm bolts/nuts on each side. The seat frame itself is just aluminum, so I'm going to play around with some things and see what kind of seats I can bolt to these rails. It really shouldn't be too hard to fit anything, just as long as you're fairly handy with tools, and have a good concept of where you're going with your project...

I'm thinking of the '94 MX3 rails, with the 93MX3 seat bottom, and the 92EGT seat back. Or, maybe just the rails with a Corbeau adjustable or something like that..... :)

--sarge

Today I bought mx-3 seats at junkyard and paid only 60$can for 2...

But I cannot install them right now... mine are too rusted and I cannot remove them :(

Yeah, my rear bolts are totally rounded off:(

Stupid snow is making car here rust a lot(but salt is even bad! )

Incase anyone is interested, I took some more recent pics of my car, and I took some pics of the '94 MX-3 seats in it that are different from everyone elses. Here's the thread:

http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...threadid=25558

nice seat, i got the same as yours but they come from a 96 mx3 and the seat are black. i will try to post pic wen they are in the car.

Well, mine are also black, they just don't appear it in the pictures :)

help
 

Quote:
You should go find a set of Pontiac Fiero seats for three reasons:
1. They fit or are very easily adapted to fit everything

i have a chance to get these seats for FREE how hard are they to fit into our little 323's? please help if you know or have done it...

not a great pic, i just snapped it quickly, but here's the final product. Both seats installed. The redish pattern is growing on me, but it's still out of place...

here 2 pic of my 96 mx3 capet, front and rear seat. the carpet was a 99.999% fit :D the only thing i got mod is the front seat belt, the stock carpet hole was too low. i got the front seat belt too but the rear seat belt didn't fit. the front seat fit perfectly but the connecter for the seat belt light is not the same. for the rear seat the hole that keep the botom of the seat on the car is not the same thing so i had to ordered some at mazda, just hope they will fit.

http://members.rogers.com/ssavoie/mx3seat2.jpg
http://members.rogers.com/ssavoie/mx3seat1.jpg

edit: i can't make the dam pic working :mad:

Oooh! They look awfully familiar :D

I like that you also got the backseat as well. Looks nice!

so the carpet kit fits huh...sweet. cause man, i could use a new carpet.

<edit> Oh duhhhh, thats an EGT...nevermind or maybe it may still fit....

Would the carpet that fits the EGT fit a 323 maybe? I need some new carpet, too :(

if i remember correctly, Gro Harlem put a mx3 carpet in a protege.
the egt is realy close so i'm sure the carpet will fit, the seat fit why not the carpet :rolleyes: