Hundreds Of Products Ready Today. Dispatch/Collection Audi A1 8X bucket seat guide
Typ 8X, 2010 to 2018
Most cars get one vehicle specific frame if they get one at all. The A1 gets two, one from Cobra and one from Recaro, and the one you buy quietly decides which seats you can fit afterwards. That is the whole decision on this car, so make it in that order. Fall for a shell first and you can end up buying the frame twice.
The other thing to keep in mind is the size of the cabin. An A1 is a supermini, and the seat that goes in has to clear the tunnel on one side and the door card on the other. Some of the wider reclining seats below are 590mm across. That is not a problem in itself, but it is a number to check against your car before you order.
- Two vehicle specific frames for the 8X, one Cobra and one Recaro
- Cobra part number SU-AU-A32-A1, Recaro part number 687519-29
- A separate Cobra frame for the S1, part number SU-AU-S1-MK1
- The S1 frame is handed, so you choose driver side or passenger side
- Frames bolt to the factory seat mounting points, so no drilling on a standard floor
- The frame takes a side mount seat or a base mount seat
- Planted do not list a bracket for the A1, so there is no third route
- SW Motorsports build a bolt in half cage for the A1 and S1 8X
Two frames, and the one you pick settles the seat
Both frames do the same job. They bolt to the factory seat mounting points in place of the standard runners, so nothing needs drilling on a straight car, and they sit the seat lower than the seat and runners that came out. What differs is what you can bolt on top.
The Cobra frame is the more open of the two. It takes Cobra steel side mounts for a side mount shell, or a base mount seat straight onto the frame. The Recaro frame is built around Recaro’s own side mount brackets, and those brackets are cut for Recaro shells, so in practice buying the Recaro frame means running a Recaro seat. If you want to pair it with something else, ask us before you order anything, because that answer comes down to the bolt spacing on the specific seat and we would sooner measure it than guess.
Planted cover a lot of the Audi range, including the A3, the TT and the R8, but they do not list a bracket for the A1. So there is no third route here and no cheaper way in. It is one of these two frames or nothing.
Frame plus side mounts
The competition route. The frame goes to the floor, side mounts bolt to the sides of the shell, and the seat fixes in place. Nothing slides afterwards, so you set the position once during the fit. That is fine on a track car or where one person drives it, and it is the lower of the two options because you are not giving up any height to a runner. Cobra shells take the Cobra side mounts, Recaro shells take one of the two Recaro brackets depending on which seat you have.
Frame plus a base mount seat
The road route. A reclining seat bolts to the frame through the four holes in its own base, so you keep a backrest that folds and a seat you can sit in for three hours. The catch is the bolt pattern. Recaro base mount seats are drilled 405mm by 290mm, the Cobra ones 291mm by 330mm, and the frame has to line up with whichever you buy. Tell us the exact seat and we will confirm it against the frame first.
The fitting kits for an 8X
Cobra list two frames for this chassis. SU-AU-A32-A1 is the A1 Mk1 frame, and SU-AU-S1-MK1 is a separate part for the S1, which Cobra date 2010 to 2018. The S1 frame is handed, so the driver side and passenger side are different parts and you pick the side on the product page. The Recaro frame, 687519-29, sits alongside them for anyone running a Recaro shell.
A frame carries one seat. A driver and passenger swap means ordering twice, and the same goes for the side mounts. Put the seat you are fitting in the comments box at checkout and we will check the pairing before anything ships. If your exact model year or trim is not named on the listing, ask before ordering. It saves a return.
- Cobra A1 Mk1 frame, part number SU-AU-A32-A1
- Cobra S1 frame, part number SU-AU-S1-MK1, listed 2010 to 2018
- The S1 frame is handed, choose RHD driver side or RHD passenger side
- Recaro A1 frame, part number 687519-29
- Cobra steel side mounts for a Cobra side mount shell
- Two Recaro bracket sets, one for the Pole Position range and one for the Profi and Pro Racer SPG
- Recaro double locking sliding runners if you want fore and aft adjustment on top
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Bucket seats that fit
These are side mount shells, so each one needs the frame and a set of side mounts underneath it. Six of the eight are Recaro, which follows from the Recaro frame being one of the two options on this car and from what our customers have actually put in their A1s.
Height is the thing to sort out first. Recaro split their range by driver height on the listings, and they mean it. The Pole Position, in both the FIA and the ABE versions, is listed for drivers under 6ft. The Profi SPG, the Pro Racer SPG HANS and the Cobra Nogaro Circuit are listed for over 6ft. Sit in the wrong one and you either run out of backrest at the shoulders or you sit with the harness slots below your shoulder line, which pulls the belts down instead of back.
Waist size is the other split, and there is only one seat here for a broader driver. The Profi SPG XL is listed at 36in to 40in where everything else on this page is 32in to 36in. If you are at the top of that range, start with the XL. The standard shell does not give much.
On approvals, the four FIA 8855-1999 shells are the ones to look at if you are competing, and the two ABE Pole Positions and the Nogaro Circuit are rated road and track. The Cobra Monaco Pro is the odd one out in a useful way, because it is listed for base mount as well as side mount, so it is the one shell here that works either way on the frame.
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Reclining seats
If the A1 is still your daily and it only sees a circuit a few times a year, a reclining seat is the more sensible buy. You keep a backrest that adjusts, you can get in and out without planning it, and everything here is rated road and track.
Width is where an A1 owner has to pay attention. The Cobra Daytona measures 580mm across at its widest with a 530mm base, and the Misano Anniversary is 590mm wide on a 520mm base. In a supermini those numbers matter more than they would in an estate, so measure between your tunnel and your door card before you commit. The Daytona is also the heavier of the two at 13.5kg against the Misano’s 11.5kg, which matters if you are chasing weight.
Two practical notes. The Misano Anniversary is made to order with a four to six week lead time, so it is not a seat to order the week before a trackday. And the bolt patterns differ between the makers, 405mm by 290mm on the three Recaros and 291mm by 330mm on the two Cobras, so the frame has to suit the seat you pick, not the other way round.
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Thirteen seats is more choice than anyone needs. On an A1 the shortlist falls out of three answers: how tall you are, whether the car still does road miles, and how much room there is between your tunnel and your door card. Cameron works out the fitment side of this, and if you send those three over with a rough budget he will cut the list down to a couple of seats and tell you which frame they need under them. That is a better use of ten minutes than reading every product page.
Harnesses
Once a bucket seat is holding you through a corner, the standard inertia belt is doing a job it was not designed for. A 4 point harness is the usual pairing for fast road and trackday use, and a 6 point is what you move to if your class asks for it.
Sort out where the shoulder straps mount before you order belts. They want a fixing behind the seat at roughly shoulder height, strong enough to take the load, and the standard rear belt anchorages are not it. In an A1 there is not a lot of space behind the front seats to work with, so this is the part people get stuck on. The SW Motorsports half cage further down solves it if you were going that way anyway. If you were not, send us a photo of what is behind your seats and we will tell you what will work.
Two of these are FIA rated and carry an expiry date, the Schroth Profi 3×2 to 8853-2016 and the TRS Magnum 6 point Superlite to the same standard, with the TRS Magnum 4 point to 8854-1998. Those only make sense if you are running in something that asks for them, because the date on the label runs out whether you have used them or not. For a road car with the odd trackday the Takata Drift or the TRS Clubman does the job for a fraction of the money.
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The honest order on this car is shoulder mounting first, then the belts. Buy the belts first and you can end up with a set that has nowhere sensible to bolt to. Tell us how the car is used, whether a cage is going in, and what your class requires if you are competing. If none of that applies and it is a fast road A1, the TRS Clubman clip in is the one most of our customers end up with.
The half cage
SW Motorsports build a bolt in half cage specifically for the A1 and S1 8X, so the mounting points and tube runs are already right on a standard shell. It goes in on spreader plates through the floor and sills with no welding, which keeps it reversible if the car is ever sold on standard. You choose CDS or T45 tube, whether you want the rear cross and gussets, and the powder coat colour.
Two things before you buy one. Check what your championship or class actually requires, because eligibility varies by discipline and changes year to year, and if it needs signing off the paperwork has to follow the car. And a cage is a notifiable modification, so tell your insurer before the car goes back on the road. Any tube a helmet could reach needs FIA rated padding, and think hard about a cage in a car that still does road miles without helmets.
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What fits what
Everything below fits an A1 8X on one of the two frames. What changes is how it mounts, what it is approved for and who it suits. Where a listing does not state something we have marked it not listed rather than assuming, so ask us and we will confirm it with the maker.
| Seat | Mounting | Approval | Driver height | Waist | Harness slots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Side mount bucket seats | |||||
| Recaro Pole Position | Side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | Under 6ft | 32in to 36in | 6 point |
| Recaro Profi SPG | Side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | Over 6ft | 32in to 36in | 6 point |
| Recaro Profi SPG XL | Side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | Over 6ft | 36in to 40in | 6 point |
| Recaro Pro Racer SPG HANS | Side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | Over 6ft | 32in to 36in | 6 point |
| Recaro Pole Position with ABE | Side mount | Road and track | Under 6ft | 32in to 36in | 4 point |
| Recaro Pole Position Carbon with ABE | Side mount | Road and track | Under 6ft | 32in to 36in | 4 point |
| Cobra Monaco Pro | Base or side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | Under 6ft | 32in to 36in | 4 and 6 point |
| Cobra Nogaro Circuit | Side mount | Road and track | Over 6ft | 32in to 36in | 4 point |
| Base mount reclining seats | |||||
| Recaro Speed | Base mount, 405mm x 290mm | Road and track | All heights | 32in to 38in | 4 point |
| Recaro Sportster CS | Base mount, 405mm x 290mm | Road and track | All heights | All sizes | 4 point |
| Recaro Cross Sportster CS | Base mount, 405mm x 290mm | Road and track | All heights | All sizes | 4 point |
| Cobra Daytona | Base mount, 291mm x 330mm | Road and track | All heights | 32in to 38in | 4 point |
| Cobra Misano Anniversary | Base mount, 291mm x 330mm | Road and track | All heights | 32in to 38in | 4 point |
Common questions
Which fitting kit do I need for an Audi A1 8X?
One of two vehicle specific frames. Cobra make SU-AU-A32-A1 for the A1 Mk1, and Recaro make 687519-29. Both bolt to the factory seat mounting points in place of the standard runners. On top of the frame you need side mounts if you are fitting a side mount shell, or nothing extra if you are fitting a base mount reclining seat whose bolt pattern suits the frame.
Is the S1 the same as the A1?
Not for this purpose. Cobra make a separate frame for the S1, part number SU-AU-S1-MK1, which they list for 2010 to 2018. If you have the S1, order that one and not the A1 frame. It is also handed, so pick driver side or passenger side on the listing.
Do I need one frame or two?
One per seat. The price shown is for a single frame, so a driver and passenger swap means adding it to the basket twice, and the same applies to the side mounts. Order the frame on its own and put the seat you are fitting in the comments box, and we will check the pairing before it ships.
Can I put a Sparco or OMP seat on the Recaro frame?
Ask us first. The Recaro frame is built around Recaro’s own side mount brackets and those brackets are cut for Recaro shells, so it is a Recaro seat in practice. That does not automatically rule out another shell, but the bolt spacing has to be checked against the brackets before you order. Send us the exact seat and we will confirm it. If you already know you want a different brand, the Cobra frame is the more open starting point.
Does Planted make a bracket for the A1?
No. Planted cover a lot of the Audi range, including the A3, the A4, the TT and the R8, but the A1 is not on their list. On this car it is the Cobra frame or the Recaro frame.
Will a bucket seat fit inside an A1?
Yes, but measure first. The cabin is narrow, and the wider reclining seats here are 580mm to 590mm across. Measure between your transmission tunnel and your door card at seat base height and send us the number if you are close. A side mount competition shell is usually the easier fit of the two, because it is narrower at the base and it sits on the frame instead of over it.
Which seat should I pick if I am over 6ft?
A shell listed for it, so the Recaro Profi SPG, the Pro Racer SPG HANS or the Cobra Nogaro Circuit, not a Pole Position. A taller backrest puts the harness slots above your shoulder line, so the belts pull back across your chest instead of dragging down on your shoulders. A tall driver in a short shell runs out of seat exactly where it matters.
Will I keep fore and aft adjustment?
Only if you add a runner. Side mounts on their own fix the seat in one position, which is lower and perfectly sensible on a car one person drives. The Recaro double locking sliding runners sit between the frame and the seat if you need to move it, at the cost of a little of the height the frame just saved you. A reclining seat on the frame is the other way to keep the car usable for two drivers.
Do I need a cage to run a harness?
Not necessarily, but you do need somewhere solid behind the seat at roughly shoulder height, and the standard rear belt anchorages are not it. There is not much room behind the front seats in an A1, so this is the part to settle before you buy belts. The SW Motorsports half cage is built for this shell and solves it. If a cage is not on the cards, send us a photo of what is behind your seats.
Are the FIA harnesses better?
They are certified to a standard, which is a different thing from better for your car. The Schroth Profi 3×2 and the TRS Magnum Superlite are FIA 8853-2016 and the TRS Magnum 4 point is 8854-1998, and all of them carry an expiry date that runs out whether the belt has been used or not. If your class asks for FIA, buy FIA. If it is a fast road A1 with the odd trackday, a road and track rated Takata or TRS Clubman is the sensible spend.
Can I keep the standard seat belt?
Usually yes. The buckle often ends up somewhere new once a bucket seat goes in, and in a car this size it needs checking properly. Make sure you can reach it one handed and that the shell is not fouling the stalk before the car goes back on the road.
Is this guide right for the newer A1?
No. This page covers the 8X, the first generation built from 2010 to 2018. The later car is the GB, and it takes different parts, including a different subframe. Use the A1 GB guide linked below for that one.
More help
If you have the later A1, the GB guide covers that car and its own subframe. If you want the fit on your 8X confirmed against a specific seat before you spend anything, the contact link is the quickest way to get it checked.