Hundreds Of Products Ready Today. Dispatch/Collection Customer Car: A Sparco Sprint FIA Seat In A Ford Fiesta Mk5
Customer car, Ford Fiesta Mk5
One of our customers sent this in after fitting a Sparco Sprint to the passenger side of his Ford Fiesta Mk5, and it is a good enough job that we asked if we could show it. Thank you for the photograph.
It is worth a page of its own because of what it costs. This is a genuinely FIA homologated seat, properly mounted on a car specific subframe, and the whole side comes to £358.50 plus VAT. That is the cheapest honest route into a homologated seat we sell for this car, and there is nothing bodged about it.
It is also half of a build. The driver side had already been done with a Sparco Rev QRT, so this car ends up with two different FIA seats on identical mounting, which is a smarter way to spend the money than most people realise.
- The whole passenger side came to £358.50 plus VAT, seat, side mounts and subframe together
- The Sparco Sprint is FIA 8855-1999 homologated, so it is legal for club competition, not just track days
- It runs a steel shell where most buckets at this money are fibreglass, which is where the price comes from
- The OMP subframe is the only car specific part, and the Mk5 and the Mk5 ST150 take DIFFERENT parts
- The driver side already had a Sparco Rev QRT, so this is a deliberate pair of DIFFERENT seats
- Nothing was cut: the subframe picks up the Fiesta’s own factory seat mounting points
What he actually bought
Three parts, and they stack in a specific order. The OMP subframe bolts to the car’s own floor mounting points. The Endurance side mounts bolt to the subframe. The Sparco Sprint bolts through its side flanks to the side mounts. Nothing on the car gets cut or drilled, and the original seat can go straight back in if it ever needs to.
Side mounting instead of bottom mounting is the choice worth noticing. It puts the seat lower, which matters in a Fiesta where the roofline is not generous, and the rows of holes in the Endurance brackets mean the height and the angle are set by you at fitting time instead of being fixed. Our base mount or side mount guide covers the difference properly.
The whole job in one picture. The subframe is the only car specific part, which is why it is the one to get right first.
Why the Sprint is the clever part
The Sprint is Sparco’s entry FIA seat and the cheapest way into an 8855-1999 homologation that we sell. The reason it is affordable is the shell: where most competition buckets at this money are fibreglass, the Sprint uses steel. Steel is heavier, and if your regulations set a minimum seat weight or you are chasing lap time then that matters. For club racing, hillclimb, sprints and track days it does not, and you get the homologation for £210.
The other thing that makes this build work is that the Sprint is listed for base mount AND side mount. Not every seat is, and a seat with no side flanges cannot go down this route at all.
The one part you have to get right
The seat and the side mounts suit a lot of cars. The subframe suits one, and on a Fiesta Mk5 there is a trap in it. OMP list the standard Mk5 and the Mk5 ST150 as two separate parts, and their own listing says plainly that the parts are not interchangeable.
So check the car rather than the badge on the boot, which is the easiest thing on a Fiesta to have been changed at some point in twenty years. Send us the registration and we will name the right one before you order. Both are below so you can see the two side by side.
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From £252.00 Incl. VATPayPal CreditSelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £46.80 Incl. VATPayPal CreditSelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £131.40 Incl. VATPayPal CreditSelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
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From £127.64 Incl. VATPayPal CreditSelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Those four are the whole job, and the prices above are live. If you want the rest of the options for this car, our Ford Fiesta Mk5 bucket seat guide covers which seats fit and what else is worth knowing.
| Part | What it does | Price ex VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Sparco Sprint FIA bucket seat | The seat. FIA 8855-1999, steel shell, base or side mount | £210.00 |
| Endurance Motorsport multi point M8 side mounts | Joins the seat to the subframe, height and angle adjustable | £39.00 |
| OMP Ford Fiesta Mk5 direct fit subframe | Bolts to the factory floor points. ST150 takes its own part | £109.50 |
| One passenger side, complete | £358.50 |
Prices as listed on the day this was written and shown excluding VAT, which is how our listings display. The ST150 subframe is £106.37 if that is the car you have.
Two different seats, on purpose
Here is the part that makes this build worth reading about. He did not buy a matching pair. The driver side had already been settled with a Sparco Rev QRT, and the Sprint went in on the passenger side afterwards.
That is a deliberate choice and a good one. Both seats carry the same FIA 8855-1999 homologation, and both are side mount, so the hardware under them is identical and the fitting job is the same twice. What differs is the shell. The Rev is fibreglass at £345 and the Sprint is steel at £210. The driver is the one who benefits from the lighter, narrower shell on a long day, and the passenger seat does not need to cost the same to do its job. Spending the difference where it is felt, instead of buying two of the dearest thing, is how most sensible builds get done.
Worth knowing if you copy this: the Rev is a narrower seat than the Sprint and Sparco list it for a 32 to 36 inch waist, so it is not automatically the right seat for everybody. And check you are looking at the FIA Rev QRT and not the sim racing version of the same shell, which carries a gaming rating and is the wrong seat for a car that will be scrutineered.
One more thing to think about before you start. A bucket seat and a standard seat belt work together perfectly well, but the harness slots in a seat like this only earn their keep with a proper harness and somewhere to anchor it. If a harness is on the plan for later, tell us now and we will make sure the seat and the mounting suit it.
Common questions
Will this fit my Fiesta Mk5?
The seat and side mounts will. The subframe is the part to confirm, because OMP list the standard Mk5 and the ST150 separately and they are not interchangeable. Send us the registration and we will name the right one.
Is the Sparco Sprint FIA approved?
Yes, FIA 8855-1999. That is a genuine competition homologation, not a styling claim. Check what your own championship asks for, because some classes now specify a newer standard, but for club level and track days it is accepted.
Why side mount instead of bolting it to the floor?
It sits lower, which is worth having in a Fiesta, and the rows of holes in the brackets let you choose the height and the angle when you fit it. Bottom mounting is simpler but gives you no say in either.
Does anything have to be cut or drilled?
No. The subframe picks up the Fiesta’s own factory seat mounting points, so the standard seat can go back in later. Keep the original bolts.
Can I keep the standard seat belt?
Yes. A bucket seat works with the car’s own belt in the normal way. The harness slots are there for later if you want them.
Do both seats have to match?
No, and this car is the proof. The driver side runs a Sparco Rev QRT and the passenger side a Sprint. Both are FIA 8855-1999 and both are side mount, so the subframes and brackets are the same on each side and only the shell differs. Putting the better seat where the driver sits is a sensible way to spend the money.
What would two of these cost?
This passenger side is £358.50 plus VAT. A driver side on the Rev instead of the Sprint is £135 more on the seat and the same on everything else. Tell us you are doing both and we will check the order before anything ships.
Thanks to the owner of this Fiesta for sending the picture in. We like seeing where the parts end up, and a real car explains a build better than a studio shot ever will. Garreth has been putting seats in Fiestas since the Mk5 was a new car, so if you are unsure about anything here, ask. If you have fitted something you bought from us, send us a photo. And if you are planning the same job, ring 0115 9893488 with your registration and Cameron will confirm the subframe before you order.