Customer Question: Fitting Recaro Sportster CS Seats Into A Peugeot 106
Customer question, Peugeot 106
This one came in this morning. Chap has a Peugeot 106 and a pair of Recaro Sportster CS seats already sitting in his garage, and he wanted to know what bolts them in.
Cameron's first answer was the one we give for almost every 106, which is the Sparco frame. Then he looked at what the seats were and took it straight back, because a Recaro will not go anywhere near it.
- A Recaro is 405mm x 290mm. A Sparco 106 frame is 345mm x 271mm only, so it will not fit
- The OMP plate carries both patterns, which is why it is the one that works
- OMP plate £121.44 a side, Recaro runners £166.94 each or £327.89 the pair
- Mounting comes to £288.38 for the driver side, £570.77 for both
- Expect to make a hole or two where the runner meets the plate
- The plate has no seat belt buckle mount, so the clip needs a home of its own
What goes under the seat
Three parts, floor upwards. An OMP subframe bolts to the mounting points Peugeot put in the floor. A Recaro runner goes on top of it. The seat goes on the runner.
You already have the expensive bit, so this is a mounting job and not a seat job, which makes it a much cheaper morning than most people expect when they ring up about Recaros.
| Layer | Part | Price inc VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Onto the 106 floor | OMP direct fit subframe, one a side | £121.44 each |
| On top of the subframe | Recaro double locking runner, one a seat | £166.94 each, £327.89 the pair |
| On top of the runner | The Sportster CS seats you already own | Nothing to us |
Driver side comes to £288.38 in mounting. Both sides is £570.77.
The OMP plate, and why it is this one
OMP do a direct fit subframe for the 106, part HC/781. Steel, bolts to the factory floor points, and it is handed, so you pick driver or passenger side at the basket and order twice if you are doing both.
The reason it is the answer here is the holes. An OMP frame is drilled with two bolt patterns instead of one: 345mm by 271mm, which is what Sparco, OMP and Corbeau base mount seats use, and 405mm by 290mm, which is Recaro’s. Your Sportster CS is the second of those.
Same part covers the Citroen Saxo, incidentally. Same car, same floorpan, two badges.
- £121.44 inc VAT a side, part HC/781
- Carries both 345mm x 271mm and 405mm x 290mm
- Handed, so choose the side and order twice for a pair
- Steel, bolts to Peugeot’s own floor points
- No sliding of its own, which is what the runner is for
-
From £121.44 Incl. VATPayPal CreditSelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Why the frame we normally recommend will not do it
Nearly every 106 that comes through here gets pointed at the Sparco subframe. It is thirty pounds a side cheaper and it suits the seats we put in most of these cars.
It is drilled on 345mm by 271mm and nothing else. A Recaro is 405mm by 290mm. The holes are in the wrong places and there is no version of this where that works out.
If you had not already bought the seats, our Peugeot 106 bucket seat guide is where our recommendations live, and most of the reclining seats on it sit on that Sparco frame quite happily. You have gone a different route, which is fine, it just changes what holds it down.
The runners
The OMP plate does not slide. Recaro’s own double locking runner is the one Garreth specifies on these, and the double locking part is the reason: one lever, but it pulls the top and bottom locking points at the same time. Cheap runners latch in one place and that is the one that lets go when somebody stands on the brakes. 220mm of travel.
The Endurance kit alongside it is cut to Recaro’s 405mm spacing as well and costs a good deal less, so it is worth a look if the car is a road car.
Those three are the ones that suit a Recaro. There are more in the sliding runners category, though most of them are cut for the 345mm or 290mm patterns and will not help you here.
The two bits that need adapting
This is the part Cameron wanted said out loud, because a customer who finds it out on a Saturday rings up annoyed and he does not blame them.
First, the drilling. The plate already has the Recaro seat pattern in it, so the seat is usually not where the trouble is. The joint that is not guaranteed is the runner onto the plate, because the runner is a universal part and its own feet are not cut to either of the two patterns already there. Expect to make a hole or two. It is a drill and a tape measure, not a fabrication job.
Second, the seat belt clip. The OMP plate has no mount for it. Motorsport frames never do, by design, because every car wants it somewhere different. On a 106 the buckle comes off the original seat, so once that seat is out it needs a home.
Measure the runner feet
Before you order, put a tape across the bottom of the runner and across the plate. Two numbers each way and we can tell you on the phone whether it drops on or wants a hole.
Check the width in the car
A 106 cabin is narrow. A shell that clears the sill on paper can still sit against the door card or the handbrake, so offer the seat up before anything is bolted down.
Look at the floor first
These are thirty years old. Lift the carpet and look at the metal round the mounting points, because a subframe can only feed seat load into sound structure.
Which Sportster CS have you got
Worth checking before you start, because they are not all the same underneath. The plain one is a seat and nothing else. There is a heated version, and there is one with a side airbag built into the outer bolster.
If yours is the airbag version, that bolster has a device in it that was wired to whatever car it came out of, and a 106 has nothing to plug it into. Same goes for the heating. Neither stops the seat going in, they just want thinking about rather than discovering.
All of them share the 405mm by 290mm base, so the mounting on this page does not change whichever one you have.
-
From £1,581.30 Incl. VATPayPal CreditKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
-
From £2,139.48 Incl. VATPayPal CreditKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
-
From £2,154.60 Incl. VATPayPal CreditKlarna ReadySelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Those are the versions we list, shown so you can work out which is sitting in your garage. Everything else we do for a 106 is in the 106 seat options category.
Common questions
Can I not just drill the Sparco frame?
We would not. You would be putting a second set of holes into a load bearing part to move a seat 60mm across and 19mm back, and the OMP plate already has those holes in it from the factory for thirty pounds more. Buy the right plate.
Do I definitely need the runners?
On a road car, yes, or the seat is in one position for good. The plate is a fixed platform and a Sportster CS has no runner of its own.
How much drilling are we actually talking about?
Likely four holes, where the runner feet meet the plate. Measure both before you order and we will tell you whether even that is needed. It is not a fabrication job.
Will the seat belt still work?
The belt itself is untouched. It is the buckle side, the clip that comes off the original seat, that needs relocating. Sort that out before the interior goes back together.
One plate or two?
One a side, and they are handed, so pick the side on the listing and order twice for a pair. Same for the runners, one a seat.
Is the 106 frame the same as the Saxo one?
Same OMP part underneath. The 106 and the Saxo are the same car on the same floorpan with different badges, which is why the part number carries across.
Send us two measurements
Before you order, put a tape across the bottom of one runner and across the OMP plate, and send us the numbers. Five minutes with a tape saves the part going back and forth.
Ring the showroom on 0115 9893488 and tell us which Sportster CS you have and whether you are doing one side or both, and we will put the plates and the runners on one order so it all turns up together.