Real World Leg Room

[Wageslave]

I've searched the forum for something that would tell me what kind of legroom I can really expect. I'm 6'1'' with long legs and bad knees. With out either being able to stretch my legs out or having some kind of thigh support for a bent knee on the throttle pedal I wind up with knee pain. My wife's Miata is just about 2 inches short of enough leg room for me to drive it comfortably for any period of time. I saw something about an aftermarket fuel tank that adds leg room, fact or fiction? What I'd really like to find is an 818 owner who would just let me sit in their car
Any reply will be appreciated.

[Canadian818]

Lots of 818's out there, where are you located? Check the 818 registry and see who's close by. I'm 6'1, and I can in no way drive a Miata. I chose to tilt my seat back forcing a more bent knee position in order to fit, however I was more concerned with passing a broomstick test. Others chose a more upright position and moved the butt back quite a bit. I believe the fuel tank that comes with the car now is notched behind the driver to allow more legroom. Some even had a tank made to fit in the front of the car. Lots of options, but I'm not sure a tall guy will ever be comfortable for a long ride in an 818. Also consider that getting in and out of such a low car will be hard on the knees.

[Hindsight]

Let us know where you live. To add to Adam's point, the new tank is notched to allow more leg room, but you can get even more by having a custom tank made or put elsewhere in the vehicle. With no tank behind the seat, even someone who is like 6'3" should fit in the car ok.

[cmcintyre]

Most of the extra time and effort I have put into my build is to make the car comfortable for my 6'1" frame. I built my own notch in the fuel tank before that was available, and modified the firewall to get 4.5 inches of additional legroom.

I got Corbeau seats that have back rake and lumbar inflatiors, and welded in mounts that allow tracks for fore and aft. I used the procedure to shorten the steering shaft to have the wheel far enough away for proper hand positioning and got the spacers to get a better angle.

Now I'm moving the accelerator and brake pedals after the first few go kart drives showed the angle of the stock pedal box to be too acute for comfort. The guys with the Wilwood box might have a comment on that.

And now it should be fine for the 200 miles to the Factory Five Open House in June!

I'm in CT, if you want to try it out....

[Bob_n_Cincy]

We made our 818 wookie compatible by moving gas tank to front and using a custom shaped kirkey race seat.
I'm 6'0" 300# in maroon sweat shirt. 58 year old and no problems.
My son 6'3" 300# wearing shorts. 18 year old and no problem.
Sequoia standing next to Mitch, is 6'8". Sat in the car and said he could drive it.
We have a few thousand race miles on it and about the same in street miles.
Bob

63843 63844 63845

If anyone is near Cincinnati, stop buy for a test fit.


.

[RM1SepEx]

I'm 5'8" (at least I was...) and have the original tank, legroom is marginal at best. My tuner is 6'8" and he was still able to drive my car during some preliminary street tuning. There are ways, this is a custom car and you can do whatever you want to make it comfortable for you.

[STiPWRD]

I saw something about an aftermarket fuel tank that adds leg room, fact or fiction?
Fact!
http://www.fueltankparts.com/factory-five-818-10-gallon-gas-tank-with-aeromotive-stealth-340-pump.html
And it is well worth the money. In addition to this I'm using aftermarket fiberglass seats (much thinner than stock) and a smaller steering wheel (gives more knee room). I'm 6'2" and all of these mods will make plenty of leg room in the 818.

[Wageslave]

Let us know where you live. To add to Adam's point, the new tank is notched to allow more leg room, but you can get even more by having a custom tank made or put elsewhere in the vehicle. With no tank behind the seat, even someone who is like 6'3" should fit in the car ok.

It sounds like there's hope for me fitting in the car then.
I'm located in NE Florida, bout 35 miles SSW of Jacksonville FL in the woods.
I'll give the 818 registry a look see, just hate to impose on anyone. Would freak me out a bit to have a stranger contact me wanting to see my car. Just the age we live in anymore.

[Wageslave]

Fact!
http://www.fueltankparts.com/factory-five-818-10-gallon-gas-tank-with-aeromotive-stealth-340-pump.html
And it is well worth the money. In addition to this I'm using aftermarket fiberglass seats (much thinner than stock) and a smaller steering wheel (gives more knee room). I'm 6'2" and all of these mods will make plenty of leg room in the 818.

10 gallons seems small, what size is the factory tank? Probably doesn't really matter with what should be very good fuel mileage from a 1,000 lb car.

[Wageslave]

I'm 5'8" (at least I was...) and have the original tank, legroom is marginal at best. My tuner is 6'8" and he was still able to drive my car during some preliminary street tuning. There are ways, this is a custom car and you can do whatever you want to make it comfortable for you.

Been doing the custom bit with my current project for a few years now, when your rebuilding a 1940 Hudson everything is custom

[Wageslave]

We made our 818 wookie compatible by moving gas tank to front and using a custom shaped kirkey race seat.
I'm 6'0" 300# in maroon sweat shirt. 58 year old and no problems.
My son 6'3" 300# wearing shorts. 18 year old and no problem.
Sequoia standing next to Mitch, is 6'8". Sat in the car and said he could drive it.
We have a few thousand race miles on it and about the same in street miles.
Bob

63843 63844 63845

If anyone is near Cincinnati, stop buy for a test fit.


.

Good grief you weren't kidding about Wookie compatible, that guy is way tall. If I were anywhere near Cinci I'd drop by, thanks

[Wageslave]

Lots of 818's out there, where are you located? Check the 818 registry and see who's close by. I'm 6'1, and I can in no way drive a Miata. I chose to tilt my seat back forcing a more bent knee position in order to fit, however I was more concerned with passing a broomstick test. Others chose a more upright position and moved the butt back quite a bit. I believe the fuel tank that comes with the car now is notched behind the driver to allow more legroom. Some even had a tank made to fit in the front of the car. Lots of options, but I'm not sure a tall guy will ever be comfortable for a long ride in an 818. Also consider that getting in and out of such a low car will be hard on the knees.

Not so sure what the broomstick test is, can you enlighten me?

[Shawn818c]

Not so sure what the broomstick test is, can you enlighten me?

Take a broomstick from the rear roll bar to the front of the car. If your head is below the broomstick, you've passed! If it isn't you might meet your ultimate demise if unfortunate circumstances were ever to occur...

[Canadian818]

Take a broomstick from the rear roll bar to the front of the car. If your head is below the broomstick, you've passed! If it isn't you might meet your ultimate demise if unfortunate circumstances were ever to occur...

Yeah what he said. If it's a street only car then it's not a concern, if you plan to track it then you'll need to pass. Others have just replaced the roll bar with a taller one to maximize both leg room and pass the test.

[Sgt.Gator]

If it's a street car the broom test should still be a concern! I know, I've been to plenty of rollovers on streets/highways. Generally in a hard top and wearing seatbelts it's no big deal. No seatbelts, or a convertible with no roll bar, it gets really ugly.

[Canadian818]

If it's a street car the broom test should still be a concern! I know, I've been to plenty of rollovers on streets/highways. Generally in a hard top and wearing seatbelts it's no big deal. No seatbelts, or a convertible with no roll bar, it gets really ugly.

I was thinking more along the lines of if your not wearing a helmet then clearing the roll bar isn't hard to accomplish. I didn't realize that how I wrote it made it seem like street safety isn't a concern.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

63843 63844 63845


In the pictures above you can see my original 818S (street) blue roll bar. The picture on the right is my new bar. I replaced the roll bar in early 2016 with one that is 5" taller. I believe it is taller than the standard 818R bar. We were going for safety with a lot of track days in our plans.
Bob

[STiPWRD]

10 gallons seems small, what size is the factory tank? Probably doesn't really matter with what should be very good fuel mileage from a 1,000 lb car.
I believe the factory tank is 13 gallons so you're not sacrificing much with the Boyd tank. The construction is much nicer and you won't have the leakage problems many have mentioned with the stock tank. The 10 gal tank size is common for small cars that get decent mileage; my old civic used to fill up between 10-11 gallons.

[DSR-3]

You should really try one an 818 on for size- there's just not much leg room (though I think a bit more than the 2017 Miata RF I sat in), and I have the Boyd tank.
Also consider that with the stepped stock tank, your passenger will lose ~3" if that matters. My son and I are both 6'+ and it will be nice to have (or room for a sub?).
I don't know how much can be gained over the Boyd tank without the significant efforts those have described. With Sparco seats at a comfortable tilt, the top of my seat is about in contact with the firewall.
I don't know what the original tank/legroom was like, but it seems crazy to design/sell a car with anything less than what you get now.

[Zach34]

I'm 6'3", most of it in my legs. There's not much leg room. Different people have different tolerances for comfort. It's worth comparing to my old Mk II Roadster, in which I modified the transmission tunnel aluminum to make sure the high-back seats were square, faced forward, and the driver's seat was very nearly centered on the steering wheel. That made it comfortable enough on the street. A lot of people mounted their seats slightly crooked to clear the transmission tunnel and were perfectly happy, but I couldn't get used to that - different strokes, etc. etc. The track really highlights any ergonomic issues. Having my feet off to the side in the Roadster (the footboxes are offset to clear the bellhousing) felt awkward on the track. I also wished I could have been more reclined on the track and cinching down on the harness put too much downward pressure on my shoulders.

The leg room in the 818 is about the same - you just don't have the bellhousing pushing your feet to the side.

I completely re-structured the floor of the frame in my 818R to allow my seat another inch lower and more reclined. I then re-structured the pedal box area to push the pedals about 4 inches forward. It's still not roomy, but definitely a lot better than my Roadster was and how the 818 was from the factory. Also, the steering wheel in the 818 comes up at a slight angle, so I re-welded the steering column frame tab and put together an aftermarket u-joint assembly to make it straight and perfectly centered on the seat. The bolsters in most racing seats will push your knees up into the steering wheel if you are tall. I moved the steering wheel slightly closer to me to help that, and getting a slightly smaller-diameter aftermarket wheel is on the punch list, which should make it perfect. The new position will absolutely require a quick-release steering wheel hub, though.

I'm building an R, not registering for the street. Here's a link to my build thread where you can see what I did. I probably wouldn't go to all that trouble if it was just going to be a road car....... but if I wanted just a road car, I would have kept my Roadster - nothing sounded better...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?16635-Zach-s-818R-Build-Thread

[Wageslave]

I'm 6'3", most of it in my legs. There's not much leg room. Different people have different tolerances for comfort. It's worth comparing to my old Mk II Roadster, in which I modified the transmission tunnel aluminum to make sure the high-back seats were square, faced forward, and the driver's seat was very nearly centered on the steering wheel. That made it comfortable enough on the street. A lot of people mounted their seats slightly crooked to clear the transmission tunnel and were perfectly happy, but I couldn't get used to that - different strokes, etc. etc. The track really highlights any ergonomic issues. Having my feet off to the side in the Roadster (the footboxes are offset to clear the bellhousing) felt awkward on the track. I also wished I could have been more reclined on the track and cinching down on the harness put too much downward pressure on my shoulders.

The leg room in the 818 is about the same - you just don't have the bellhousing pushing your feet to the side.

I completely re-structured the floor of the frame in my 818R to allow my seat another inch lower and more reclined. I then re-structured the pedal box area to push the pedals about 4 inches forward. It's still not roomy, but definitely a lot better than my Roadster was and how the 818 was from the factory. Also, the steering wheel in the 818 comes up at a slight angle, so I re-welded the steering column frame tab and put together an aftermarket u-joint assembly to make it straight and perfectly centered on the seat. The bolsters in most racing seats will push your knees up into the steering wheel if you are tall. I moved the steering wheel slightly closer to me to help that, and getting a slightly smaller-diameter aftermarket wheel is on the punch list, which should make it perfect. The new position will absolutely require a quick-release steering wheel hub, though.

I'm building an R, not registering for the street. Here's a link to my build thread where you can see what I did. I probably wouldn't go to all that trouble if it was just going to be a road car....... but if I wanted just a road car, I would have kept my Roadster - nothing sounded better...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?16635-Zach-s-818R-Build-Thread

Without a frame of reference, not having an actual frame to look at, it's hard to understand what you did but moving the pedals sounds like a very workable idea. I'm a certified welder, well was, and a pretty good fabricator so changes to the frame and floor sound doable to me as long as I can maintain the structural integrity of the frame. The steering column mods sounds good as well.
Thanks for your input Zach34

[Wageslave]

You should really try one an 818 on for size- there's just not much leg room (though I think a bit more than the 2017 Miata RF I sat in), and I have the Boyd tank.
Also consider that with the stepped stock tank, your passenger will lose ~3" if that matters. My son and I are both 6'+ and it will be nice to have (or room for a sub?).
I don't know how much can be gained over the Boyd tank without the significant efforts those have described. With Sparco seats at a comfortable tilt, the top of my seat is about in contact with the firewall.
I don't know what the original tank/legroom was like, but it seems crazy to design/sell a car with anything less than what you get now.

It sounds like the Boyd tank is a must have item. That and careful seat selection.

[turbomacncheese]

I'll give the 818 registry a look see, just hate to impose on anyone. Would freak me out a bit to have a stranger contact me wanting to see my car. Just the age we live in anymore.

It's been my experience that people who build these love to show them off.

[Wageslave]

Take a broomstick from the rear roll bar to the front of the car. If your head is below the broomstick, you've passed! If it isn't you might meet your ultimate demise if unfortunate circumstances were ever to occur...

That's from the roll bar to the front of the car frame, not the body panel, correct?
Safety is my first concern on my current project and will be so on the 818. Seat belts and shoulder harnesses go without saying. Tight fuel and electrical systems and good brakes.

[Zach34]

Without a frame of reference, not having an actual frame to look at, it's hard to understand what you did but moving the pedals sounds like a very workable idea. I'm a certified welder, well was, and a pretty good fabricator so changes to the frame and floor sound doable to me as long as I can maintain the structural integrity of the frame. The steering column mods sounds good as well.
Thanks for your input Zach34

You're golden, then! It took a looooong time to do all that stuff, but it was definitely worth it. If you can weld and you're willing to put in the time and effort to design modifications, the world is your oyster with this kit.

[Wageslave]

It's been my experience that people who build these love to show them off.

Where do I find the registry?

[TouchStone]

Where do I find the registry?

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?17278-818-Google-Maps-Owner-Registry&p=191569&viewfull=1#post191569 (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?17278-818-Google-Maps-Owner-Registry&p=191569&viewfull=1#post191569)

[icky]

I'm 5' 10" and fit with room but I'm all legs and no torso, so I don't really think the whole height comparison makes sense....

[Wageslave]

I'm 5' 10" and fit with room but I'm all legs and no torso, so I don't really think the whole height comparison makes sense....

I agree icky, it's about body type, you'll either fit or you wont.
It's kinda academic for me now, I just bought an unfinished coupe and it is on the way by truck. Guess I'll know Saturday if I fit. If not I guess I'll be breaking out the grinder and welder.

[wallace18]

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?14635-Florida-818S-for-sale

Check out post #3 if you really want to see legroom with Boyd tank and Kirkey seats.