Bought a new chassis (Energy Eclipse, 32mm) & need help choosing a seat. My choice is down to a T11 or IMAF F6 silver. I have used Tillet before, which worked fine, but would like to get feedback about IMAF. Engine will be either a K9ES or KZ10ES (Probably the former, because of the higher overall +25# IKF mandated minimum weight limit imposed for the latter).
Thanks in advance.
Until now I hadn’t heard of IMAF seats. I might have been living under a rock though…
Most of the IMAF seats you’ll find to be pretty soft - in the VG or VTI range if you are used to Tillett. We do nothing with shifters though so I can’t say what kind of seat you need there. If soft is good then give the IMAF a try.
As for fit, the comparable sized Tillett seems to have a bit more room in the bottom for your butt. If you like the fit of the Tillett make sure to try the IMaF for size before buying.
Personally to me nothing fits as nice as a Tillett t11 seat. I am 5’10” 185 and I fit into a t11 large like a glove I love the hip pop out in the Tillett seats. For the imaf f6 seat I use a #4 which is a little tighter at the hips but up towards the ribs it flares out to a t11 xl in comparison so the vertical angle isn’t as form fitting as the Tillett. Now everyone is built different and has different preferences. Here’s a video we made comparing some of them.
The key to finding which one handles best for your kart is testing, maybe you can ask around for a junker soft seat or harder seat to try. I can tell you this on Briggs 206 for the intrepid it wanted the medium hard t11t seat. On the CompKart it did not like the t11t seat at all and worked great on the t11vg so testing if possible is the way to go.
From what i can tell the Energy works team use Tillett seats, which is usually my first point of call when trying to work out what to use on any given chassis.
That being said I’ve used both brands and haven’t had an issue with either. The major benefits of Tillett seats seem to come when the track is gripped up and you’re using soft rubber.
Having said that, TonyKart didn’t stop winning when they stopped using Tillett and started using their in house seat.