DAMD Seat Covers

Just a project that's been sitting around till we finally got a sunny day here in the PNW.

 

...Sadly, that means it's been sitting around for 4+ months. Seriously.

 

DAMD Steering wheels are fairly well known, but truth be told, DAMD makes a lot of stuff. Including full seat covers for the Legacy/Outback. I was given these to test fit on a US model car, which meant my Outback, of course.

 

For comparison sake, I left the passenger seat alone.

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_001.jpg

 

And here's a shot of the rear seats (before):

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_002.jpg

 

Putting the cover on the front seat was pretty straight forward. The cover is fitted, and fitted tightly, to the seat. The upper part slides over the entire top, and comes with it's own pocket at the back. The bottom part is fitted over the bottom, and has flaps that go underneath the seat at the front and rear. The rear flap has velcro on it to help secure it, and finally there is two straps underneath.

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_003.jpg

 

The rear seats take a bit more time. The top part, again, is fairly straightforward. It's split into two pieces, for the fold down seats, and is designed in a way that it can work with the wagon (like mine) or the sedan with the folding armrest/passthrough in the middle. Since I didn't have a folding armrest, it just went straight over (and I have a leftover cover).

As you can see, it zips up after it's been put on. There's velcro on the back part to help keep it from moving.

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_004.jpg

 

The bottom portion is made rather ingeniously, it takes advantage of the fact that you can remove the bottom cushion easily.

You'll need to take out the 4 plastic pieces where the child seat anchors could go, and you'll be running the straps that go underneath the seat to hold it tight through the anchor holes.

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_006.jpg

 

It then straps down, and has a drawstring around the entire front edge of the bottom to cinch it all up.

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_007.jpg

 

And there you go!

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_005.jpg

 

 

I've sat on these standard cloth seats for quite a while (and for long distances) and there's nothing awfully wrong with them, other than looking quite pedestrian. The covers actually add a little bit more cushion to the feel (thanks to their inner lining) and make the overall seat feel a bit classier. They do come with head rest covers as well, and even with covers for armrests (if you have them).

 

Regards,

 

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld

Woah nice !! any idea of pricing for that ?

 

You sir will make me go poor with all the goodies you post

I'm trying to find that out right now, while also talking with them about a few minor changes for the USDM market vehicles.

 

Regards,

 

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld

wow, those are nice pieces....i actaully like my cloth seats quite a bit, but thanks for showing us these!

Those are Damn nice.

Ok, some updates - they are available with red stitch (as shown) or grey stitching. Price is about $620 USD currently (give or take exchange rates), and total weight for everything is 7.5kg (a bit under 17lbs). This includes head rest covers, center armrest cover, other pieces).

 

Regards,

 

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld

The fact that you didn't say "available with blue stitching" may have just saved my marriage!

I would like all black personally nice write up and what changes did you discover that need to be tweaked ?

Hmm...is it me or does the seats looks more "flat"? Will it be able to hold you in during hard cornering?

What needs to be tweaked depends on the seat it's going on. As you can tell in the pictures, I have the most basic seats, no power at all. So the levers that are on the side of my seat for adjustment probably are not there on the power seats.

Headrests on the front seats are too large (again, possibly because base level seats).

Rear seat was spot on, including head rests.

 

In regards to the flatness, they are not, really. It's the same contours, but with a better feel/look. It's holding in in hard cornering just as well as before, I can attest to that from personal experience. And anybody that's ridden with me can attest to the hard cornering!

 

Regards,

 

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld

Nice!

 

Would be very interested if they came in black piping.

So does the design make it so you can't use the child seat anchors to strap in a car seat?

Heck no, it actually uses the child seat anchor pass throughs to help hold the cover down. The cover in that area has been designed with 4 triangles of material that can go down into the seat under the edges of the seat anchor pass through plastic. If you ever take the rear seat up and look at the anchor pass throughs, they are just clipped in. You can easily remove them and remount them.

 

Regards,

 

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld

Gotcha Paul.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

Part two of the DAMD seat cover install, aka, Paul is a goober, and finally learns how to install the seat covers properly.

 

Well, it was sunny, it was warm, and I wanted to check everything out and finish up the passenger seat. That went fairly well, but while I was installing the passenger seat, I had a brain wave about the fitment. As demonstrated on the rear seats:

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_015.jpg

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_016.jpg

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_017.jpg

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_018.jpg

 

All those holes pre-cut into the seats were small for a reason, they stretch over and tuck under all the plastic fitment pieces. Just like the stock seat covers. I have to hand it to DAMD, they did a better job than I thought.

 

So, carrying along with that theme, I realized that the issues I thought the front seat covers would have, were not really issues. I had simply not tucked the covers under the plastic trim pieces as they had obviously intended.

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_019.jpg

 

Looks a lot better, and all levers/adjusters now available for abuse.

 

ShopCat Seal of Approval on the rear.

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_020.jpg

 

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_021.jpg

 

 

Now, I put a bit of time into the center console trim, and took photos so you can see what I did and how I did it.

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_009.jpg

 

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_010.jpg

 

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_011.jpg

 

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_012.jpg

 

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_013.jpg

 

Honestly, it's probably not necessary for the double sided tape - the way the center console cover goes on is possibly sufficient to hold the cover on.

But it's on nice and tight now, and shouldn't come off.

 

http://www.avoturboworld.com/images/damd_seat/damd_seat_014.jpg

 

Regards,

 

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld

So will these be available for LGT's originally equipped with leather seats, or are they just available for cloth seats?

I'd like to see the leather seats in person sometime, I think they may be a better fit.

 

Regards,

 

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld

Hmmmm...$650 for the seat covers? How much labor does it take to install it?

It will take a full afternoon if it's your first time. It isn't complicated, it just takes time to work all the pieces on, get them lined up properly, and strap everything down.

 

Regards,

 

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld

i cant decide if those are fugly or not

i cant decide if those are fugly or not

 

There's so much red stitching it looks quiiiiite tacky. Like Wal-Mart seat covers. Fitment appears to be great, but the styling looks pretty cheesy. They kind of look like they belong in a 60's muscle car.... in my opinion, of course!

I think that's what the grey stitching option is for. I wouldn't mind a black stitch option either, tbh.

 

Regards,

 

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld

Nice looking covers.....but why is this posted in the N/A engine forum????

Where do I buy these? My cloth interior is shot and this is half the price of getting a full reupholster.

I'm talking with DAMD about it right now, they want to make a kit fully correct for the cloth seats. I'm sending across some front head rests right now. Does your rear seat have a pass through with arm rest?

DAMD really want to get these going for the USDM cars.

 

Regards,

 

Paul Hansen

http://www.avoturboworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/avoturboworld