T8 Description

World 125 super ICC Champion 2003
The T8 1/4 is the most popular seat made by Tillett Racing Seats. The T8 was the first kart seat ever made using RTM. This system makes a strong fibreglass moulding with a uniform quality and thickness, the process also speeds up production, keeping the price of the T8 below that of the hand made models.

In addition to these benefits, the two smooth sides of the T8 keep a clean, professional image throughout the life of the seat.

The shape of the T8 is very similar to that of the T7, both have the same excellent comfort and depth, the only difference between the two shapes is that the T8 is slightly smaller at the top and slightly bigger at the bottom The superstrong XL T8 Rental is used for the corporate market.

T8 Hand

The fixed thickness of the T8 moulding does enable
small variations in rigidity but with professional drivers it is
important to have the ability to make a wide variety of specifications including the new Ccd size for Baby karts.

The hand made T8 allows a complete range of rigidity and weights to match the ones available in T10.

Lightweight KEVLAR® carbon T8KG, K or CR versions, very flexible T8VG, Rigid T8R or even ultra rigid T8XR seats are also available.

T9

World Champion 2005

The T8 shape with a more laid down seating angle, creates a very low head position giving a low centre of gravity and better aerodynamics which helps the taller drivers.

As used by Oliver Oakes on his Gillard Parilla to win the 2005 World Championships.

4 sizes available; MS, ML, L and XL. (Prices are identical to the T8 Hand)

T9.5

The T9.5 is yet another hand made version of the T8. This model lies down even further than the T9 at 48 degrees and is available in MS, ML, L and XL.

CHOOSING YOUR SEAT

When choosing your new Tillett seat, please take into consideration that it is often tempting to pick a seat that is too big.

In a new seat, it is wise to choose a tight fit, as this offers the best protection for the ribs and the body. When a seat is too loose, the chances of damaging the body are much higher. In the course of an accident, if you move towards the side of a seat, the impact is much greater than if your body is hard against the side of the seat. In the same way people wearing no seat belt in a car crash will damage themselves far more than one instantly restrained by a seat belt. The best way to work out your seat size is by using your waist size and weight.

Size Graph

Rigity and Weight

RIGIDITY
Altering the rigidity of the seat will affect the handling of the kart. To make sure that the seat you buy this year will be the same as the one you buy next year, Tillett Racing Seats are made to set specifications. Other seat manufacturer's products often vary in thickness and the mouldings are nearly always resin rich, which makes them inconsistent in rigidity and strength. Our seats are unique in that they can be purchased with various consistent levels of rigidity.

THE T5, T7, T8 Handmade, T9, T10 and T11
When you buy most Tillett seats, you can choose between at three levels of rigidity.

Flexible (a seat that allows the chassis to flex more)
Standard (based on most karts uncovered seats)
Rigid (a stiff seat with little flex )

THE T8 & T12
The T8 and T12 seats are injected into predetermined cavity, and by changing the materials, we can alter the performance characteristics with total consistency. Therefore you can order soft or standard throughout all the T8 and T12 range. (For an increased range of rigidity order the hand made T8 and T11 versions can give you the same shape with an increased range of rigidity.)

THE FLEXIBLE
T5VG, T7VG, T8VG, T9VG, T10VG & T11VG
The flexible seats were originally designed for use with Formula A karts running on high grip tyres. Nowadays we also find that these seat work particularly well with engines like the Rotax Max. An engine with low bottom end power often needs more chassis flex to lift the inside rear wheel and this helps to avoid bogging the engines down when driving out of the corners. However, many people use the flexible (VG) seat in all sorts of different classes, often improving lap times. The above is not a cast iron rule and does depend on track condition, make of chassis and tyres. A chassis, which has a problem and is not balanced, or is bogging down out of corners, can sometimes be transformed by changing the seat's rigidity.
There is also a VP rigidity, which is very thin and flexible and is only ordered by customers determined to get the most flexible seat possible. These have to be made to order, and can not be ordered online.

WEIGHT
It is easy to make a seat light, it is not so easy to make a lightweight seat that can hold a driver securely without breakage during an accident. Using carbon-KEVLAR® fabric is almost irrelevant if the resin and curing processes do not compliment the expensive fibres, with an ultra light seat most of the seat strength can be lost and fracturing can occur if every element of the seats construction is not correct.

The Carbon/Kevlar seats can be as stiff or as soft as all our other types.

The rigidity that matches our standard T5, T7, T8, T9, T10, T11 and T12 seats and most other makes, is designated 'K' in the table below.
The rigidity to match a flexible T5VG, T7VG, T8VG, T9VG, T10KG and T11VG is designated the "KG".

All of the weights quoted below are approximate as the weight is also affected by size.