Calling all V8 STi ‘Blobeye’ owners! Have you ever sat in a V7 ‘Bugeye’ and noticed just how much better the seats are? I did – so I decided to fit some.

We all like to feel supported in our seats when driving. Firm bolsters and a low seat position especially ramp up the feeling of security and comfort when driving any performance car. One thing I never particularly liked about the standard seats in my Blobeye was just how unsupportive they felt.

I have a relatively slim build, and unfortunately any bolstering on the Blobeye seats just wasn’t quite good enough for me. I had always MUCH preferred the seating position and comfort provided by the Bugeye STi seats.

When a full interior from a Bugeye appeared for sale in my town, I jumped at the chance to purchase it. Being a fan of OEM equipment, I’d rather fit these than a bucket seat option provided by any myriad of third-party manufacturers.

I don’t have any images as they were when I bought them, but the seats were in relatively good condition considering their age – from 2002. They did need a thorough cleaning to get them to a good enough state, but nothing too strenuous.

Here are some comparison pictures before fitment and after a clean. Bugeye seats on the left, Blobeye on the right:

It should be immediately obvious how much ‘slimmer’ the back of the Bugeye seats is. The side bolstering is much stiffer, and the base is much more supportive. The seating position is also marginally lower.

I don’t know about you but I found my Blobeye seats to be rather ‘bouncy’ at the base. This is completely non-existent in the Bugeye seats, and the driving experience is all the better for it.

And to top it all off, personally, I think they just look so much better too.

On to fitment, and luckily both seats share the same seat rails, so it’s just a matter of bolting them on. The hardest part of the job is manoeuvring the old seats out of the car and the new ones in – a little tricky due to their size.

There’s also a cable to detect if your seatbelt has been fitted or not, and that just connects into the new seats too.

Halfway there. Don’t they look so much better!?

And there we go – both front seats fitted.

I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out.

Included as part of the deal were the rear bench seats too. I initially wasn’t going to bother fitting them as I didn’t think there would be any difference, but on closer inspection I was wrong.

If you look at the pictures, you’ll see the Bugeye seats are more of a blue shade than the Blobeye seats – they have a nice blue pinstripe woven into the fabric. They are also a slightly different, nicer feeling material.

Bugeye top, Blobeye bottom:

Bugeye left, Blobeye right:

Here’s a close-up of the Bugeye seat pattern:

 

So whilst I have the tools out, I went ahead swapped over these seats too!

This is a very easy job – just a handful of bolts hold the rear seats in place. They are essentially two big lumps of moulded foam, so again very easy to lift and position in place.

There we have it, job done. Very easy and for me it makes a WORLD of difference to the driving experience. I’m more comfortable, more supported and more planted in the seats now. Bolstering actually holds me in around tight corners, and no more bounciness in the base of the seats.

I also managed to sell the original Blobeye seats for the same price as I bought these Bugeye seats – so essentially a free modification!

I’d totally recommend any Blobeye owners to find a Bugeye STi and take a ride to see what you think – especially if you have a slimmer build or you don’t feel supported enough in the Blobeye seats.

Footnote: These were fitted and the pictures taken back in 2017. I’m still totally satisfied!