Sparco primary objective is to offer superior quality without neglecting the traditional elegance of the Italian brand.
Sparco designs and engineers some of the most technologically advanced sport seats in the world. The superiority of Sparco seats comes from the shells that are designed and developed with performance and racing experience in mind. Sparco seat shells are designed using Catia V5 and NX 9 CAD software, with the aid of virtual dummies to optimize ergonomics and behavior in the event of a collision. The projects are then verified using the most sophisticated FEM structural analysis methods and physically validated at the most accredited facilities. Sparco knows how to optimally design the seat shell using, as appropriate, preimpregnated carbon, short-fiber forged carbon or fiberglass.
Supercar drivers want seats that allow them to feel the performance, handling and reactions of their car both on the racetrack and on normal roads. At the same time, increasing attention is placed on comfort when driving long distances, facilitating the driving experience as much as possible. That is why ergonomic studies are so important for the engineers who design Sparco seats.
Sparco started manufacturing OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) sport seats in 1998 for the Lamborghini Diablo. Sparco designed and developed the first adjustable sport seat in carbon fiber for supercars, brilliantly passing the type approval tests and safety and duration tests of the most important car manufacturers. Since then, Sparco has been a provider of prestigious brands such as Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bugatti, Aston Martin, Bentley, Audi, McLaren Cars, Mercedes Benz AMG, Alfa Romeo, Lotus Cars, Koenigsegg, Maserati, Ford, and many other car manufacturers. Sparco seats for supercars have the same DNA, the same technical content and the same capabilities as racing seats: they are light and supportive, but at the same time safe and comfortable. Moreover, they do not renounce luxury at any level, with microfiber or exclusive leather upholstery and finishing details in quality materials.
Since 2010, Sparco has been providing sport seats for supercars with side airbags and up to 12 different settings, heating and cooling systems and comfort functions such as lumbar adjusters. Riding the continuous evolution of technology, Sparco acquired leadership by being the first to offer a load-bearing structure in short-fiber carbon, on the standard seat of the Lamborghini Aventador. Today, Sparco is the only manufacturer to offer seats with side airbags encased in a real carbon fiber cover, ensuring uninterrupted aesthetics and top-level safety performance.
The range of SP-X composite seats, based on common contents that allow development times and investments to be kept to a minimum, allows any car manufacturer to adopt a light, sporty seat with any appearance and comfort level. The production flexibility of the Sparco group allows the best technologies for any of cost and production volume target to be selected.
The quality of Sparco sport seats is not just the ``icing on the cake`` of the production process, but rather a mentality that starts with the seat design and permeates all manufacturing processes up to the end of production and the related controls. Seats and carbon parts are designed according to the DFMEA and PFMEA methodology, which allows any design and production errors to be detected and corrected before they occur. Following project validation, qualification tests and product approval formalities are initiated, according to the demanding PPAP methodologies imposed by car manufacturers. Sparco is ISO/TS:16949 certified in all its OEM plants for the development and production of carbon fiber seats and components. On top of this basic structure, every Supercar manufacturer has its own requirements, which the Sparco quality team implements and harmonizes with our processes.
Sparco is structured to perform aesthetic, dimensional and destructive checks on finished products and on the sub-components of each product category.
Carbon fiber is the most advanced material used by the automotive industry. Incredibly light and strong, carbon fiber was created for the aerospace and military industry and introduced in F1 by the brilliant founder of Lotus, Colin Chapman, in 1981 on the Lotus 88 F1 car. Sparco began using carbon fiber for its racing seats in 1984; since then, it has become the material of choice for the design and construction of the most technically advanced racing seats. In 1999, Sparco created a division for the production of carbon fiber parts and sport seats, made available to supercar manufacturers and to the aerospace industry. Today 9 autoclaves (2 autoclaves were added in 2014), 4 presses and over 300 employees work to create carbon parts for supercars such as the Lamborghini Aventador and Urus, Alfa Romeo Giulia QV and Bugatti Chiron, as well as parts for superjets such as the Airbus A380.
In 2014, Sparco flanked the prepreg technology in autoclave with press processing of both the prepreg as well as the short-fiber material. This new technology reduces production times while increasing production capacity, without renouncing the excellent performance of carbon fiber.
Sparco controls directly and through strategic partnerships the entire production flow, from raw materials to transformations and finishes. Very important investments in high-precision machining, painting and metal component production make Sparco an extremely integrated company. The design, prototyping and mass production structure is able to respond quickly and cost effectively to the requirements of any carbon fiber component, from the smallest interior finish to complex chassis or body assemblies.