Very interested to see the project having just found the thread. I hope you'll get everything through to completion and have a result that's really satisfying.
Noticing especially your recent posts, I thought your opinion on seating might be helpful for me please. My liking for the Abarth marque was reignited a few years ago on seeing the new 595 models. I have always loved small cars with relatively high power outputs and I was very impressed by the chutzpah of both the engineering/specification and the aesthetic design of the 595s. As I got into a Turismo, I was immediately delighted to see that the 'look' of the interior was every bit as good as photographs had suggested. I also took straightaway to how the engine sounded and performed. But . . . also, immediately, I felt oddly disconnected from the car. The sensation to me was of sitting ON it, rather than IN it. I've experienced some marvellous cars in my time in which I felt completely 'at one' with the chassis, for example Alfasud Sprint Veloce, Saab 96 TS, BMW 2002 Tii, and my current VW Lupo Gti. The 595 looking as good as it does, gave me nothing like that sensation. Trying to understand it, and appreciating that the suspension set-up/ride height and suchlike may be areas that could be tweaked, I came to the conclusion that I needed to be sitting far lower in the car. As I can't seem to shake off my underlying 'itch' to run an Abarth, I'm just wondering what you think, especially as you've apparently had recent experience with some standard ones, some R100s and the GQs?
Not owned many VWs (the two I have were both nightmares so don't touch them) but otherwise it seems like we've owned some quite similar cars in the past (BMW 2002 touring, Alfa GTV, 156 GTA, which was surprisingly dreadful in the corners, various Subarus, which are basically a turbocharged Sud with 4wd, Pug 205/306 GTi, etc) so I know where you're coming from with that 'disconnected' feeling - it affected my confidence in the car's cornering abilities a bit.
But I've got the Sparco R100s fitted now, just finishing a retrim with perforated vinyl seat base material / memory foam to combat the uncomfortable (and no doubt sweaty in the summer) vinyl / foam originals, but apart from that I'd say they're fantastic
Fitting the Sparcos made me realize my lack of confidence in the car's cornering abilities was mostly down to the seats (as you concluded), and having the lower seating position (which may have altered the roll centre slightly too), better bolstering and getting more feedback from the chassis transmitted to my body (which may not be desirable for all) has left me chucking the car into corners with almost the same level of confidence as I had in my favorite Pugs and Subarus
There are a few niggles though - I'm still to test them on a long journey (still need to finish the reworked seat bases) but I strongly suspect they'll be less comfy than the GQ seats, I do find the headrest position a little annoying since it prevents you reaching the seatbelt, and rear seat access is harder since the seat tilt doesn't slide the seat forward. But they actually slightly improve rear legroom, and the improved feel means the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.
Other tweaks I've done which seem to improve the Abarth's feel more than I expected were fitting the round steering wheel from a standard 500 Sport and the alloy gear shift knob from a Comp, along with fitting a spare wheel, which puts a few extra kg over the rear axle. Also oddly, the steering feels slightly less artificial if left in 'standard' rather than 'sport' mode, so I always leave it in 'standard'.
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