inactiveuser7616

Hey guys...

I'm going to track a fair amount (~6-10 track days a season).

I can't physically fit my back in the LWB's

I will also drive the car on the weekends, road trips to various tracks and destination roads, etc... So it will see a fair amount of road usage as well.

And so I want to retain the airbags in the OEM seats. So...I'm thinking aftermarket may be out of the question...?

So, my question... Is anyone using roll-bar mounted 5-points with the OEM 18-way seats?

Mech33

I don't think this is a safe configuration given there are no potential shoulder harness pass-throughs on the 18-ways. So in an accident the shoulder straps could pop right off your shoulders...

DMoore

You cannot safely use a 5-point harness with 18 way seats. The cutouts in the seat back of an LWB seat or a racing seat are designed to hold the harness and place and keep it from slipping off, over the driver's shoulders. The 18-way seats don't have anything to hold the shoulders straps in place. 18-way seats with a harness will not pass a tech inspection with any organization I'm aware of, certainly not PCA.

FWIW, I have LWB seats with roll bar and 6-point harness, which I use for track/AX events. On the street I use the standard 3-point belts.

If you're going to keep the 18-way seats, keep the regular 3-point shoulder/lap belts. That combination is safer than what you're suggesting.

DMoore
'15 GT3
'13 Panamera GTS

24Chromium

Consider an aftermarket seat. I use Recaro in my Cup car. Same seat I previously had in my '11 RS.

Kobalt

My friend told me you can order the lwb in sizes. Not sure if it is Exclusive ...

Whoopsy

LWB has 2 'sizes'. Both are build on the same shell, just that one has firmer padding so a person doesn't 'sink' into the seat as much and feels tighter. So they come in normal or tight.

jlanka

I'm putting Recaro profi xls in my gt3 I'll report back how they work.

inactiveuser7616

Thanks guys! I appreciate the guidance. As you can tell, I'm new to this type of racing.

I'll look into the size options on the LWB's from PAG.

As for aftermarket...I was unde the impression the factory seats have airbags...? So, I was hoping to retain them. Is that really not necessary? I was thinking since the car will see a fair amount of road usage as I described, having the airbags in the seats (thorax?) would be preferred for safety.

Thanks again!

Staff@WORLD

You can find a local shop that can put a racing seat in for your track days and put the factory seat back in when you aren't racing or you can do it yourself.

You don't need airbags when you are racing and are belted in with a racing harness, as a matter of fact you will save some money by not having the airbags in the car at the racetrack if you have an incident.

inactiveuser7616

Thanks! Interesting idea to consider. Thanks.

ipse dixit

Personally, if I'm strapped in with a full 5- (or 6-) point harness, I would not want the side/thorax airbags to deploy in the event of an unfortunate collision.

Manifold

+1

This is the first I've heard of there being two 'size' options for the LWB. I don't recall seeing these options when we order the GT3 and GT4. How/when is this choice made?

Why?

GMP911

Please don't forget the HANS device when you are choosing your harness make sure they are HANS compatible. I realize you want a seat with an airbag, but you will be have many size options with a track seat. You can even take it a step further and get a custom molded seat insert that will match you exactly.

Whoopsy

As I said, the LWB is made with one size only, but one can order firmer padding for the seat to make it fit tighter (smaller), but will need to go through Exclusive now. The normal and tight option were available to 918 buyers when ordering. I don't believe anyone took the tight option. Standard normal LWB is already as tight as it is.

Manifold

OK thanks, I'll check with my dealer on that. I'm tracking my car a lot, and would prefer a more snug fit, so tight seems the way to go for me.