My cliff notes

Saw him coming in the door with a job request that they didn't want to do unless they could increase their profit margin by a huge factor.

For ref 981 LWB

 

good thing you are seeking to swap cars instead of trading now,
because I was going to suggest that you just buy one again with LWBS already in

 

Sounds strange. In my experience swapping factory seats is plug and play. If you buy/swap "seats" from another owner generally the seats include sliders, seat belt receptacle and wiring. the swap is 4 bolts and 1 electrical connector. Not sure what the 19 parts are.

 

When I swapped the Sport Bucket Seats and 2-way seats in my 987 Spyder it was 4 bolts per seat and a couple electric connections. Was an easy DIY job at 10 minutes per side. Adding a sub mount took a bit longer as the passenger weight sensor had to be moved slightly.
The Full Bucket Seats should be no different. Except there are no cutouts for sub belts on the passenger side in the US.

 

If it's for safety why not drop 1-2g on a racing seat with halo protection; swapping it in and out of the car every time you go to the track (I can swap a seat in <15 minutes). Harness + halo bucket + hans = you’re not moving anywhere and the airbags won’t do a damn thing to help you, so there is no point to having them on the track and it actually would be best if they were disabled as you avoid the 20g-30g hit in cost associated with having them all pop if you do hit something. The airbag code is likely self-reseting once you put the factory seat back in as most airbag codes are now so you probably wouldn’t even need scanner to reset the system.

you can also buy a racing seat sized for yourself, not a seat sized for the largest person possible it can be made for like the factory buckets.

 

Last I saw, a set of GT4 carbon buckets sold on eBay for $18k + shipping.

You're definitely on the right path of trading your car for one that came with the LWBs, if a true OE seat is mandatory for you.

And despite some of the driving tips above - I agree with you: the non-LWBs, even the 18-way "sport" seats, do little in the way of solid support when on track.

 

LOL, I assume your smoking crack? going from 18 way seats to LWBS are drastically different.

 

You can buy a pair of the folding version from the UK as they are optional on many Porsche models in Europe and have them shipped for about $12k. I know someone who has done this: https://www.design911.com/Sports-buc...urce=doofinder

 

Sadly seems I missed someone selling GT4 LWBS seats 6 weeks ago on another site. Hopefully someone looking to swap, make deal or sell theirs.

 

Having read numerous threads on this topic by people who did the switch, I don’t think this is the case. It’s a fairly easy switch. Did your dealer show you the list of these 19 parts you supposedly need? First I’ve heard of this.

And $21k per seat? Highest price I’ve ever seen for LWBS on the secondary market was $15k for a set. If you’re patient, you’ll find some. That said, if this is for full track, as others have said, you’re way better off just swapping a real race seat in and out as needed. Way cheaper and even better for the track.

 

The dealer, the service manager emailed me its 20 pieces in total, single LWBS was like $21K, so ya, not sure whats up with that. Another guy I chatted with said he bought the chairs for $12K, installed them, had porsche dealer reprogram car and that was it, nothing else.

 

Search this topic in the GT3/GT3RS sub forum and you should find discussion involving people who have actually done this swap. My understanding is that the only thing required is to maybe have the dealer recode the car afterwards to get rid of an airbag light. Also, I believe the going rate is $10-15k for a set of LWBS, though they only seem to pop up for sale once in a while.

When I bought my second Spyder, I initially thought I was going to pull the LWBS when the car arrived and swap them for 18ways and cash, but then when I drove in them I fell in love. I recall there were multiple people ready to make the trade with me.

 

Can you post the list they gave you of parts needed? IMO it might need a connector and pins re-arranged for it to connect to the harness if 18 way equipped porsches have a different harness than LWB and 2 way, but it is very unlikely they have a unique harness. usually it will just be one harness for all vehicles with extra wires for vehicles that don't connect to anything on the vehicles that didn't get optioned out to the max.

So I think Archimedes is probably correct for the 718s that they are a direct swap + an airbag reset (if it even needs one as most vehicles dont need that anymore).

 

Bump

 

A set of these just sold on BAT for $13,750!

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/po...-bucket-seats/