Schmidts Cat

Anyone have those in their car? A couple quick questions.
• Bottom mount or side mount
• Rear vision impaired much (wide alien-head design)
• Fit a "Big person" 6'4" 205lbs
• On sliders or direct/fixed mount
• Anyone in the bay area who can let me try them on before I buy some

DHI

I am 6'4" and at a 38 waist, they are snug. Not uncomfortably so however.

If you dont find them for sale locally, I have a set for sale, as I am currently building a track stripper.

zedcat

I have a set I recently installed in a 986 Boxster S. They are on the factory brackets and sliders for now. I'm 6-1, 175#. They fit well in the hips/ legs but I find the shoulders a little tight, but still way better than the stock seats. I have a set of GT2 sport buckets in my 987 Cayman and I think they are better fitting than the GT3 seats at least for me. In the 986 I'm still a little high with a helmet on, so going to try a set of B-K brackets that are supposed to be 1in lower. If that doesn't work I'll go to floor mount. The visibility isn't a problem for me. The boxster is already a bit limited. Mine is an 04 with the glass window. Hope that helps.

Schmidts Cat

Thanks Guys. My waist is about 35, but wide shoulders. I was going to go aftermarket Recaros, but the 996 seats might do the trick and bolt right up! If I don't like them, I can easily resell them next season. How did you deal with the airbag sensors and computer stuff?

DHI, PM me with price please. Shipping shouldn't be too bad. Need them in the next couple weeks. Belt opening height OK?

zedcat

Presume you're putting them in a 987? You'll need to have some reprogramming done as the 987 stock seats have sensors and thorax airbags that the gt3 seats don't have. Mechanically they should bolt right in if they are on the OEM sliders. There is an install article over at Planet 9. Sorry I don't know how to link that into this post but you should be able to find it with a search over there. When I put the gt3 seats into the 986 they should have been plug and play but I still got an airbag light. 140$ for indie shop to clear it with the right tools.

Schmidts Cat

Yes, '09 987S. Thanks, I'll look for the article.

Z356

Ian, zedcat is correct. In other forums I have read the following:

"Along with the 'airbag immobilizer' (resistor) on each seat,
USA owners would also need to add the passenger seat
occupancy sensor, otherwise ALL the passenger side airbags
will be inoperative and you will have the airbag light."

According to them, you will perhaps need both a 'resistor' on both seats and an 'occupancy sensor' (on passenger seat) to make the 996 gt3 seats work properly on a US spec 987, 997, 991 or 981 Otherwise, the European/ROW seats without side airbags will cause an airbag 'error code' to be thrown and the passenger seat sensor 'error code' to come on (which alerts via seat sensors that airbag might be inoperative due to the low weight of your passenger). These are all mandated DOT/Highway Safety Administration rules and you will need to return to original seats to facilitate sales of your 987 Cayman when you finally get a 'proper' track ride - a Spyder, Cayman R...or the upcoming 991 gt3 RS!

Folks say that USA seats have 3 plug in connectors at the bottom. Newer European/ROW Porsche seats have only two and the older 996 gt3 seats may have none! Folks think that these thrown 'error codes' re: side airbags can be addressed by either a custom resistor wiring on the airbag connector or a VAG-COM software mod. The sensor issue can be dealt with installation of a separate seat sensors from a 'modern' seat (or you can buy separate just the seat sensor with plugs as a replacement part).

I am certain someone like Alex Ross at Shark Werks is familiar with the issues and how to address them effectively. No need to reinvent the wheel on this subject.

Regards,
Eduardo

orthojoe

Ian, if you are converting the cayman to a strict track car that is trailered and plan on putting in a cage, then doing the 996 seats makes sense due to their cost.

If you're still going to drive the car on the street, remember that you have lost your thorax/side airbags at this point if you go 996GT3 seats. The GT2 bucket seats have thorax airbags than can be used with your 987.2, but they are unfortunately a lot more expensive. You can certainly work around the electronic issues with appropriate wiring and programming, but you do so with the loss of saftey with the thorax bags. Just something to consider if you're going to go this route.

zedcat

Street safety considerations were in part how I came to have 996 gt3 seats in my 986 and gt2 sport buckets in the Cayman R. Even though they were both compatible generations I had airbag light problems. When I took the CR to the dealer after installing the sport buckets, at first they said no we can't turn off the passenger airbag light - I had to explain a couple of times the seats were oem porsche the same as the CR factory spec. They eventually got it programmed correctly for 160 bucks. For a 987 I think the sport buckets are the best choice, but they're about double the cost of used 996 gt3s.

Z356

Agreed. I would vote for the gt2 sport buckets for safety reasons alone! Your Cayman, like my old 'Signal Green' .1 997S*, has an airbag on top of each door panel and the side airbags on the seats. They work in conjunction with your frontal airbags. All have been carefully engineered to work with the other safety features of your Cayman and are an integral part of the safety net you need for street or the track (sans cage). On the other hand, perhaps your son and wife (the beneficiaries of your life insurance policy) don't mind and are indeed encouraging you live 'la vida loca' on this 987! In that case, go cheap and let's do lunch soon before anything else happens to you!

Saludos,
Eduardo

*I have first hand experiences with airbags...and how they work!

gmsracing

I had the black perlin versions installed in my CS for a bit--but sold them to help fund a house purchase. I still remind my wife that sometimes. Anyway...

I am 6'1", about 190 lbs. At first the wings in the shoulder area pinched my shoulders forward and they were quite uncomfortable. I am also not a big or muscley type of guy. I was coming from the stock sport seats so these were definitely tighter. It took a while but I came to really like having the seats in there as I could plant my shoulder into one of the wings to help hold me in during spirited driving. I swear I could also feel the performance difference dropping the weight! You feel more vibration and more connected to the car too. The OEM sliders didn't work too well and were hard to adjust. They also didn't "quite" fit against the tunnel and left a little hole in my tunnel carpet on the driver's side.

Only you can decide if you want to remove the thorax air bag setup or step up to the GT2 seats. Personally, I thought the GT2 seats were rediculously expensive and Porshce priced them to make sure they didn't sell TOO many sets. In my opinion, you would be pretty tight in the seats and the seatbelt guide holes are probably too low. Recently I went and tried out a bunch of race seats such as Recaro, Sparco, OMP, Cobra, etc and found that the OMP fit my height the best. All of the other ones had much lower guide holes for shorter drivers.

gmsracing

Since you are local I'd go up to Wine Country Motorsports for a seat fitting. You can also get the Recaro equivalent of the 996 seat that doesn't have the "Cobra hood." They might offer more shoulder room.

orthojoe

Ed, you're hilarious.

stevecolletti

Ian's pretty tall. I'm not 6 foot and the Sport Bucket sat me way too high in the CR... otherwise, I'd have them.

I had the 996 GT3 seats in my 2000 Boxster S. They sit noticeably lower (~2 inches) than the stock seats in that car.

Good luck, Ian!

orthojoe

Good point on the seat height, Steve. Ian is way too tall for those seats. He'd have to at least drive without the seat cushions at the track...