AndreasPeriera

Hi there

To the doctors and all wise people in this forum, I've owned my first GT3 for 9 months now and have enjoyed the best 8000km so far one could ask for. However, I think that I've developed a lower back pain from the 4 way sofas. It's my daily when I decide to, and often rotate between my 3 cars. Only when I drive the GT3 over 3 to 4 days do I get the lower back pain. I wasn't sure about it or was in denial so I stopped driving it for about a month and the pain was gone. Now I'm back driving it again and after about 400km the pain returned.
I have DD a 991 S for 5 years with regular comfort seats, not the sport seats plus without any pain so I don't think it's the stiff ride.
Any suggestions about the possible experiments that I should go through with the seats (adding support or maybe changing them) or with myself (maybe go back to yoga) before deciding to retire it to a weekend toy?
I was actually going to get foldable bucket seats but they stopped accepting them as they introduced a new regulation in our country mandating fire extinguishers on all new cars and unfortunately the foldable buckets were not compatible with them.
Thanks,

Andreas P

fjpdds

Patrick Long was talking about 24 hour races and seats. He mentioned thigh support and fit was very important. Saying lower back will cramp up trying to stabilize hips and legs. Perhaps something of this nature applies for you. I found it a surprising concept, assuming seat backs were the culprits.
Good luck.

f4 plt

I'm 5'9 and weight 150 and have several no more than that discs that have degenerated from my career activities. That said I cannot get comfortable is a 911 ( and variant) or Boxster or Cayman with either 4 way or 18 way sofa seats. The 18 way are great in the Cayenne. In both the GT 3 and the 987 Spyder sport buckets are the answer. They give great thigh support for long drives. I'm 76+ and have taken 12 plus hour days in the Spyder with no issues. Now getting out of the sport buckets at my age is interesting but bottom line they provide great low back support

wareaglescott

Not related to the topic but man good for you for still enjoying the cars at 76. Did you fly the F4 in Vietnam? My dad was a Birddog FAC. He would have been 76 this fall. Maybe he called you in at some point!

kblask

Hit the gym, get a personal trainer, start deadlifting and squatting with only the bar, and work your way up. Back pain comes from weak muscles and poor posture, not from your seats. Strengthen your core and back, and the pain will disappear.

*flame jacket on*

Porsche911GTS'16

Kblask - Perhaps you are a health care provider like I am (I am an orthopaedic surgeon) but I think you are over-generalizing. It is normal for our backs to wear out with time, some faster and some more severe than others. Degenerative disc disease will not go away, no matter how hard you hit the gym. To say "back pain comes from weak muscles and poor posture" is a huger over-generalization. For sure, seats can affect one's back condition, for better or for worse.

kblask

Fair enough, in the case of degenerative disease. But, sounds like he's not far gone if he only recently started experiencing pain, and regularly uses other seats without issue. Following my prescription should result in many more years of pain-free motoring

carrerafanboy

The 991 generation sofas wreck my back as well, whereas I have zero issues with the 918-style fixed back LWBs. I had a 991.1 C4S that I sold and replaced with a 981 Spyder largely due to the seats (but the Spyder is brilliant regardless!).

I think it's because they have very little support for your sacral region — on my 14-ways there was basically a "divot" where the seat met the back, leading to no support. Lumbar (the area above sacral) support seems fine, but that wasn't my issue.

Are you on the taller/skinnier side by any chance?

Porsch

+1

chance6

You definitely don’t need to be deadlifting. That exercise can do more harm than good, even if done ‘properly’. Gonna load up yourself with the ridiculous Hulk weightlifting belt too.

My 997.2 S had the 4-way Sport plus seats- no adjustable thigh bolsters. Not good on the lower back- what helped me was core work, planks, eating pizza, not doing deadlifts, doing push-ups, and going to 18-way seats. Peace.

AndreasPeriera

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I may end up getting one lwb, I am seriously considering it.
I am in my 30s, athletic build 5' 11 and 190lbs, do workout 3 to 4 days a week with a trainer taking different classes (pump, pilates, spinning, functional mobility)
My reason to get the sofas was to daily drive my touring, and it might become the reason that I don't :confused
Time to look for some lwb seat time before spending $$$

evilfij

A sheepskin seat cover made a big difference for me in the LWB. And it’s a very small fraction of the cost of one LWB. . The extra padding made a big difference.

I would also try adjusting the height and seat angle.

Jzips

Don’t listen to generic (and almost always bad) advice about your back health and don’t do yoga! Read The Bach Mechanic by Dr. Stuart McGill. Talk to your doctor about what the cause of your pain is and learn how to move (which includes how to sit) to avoid pain triggers. The seats are almost certainly not your problem, per se, as the seats wouldn’t irritate a healthy back. There’s something going on inside your back, which you should diagnose first. Then figure out how you might be irritating the problem in the way you enter and exit the car and your seating posture.

bli8

OP before you switch out the seat to LWB, try sliding memory foam pads behind the seat back cushion. There's nothing holding the sides of the seat cushion to the frame and I've various thickness padding in my seat to contour the back to my liking.

Agent_Orange

+1, exceptional idea. All the cushions are held in with velcro and can be tailored for you. You may just need a good upholsterer to shape a new piece of foam to fit your back



I love my last 3 GT cars purchased with their LWBs,
I can drive 10 hours a day in both GT4 and Touring (GT4 is 10% a better fit) You will always get much of that LWB money back upon resale