DeerHunter

I've subscribed to this this thread as I'm leaning towards the LWBs in a GT4. My son is almost 7 and about 57 lbs. If the air bags are deactivated, I also cannot see why the buckets would be inherently dangerous.

focal

I finally suck it up and willing to pay for the seats and then the reality comes out about child safety.

my kid will be close to 8 when the car arrives and I put it on the road. hope she grows up in stature fast otherwise, she'll need to wait a year to ride in the car. The GT4 is a long term keeper or at least 5 years (my money doesn't grow on trees). I'd hate to make a short term decision to not get the buckets so my kid can ride in it for the first 2 years. But you love your kid and the GT4 is the ultimate roller coaster in their eyes.

this will be a last second decision to go with the buckets or not.

Mech33

I'm confused: the occupancy sensor is visible in the LWB cushion disassembly threads. Doesn't this disable the airbags based on weight? If not, what is the purpose?

DeerHunter

According to NateOZ, it does work. Hence my confusion about what makes the LWBs inherently unsuitable for kids.

mrsullivan

Mine lights up too. That's why I'm confused

991RDC

Airbags integrated into seats.

Biff_Malibu

Are they not integrated in to the seats with the 18 ways?

NateOZ

Every seat has that - from the 4-way up to the 18-way and LWBs. My wife's Macan Turbo even has them integrated into the rear passenger seats on both sides which both feature isofix mounts. Again, I don't see why the LWBs wouldn't allow seats but the others would other than some US DoT testing requirement which hasn't been completed yet.

991RDC

Guy's,

I'm going to reach out to Adam Miller the Tequipment product manager and ask him to elaborate on why you can't put a child in the passenger seat of the LWB vs. it being ok on the 18 way. It took about 2 months to get the final answer from Porsche and he was the final no for the LWB's. He really didn't give me any detail at the time, just no. I was out of time, my build was locking the next day. As soon as I hear back from him I will post the information.

SunnySD

The issue is not if a booster seat or otherwise will work. There are a few options that fit. The real issue is Porsche has explicitly said no children in LWB seats. Probably for one of two reasons: 1) they never safety tested these seats with kid(dummies) or 2)they did and when the airbags deploy boom didn't go so well.

Airbags go off when they are not supposed too, the weight sensors aren't perfect. I wish we had a switch to turn them off. I guess big government thinks we don't know any better and took away that option.

Latch or no latch system - in the 18 way there are no such restrictions.

mrsullivan

This makes no sense to me. I'm not questioning your thought process or being defensive. But there are DOT regulations. And if it was unsafe to have someone in the front seat because the airbags were going to kill them, I would think that Porsche would need a lot more warnings than something buried in the owners manual or said on rennlist. I get a big bright "airbag off" light when my son sits in the front. And the dealer buckled him in when we drove away. I'm going to reach out to Porsche and do my own questioning on this. Pretty sure that any production car on street in US has to pass certain requirements/standards. What I could see is that Porsche does not recommend really tiny infant children in the front bucket seats. That I could understand. But the difference between my 75 pound son and a 95 pound or 100 pound small framed woman, doesn't pass the sniff test for common sense. This would mean that no small adult could ride in front either.

DeerHunter

Appreciate this very much. I too can't see the logic if there's a weight sensor and the air bags disable below a certain threshold. My theory is that they're referring to child seats, which require ISOFIX attachment points (and are missing or not available with the LWBs). Booster seats, being held in with the seat belt, should function as intended.

orthojoe

Does Adam Miller have kids? Does he understand the differences between a rear facing infant seat (a big no), forward facing child seat, and booster seat? I think that may be where the confusion lies. A booster works just fine and combined with a weight sensor that turns off the airbags, it is fine.

991RDC

Hey Joe,
I did mentioned at the time that I have 2 boys, ages 6 and 4. He said no for any Kids in the LWB's, but the 18 way seats work. Not sure if he has kids or not, but because of the (no response) after waiting almost 2 months for the answer, I cancelled the LWB's. I had to make the decision that day and didn't want to take the chance. Porsche is terrible at times with explaining the why part, just a yes or no is all you get.

Mike in CA

I have no skin in this discussion, however I did seem to recall that the GT2 style buckets in my '09 Carrera were not supposed to be used with a child seat. I found this in the '09 owner's manual:

Child Restraint Systems
Child restraint systems will not fit into the
Sports bucket seat.
Porsche recommends that all infants and children
be restrained in child restraint systems at all times
while the vehicle is in motion in accordance with
applicable laws.
Use only child restraint systems with the LATCHsystem
recommended by Porsche. These systems
have been tested and adjusted to the interior
of your Porsche and the appropriate child age
groups. Other systems have not been tested and
could entail an increased risk of injury or death.
You can obtain child seats that are LATCH compatible
at your authorized Porsche dealer.
Always observe the separate installation instructions
for your child seat.
The use of infant or child restraints is required by
law in all 50 states of the U.S. and all Canadian
provinces. The child restraint system should be
one that complies with U.S. Federal/Canadian Motor
Vehicle Safety Standards and should be secured
by a lap belt or lap belt portion of a lapshoulder
belt or for child seats equipped with the
LATCH sytem (Lower Anchorage and Tether for
Children, also known as ISOFIX) to the LATCH anchorages.
A statement by the seat manufacturer of compliance
with this standard can be found on the instruction
label on the restraint and in the instruction
manual provided with the restraint.
Danger!
The use of a child restraint system in the
front passenger’s seat can result in serious
personal injury or death to the child from an
airbag deployment.
To reduce risk of injury from an inflating airbag
in an accident, Porsche strongly recommends:
Please see the chapter “PASSENGER AIRBAG
OFF INDICATOR LAMP DOES NOT LIGHT UP”
on Page 47.
Please see the chapter “CHILD RESTRAINT
SYSTEMS” on Page 50.
Do not install a child restraint system in
the Sports bucket seat.
The Sports bucket seat cannot be
equipped with the LATCH system and thus
the airbag system cannot be manually deactivated.
Note
The key switch for switching off the passenger’s
airbag and the LATCH attachment bracket are not
installed at the factory. They can be retrofitted (not
on vehicles with Sports bucket seats).
Please see your authorized Porsche dealer.

Based on this, my assumption is that the weight sensor in the passenger's seat can't be relied upon to disable the air bags under all circumstances with a child seat. For that reason a manual over-ride is required, however a manual over-ride isn't available with the sport buckets, although it was/is with the 4 way and 18 way seats. Likely, the situation is similar with the LWB and this is what the Tequipment guy from Porsche is referring to.