bccars

Strongly agree ! The 918 style LWB are too wide, they rattle you around, are very uncomfy, very hard to get in and out of, are too upright and indeed push your head forward with helmet and hans. That's why I choose the GT2 style foldable bucket seats. They are not perfect, but sure better in every way.

stout

As this thread has only served to confirm for me, seating that works for one person won't necessarily work for someone else—so take whatever I say with ten grains of salt.

• I don't have a problem doing 5-9 hours or more in the current LWBS. It might be nice to vary the setback angle, but I rarely do that with my Sport Seats Plus, or any other seats, so I don't view it as a huge drawback. I find the current LWBS more comfortable than many, many seats out there, from an E34 M5's thrones to the cheap seats in various rental cars. So that's quite an achievement. The downside, for me, is they are too wide higher in the seats (or I am too thin!), so I don't get as much lateral support from a LWBS as I do from the Sport Seats Plus. On the other hand, LWBS were styled by a friend and are gorgeous—and their true bucket concept does provide a greater sense of occasion and, more importantly, a greater connection with the car. Some say they are hard to get in and out of, but I don't find that to be a problem—even after spending long periods with LWBS-equipped cars as daily drivers.
  
• However, I view the 4-way Sports Seats Plus as a superior street seat—for me—and the best street seat in a Porsche sports car because it's totally comfortable (for me), has plenty of lateral support (again, for me), is light due to its lack of electric motors, is great looking (unless it's next to LWBS), can be reclined, has a very good range of height adjustment, the seatback folds forward, they're very easy to get into and out of, it doesn't need a lot of fiddling to feel "just right" (again, to me). Unless you are going to use harnesses, it's the Goldilocks seat option, imo. Oh yeah: And it's either free or $400-800.
  
• Can't explain the 18-way thing, but I cannot seem to get comfortable in them and I know others who say they start aching after a while in them, as well. The seats feel harder to me, but that may be perception, or a "hard point" issue. Again, it's just super personal.
  
• Sadly, we don't get the 987/997-style folding buckets anymore. Love those, and they are comfortable and supply me with more lateral support than 981/991 LWBS—but I hate how high they sit, with no adjustment. If custom brackets addressed that concern, these would be my first choice.
  
• Porsche's other seat options for the 981/991 are just too "consumer grade" for me and could be installed in a 3 Series. For me, they offer no upside.

But the best advice I can provide is to do what I did: Go to a dealership that has as many of the seat options as possible and test-sit all of them. Then call a friend with a GT4/GT3/GT3 RS with LWBS and try those too. I did that the night before my order locked and switched from LWBS to SSP. A year and 10,000 miles later, I have zero regrets on that decision.

Did I mention YMMV?

OG911

Thank you so much Stout. MY local dealer has a new Carrera GTS with 4 way seats. I am assuming they are similar to GT3 seats. Will test them. They also have a GT3 RS with fixed buckets, unfortunately the folding buckets are not availble to test.

I don't like the silver look of the back of the 4 and 18 way seats. Do you think its worth covering it with leather? its an expensive option to tick in Australia $3700

Thank you again again for your time explaining all of that. Have a good weekend

OG911

Whats YMMV?

Gtsilvergt4

I covered my 18 way seat backs in my GT4 since I as well do not like the silver backs. Expensive but worth it for me.
I'm still undecided between LWB' s or 4 or 18 ways on the manual GT3 but leaning towards LWB's since I only play with my toys on weekends and I am essentially the only user of the car.

Cheers,
Brian

Quikag

I had the 18 ways in the GT4 and they never felt lacking even on the track, the few times I took it out. I just inflated all the side bolsters and bladders. Spec'ing my . GT3, I automatically selected the buckets but now I'm having second thoughts. 90%+ of the time will be street driving and I'm sure my wife would prefer the sofas. I'm 6'2" 225 with a few minor (microdisectomy) back surgeries. My back is feeling great now, but I could just see myself throwing it out climbing out of buckets.

Also, my Dad likes to joke he was a Marine fighter pilot 150lbs ago. Kind of sad actually.... Anyway, he's over 300 and getting older. I'd love for him to be able to experience the GT3 when I get it.

Can anyone tell me if he'd even have a chance of getting into the buckets at 6'1" and 320lbs? If not, it would be sad for him to not even be able to ride or drive my GT3 if I got the buckets.

Quikag

Your Mileage May Vary

OG911

Hi Brian,
Are you thinking fixed or Folding buckets ?

Gtsilvergt4

Fixed. I don't need any storage. It's just me playing around with the car on nice weather days

Cheers,
Brian

Nick

He will have great difficulty getting in and especially out of LWB. Based on your needs, I would suggest you reconsider LWB.

Quikag

Thank you, Nick.

Nick

FWIW, I have ordered LWB despite knowing what a pain they are getting in and out. Once in, to me they are very comfortable.

NateOZ

surprised so many people find them difficult to get in out and of. Really have zero issues even with door open only a foot and I'm 6'4" and 225#. My shoes are size 14 so often they're the hardest part to place if the door is only opened narrowly.

Difficult is getting in and out of my race car with full cage, helmet and Hans on but spend 30 minutes practicing and it quickly becomes muscle memory.

18-ways seats are only so-so imo, much better seats offered by other Marques with similar levels of adjustability. Nothing to do with GT car or not but the LWB is the best seat available in the US market on a Porsche.

Drifting

GTS 4 way sport seats should be very similar to GT3 seats. Nice that your dealer has those and 991 RS LWBs to test back to back on the same day.

I personally think the silver seat backs look unfinished. I did the seat backs with leather which cost $1800 in US dollars, and I'm happy for it every time I open the door to my GT3.

Nick

Door open a foot and no trouble getting in or out?????

You must be a contortionist. Even at 30 inches which is the second door stop its still a pain. Maybe I am doing it wrong. I get in by turning my back to the door and set my rear end on to the seat and pivot around. That's with the door wide open. To get out same procedure but in reverse.

If the door isn't wide open, then the gymnastics begin.Right foot in first sliding my rear end toward the seat and dropping into the bucket. Not very easy. To get out with a partially open door, to me it is very difficult. Turn body to the left place the left foot on the ground and slide the body out while holding on to something for leverage. Requires great effort for me.

I am 5'11 163lbs.