Nizer

You can have them if you can get your hands on the marketing car:

Z356

The one thing that was very desirable about the 'gt2' type sport bucket seats are its pretty generous 'thigh' support (see photo #1). And it was easy to 'modify' to longer thighs - the bottom seat inlay (which is velcroed to carbon fiber shell) could be removed, a longer foam pad made and covered in 'Alcantara' - voila, 'made-to-your-body-spec' sport bucket seats!

As I just posted in another thread (US Configurator), let me point out something about the 991 gt3 'Sport Seats Plus' (standard in US spec -see photo #2) which might force some of you to choose an even weightier & more expensive alternative seating in the US - the 'Adaptive Sport Seats' Plus (18 Ways)! The reason is that for many of you, the standard 'Sport Seats Plus' seats will not have enough thigh support! The Adaptive Sport Seats Plus (18 Ways) will have the ability to extend the front of the seat (see illustration - 3rd & 4th photo of the thigh support function on the similar 991 'adaptive 14 way' seats) and provide a critical buttress that will cut fatigue in that part of your body!

Another difficult decision to make - suffer through it to save weight or get the necessary support for your thighs! Something else to think about which may add weight to the already 'heavy' 991 gt3 model! Had we been given the option of the 991 gt2 type bucket seat in the US 991 gt3 model, many of you would not have to face those issues re: the standard 'Sport Seats Plus' and would had lighter & more supportive seat all around (plus ability to add 6-point 'track' seat belt harnesses!

Saludos,
Eduardo

mdrums

Yes but they are not DOT approved for the USA and street car insurance in case of an accident would be void.

85Gold

Not a problem Mike, just don't have any accidents. Seriously I know u were really looking forward to GT3 with PDK so I feel your pain.

Peter

Nizer

And they're really too wide for real track work unless you are a very big drover.

mdrums

I'm big and barley fit in them. 6'5" 235...not exactly a sport car build type of guy....oh how I wish I was 6' 180lbs. Always hated being big.

tcsracing1

There were that many RS and GT3 Porsches in 2010-2011 that had issues selling in usa/cananda with sport buckets that Porsche took notice.
Majority of North american buyers are just plain over weight and did not want them.

Porsche dealers and Porsche sales statistics department took note and decided not to offer them as an option in north america to keep sticker shock down and based on the lack of demand in 2010-2011.

They also noted how many sets of these Bucket seats were ordered over the counter in the parts department which is what they enjoyed. Heck, i have a set that came from the parts department.

They also want to have an edge on the 991RS over the non RS which will be these euro bucket seats as an "option".

This is my two cent take on it.

Mike in CA

Eduardo, do you know the difference in length of the bottom cushion for the sport bucket and the regular sport plus seat?

Z356

No. I sold my Porsche Spyder with the OEM gt2 seats and I don't have access right now to a 991 'Sport Plus' seat. Sorry! But the difference between an 'Adaptive Sport Plus' in normal (contracted) vs extended is as shown in photos below which I took last year! I would guess from photos that 'Sport Plus' seat length is similar to 'Adaptive Sport Plus' bottom cushion in 'normal' or 'contracted' position!

Saludos,
Eduardo

f4 plt

I can't relate to the 991 seats but I have measured the Adaptive sport seats that came in my 997.2 and the Sport bucket seats. the seat as measured from your butt to the front edge of the seat cushion is about 1/2 -3/4 inch longer in the adaptive sport seats. However the more pronounced thigh support in the sport bucket more than makes up for the slightly shorter seat cushion. Adaptive sport seats are out of my 997 and Sport buckets are in. Adaptive sport seats are for sale as they will not go back in. I now have more support for this old back AND the car has lost lots of weight.

LotF

The voiding of the street insurance by having to go to an aftermarket seat is the biggest issue for me. The sport bucket seat is safe in the ROW. Because of bureaucratic nonsense and an oversupply of lawyers it is illegal in the US. I am taking the car on the track to become a better driver and understand the limits of the car in a safe, closed course environment. I would never do it, but all this does is encourage limit testing on the street. Exactly why what you do not want to happen and the reason closed courses were developed to begin with. The system of government is completely dysfunctional.

Z356

I totally agree with you that OUR system of government is dysfunctional. That is different OT subject. Regarding 'sport bucket seats' not being offered on ANY US spec 991 or 981, including the MY2014 991 gt3, this is the fault of Porsche and NOT our dysfunctional government!! The reason for this policy in the US, I contend, is that Porsche wants to limit its liability should something like a catastrophic CL failure cause a serious injury or death! And the issues involved in the less-than-brilliant engineering (CL, catastrophic hose failure, etc) are magnified & exacerbated by driving your Porsche vehicle to its limits, or near limits, at the track, including DE events. These issues don't tend to appear in normal 'street' use, which is the way many of us primarily use our Porsches! Ergo Porsche's attempt to discourage track use.

In the case of CL's, this is an injury that Porsche inflicted on itself! None of the track 'junkies' I know ever clamored for these types of wheels...it was simply shoved down their throats! To some it looks 'good' and 'race-car' like. In reality, they have proved to be something of a nightmare and a ticking time bomb that requires excessive maintenance & unaccustomed expenses! CL's were not an option on .2 997 gt3's, gt3 RS's or gt2 RS's, they were factory standard equipment. They were optional on the GTS and late Turbos.

Porsche & PCNA, by putting the impediment of a 'street' seat on their 991 gt3, expects & hopes that many (or most) of its customers will get the message that this is a vehicle NOT meant to be used at the track...even for recreation DE events! It is also a bit of a legal cover, probably at the behest of their savvy lawyers! These 'sport bucket seats' are not offered here in the US because our liability laws are stricter than in Europe & ROW...and Porsche is concerned that certain parts of their products MIGHT fail and they would be held liable! Once they feel better re: their engineering & trust that it's now 'bullet proof', they will offer 'sport bucket seats' again & all is back to 'normal'! That is my contention!

This is a subject that merits more investigation. But hear me out. Porsche, in recent past, has offered a lightweight, DOT approved 'sport bucket seat' in the US to its customers. It is what we call the gt2 seats because it was first used here on that MY2008 model. It has airbags and works as advertised. Your insurance company would like you to use DOT approved, airbag equipped seats because that is required by our safety regulations AND its standard in all cars sold in the US for many years now. Fine. However, if 991/981 Porsche's computers are able to plug into ANOTHER type of DOT approved, Airbag-equipped seats (e.g. gt2 bucket seats in lieu of 'Sport Plus' seats) and they can trigger the airbags similar to the OEM seats in case of an accident, a court of law will most likely NOT side with your insurance if they try to deny you coverage! Yes, you were not using the exact OEM seat supplied by the manufacturer on your car at the time it was imported into the US. But the seats that you used, in fact, worked pretty much the same as those OEM supplied by the importer on your vehicle! So they would have a much weaker case to deny you coverage!

That is why I believe it's very important to find out if Porsche, on any of its US spec 991/981, has made it technically difficult or impossible to plug in the existing gt2 seat that was OEM standard on my '12 Spyder and in so many others 997/987 US models! If the gt2 seats work (e.g. ready to deploy its side airbags & has passenger seat sensors for the 'smart' frontal dash-mounted airbag) on the 991 or 981 models in the US, I don't believe that your 'street' insurance is voided or jeopardized! But I defer to others that perhaps might have argued similar issues in front of a judge!

f4 Pilot, you walk the talk! Good for you.

Saludos,
Eduardo

mdrums

I understand your state of thoughts on this but Corvette got it done with an optional seat for 6 point harness. Porsche dropped the ball, didn't really consider the Porsche enthusiast consumer and is not providing an optional seat for 6 point harness. That is really the bottom line no matter what government regulations.

orthojoe

Ed, I understand what you are saying, but I doubt that Porsche's lawyers can rest comfortably on not offering sport bucket seats as an 'insurance' policy when all of the advertising videos (on the US website) show the 991GT3 being used on a closed circuit. Isn't that enough to say that track use is encouraged? If they were really worried about track use, they shouldn't show the car with a guy timing laps around a closed circuit.

mdrums

I sure hope this is the case and the new 6 point harness seats will be offered in the USA. I have to think they will be but Porsche seems so different these days.

I have been told by my dealer who has the GT2 seats in there store car they all track they looked into this and also asked Porsche techs and marketing at the 12hr Sebring race during the Porscheplatz that the 997 GT2 Sport Buckets will not work in the 991 cars because of different airbags/electronic circuits.