Nick

Eduardo, yet again I must apologize. When I read the thread you started indicating you were going to meet with AP and discuss the GT3 and asked for questions to ask him I assumed you were representing us who have an interest in the car. I totally misunderstood that thread. My mistake.

Z356

No problem, Nick. I tried to get to see AP but none of my sources (Jurgen Barth, for example) could arrange it! AP is based in Weissach and that is totally 'no-go' zone for visitors right now...not to mention he doesn't have time right now to answer questions from a simple Porsche owner! We are still waiting for the fellow on the other thread that indeed was going to meet with AP (in NYC I think) and posed our questions to him!

Indeed after I talked to Detlev von Platen by pure luck at breakfast in our hotel in Stuttgart Tuesday (one week ago), it became clear AP would have been too busy to meet with someone like me. He will be presenting to Porsche executives, including PCNA's von Platen, the 'exciting' new models they are planning for all of us in the next few years! That probably was keeping him more than busy in the weeks preceding that 'dog & pony' show!



Not cameras were allowed once we left the reception area inside the factory and first boarded our mini-bus to go to the various buildings! But I took some photos at the gates, the reception area and inside the special room where they brief you on the tour! In addition, I have lots of photos from the public areas outside the official gate!

Saludos,
Eduardo
Como, Italia

PS First time in one week I have been able to post photos!

Nick

Visiting the Ferrari factory is a real treat. What I found interesting is Ferrari workers were constantly being switched to different jobs on the assembly line. After several years (it is a coveted job and very few leave Ferrari) the worker having experience all the jobs on the line, presumably could build a car on his own. BTW, the only women I saw in the factory was in the interior leather fabricating area doing the cutouts.

mdrums

Eduardo hopefully AP is busy designing 6 point harness seats for the USA 991 and Cayman. I had to just shake my head when I received the new Excellence magazine and they show the current 6 point harness seats in the new Cayman S they tested and the seats are not available for USA market.

Z356

The women still dominate the Ferrari 'saddlery' (as the 'Porsche Exclusive' folks call it at Porsche), where the leather covered parts are cut and attached to pieces inside the cabin. Certain leather covered parts done by outside vendors (e.g. sport seats)! At BMW Regensburg, our guide told us that females currently made up 12% of the work force and they are trying to get to 20% within 10 years or so! We saw a few women working with me on the Audi R8 assembly line too!

I know you wrote this in half jest. If in fact changing US regulations are indeed the reason the 'gt2' sport bucket seat is not offered in our market, the responsibility for designing a bucket seat that works for the US is probably in the hands of Recaro...and not Weissach! For the 918 Spyder, I am pretty sure that this work was developed entirely at Porsche because of the uniqueness of the product and the small number of units required (less that 2000 driver & passenger seats)! Still, it wouldn't surprise me if someone at Recaro provided technical assistance even on the 918 seat! I may ask my 918 contact in Zuffenhausen if that is the case.

Saludos,
Eduardo
Malpensa Airport, Milano

mdrums

Yep you got it...half jest....so whoever designs seats needs to get designing, testing and approving. I'm hoping Porsche can pull this off rather soon after the launch of the 991 GT3.

RyanPerrella

You don't think that they'll appear with the introduction of the 991 GT3 RS in calendar year 2014 (I have this on VERY GOOD AUTHORITY)

or

You don't think they'll look like the 918 seats? (This is an educated assumption on my part)

Z356

Ryan: I posted this on three places at Rennlist, so that is not in question!

https://rennlist.com/forums/991/7529...at-option.html

Yes, I don't think they will look like the 918 seats and I explained the reasons in a recent post on this thread! Post #349 in response to Nick's question: "Why do you say that?"

"A) The 918 is the most expensive production Porsche ever built. MSRP is $845,000 before options. The sport bucket seats developed for the 918 are probably the most expensive seats Porsche has ever produced - in terms of materials, construction, etc. To be blunt, Porsche is not going to insult 918 owners by allowing the same seats to be used on the relative 'inexpensive' 991's and future 'bargain priced' 981 Spyder & Cayman R!

B) The 918 sport bucket seat does not fold. I doubt PCNA will try to certify and homologate any seat for the 991 (any model) in the USA which does not allow an owner access to the rear of the cabin!

I had dinner in Stuttgart on Wednesday, April 17th with the designer of the 918 sport bucket seats! He is a fellow member of 'R Gruppe' and he has visited my home in Carmel. I didn't ask him questions on the final 918 specs to avoid him having to decline to answer. But he did confirm that the 918 bucket seats do adjust up & down...and tilt. This allowed them to have a lower 918 since a shorter driver can adjust the seats up...a taller driver down. Otherwise, he explained to me, safety regulations re: field of vision for drivers could have prevented them from having the 918 designed that low.

I have posted before on this forum that I expect the next generation 'sport bucket seat' for the 991/981 model to do the same (which is something the current 'gt2' sport buckets do not provide). But I don't expect that revised sport bucket seat to be introduced UNTIL, at the earliest, when the 991 & 981 is revised for its .2 version (MY2016?). I expect the sport bucket seats on the MY2015 US gt3 RS to look pretty much the SAME as the sport buckets offered CURRENTLY in Europe on the 991 & 981!

I doubt that even the post-MY2016 'new' sport buckets for the 991 & 981 will be the same as the 918 for the reasons I have stated above. But many of its features will be copied (adjustments), although the seat will be constructed with less expensive materials & will be much cheaper to build! And it will be a folding seat - not a fixed bucket seat like the one coming on the 918's! My dos centavos, for what is worth."

Saludos,
Eduardo
Carmel
USA

tcsracing1

Considering that the USA 997RS came with only regular seats im not too worried about the 991 GT3 having only regular seats.

No surprises here.

Besides, the RS will need something to be interesting

Z356

Yes, Sport Leather/Alcantara seats came standard on the US .1 997 gt3 & RS for MY2007 & 2008. By the time the .2 version of both models arrived in the US (MY2010 & 2011), they had the 'sport bucket seats' (first introduced to the US market in the MY2008 gt2) as standard equipment. That is called progress!

PCNA not offering sport bucket seats in the MY2014 991 gt3 in the US (for whatever the reason) is not 'progress'. It is not even 'staying the same'. It is 'going backwards'. To many of us, that is indeed 'surprising'!

The MY'07 & '08 base gt3 came with a sunroof. The MY'10 & '11 base gt3 came without a sunroof. Where you surprised that the '14 gt3 base comes without a sunroof too? But you know all of this better than me...so I am waiting for the punch line re: your post above!

Saludos,
Eduardo

mooty

^ it's amusing how you put it. but you are right!

tcsracing1

Very interesting point about how the sunroof didnt return considering the posh seats have returned.
Other then porsche knowing that north american market fit easier into sport seats vs. buckets i cant see why they still deleted sunroof but not keep the buckets as optional equipment.
I presume they want this car to be the daily driver version of the upcomming RS model which will have the buckets and marketable as such.

I thought Sport Buckets were optional in the 997.2 and not "Standard" equipment as you mentioned??

mile2424

anyone else see Iron Man 3 and notice something interesting about the Audi R8 e-tron car....????

mile2424

thought it was a little humorous....

http://www.automg.com/en/uploads/new...1365421018.jpg

RR

The reason the us 07 base gt3 came with a sunroof was that porsche promised that the rs was lighter than the gt3 by 44lbs in all markets. But because in us we couldn't get cgt seats and the plastic rear window they instead made the base gt3 in the us heavier by putting in a sunroof thereby making rs lighter than the base gt3.