I think the best way right now is the same way marinb and I have it setup. Mounting the original buckle underneath the seat with a dummy seatbelt plugged in while retaining/use the original P03 (kinked) bucket for normal use. Although, I don't even see the need for the dummy seatbelt plugged in. I was running without the dummy for a while until it arrived, the Passenger Seat Belt lights were ON when I have the passenger. This tells me the 991.2 doesn't even chimes if you have passenger on, but not buckled in. Only the driver. Regardless, I still got the dummy just as a precautious.

@marinb remember when we went on a test drive when you did not buckle in we didn't get a chime? I don't think newer car chimes per my random search (albeit it came out to be on the Macan, but I suspect they're the same).

 

I spy a passenger occupancy sensor control box (presumably with matching sensor set up for a pad that works in these seats), which the seller confirms. Interesting, though its control box looks different to those we've seen on 981/991 passenger seats. Wonder if it performs the same function?

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/po...arbon-buckets/

 

I think that’s just the bottom of the 997 version of this seat. We discussed this on post #70 (above).

 

^ Ah yes, thanks for the reminder—forgot about the issue mentioned in post #70 and was more focused on a seat cushion/sensor combo. Moving on…

 

stout,

There are companies that rebuild seat belts that were involved in wrecks (where the pretentioners go off and the fabric stretches from impact). Have you reached out to any of them?

None of this would remotely phase me (mainly because after taking apart a bunch of cars you realize how sketchy some factory seat belt mounts actually are), but I would just hack together whatever I needed. I am guessing the wires just all ground out when the buckle is inserted so that can’t be that complicated to make happen. A multimeter and a buckle in and out would sort out what is actually happening.

 

^ Good points.

Hadn't thought about a seatbelt rebuilder for my 991, although I have been meaning to look at replacing the belts on my 914 again, as belts do age (something no one really talks about, and something I need to research). But I suspect those companies focus on redoing belts rather than mechanisms and buckles? Would be interesting to see. I don't think I'd ever buy a used or rebuilt seatbelt after it had been involved in an accident, just as I wouldn't reuse a race seat that had been involved in a big impact, but I err to the side of extreme caution. But maybe I ought to reach out to a specialist. Good tip!

Agree on the buckle, and that's why I want to see if I can figure out how to migrate a US buckle with its wiring over to the P03 stem. I suspect the stem and its crimping are a one-time deal, and would be weakened by any modification, so that's where the idea of migrating the mechanism at the top came from. Just have to find some courage and a couple of uninterrupted hours at my workbench in the garage, one of those rarest luxuries in midlife...

 

Wow awesome thread, guys! Way to forge the path for the rest of us.

I’m in the process of ordering the folding buckets from Gert at Carnewal. Anyone know if the stitching is Platinum Grey? He is unable to confirm but describes the stitching as “dark grey”.

 

The stitching is very dark, definitely not Platinum Grey. I am having some Ed Guards made for my side bolsters and Ed says the stitching color is "Touring Black". I found it is very hard to photograph because it is somewhat shiny or reflective. So in photos it always looks lighter and more grey than to the eye.


This is the best I can do to represent the color on a photo.


My car has red stitching so the black is a bit of a bummer but to offset it, I am having some Tartan inserts covers made with some red elements to liven thing up.

 

Thanks—that’s what I feared.

Uggh. Any other sources that could work? Teile.com is a no go.

 

No I am not aware of any other sources. For whatever reason, it seems impossible to buy Porsche carbon seats. I am surprised these are even available. While the stitching is a bummer, all the other benefits outweigh it in my opinion.

If it helps at all, I think that putting these in a platinum stitching car would be an even better fit than a red stitching car. While the stitching won't match, it is similar especially in different lighting. I have the same stitching in my Macan GTS and it looks grey from a lot of angles. When it looks grey it looks more like how most photos capture it. See below as an example of another photo of the same Carnewal sources seats:

 

I can confirm that my 991 P03 seats have the very dark gray stitching as seen above, which is so dark as to be black so far as I was concerned. But it is actually gray, and it's a nice detail. My P03 seats are the "other" version, without an embossed crest on each headrest.

Meant to answer this earlier, and can only speak for myself, but my desire to get everything working as it would with my car's original seats has become something of a side project and a challenge. I am intrigued by and have learned from ideas in this thread, and still have questions. If one codes out the airbag light, is there a way to know that the thorax airbags will still work short of triggering them? I'd want to know the answer—and know what my dealer's computer will "see" when the car goes in for service. If the US seatbelt buckle, seat position sensors, and occupancy sensor can be worked out, I'd prefer that route. Obsessive? Sure. But the seats look nice out of the car, too, and will be there when I have time to fiddle with them between deadlines. I also got into them in a trade, so I don't feel bad about spending a bit here and there on sensors and wiring. If I can't find a solution to my satisfaction, I probably won't install them. Next step is figuring out how to get the shell off of the P03 seatbelt buckle, short of getting destructive. There's a seam around the shell, but I am not seeing a way to separate it so far and have found nothing useful online.

It's good to see that marinb and moo still appear to be happy with these seats. Thanks to the information they've shared, I have a lot of the necessary parts sitting on one of the seats in those nifty factory wrappers. If all goes very well, the last pieces of the puzzle are dark green tartan centers and an adapter for the factory fire extinguisher.

 

I may be too trusting in the whole thing, but I know that airbags as a safety system are designed to be fail safe. If there is an airbag light on the dash, it does not mean the airbag system will not work, it only means something is not right like sensor is not plugged in. So from my perspective, coding out the sensors is the exact same thing as tricking them with a buckle attached under the seat. I am also pretty sure that when the new seats are installed, the airbag from the new seat needs to be activated. So if the sensors are coded out, and the OEM airbags are activated with a PIWIS or similar, then they will be fully functional. There is no way to be 100% sure of this without testing it but my confidence level is extremely high. In any case, I enjoy following the progress here and would love to see a fully functional solution, especially for the occupancy sensor.

I sent my car off for seat install yesterday along with harnesses and a roll bar. I am going the coding route and have no concerns. I commissioned some tartan inserts and Ed Guards from Crazy Eddie. I am also having the Tarett adjustable mounting brackets installed on the drivers side as I am nervous about the fixed height and a helmet with my build. I'll report back as much as I can on the coding path and also the lowering mounts.

 

I know we all have different intended uses for our cars, but as someone interested in the folding buckets as they relate to cage/harness/track driving, I have started to doubt these seats. The airbag uncertainties and wiring were initially part of that, but then I read a thread about a GT3 member who had a bad wreck and almost died from lateral deceleration with these seats. He came away from that feeling that going forward he would only track drive in something like a Recaro P-1300 GT. Does anyone share the concern that factory buckets, either fixed or folding are not sufficient for driving at a higher threshold? That's before we ever get to the retrofitted installation and wiring for the ROW seat. I don't think airbag, properly functioning or not was the element of the concern in the above referenced accident. I think more the construction and protection of the seat itself.

 

OT: I have an extra dummy buckle insert if anyone wants it.

 

Driving a car on a track is inherently dangerous. The safest solution is a race car with full cage, racing seat with Halo, 6-point harnesses, and a fire suit. Anything short of that is a compromise. Everyone has to decide what level of compromise they are comfortable with. Most cars at HPDE events are dual purpose and all of those drivers are compromising. Running a full cage on the street is not safe, a race seat raises safety concerns with 3 point belts, a helmet with no Hans device is a concern, a Hans with no roll bar is a concern... Basically you have to pick your poison. I personally thing that the Porsche fixed and folding carbon bucket seats are a very good compromise for a dual purpose car. They have air bags and work safely with both 3 and 6 point harnesses. YMMV