When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So in my initial research - BBi CAN get the light off but costs $1500-2000 for the parts/labor to correctly do this. I'm not sure if the light would bug me that much since I don't daily drive this car.. the cost for the seats/install seem very fair. The input I've gotten from other 911 owners (not 991 specifically) have said the new Sportster GT is a really nice seat for what I'm looking for. I do plan on tracking the car, I don't plan on putting in a roll cage - so far, the Sportster GT seems like the way to go, anyone have other suggestions on seats I'm interested in hearing about them.
I love the Sportster CS - way more comfortable than the base or 18 way seats in my opinion.
Installed with no airbag or warning lights.
From my research and experience, if the airbag warning light is on the dash then the system is deactivated (all bags) but I don't know who actually has had the experience to try it. Personally? I won't drive a car with an airbag light.
Just FYI airbag check is done thorough resistance, a plug with the appropriate resistor is all you need.
Don't know how that's turned into a $1k science project.
Just remove the airbag and use a low voltage multimeter to measure the resistance.
From my research and experience, if the airbag warning light is on the dash then the system is deactivated (all bags) but I don't know who actually has had the experience to try it. Personally? I won't drive a car with an airbag light.
Gosh, I am surprised it works that way. That would seem like a big safety issue. So if one airbag in your car fails for some reason, then they all turn off and the whole system shuts down?
Can't speak directly about Porsche (just recently bought my first one), but I did put Recaro seats in my E39 2002 M5.
It was a major pain, particularly to keep the air bag system operating, and to keep some of the other memory functions working (like steering wheel position, for example). I had to buy another complete driver's seat wire harness and install that under the driver's Recaro seat to keep memory functions working. The E39 M5 does not have airbags in the seats, so I did not have to worry about those.
Secondly, you have to fake out the child sensor in the passenger seat or you will get an airbag fault. Recaros do not come with this pad built in. Any fault will disable the entire airbag system.
For a track car (exclusively) you probably don't care about a disabled airbag system, but if you street the car you may have serious insurance issues if you crash with passengers and no airbags deploy. Or you get seriously injured yourself.
I do like the Porsche because they do not appear to have an explosive airbag charge on the battery cable (like the E39 M5 has). If you have a crash over a certain g load, BMW blows the battery cable and kills all power in the car. Great for fires, but makes replacing a battery cable (or even removing it from the battery) a serious chore.
Back to Recaros, it seems like OEMs today are makng it very difficult (read expensive) to install aftermarket seats.
I was thinking of putting in some Recaro Sportster GT seats in and wanted to see if anyone has done aftermarket seats and their thoughts/reviews on them. Thank you!
I’m looking at doing this in a 991.2 T as well with the same seats or something close. Want to understand what airbag issues that have to be dealt with.
also is there carbon backed version of the sportswriter gt seats?
Our customers usually just live with the airbag light. We’ve done aftermarket seats many times! We also make our own seat bases! Feel free to give us a call or send us an email, and we can help find you the best solution!
1.714.432.1582 or email Sales@gmgracing.com
Porsche | Audi | Ferrari | Lamborghini | McLaren
Performance Tuning | Motorsport | Factory Service
Pirelli World Challege Race Team GT/GTA/GTS/TC
Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA
Porsche Motorsport — Audi Sport Customer Racing — Lamborghini Super Trofeo Series
Nice @gmgracing-what are the weights on those two seats with the brackets? Tempting to do but only if it drops weight over the 4ways...
You’re saving a little weight with both options. 25lbs. total with two Sparcos seats including our bases. The Recaros save a little weight too, but not as much.
I just don't get how the airbag light can't be handled. There must be a way to spoof whatever signal/resistance it expects via the connector.
Part of it is the weight occupancy sensor too. The current solution is that people take all the necessary electronics out of the stock seat and install it in the aftermarket seat. I think 991.1 onwards has more than just resistance to check the airbags. I am sure there is a way to hack the firmware to spoof all the airbags, but no one with the expertise to do this has done it as it would probably involve coding modules etc. Also the liability that goes along with this is probably not worth it.
07-12-2019, 12:15 PM
