True, my mistake. I expect the biggest pain for Porsche is crash testing and DOT certification.

 

Yes, and they would have to develop a second suspension (bespoke springs and/or dampers) to accommodate the possibility of weight in the rear seat area for passengers.

 

Hadn't thought of this.. The only car in recent memory that had the option of buckets (no rear seats) or full sofa interior, was the carrera T. Did they make any suspension adjustments based on which option was selected?

Seems the seats are for kids and maybe people under 100 lbs, and that it wouldn't be necessary.

I would gladly spec them with the standard suspension, knowing the car is setup for optimum performance without rear passengers. Me and my 1 year old really hope this is an option

 

I think it's easier to remove rear seats on a car originally designed and setup with rear seats (e.g. Carrera T).

It is much more difficult to add rear seats on a car originally designed and setup without rear seats (e.g. GT cars)

I would imagine the suspension setup for the Carrera T would be fine without the added weight (or expected weight) from backseats. This would not be the case for a GT car where the suspension is setup does not anticipate any additional weight behind the driver and passenger.

 

....so, when is the launch date?

 

It's widely believed that it's either Jan 25th or 26th. I'm really hoping the configurator goes live that day too.

 

Makes sense as it applies to retro-actively making the change to an existing model. In the case of the 992 GT3, it is possible that Porsche planned for the rear seat option in advance. My confirmation bias is hard at work. Time will tell.

 

This is my thinking as well.

 

@Chris3963
Is it true that the GT3 reveal is postponed until mid of february (16.02)?

 

Where are you hearing this?

 

Spot on DOT would require testing to a car that was never sold with rear seats, and would possibly require crash testing for survival rates.

 

Never sold with rear seats? The car has not been sold at all.

Maybe I'm being naïve, but what would the difficulty be in certification if Porsche planned for a rear seat option from the beginning? Why is this made out to seem so expensive or impossible?

 

Never said it would be difficult, GT3 was not sold with rear seats, now if they did design and got DOT approval sure add them no problem. The new Cayenne Coup Porsche added 22 inch wheels, and they were approved for the non-coup ......guess what car was delayed for months just for some wheels. Porsche has zero incentive to add for a car that sells out, so ask yourself what’s the incentive to add another manufacturing process. I place my money on not seeing it happing as a Porsche is a very bottom line company/**** processes in manufacturing. This has been debated since 2007, and here is one recent so it will continue (:

https://rennlist.com/forums/991-gt3-...-possible.html

 

Porsche could remove a bunch of cost options from the GT product (deviated stitching, leather everything, lava, etc) and still sell every one they produce. Why then offer these options? My hypothesis - Profit