shadow993

I offered $450 and they took it.

No affiliation....I don't know any details.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...#ht_1394wt_722

Spidey 993

They don't come with rails? What's your plan?

Looks like a sweet deal to me.

Mark in Baltimore

Don't mean to rain on your parade, but I would never, ever consider buying seats manufactured by a source that I knew nothing about. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that these are probably Chinese-made seats? Have these ever been crash tested? Do you know if they will be strong enough to withstand an impact from the rear and not crack or fold? For me, this is like buying a knock-off HANS device and hoping it doesn't fracture in such a way that I'll break my neck.

shadow993

I agree, but very few after market seats have any safety ratings.

How well do you think our 15 year old seats will hold up?

As for brackets, I have a set already.

Texas993

You are a seat-a-holic. Love 'em!

Mark in Baltimore

Really? Racing seats made by Sparco, Recaro, etc. have FIA ratings, meaning that they have been safety tested. And if you're going to say that not all seats made by the aforementioned manufacturers aren't FIA-rated, you are absolutely correct. However, I know a lot about Sparco and Recaro (the same people who made the real GT3 shell seats), so I trust that, borne out of years' of experience, they have an understanding of seat construction and seat failure and would not put their name on a product that they did not feel afforded excellent occupant survivability even if it did not happen to be FIA tested.

Again, I'll ask: do you know anything about the manufacturer of the seats you just bought and how much experience they have in producing safe seats?

Very well, actually. Our seat frames are made up of steel, a material that is not known to degrade unless the material has previously been fatigued by repeated crashes or has been compromised by significant corrosion, a possibility that is quite slim. Oh, and a little manufacturer called Porsche manufactured/contracted the seats. At the very least, the 993 was crash tested for approval by US DOT regs and probably crash tested by the German TUV and other European safety arms.

Do you know if the manufacturer of your seats has had this model crash tested by any country's governing transportation authority?

I'm guessing that what you do know is that you paid very little for some really cool knock-off seats. I'm sure the company didn't cut any corners anywhere, right?

I sincerely wish you the best of luck and hope that nothing ever bad happens to you or your car or to any future owner. I honestly hate it when people go out and support these manufacturers who "create" products that have the potential to harm others. You may not keep your car forever, so when you sell it, an unsuspecting buyer will easily conclude "Wow, cool! It has GT3 seats; I know they're safe because they're made by Recaro for Porsche!", an internal dialog that may not be known to you (I'm going to assume that you'll tell your future buyer that these are cheap copies if he or she tells you how much they love the GT3 seats or that any ad copy will state that these are knock-offs).

Good luck,

Spidey 993

Doesn't seem like a good deal anymore

race911

Frankly no, it isn't. I can't further comment on Mark's point of view other than to say I absolutely share the same view. I'm sure he's speaking from experience in seeing what can happens at the track; I know I've seen it (and experienced it, too).

We went through similar on seat construction in the 910/907s. Much hand wringing over authenticity for the period it represents. But when I drive it, I have no illusions that I'm attached little more than a bike rider is to his machine.

cabrio993

"Covering:* Black Synthetic PU Leather."

That alone is a deal breaker for me... broken neck is bad enough, but having a sweaty back and legs from seating in hot vinyl seats... No thanks!

shadow993

I'm not arguing so take a chill pill. But our 15 year old seats are stressed with the entry and exit. I have seen plenty mfg seats over my life with some distortion or bent frames.

As for after market... Plenty excluding the 2 fall in the same boat.... Rottec for example. I didn't say "all"...I believe I said very few.

Texas993

Worst case, mount some rollers to them and they would be amazing desk chairs!

shadow993

Great idea!! They are only $500.

Mark in Baltimore

How many Porsche seats have you actually opened up and seen with bent frames? Bent where? In the seat or upright? With 100% certainty, can you attribute those bent frames to large owners and not prior accident damage? Do you know how much those bent steel frames would compromise a driver in a, say, 100mph crash? Regardless, we're talking about German steel versus Chinese (Croatian? Malaysian? Canadian? Irish? Italian?) fiberglass, so this is not a valid comparison in any way.

Oh, I forgot about Momo, Cobra and Racetech's FIA homologations. And I'm just going off of the top of my head. Anyway, you have completely missed the point of how a name brand such as Recaro, Sparco, Cobra, Racetech as well as the myriad of non-FIA certified seat companies have an onus of responsibility to produce safe seats versus a factory in the Guangdong province of China (my assumption) and its laughable product liability risk management "policy".

I know you're not arguing, but you seem to be in, um, some serious denial over the unknown yet potential/inherent/obvious safety issues of these seats. I know you just bought these seats and that you want to feel good about your purchase and that I am doing anything but that, but I think it's important that someone talk some sense into you about these eBay seats. If nothing else, this thread will be part of future buyers' Google search on "GT3/GT2/eBay seats" and might make them think about the penny-wise/pound-foolish approach to life, similar to what other Rennlisters tried to do when you asked about installing a 993 twin turbo motor into a normally aspirated 993 chassis.

As I said, I sincerely wish you good luck. In addition to your safety, I hope for the sake of your DE instructors and future owners, you disclose to all parties that you have a cheapo knock-off seat that is posing as a Recaro GT3 seat.

Peace and safety,

shadow993

Alright ....you overgeneralize. NOT all recaro , momo, cobra on and on are FIA.

You are a blind fool if you believe your seats are as strong as day 1. There are numerous German steel parts that wear out on Porsche's.

The engineering and safety standards are ....Old! A Pontiac has the same safety standards as a Porsche. So your special 1985 911 had the same crash test as a pontiac fiero.

I'm not saying theses seats are Safe on a track....but neither are your 1985 911 seats.

shadow993

As for a turbo engine... I guess ruff cars are penny wise and pound foolish. They took a perfectly good 911 4s and dropped beefed up i911 turbo.

It was a thought and if you must know.... I'm leaning towards the supercharger. My concern is that there hasn't been any long term testing on the ability of our motor to handle it. That is why I was pondering using a Porsche turbo.

All and all.... In the long buying a turbo car or dropping one in would be the same hit in the wallet in the long run. $12k hit...motor cost or depreciation. So neither penny wise or pound.

Now ...I wait for more blabbering from you.