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Next mod for my 997.2TT is swapping my heated/ventilated comfort seats for lightweight sport buckets. There are a lot of threads about 997 GT2 seats into 991s, but I couldn't find much about the inverse - 991 ROW seats into a 997. I do not want to disable airbags or deal with adding wiring/sensors. I'm okay with needing coding as long as it's not crazy expensive and it sticks.
This thread is the closest I could find, but only the driver seat was swapped, which is plug and play: https://rennlist.com/forums/997-forum/1171776-997-gt2-seats.html
Carnewal has both 997 and 991 seats available, but price and pros/cons vary. Gert has been helpful and says 991 seats will work with coding, but I'm looking for anyone else that has successfully done the swap here.
Option 1: 991 ROW GT2 seats for 6750EUR shipped. These seats have heating, which is very nice but not mandatory. These seats don't have the North American passenger occupancy sensor and throws an airbag code. Gert says the occupancy sensor can be coded out with PIWIS and the airbag error goes away. I haven't seen any threads reporting how complex or expensive this is, or if it is in fact possible. I don't want to see airbag errors or risk the airbag not working when I need it.
Option 2:997 GT2 Seats for 7795EUR shipped. 100% plug and play. Airbags work. No codes. ~$1200 more expensive. No heated seats.
Anyone have success with Option 1 before I pay more and settle a bit for Option 2? Thanks!
Next mod for my 997.2TT is swapping my heated/ventilated comfort seats for lightweight sport buckets. There are a lot of threads about 997 GT2 seats into 991s, but I couldn't find much about the inverse - 991 ROW seats into a 997. I do not want to disable airbags or deal with adding wiring/sensors. I'm okay with needing coding as long as it's not crazy expensive and it sticks.
Carnewal has both 997 and 991 seats available, but price and pros/cons vary. Gert has been helpful and says 991 seats will work with coding, but I'm looking for anyone else that has successfully done the swap here.
Option 1: 991 ROW GT2 seats for 6750EUR shipped. These seats have heating, which is very nice but not mandatory. These seats don't have the North American passenger occupancy sensor and throws an airbag code. Gert says the occupancy sensor can be coded out with PIWIS and the airbag error goes away. I haven't seen any threads reporting how complex or expensive this is, or if it is in fact possible. I don't want to see airbag errors or risk the airbag not working when I need it.
Option 2:997 GT2 Seats for 7795EUR shipped. 100% plug and play. Airbags work. No codes. ~$1200 more expensive. No heated seats.
Anyone have success with Option 1 before I pay more and settle a bit for Option 2? Thanks!
I added bold & underline to the part where you answered your own question. :-)
My understanding is that the 991 version of this seat was never Federalized, and therefore does not have an occupancy sensor on the passenger side. Therefore, unless you cobble together your own occupancy sensor and wire it in, there is no work-around and your 997 will never know whether anyone is in the passenger seat or how much they weigh. You might be able to get someone with a PIWIS to code-out the light, or change the settings so the passenger airbag ALWAYS deploys (at full strength), but I doubt any US dealer would do that because of the liabilities involved.
I have the 997 versions and I sleep well at night. YMMV.
I added bold & underline to the part where you answered your own question. :-)
My understanding is that the 991 version of this seat was never Federalized, and therefore does not have an occupancy sensor on the passenger side. Therefore, unless you cobble together your own occupancy sensor and wire it in, there is no work-around and your 997 will never know whether anyone is in the passenger seat or how much they weigh. You might be able to code-out the light, or change the settings so the passenger airbag ALWAYS deplays, but I doubt any US dealer would do that.
I have the 997 versions and I sleep well at night.
Thanks. I'm coming to that conclusion. I think the extra $1200 above the 991 seats and sacrificing heating is worth the peace of mind.
Did anyone ever come to a conclusion on this? With the 997 style being NLA all that remains new are 991 folding buckets which can be heated (nice), but I'm wondering about backwards compatibility to 987/997 generation. Carnewal says they work, just have to code the passenger airbag sensor off, but I'm hoping for some first hand experience here if anyone has installed 991 folding buckets in 987/997 generation cars.
@AWay I've got a set of RoW 991 folding buckets that I'll be putting into a 997.2 within the next few weeks. I intend to get everything functional without any coding to switch off error codes (lets see how I do), as my son will be riding in the passenger seat, so everything needs to work as intended. I'll update this thread with my findings, and will remember to document the process with pictures along the way. When you look at all the components part numbers for the RoW 991 seat, all except the cushions have 997 part numbers. That's good start, but it obviously doesn't mean that the overall assemblies and electronics are compatible with US 997 vehicles, just some variant of a 997. 997's (US variants only) have a passenger weight sensing system that's overly complex vs the 991, with load sensors under each seat attachment point to the rail. I'm not sure on the resolution of those sensors, but I'm hoping that the 20lb lighter seat doesn't cause it to register an error, assuming that I can get those sensors to integrate with the RoW seat. I'm not going to mess around with some of the buckle sensor work arounds mentioned on other threads (seeing the existing buckle wired in under the seat with a dummy male tongue always in, or modifying the passenger buckle to adapt wiring from a US spec buckle, so I've ordered the correct folding bucket buckle from Suncoast ($200k) which has the wiring built in. Overall, it looks like less work than installing into a 991 per the other threads, but I could just be optimistic and naive.
Happy to assist as I was lucky enough to get my hands on a new set of 997 GT2 buckets. So I have all the part numbers and other tidbits of info here in my lap right now. I'll PM you can can lend a hand with anything you need related to the endeavor.
@KPJ How did things go with your seat swap project? The 997 sport seats are getting pretty difficult to find but there are still 991 seats available. Did you find out if you can install the 991 seats into a 997? I have not come across anyone confirming this will work and keep the airbags and seat controls fully functional.
I am looking at doing the swap with US spec 991 seats that should have the passenger occupancy sensor. The occupancy sensor seemed to be the problem with most of the other posts I’ve seen going from a Euro spec seat to US or the 997 to 991 CF retro fit. I was hoping you finished your swap and could share an update.
Hello @trek2net , the 991 ROW GT2 seats swapped into my 997.2 work absolutely perfectly. I can confirm I have fully functioning airbag, seat heating, and occupancy sensors. However, I did go through a lot of pain trying to sort out the wiring differences between the 997.2 vehicle side connectors and the 991 seat side connectors. I obviously had to get rid of the 991 occupant sensor pads and replace with the 997 system consisting of the 4 sensors between the seat and seat rail, one at each corner. The calibration of the seat occupancy sensor system was a simple and relatively cheap affair at the local porsche dealer. I also have full working set heating on all cushions (base, back and even the lower and upper side cushions!). I had great help from a gentlemen on here by the name of Andrew Way.
My memory is quite rusty on the details, but rest assured it can be done with full functionality. If required I can dig up the part numbers of the seats I bought, and I can also try and go through my notes and email conversations with Andrew and hopefully piece together what I had to do in terms of the underseat wiring.
@KPJ thanks so much for the quick response. Yes, any other details you can provide would be greatly appreciated! I posted some photos of what I’m working with, I’m sure this will help others considering this swap.
I’m trying to go from a 997.1 full power, heated, w/memory to a 991.1 Sport Seat with comparable options. Sounds like the occupancy sensor is the challenge and different going from the 997.1 to 991.1. If I swap the occupancy sensor (like you did) do I need to locate these pins and move them to the yellow connectors (as in the photo curtesy of @marinb )? Sounds like I can reuse the occupancy sensor from my current 997 seats or purchase new sensors from the dealer?
Do you know if the changes with the occupancy sensor requires recalibration with a PIWIS or can it be done with a Foxwell?
Thanks for creating a need I didn't have this morning. I've spent the last hour trying to find 991 GT2 seats at a decent price.
I was planning on buying Recaro Sportster CS seats but they don't seem to be plug and play either, and I haven't seen anyone who installed the airbag version. Getting the GT2 ones would be ideal and an OEM+ upgrade.
I live in Europe so I assume that I would not have the issues you guys in the US have with the passenger airbag, right?
@KPJ How did things go with your seat swap project? The 997 sport seats are getting pretty difficult to find but there are still 991 seats available. Did you find out if you can install the 991 seats into a 997? I have not come across anyone confirming this will work and keep the airbags and seat controls fully functional.
I am looking at doing the swap with US spec 991 seats that should have the passenger occupancy sensor. The occupancy sensor seemed to be the problem with most of the other posts I’ve seen going from a Euro .
are you talking about sports seats or gt2 buckets?
The 997/991 RoW folding bucket seats are NLA globally and practically unobtainium. You can only find them on the used market unless some obscure dealership has a set squirreled away somewhere. In the US, they have been selling for about $20K used, which is a big delta from Carnewal's pricing when Gert had them for sale. These are wonderful seats and I have a set of 991 RoW seats in my car, but at current market prices, I am not sure the value proposition justifies the cost. That said, given that these are the only folding bucket seats available from Porsche, and likely will ever be, any pair you can get your hands on will probably retain the value your pay for them. There seems to be more demand than supply.
are you talking about sports seats or gt2 buckets?
In my case, I am attempting to install 991.1 Sport Seats into a 997.1. The thread started with a discussion for a GT2 bucket swap but I believe most of the electrical/airbag challenges are the same.
I obviously had to get rid of the 991 occupant sensor pads and replace with the 997 system consisting of the 4 sensors between the seat and seat rail, one at each corner.
Regards,
Kieron
How did you do this? Maybe the seat rails on the 991 ROW GT2 seats are different then the 991.1 Sport Seats? It does not look like the 4x weight sensors will mount to the rails on the 991 seats. I do not have a set to get a close look at but from photos it doesnt look like it will work. If they do mount to the 991 Sport Seats that would be an easy fix for the passanger occupant issue. The module and 4x sensors all have there own wire harness so it would just be remove and install.
06-04-2020, 10:20 PM
991 ROW GT2 Sport Buckets in 997.2?
