Originally Posted by workhurts

Ummm. No rails. No airbags. No electronics. Not sure how they would work.

Originally Posted by Liste-Renn

Here is another opinion/datapoint:
6'4" 195 lb long waisted with fairly broad shoulders, 33" waist 44" chest

The Adaptive Sport Seats (***) are 18-way adjustable with 2 memory positions (and one additional assigned to each ignition key) for the heated seats in my 997 GTS. They are part Alcantara and part-leather. Without full-leather there is no ventilation option- cannot put holes in fake suede).

They are absolutely perfect. For me.
(I built/bought a 2018 Macan GTS and specc'ed the exact same seats/features, a no-brainer after my experience with them in the 997.)

To wit:
-The capability to spread/pinch the upper and lower bolsters allow one to customize the seat width for shoulders, lower hips and thighs.
-The adjustable seat cushion length feature allows one to extend the front edge of the seat cushion towards the knees.
-The lumbar support adjustment is adjustable vertically and from slightly concave to about 3 inches proud.
-Up/Down, Fore/Aft and Tilt/Recline functions are not much different from any other Recaro type Porsche seat.

I also owned a 997.1 base Carrera with manual comfort seats for 4 years. They provided adequate support for spirited driving that generated lateral G's- but I had to use the dead pedal to keep me planted in the seat, a lot. On longer drives, however, I experienced bad lower back ache. I was always squirming and shifting positions to alleviate it, mostly without success. I ended up carrying a small pillow for lumbar support, which helped somewhat- but I never found a setting that provided comfort for any drive > than 30 minutes.

The *** on both my both GTSs, at least for me, can be custom adjusted to a tight form-fit. They maybe not as supportive as the Light Weight Buckets (LWB) that people rave about, and pay dearly for, on this forum. Problem with the LWB is- like a suit bought off the rack and not altered- their "contours may not contour to your contours". Aside from being much lighter, and supporting a 4 or 5-point harness, they are really one-dimensional seats. Some versions of them do not even tilt forward to provide access to the rear. I realize the GTx cars have no rear seats, but there is storage space behind them that is access compromised by LWBs.

On a trans con drive in my 997 GTS with my wife (5'4" 115 lb) from Boston to Los Angeles via Canada and the entire Pacific Coast Highway. 6000+ miles of non-interstate driving, over 3 months, I never had to pull over for a "stretch" or use a lumbar support. Not once. I never heard a discouraging word from her about seat comfort- and she is not one to silently endure anything!

I now use the 997 GTS exclusively for aggressive spirited 2-3 hour runs. No commute driving, but I do use SoCal freeways and interstates to access Malibu's awesome canyons, the Angeles Crest Highway, Route 33 above Ojai, the Pacific Coast Highway north of Cambria and an annual road trip deep into to the largely deserted southern Sierra Nevada. The *** are a versatile ideal: supreme comfort with very little/no compromise with regards to support.

Here are your options:
Comfort/ ***/ LWB


As you can see, there's not a huge difference between the *** and LWB- except the hip area bolster at about kidney level, a hole for a 4 pt harness and 16 fewer adjustments. The comfort seats lack the upper bolster "wings"- which may be the source of complaints about bad fitment from previous posters.

I store the #2 memory position on both driver and passenger seats for egress: bolsters wide open, recline full up, seat full back.
If you swing your legs outside of the car, grab the door strike plate area to assist in pulling up and out, your *** doesn't slide across the lower bolster. There is little visible wear on mine after 22K miles. Reverse the process getting in: turn sideways, slowly sit down with a support hand on the door strike plate area, and then swivel into position after tapping your feet together to shed debris from your soles. You do have to wait 2 seconds for the seat to move to the exit setting before getting out, but it quickly became a habit for me.

But if you are talking about light weight max support, coolness and the purely aesthetic factor? Or dedicated track driving?

LWB all the way, baby!

Originally Posted by RABjr

Does anyone know if 996 seats are bolt-in for 997.2 cars?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2001-01-Por...YAAOSw~7FfPVQh

Originally Posted by Just one more

I have always found it easier to just drive the car for awhile and write down what it is I don't like about the seats and then take the car to a quality upholstery shop that deals in custom work and have them modify them to my liking, for me it works great, you end up with seats that fit you and the car perfectly.

Originally Posted by Butzi 997

You're the only expert on what's comfortable for you, I'm your height, weigh 175, 18" across my shoulders (a car geek site and Grinder are probably the only sites you'll find dudes sharing their body dimensions) and have powered & ventilated Comfort (I guess?) seats. Have had the car 15 months, daily driver and multiple long road trips and have never been uncomfortable. Between the lumbar support, ability to angle the seat bottom high or low on either end, I always find a good spot. A friend recommended 996 GT3 seats to me for a wider and more supportive seat (better for track days) but they're expensive when you can find them and surprisingly unattractive. Don't buy seats from an internet "everything cars!" type site, the chance for disappointment is too high. Get with a PCA chapter near you, go to a Cars and Coffee and talk to people. Don't buy a seat you haven't sat in before. And good luck. I'm right with you in the "wanted a 911 forever and finally bought one" group.

Originally Posted by ALEV8

Need to get my *** in some local *** to discern upgrade value. I find them too expensive or too beaten up and worn out to spring for shipping them here to Dallas for total cost. Upgrade I want that I’ve backburnered due to cost v yield......

Originally Posted by Petza914

The standard comfort seats are anything but that for people our size. I'm 6'1" 200 lbs and the standard seats in my wife's car are very uncomfortable for me in that exact shoulder area where the edges of the seat go right between them.

You need the adaptive sport seats, either full power with side air bolsters (plus versions) or the manual versions which have power seat back recline, manual fore/aft, and manual height adjustment.


It's the shoulder wing supports that make all the difference. They're so good, after putting the plus versions into my 997, I put a manual pair into my 928 Convertible, and even built an office chair out of another one.

Yiur regular seats are worth about $800. The manual sport versions cost about $2,000, and the plus full power versions about $3,500.