It'sGoTime

So I tested a 997 Turbo S today that had the extremely rare carbon bucket seats. I'd wanted to try the carbon buckets out for a long time and always thought I'd love them, even though some find them too tight. Two minutes into the test drive was enough for me to realize that the carbon buckets were not comfortable for me, even though I'm pretty average sized at 5'10 and 175 pounds. My shoulders felt especially pinched by the shape of the seats. Really, I wonder what kind of person these seats are built for.......

Overall, I was surprised/disappointed by the experience as I always found my 991 seats to be extremely comfortable even for long drives. Moral of the story: try before you buy!

sandwedge

These seats have always been controversial. Seems to be no in between. You either love them or you just don't no matter what your body size is. Your opinion is a perfect example. You're smaller than me but still feel "pinched". I can't recall ever reading someone saying something along the lines of "well I sort of like them but....".

I'm in the love them category. At 6'3" and 196 lbs they fit me like a glove but I have to push them all the way back to full stop. I think for someone being even a bit taller than me and /or a bit heavier they may not be a good fit unless you like to have the steering wheel close to your chest. I've had them in my last two 997's now. Have taken 3-4 hour drives in them and to me they're very comfortable. A must for me in the seat category. Yes they're snug and a little different to get in and out of but the tight fit adds a connectivity with the car that I won't give up now having gotten used to it.

If you twisted my arm to come up with anything negative about them it would have to be the limited adjustment options. It's forward and backwards and that's it. I would like just a little more of a backwards tilt which can be done with brackets on the floor mount. I've found an easier solution. Just slide a bit more forward in the seat and you basically get the same result.

Lastly, if in good condition they bring a minimum of around $7,000 on the used market so there's strong demand despite the controversy surrounding them.

Petza914

Love the way the carbon buckets look, but can't imagine they'd be anywhere near as comfortable as the full power adaptive sport seats I've fallen in love with - they just fit me perfectly. So well, in fact that I put manual ones in my 928 and even made an office chair for me desk from another one (use a 12v alarm system battery so the power functions work).

Tcc1999

I think you’ve nailed it. My experience is that I love Sports Buckets b/c it makes my car feel more like a sports car - but I would hate them if my car were a daily driver. It is probably just me, but I don’t think a sports car is supposed to be comfortable - that is, you should feel connected to the car and the seats are your main point of contact, often that is not the most comfortable option. If Sports Buckets are uncomfortable to people then it sucks the enjoyment out of driving - by all means get a seat that makes you want to drive. But if you can live with Sports Bucket (or a third party equivalent) it really has the abilty to enhance the experience. Either way, any seat that makes you enjoy driving your 911 is the best seat.

workhurts

Don’t think they are any less comfortable than sports seats once seated. I don’t consider either to be truly comfortable but still 10x better than comfort seats. Ditto on the more connected to the car for sure.

2-3 hr trips are fine. Not sure I’d want to do much more than that but haven’t tried either so who knows.

Bxstr

They just sit too high for me. With or without a sunroof, I've tried them in both 997's with and without a sunroof, you're looking out the top 1/3 of the glass instead of the middle 1/3. I also notice the angle of the seat bottom is quite high. My knees basically touch the steering wheel also.

918/991.2 GT3 fixed buckets are perfect. Sit lower, less angled bottom seat as well. They're perfect. But the wiring will not work with 997 cars. I talked with BBI after they posted a picture years ago with a 997 with the 918 buckets and it sounded like the fore aft adjustment worked, but the height adjustment did not and I am guessing airbags did not work either. Not worth it for $15k.

Yes, Brey Krause does make lowering brackets and you could get thinner foam, but if I'm spending $8k on a set of seats, I do want a bit more confidence that they're going to work. Yes, they have great resale so I could buy and try them out, but I'm still going to be out the shipping cost. If someone has these mods done and are near Ohio, I would probably want to try and sit in them to see if I could make them work. For now, the manual sport seats are great in my 997.1 GT3.

halo777

I had them in my 997. Loved them, and I was about 220 at the time with wide shoulders. Daily drove them for a year or so, and never had an issue with comfort on longer drives.

Eventually, I traded them for a Porsche Boxster, and installed a new set of Pole Position ABE. Compared to the Carbon Buckets the Pole Position dont look as nice, but offer me an even more snug fit...To the point where going back to the carbon buckets felt quite a bit looser in fit, in comparison.

I had sports seats before that, and liked them at the time. If I go back to them now though, I feel like you bounce along in them with the springs in the contruction, compared to the much more firm foam bottoms of the Carbon buckets, and even more so with the PP. My carbon buckets were well worn, where my PP ABE are brand new, so that may have something to do with it as well.

Out of all three, Im sticking with the PP from now on. They offer me the "fit like a glove" fitment, and give me the absolute most connected feel to the car, where you really feel everything that is transmitted in the chassis, and totally planted on high g-force turns. What you give up with any kind of bucket seat is ease of entry/exit, and with the PP, your seat side airbags. And for some people comfort, though everyone is different.

I loved the buckets, and would not be unhappy with them again. However, I feel the prices for them on the used market are too high, and I wouldnt pay double/triple for them new over the PP, since I actually feel the PP are better seats for me.

The sport seats are very nice too, and the alcantara centre versions would offer more grip. I would only run them personally, if they came with a new car purchase. But I would guess they would be ideal for 95% of the normall 911 owners over the buckets.

Concerning the comment with the shoulders being "pinched".... The big difference in between buckets and sport seats is that you kind of sit and lean back "on" the sports seats, where with buckets you drop down, and lean back, "into" them. If you just sit in the buckets for the first time, the shoulder wings will feel weird. But once you have your arms forward in normal driving position, the wings cradle the back of your upper body, and keep it controlled during spirited driving. They really feel very natural, once you start to drive. Just sitting in them for a few min in the parking lot is going to feel weird at first, if you never have had bucket seats before.

All this being said, seat fit is very person dependent. If you can, try them out for a couple nice drives before you decide on anything. As you noted, it may save you making a very expensive mistake.

sandwedge

They're not. No discussion there. As I see it you give up some comfort in exchange for enhanced connection with the car. To some, that exchange isn't an option to even be considered. To others like myself it's an easy choice. Obviously a highly personal choice.


Mine is my daily driver but it's not the typical daily driver. I work mostly out of my home office so some days I don't drive it at all. 50-60 miles a week is probably close to average for me. And I agree that a sports car isn't supposed to be comfortable. It can be made reasonably comfortable and some come perfectly comfortable from the factory but at the expense of some essential sports car characteristics though, at least as I see it.


This sounds odd and one possibility may simply be due to how we're built. Some have long legs and a shorter upper body. Others just the opposite or somewhere in between. Me when seated and I like to sit low, I see the the full instrument cluster just underneath the steering wheel. Also never had my knees touch the steering wheel. How tall are you?

Another possibility is that the cars you drove with the buckets had the seat mounts modified. For someone on the short side I would think they had to be raised since as I've said, at 6'3" the factory configuration is near perfect for me. For anyone 5'7" or thereabouts though I think he or she would need a pillow to sit on since there's no up or down adjustment. A tech at the dealership told me he has done a number of those modifications. They just add brackets to the floor mounts to customize the seat height and sometimes the tilt angle since that can't be adjusted either with these seats. Fore and aft. That's it.

Amiroo39

I had them in my 997 which was my daily driver for 3 years. No complaints. Did I look like an idiot sometimes trying to get out of the car? Sure. But then again the car had an aerokit on it too. So..

Bxstr

6'5". 34" inseam. Most of my height is actually in my torso.

I've sat in 3 different sets. All had the issue. First set was in a 997.1 GT3 as a passenger. Head touched the roof. Knees were basically into the dashboard. Second set was a 997.2 C4S launch edition. Head touched the ceiling on the driver side. Third set was a 997.2 GT3, no sunroof so my head did not touch the ceiling, but I did notice that I was looking out the top 1/3 of the windshield. Keep in mind, I sit very upright in any car, so I wasn't slouching in the seat. I was pretty much putting all weight onto my sit bones. A lot of people, even in buckets will slouch which may help them.

If I find someone that has a set modified for a taller driver, or to fit them with a helmet in the Ohio area, I will eventually probably try them out as I would like to have a set at some point. Just not willing to spend $8k on something that after 3 attempts I know doesn't work. Modifications may change that.

Mike Buck

I bought my 2011 with them totally on a prayer back in June. Hadn't even sat or driven any 997 since 2008. Found the right car at the right price and took the plunge, whole deal done over phone/email. It was truly a terrifying drive from MD to IN to pick it up given my uncertainty with the seats. I'm 6'2", 180lbs, with about equal leg and torso. Fit me fine! Maybe not enough clearance for a helmet, but more than an inch to the headliner. This isn't the track car yet. My left leg would get a little numb pinching on the side bolster in just the wrong place, but it was easily fixed by flexing a bit. Now that I knew the seats worked for me, I could worry about whether the P17 suspension and sport design bumper would make the car too low to enter my driveway. Again, worked out ok lol

I may be a little more tolerant of seats like this than others. My 944 Turbo racecar has had Sparco Evo2 seats in since 2003. They hug me the same way and I am just used to that feeling.

sandwedge

I'm dumbfounded by this. You're 2" taller than me, that's all I can think of. I had an -09 C4S launch car too. No modifications and no issues with my head hitting the sunroof or knees hitting the dashboard. You say you sit "very upright" which may be another possible culprit. I guess I kind of slouch instead which of course adds clearance to the sunroof. At the same time it would seem to me that slouching while adding head space should also decrease the space between your legs and the dashboard. So again, I can't explain it any better than that which I admit isn't very good.

StageTry

Spam

Hella-Buggin'

I have sport buckets in the GT3 and standard seats in the C2S. No doubt the standard seats are more comfortable other than fast canyon roads and the track. The Spot buckets do what they're supposed to do. Hold your hips and shoulders in place.