alexb76

I got the regular comfort seats, albeit, with Alcantara inserts, so they are a lot less slippery and grip your body perfectly... however, they basically do not have extra bolsters to hold your legs as well as shoulders.

This car is my daily, so thest seats are 100% perfect for street and even for fast driving in the twisties... BUT, I am finding them limiting when I attend DE events... I use my left leg to hold me in place on the foot rest during hard cornering, but I am not sure if it's enough.

If so, for next season, what do you recommend?

1. Upgrade to 997 GT3 Alcantara Sports Seats (not buckets), and use them daily as well as for track days (I do maximum 5-6/year, this year only 4 sessions) and sell my current seats.
2. Get 996 GT3 bucket seats, and have em installed at begining of season and take off at the end?
3. Get a Recaro bucket seat just for driver, change at begining of season, then swap out to comfort seats for winter?

I left 997 Carbon Bucket seats out, as those are just TOO RICH for my budget! and also I think they'd be too much for everyday without ability to incline the seats.

Thanks

zanwar

If you're not locking your seatbelt, try that first. I've seen people run a dedicated Recaro seat just in the drivers position. It looks quite good in the car. It takes a Porsche tech about an hour to swap out a seat. If you don't need your rear seats, install a roll bar and a harness at the same time.

Mike in CA

I don't know if better seats will make you faster, but they will definitely make it easier for you to try to be. Having to brace yourself with your legs or elbows while driving on track is not optimal. I also think you should reconsider the carbon back sport buckets. I know they're not cheap but the difference between 997 Alcantera GT3 sport seats and the sport buckets can't be a show stopper. Also the GT3 sport seats have no pass through provision for a harness which with a roll or harness bar is a real plus for keeping you in place.

With regard to swapping seats, I replaced the stock seats in my 996 with the earlier Euro GT3 seats. I had them in and out of the car a couple of times. I also removed the sport buckets in my 997.2 to install a sub strap mounting bar. There are people who will tell you that they do this all the time, but IMO it's still a pain in the a$$ and not something I'd want to commit myself to doing on a regular basis. Also consider that for the length of the season, whenever you are driving your car on the road with Recaros or the old style GT3 seats, you will be without side airbag protection. Your insurance company may take a dim view of this should you be injured in a road accident (which might be the least of your worries).

I love the sport buckets on track, find them very comfortable for the street, think they look great, are safe, and they're light on top of everything. They get my vote. Spend the extra $2K, or whatever. It's only money.

alexb76

Good points, 996 GT3 seats are close to 997 buckets if brand new, BUT, it's easy to find used ones at a good discount (not the case for 997).

Btw, I found some Recaro seats with side airbags! Does it have to be a special kind of side airbag and to work with Porsche ECU? or they'd just work out of the box?

f4 plt

I have the factory sport bucket seats in my Cayman and are completely happy with them. In fact my wife and I have taken several long trips and find them very comfortable... maybe a little challenging for us at past 65 to get in and out but once in great. On the track they really hold you in. Would very much like to change out the adaptive sport seats in the C2S for factory sport buckets but then there is the price.

cuttinsod

i bough a C-G Lock for my seatbelt and it has made a huge diff on the track with standard sport seats.
http://www.cg-lock.com/index.html

no affiliation....just happy customer...

ivangene

ABSOLUTELY IMPORTANT!

GT3 Euro seats will make your DE events not only faster BUT they will make it a WAY MORE enjoyable from a comfort standpoint in the hard corners...YES DO IT!

my 996 -

Alan Smithee

As to how important supportive seats are, I remember left knee abrasions after track weekends from bracing myself against the speaker grills in my 997 with non-sport seats.

Unless it is a dedicated track car, the sport bucket (GT2) seats really are the best answer. Lighter than standard seats, they have airbags for safety (and no dashboard warning lights), and they tilt forward for rear access. Not cheap, and not a one-size-fits-all solution, but they are the tool you are after for the job. And you can always sell them if you get another car and recoup some of your investment - it doesn't appear that the next generation 981/991 uses the same seats, so the sport buckets should retain some value.

JFA65

I do about five DE s per year and have had the same problems with the standard seats. The CG Lok was a major improvement. Not as good as larger side bolsters or sport seats but I am unwilling to sacrifice comfort for only 5 track days.

Quadcammer

big fan of the CG lock here too

ralt12

I think if you track your car you need real seat belts.

utkinpol

If one wants to build track only car - seats are critical. I vote for recaro spg xl buckets - keep them for track, after end of the season take them out and put stock seat if you want. I am lazy so I use recaro sporster cs seats.

ivangene

slippery slope...if you use "real seat belts" you should have a roll bar - do a search

alexb76

Did u get one with airbag or without? I see they sell the ones with Airbag in Europe, but the US suppliers seems not to have the Airbag models?!

Edgy01

More important than the seats--the belts.