alexb76

I just attended a DE last week at a new track in WA, which had a lot of high speed corners, and I was basically trying to steer the car from passengers side on some corners, as my comfort seats are just NOT supportive enough for trackdays... I am *ok* on some tracks, but I felt the shortcoming mostly on this track.

So, I got a dillema of what to do? for a car that's BOTH my daily (only car I own), and for track days mostly between April - Oct.

1. Get Bucket seats, live with them during summer, swap out to comfor for winter
2. Get Sports seats, sell comfort seats, won't be as good as buckets for track, but livable on daily, while sufficient enough for trackdays on street tires?
3. Just add CG Lock and be done with it!
4. Swap out the drivers seat for a Recaro, and swap em every race weekend!

My main question is for people who track their *sport seats* cars and moved to bucket. Is the improvement that significant? or you could get away with Sport seats?!

Also, if bucket seats are livable on street? I am 6'2, 225 pounds.

Thanks!

Alan C.

The sport seats will be better than the comfort seats. Adding a CG lock may help.

A shell seat would be the best. However, most would use a harness, HANS device of choice and a roll bar. That is what I did with my 09 C2S and switched out the seat for track weekends. After you do it a couple of times it doesn't take too long.

acao

I've had the sport seats and the regular seats. The sport seats aren't better enough to justify a change. I also found the sport seats needlessly binding at the shoulder blades. The wings there are ineffective. I'm 6'2, 190.

I'm currently using a CG Lock, and with combined with the inertia reel trick, I'm locked in well enough to do left foot braking on the track.

If you want the thorax airbag, get the GT3 seats. They're heart stoppingly expensive.

If you can do without the thorax airbag, get some race seats.

Eventually, I'll probably get a brey kraus bar, race seats, and harnesses. I figure about a $2000 outlay for that.

alexb76

Thanks. So you got CG Lock and comfort seats? Or CG Lock and Sports seats?

zanwar

I've tried the CG lock. It's not as effective as just locking your seatbelt.

You want the folding sport bucket seats. I have a set that I might be selling at some point soon, will keep you posted.

Mike in CA

I had the GT3 seats in my 996 and have the GT2/3 sports buckets in my 997.2. Both do a superb job of holding you in place and I find them very comfortable for the street. YMMV. The ability to use a 6 pt harness with these seats is a big plus and the GT2 sport buckets are user friendly with built in airbags and folding backrests. Only drawback is no heat if you must have that feature, and of course price. TEHO, but I've swapped seats several times and found it a PITA.

alexb76

Thanks Mike. Do you mean you had the GT3 bucket seats in your 996? or just the regular GT3 Sport seats (with Alcantara inserts)?

acao

I'm unclear on Porsche's seat terminology. In my 2003 Boxster, I had what was then called Sport Seats, which were narrower and had wings at the shoulders. In my 2006 911, I have the base seat, whatever its name.

I use CG Lock to secure the lap, and lock the inertia reel to secure the shoulder. After that, I can't even reach behind to turn on the camera.

utkinpol

in simlar situation i opted for recaro sporster cs seats and it works for me just fine. i got only driver side done, and use brey krause r1030 bar for harness. works ok.

mdrums

If you are tall or big then GT2 Bucket seats will not be something you want to deal with on a daily basis. I have them in my GTS with roll bar and 6 point harness and they work great for the track and weekend dinner drives.

Regular manual sport seats are much better and just as comfy as the comfort seats. Add the CG Lock, lean the seat back and yank the shoulder strap and hold it and then bring the seat back up tight against the shoulder strap and you have the poor mans harness set up.

Nothing beats 6 point hanses on the track....the steering wheels is not something to hold on to so you stay in place and you must only have a light grip on it.

Mike in CA

Alex, I had the Euro style GT3 buckets with fixed backrests; I don't think they were even available as an option on U.S. cars until the newer GT2 buckets came out.

USMC_DS1

One thing I had not considered but have grown to appreciate are back support benefits of my heated Adaptive Sports Seat. I developed sciatic back pains/issues a month back. These are the only seats out of the 5 vehicles in our household I can drive confortably for more than an hour. All the adjustments are very supportive in all the right places and the heat also does it's magic for my back. Just something to consider for those with any back issues.

Tcc1999

I can only comment on the Sports and Sports Bucket seats b/c they are the only ones I've had. That said, first, I've test driven cars w/ Comfort Seats and didn't like them at all compared to the Sports Seats. They were fine seats but didn't find they supported me nearly as much (5'9" 175 lbs). I suppose I could have gotten used to them though. As for the Sports v/ the Sports Bucket, for me that's a tough one. For daily driving the Sports seats were great - very comfortable. They also worked okay at the track. Definitely not as good as the Sport Buckets (my Sport Buckets are the ones you can option out w/ a GTS from the Factory). Anyway, I've found the Sports Buckets to be comfortable even given the lack of ability to adjust - maybe I don't have a high standard for comfort or my body type is what was intended for those seats. The rub is that they are a bit harder to get in and out of than the Sports Seats. You may find that a drag if your car is a DD. The car I had with Sports Seats was a DD and the current GTS really isn't. And to be honest, there are times when I don't drive the GTS when I have a number of errands to run and opt for the A4 because part of me doesn't want to get in and out of the seats 10 times and the other half of me just wants to be able to park in a lot and not care about scratches or dings. So, my point here is that Sports Buckets work quite well for the track, they hold me in place much better than the Sports Seats did, but for daily driving I liked the Sports seats better. If I had the time and it was an easy process I'd opt for switching between Sports and Sports Buckets depending on the amount of time I was going to track at any given time of year. Even though this is just my opinion, I hope the data point helps a little.

GentlemanRacer

Hi Alex,

I had the same dilemma as you and probably a lot of guys here. After about 6 or so DE's I was tired of knee rash and using the steering wheel as a brace so I went through the options as above. I looked at recaro race, cs etc. I had sport seats to begin with.
Decision came down to the following:
My criteria was I wanted the car to be as OE as possible because it is insured as such. Ask mdrums, and I concur, I wouldn't want to be in an accident on the street and have the insurance guys not cover because you are in a race seat.
So I went with the the GT2 sport buckets. They are about 25lbs lighter, come with a thorax airbag, have a folding back rest (kids and storage) and are porsche approved. I switched them in in april and out in october (takes about 25 mins per side). They are very comfortable, and only slightly more difficult to get in and out of. They hold you very well (6ft, 170 lbs). I can use no harness or harness and the feel is always good.

Yes they cost some coin, but you can get them for between 5800 and 6800 used depending on condition and you can sell them for exactly the same price when you are done.

Cheers

buckwheat987

I did GT3 seats, roll bar and harnesses before the start of the DE season this year. Best mod I have done so far. You are one with the dynamics of the car.

I have no issue with the gt3 seats when using the car as a DD. but others may not agree.

GT2 seats are an option but I do hear from some drivers complaining of discomfort with their angle and their heads when using a helmet.