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another idea is Diono brand seats. i've been researching putting 3 child seats across the 2nd row of our Outback (this will be 3 kids in 3yrs) and those seats are what folks are recommending because they are slim. could be a good option for the 997 crowd, right? i haven't seen/touched the diono seats, so if anybody knows something please chime in.
Yeah that Recaro is only 18.5 wide. I just ordered a Diono off amazon and it only has a width of 17". Hopefully it works. Will keep this updated.
The Diono worked great for my 2 year old. Just need to find a booster with back for my 4 year old now. Could buy another Diono, but she is older and don't think I need something that big.
Interested to hear if the Diono works. For what it's worth, I have two Recaro ProSports in the back of my 997.1 Coupe (for a 3 year old and 20 month old). I removed both the seat bottoms and backs and used cut-down swimming noodles behind the Recaros to get a tight fit. It took forever to figure out how to fit them (and, as noted by someone else above, was mildly frustrating). The fit is tight and secure (using the seat belt lap portion and teather), and both front seats are functional. The kids absolutely love riding in the Porsche. Happy to send pics, if it would be helpful. Good luck!
I have no knowledge about baby seat fit in any P car, but I can tell you that baby seats come with an 'expiration' date believe it or not. It varies by brand but it's generally about 4-6 years from date of manufacture. I'm a bit skeptical about these 'expiration' dates but they have them for a reason(s) - primarily legal and perhaps secondarily to sell more seats. I'm just mentioning this before anyone buys a used baby seat on eBay. You can always ask the seller the date of manufacture which is usually located on a sticker near the bottom. Also, most baby seats are considered unusable if they've vet been involved in an accident EVEN IF there is no sign of damage to the seat.
To update this thread on the Diono Radian R100 - I bought this carseat and installed it in the back of my 911 coupe. It's not quite as good of a fit as I would've liked but still decent. Even with the seat bottom removed it still gets really close to the C pillar so I had to put a cloth up there to prevent it from scraping.
The seat is really tall and inhibits some visibility out the rear window.
Anchoring it back with the tether is great to keep it against the seat back but I found that it gives a pretty poor fit if you run the seatbelt through the "forward facing" slot. There's a lot of play up and down and due to the position of the seatbelt you can't get a really tight fit and get the seatbelt locked down very well. You would probably be able to secure it a lot better if you run the seatbelt through the "rear facing" slot. Thought I read that somewhere but haven't tried it.
Anyone with the Diono Radian R100 feel free to post your experience.
PS-For the other carseat mentioned (Harmony Dreamtime Deluxe) it fits awesome. The only annoying thing about it is threading the seatbelt through the top loop when I take the seat in and out. Otherwise it's excellent and only like $40. My 4 year old loves it.
Resurrecting this thread as it still seems relevant. I bought a Diono R100 based on these reviews and others that say it works in a 997 Cab. As far as I can tell so far, it really doesn't. I've tried with all combinations of seat bottom and back in and out, and it's simply not possible to secure it tightly with the seat belt. There are two problems: first, the seat belt buckle is fixed, and is forward of the forward-facing belt path for the Diono. Especially if the seat back is removed, but even if it isn't. Therefore it is impossible to secure it tightly back and prevent forward to back play. Second, this seat states that the tether is required in forward facing installations. Not surprising, because the top of the seat is very loose without it (especially given the seat belt issue, but it seems like it would be regardless).
The ideal would seem to be something like the recaro prosport that is designed to be held securely in place by the shoulder belt, even without a tether. (Unlike the R100, where the shoulder portion of the belt goes through the same path as the lap belt, so it doesn't provide any added benefit.) However, based on comments above, apparently new Prosports no longer fit.
One other option that I haven't tried yet is somehow adjusting the latch point of the car seat belt. Apparently you can flip it around or something so it's further back? Will give that a try tomorrow. May also order a Prosport. Apparently the dimensions of the new ones are 17" at the base and 19" at the widest point. That.. might fit? But it's hard to expect so given the post above explicitly saying it doesn't.
Have seen other threads that say it fits, and that belt mechanism looks like it would work well for lack of tether. Down-side is that it's only good up to 4 years, so I still need to find an option for my 5 year old who isn't yet big enough for a booster.
Edit 2: Have seen a few things suggesting that 5+ year olds should be in boosters regardless, so maybe I should just look for a belt-positioning booster for that one... There appear to be a few recommendations around here. Maxi Cosi doesn't even sell harnessed seats for 5+, so they seem to buy that reasoning.
Has anyone put a Maxi Cosi seat in a 997 cab? They appear to have a few different models that use that shoulder belt system rather than a tether, so I wonder which fits best...
Last edited by Nate Tempest; 12-29-2016 at 07:52 AM.
If you only need a booster (bottom part), this Costco seat works perfectly. The sloped contour of the sides fits exactly between the deep sides of the back seat in my '09 cabriolet. In fact, it works much better in my 997 and my wife's E550 cabriolet than it does in our SUV, because it is a bit tippy from side to side when the car's seat bottom is flat.
The scalloped cuts in the armrest allow you to cinch the lap belt snugly and they come with a shoulder-belt adjuster on a strap. They also come in multiple colors. We have a pink (daughter's old seat) and a gray, which happens to match my gray upholstery very nicely.
My kids turn 2 and 5 in January and February, so a bottom-only booster won't cut it. I need a full harness seat for the 2 year old, and at least a high-back booster, if not a harness for the 5 year old.
Fortunately, I've found a forward-facing harness seat that fits perfectly, and it's even easy to install: The Britax Boulevard Clicktight. The clicktight mechanism is crucial. It has a belt path that's further forward than most seats, and the way it works doesn't require you to cinch the belt down as in other seats; the act of closing the seat up after routing the belt is what provides the tension. It's like it's built for a 911. Once installed, the seat doesn't move at all, however I haul on it. I did remove the seat back, which if nothing else gives a couple extra inches of leg room. I'm fairly sure based on how it went in that it would work fine with it still in place too though, just with a bit less room. You'll also want to either remove the bottom cushion, or have a thick mat between cushion and car seat to avoid permanently marking it, but that's the case for almost any seat.
Here are some pictures of the install (apologies for the poor light):
As you can see in the last picture, I did put a dish towel down the left side to protect the interior panel, since the seat does press up against it. I'm not sure whether it's necessary or not, since I didn't try without, but there was no damage this way.
Now I just need to find a good high-back booster. Will probably try the Harmony Dreamtime Deluxe as it's been recommended a few times around here. Will report back.
The Harmony Dreamtime is high-back booster I have now. My 5yr old loves it. The other child seat is the same Recaro I mentioned previously. FWIW the Diono that I previously posted about is the Diono Radian RXT. I have 3 of those side-by-side in a Subaru Outback.