silviaks

I may have a chance to buy a set of GT2 buckets from a 991 owner locally. At some point in time, these seats were offered for 991 in Europe only, so I know that they are the ROW version without the passenger occupancy sensor. The owner ordered these and had them retrofitted - moved sensor/module from stock seats to the buckets + coding. And now he is swapping the stock seats back along with the sensor. My question is besides that the missing occupancy sensor, will they bolt right into 997? Are the seat rails any different in 991?

I also noticed carnewal offers both 991 and 997 versions, what are the differences between them?
http://www.carnewal.com/products/981...-:-991-version
http://www.carnewal.com/products/997...-:-997-version

jbse39

The 991 ROW version will fit fine in the 997. The difference is that the 991 version has seat heating element built in but due to not having a occupancy sensor, you will need to code out a few things to not trigger the airbag light:

• Driver Thorax Airbag : No
• Passenger Thorax Airbag : No
• Driver Seatbelt Buckle: No
• Passenger Seatbelt Buckle: No
• AWS : No

I just went through this a few months ago.

silviaks

Thanks. Does this mean the thorax airbags won’t be functional? Did you look into retrofitting the AWS to make it work?

jbse39

That is my understanding but I also drive a 98 M3 that do not have side airbags and I am OK with that. Also, my GT3 is mostly for track driving, so even less of an issue.

I looked at retrofitting the sensors a bit but it isn't a simple mat-type sensor like BMWs, rather there are 4 pressure sensors between the seat and the mounting frame and I read that the 991 GT2 seats may not have space to fit the sensors. Next time I take the seats out, I may take a closer look at it. There seem to be plenty of used sensors on eBay, if you want to go for it. Buying 997 seats from Carnewal (if buying new) is what I'd do, instead.

Upscale Audio

I have asked this question until I was blue in the face on the 997 forum and never found anybody that bought either the 997 or 991 version and installed them into a 997 with only coding. If it's true I would have done it a long time ago, and in fact, will do it now as I'm about to buy some from a U.S. dealer.

Did you buy your seats from Carnewel? And you are 100% sure?

EDIT: I'll probably still get them locally. I got a price of $10,501 at Porsche Ontario. I have to pay sales tax, but BFD. Carnewel's price is $10,631 and who knows what might go down.

jbse39

I had posted this on another thread that was helpful, so just copy/paste:

I purchased 991 version of GT2 seats from Carnewal to install in my 2010 GT3 with Adaptive Sports seats, based on this thread but there are a few things that I wish I had known before doing so. I chose to go with the 991 version of the seats as I appreciate the heated seat function when our chapter does HPDE in late March or October, as it does get a bit cold in the mornings in WV (Summit Point). I ordered Schroth 6-point harness to go with the seats from Gert. Apparently, there are some differences between these 991 version GT2 seats and the 997 version that came as optional equipment in the US.

• 991 seats were not Federalized and the passenger side does NOT have Airbag Weight Sensor (AWS), which will trigger the airbag light. There are numerous posts indicating that AWS can be coded out but the shop I am working with (TPC in Maryland, and Tom has a 997GT3 and knows it very well) says some cars take the coding and some don't, like his car. My car also would not take AWS disable setting and he is trying various module combinations to keep the airbag light from coming on but so far not successful, and his car did not either until he turned off airbags altogether. Since Porsche uses a fairly complex AWS, rather than a simple mat-type sensor like BMW, it isn't easy to reverse engineer it. Since Virginia has an annual safety inspection that I will not pass with the airbag light on, I may have to resort to a piece of black tape if TPC cannot code out the AWS. I use the car on the street and track, so I would like to keep the functionality. This would NOT be an issue if just installing the driver side seat. Eventually got this sorted out at the local dealer by coding out the settings below:
  • Driver Thorax Airbag : No
  • Passenger Thorax Airbag : No
  • Driver Seatbelt Buckle: No
  • Passenger Seatbelt Buckle: No
  • AWS : No
• There seem to be some dimensional differences between the 2 versions of the seats, as BK sub bar would not fit in the space under the seat, and these bars were fitted to many owners with 997 version of the seats. We were going to drill holes on the floor and mount eyelet bolts for sub belts but Schroth harness designed specifically for this application was not long enough when bolts were placed in the location TPC thought would be the best. It may have been helpful to see where the RoW version mounts their bolts but in the end, TPC modified 991 RS sub bar to fit in my car. If BK Auto substrate bars do not fit under the seats, you will have to either fabricate custom bars or go with longer harness (specifically the sub straps) and weld eye bolts on the floor.

I haven't checked Carnewal site recently, but as of today, the 997 GT2 seats are over 1,000 Euros less expensive than the 991 version. For that much price difference and less install headache, I would go with the 997 GT2 seats if I were doing it today unless heated seating is absolutely important. Side note, Carnewal normally includes shipping but due to lockdown, they could not ship via freight service they normally use. I ended up paying ~200 to have them shipped, instead of waiting without knowing when the service would resume. Not sure if that is still an issue.

Updated on April 6th, 2021:

During my first visit, I did not realize that the seat harnesses were unplugged and the dealer coded "From overhead airbag to door panel airbag" which obviously the car does not have, but that took care of the airbag light on the dash. Then I discovered that the seat heaters were not functioning and noticed harnesses were not plugged in. I believe the shop that installed half-cage may have left them unplugged while trying to code the car, unsuccessfully. I plugged them in and while the seat heating came back, the airbag light promptly came back as well.

I scanned for error code and it said, "Incorrect coding of thorax airbag" and as I had to pass Virginia State Safety Inspection this month, I took the car back to the dealer. The dealer tech airbag control unit recoded the airbag control module but I am not sure what exactly he coded. Service advisor said that the tech coded the "airbag in" because the error code indicated that the car thought it was not supposed to have the thorax airbag but was detecting it. The dealer is Porsche of Tysons Corner.

So, another $200 later, I have the airbag lights off, seat heating back on. I admit that without the print out of the PIWIS scan, I cannot be 100% certain but the car now has functioning seat heating without any warning lights.

John

Elliotw44

Appreciate the follow up! Lots of good information. My question is will the passenger side airbags activate in an accident given the coding that is done to your car?

Mussl Kar

I have the 997 GT2 seats in my GT3 RS and they are plug and play. All connectors fit, no codes to mess with. Factory belt socket is fine but I have the factory belt connected behind the seat because I only use the 6 point belts.