ebanzero

I don't understand why Porsche changed the RS seats for the US version. The US CGT comes with seats almost identical to the ones in the ROW RS. So obviously it is not a street legal regulation issue. So what is the reason for the change?

eclou

$$$

Moogle

US screwed again!

ylshih

Two years difference. New side airbag laws in effect for 07 meant the CGT seats wouldn't pass DOT requirements anymore.

RR

It's the smart airbags that are causing the problems. All 2008 model cars sold in the US have to have smart airbags. Smart airbags are airbags that detect the weight of the person on the passenger seat and automatically turn down or turn off the passenger side airbag. Porsche - the keaners they are - got it ready for the 2007 model year. the carbon seats don't have that feature built into them. Lucky us.

ebanzero

Did the 996 GT3 come with the proper club sport seats, since they did not have this regulation back then?

RR

No.

Bob Rouleau

Thanks for the explanation guys. It makes sense. On the other hand I would like to know why the 997GT3 seats cost three times more than the 996GT3 single piece clubsport seats. Yeah, I know they have carbon fiber but the price spread is out of line IMO.

regards,

Nordschleife

the reason is the same as USAF fighters - measure the width of the seat. Its official American fast movers have fatter bums, so your Porsche is built to accomodate.

R+C

RR

Notice the Carrera GT and the 360, 430 all come with fixed back seats and the 996/997 did not. It's mainly b/c the other cars do not have space behind the rear seats since they are mid-engined cars. The fact that the 996/997 body is registered as a possible 4 seater chassis I think harms Porsche's chances of placing fixed back seats in these cars.

doc2s

fwiw the sport seats on the 360/430 are not fixed back.

RR

Really, I thought they were.

frayed

360 and 430s aren't fixed back seats. Their sport seats look like Cobra Misanos IIRC.

02_996_C2

I thought Ferrari uses Sparco seats

doc2s

their race cars (challange) use sabelt seats. not sure who makes their street seats. here is a pic of their sport seat posted by RayJohns on fchat.