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Dilemma with the LWB's

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Old 01-04-2016 | 05:41 PM
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Question Dilemma with the LWB's

I took delivery of my GT4 with the LWB. After clocking several hundred miles I find that I don't love them. As a matter of fact, I feel like an old man every time I enter and exit the vehicle. My options are as follows:

1. Find the best technique - Can some one offer their perfected strategy for entering and exiting the vehicle

2. Lose 15lbs

3. Trade for sofa's.


Help Rennlist... You're my only hope.
Old 01-04-2016 | 05:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Giacomo007
I took delivery of my GT4 with the LWB. After clocking several hundred miles I find that I don't love them. As a matter of fact, I feel like an old man every time I enter and exit the vehicle. My options are as follows:

1. Find the best technique - Can some one offer their perfected strategy for entering and exiting the vehicle

2. Lose 15lbs

3. Trade for sofa's.


Help Rennlist... You're my only hope.

Sat in them too. My wife said they are awful. I vote for #3!

By the way, are they Platinum stitched? If so I would like to buy them / swap for 2 ways?
Old 01-04-2016 | 05:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Giacomo007

3. Trade for sofa's.
You forgot "4. profit?".

Let's now start a LWB debate but let's just say they are for some people and not for others. I'd get a seat that fits your needs better.
Old 01-04-2016 | 05:56 PM
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lol, i got mine a few days ago and I like them while I am sitting in them,but they are kind of a pain in the *** to get in and out of. I am an solid 6'1, 200 and not fat by any means, but I know exactly what you mean! I don't think there is a strategy, just gotta embrace the struggle or get sofas!
Old 01-04-2016 | 05:56 PM
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Option 2. will also help your power/weight and any perception of 2nd gear being too long. Would also help in the search for better technique.
Old 01-04-2016 | 05:59 PM
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Originally Posted by matttheboatman
Sat in them too. My wife said they are awful. I vote for #3!

By the way, are they Platinum stitched? If so I would like to buy them / swap for 2 ways?
Sorry, they are red stitched. Besides swapping is a last resort. I want the car to match the way it was ordered.


The look of the LWB's is simply awesome and once I am in the car, I am comfortable.

I am most interested in what some one's technique is that may not be blatantly obvious to me as I have only had the car about a week. I could also stand to lose 15
Old 01-04-2016 | 06:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Giacomo007

1. Find the best technique - Can some one offer their perfected strategy for entering and exiting the vehicle
It's really simple.
To get in, put right foot in the footwell, left hand on the outer seat bolster. Swing over the seat and drop straight down. No dragging over the bolster needed. Then pull left foot in. Close door and drive.

To get out, put left hand on the door sill and right hand on the edge of the center console (where the base of the parking brake used to be). Lift yourself up. Pivot and step out of the car. No dragging on the bolster.

I've used this technique on a Cayman R with GT2 seats, GT2 with GT2 seats, and my GT3 with 918 seats. Simple.

Another technique - get into a Lotus Elise. Get out of a Lotus Elise. Now the GT4 will seem simple! Search the Lotus forums - they use a similar technique for ingress and egress.

Keep in mind - if you were to trade for sofa seats you should also get about $10k cash. Of course, then you would look like an old man - with sofa seats in a sports car. Sort of like the people who put the top down on a convertible and leave the windows up. What's the point??
Old 01-04-2016 | 06:56 PM
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I found that it took me 5 days of constant driving for my body to find them "natural". I was sore day 2 to be honest! then I drove 4 hours in a day and thought they were the most comfortable seats I have ever sat in. the getting in and out is "part of the experience" right?
Old 01-04-2016 | 06:58 PM
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^Sofa seats on track > LWBs at Cars and Coffee .


P.S. I am fairly young .

In the end get whatever seats makes you happy and comfortable. Ignore the people who think seats make a "sports car".
Old 01-04-2016 | 07:07 PM
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Just posted this in another thread:

Originally Posted by jphughan
Agreed on finding LWBs more comfortable than the regular seats. My entry method is basically to put my inside leg into the footwell, then turn slightly away from the car to aim my butt, then duck my head into the cabin while shifting weight onto my inside leg, then sort of fall in while pulling the outside leg into the cabin. It's easier on the driver's side where you can grab the steering wheel (with the inside hand, i.e. right on a LHD car) to guide yourself and minimize the "fall" aspect of entry, but the passenger side is quite doable as well.

For exit, it depends on how lazy/tired I am and how wide I can open the door. The quick and dirty way is to swing the outside leg onto the bolster and then use your inside leg and your arms (inside arm on the center storage compartment lid, or steering wheel for driver, and outside arm on either the seat bolster/backrest or door sill) to boost your butt onto the bolster and then shift your weight onto your outside leg that's now on outside ground. The more upholstery-friendly way is to apply the same technique but use your inside leg and arms to raise yourself high enough and long enough that you can get your outside leg onto terra firma BEFORE you let your weight settle onto the seat bolster, minimizing strain on that area. Of course women who wear skirts will have to be even more careful here, but my wife practically never does, so she's already gotten the hang of this. It also sounds more complicated writing it up like this than it actually is when you try it, fwiw.
Old 01-04-2016 | 07:17 PM
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On a side note, I will agree with the Lotus recommendation. Go drive one for a while and practice getting in and out. You will have zero to complain about after said experience .

Tracked this for ~2 years before selling it and my current track car has legit race buckets. P-car LWBS are a piece of proverbial cake comparatively speaking .


Old 01-04-2016 | 07:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Giacomo007
I took delivery of my GT4 with the LWB. After clocking several hundred miles I find that I don't love them. As a matter of fact, I feel like an old man every time I enter and exit the vehicle. My options are as follows:

1. Find the best technique - Can some one offer their perfected strategy for entering and exiting the vehicle

2. Lose 15lbs

3. Trade for sofa's.


Help Rennlist... You're my only hope.

1. I put my arm on the door sill area and lift myself out. Pretty easy, even easier for my wife now.

2. Losing weight will help your health too

3. If they are that uncomfortable trade for sofa's plus lots of $$$. I bet you can get sofa's plus 8k on a trade.
Old 01-04-2016 | 08:01 PM
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Option #4: source a set of Cayman S, GT4 sofa's to purchase. Keep buckets for track and resale. Sofa's usually sell in the $2-4K range.
Old 01-04-2016 | 08:08 PM
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can someone sticky this under FAQs related to LWBs
Old 01-04-2016 | 08:09 PM
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Only because you find the seats comfortable when you are in them, I'd encourage you to refine the technique and also get in better shape. You don't really have any other choice since you don't want to swap.

Current Lotus Elise owner here, the technique is as others decribe. Getting in is easier than climbing out. But I have the two ways in my GT4.


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