MrNurse

I first sat in a GT4 at the Porsche World Roadshow in the summer. I'm short at 5'4. I tried to slide the LWB seats forward to my preference and they stopped short! My feet barely reached the pedals. I figured that I wouldn't be able to get these seats then. I searched about on google about LWBS and shorter people but found nothing.

Fast forward. On Christmas Eve I went to my SA to update my build. I had a chance to sit in a 991 GT3 with the same seats and I was able to slide my seat far forward even to the point where I was too close to the steering wheel/pedals! It was close enough than someone under 5 feet tall can probably reach the pedals. I was surprised and decided that I should add LWBs since I assumed maybe there was something wrong with the brackets on the GT4.

I messaged PistolPete who's a few inches taller than me and he said he has that similar issue with the LWBs in his GT4! He also said that when he sat in the new Spyder with the LWB seats he was able to slide the seats much more forward than his GT4.


Anyone input on this?
How far forward can you slide your LWB seats?
I assume I can make adjustments with the bracket since the 987 Spyder, 981 Spyder, and 991 GT3 slide forward enough?
Are these rails adjustable so I can unbolt them and adjust them forward?
I don't want to pick up my GT4 in April and not be able to drive away with it.

Thanks!

f4 plt

If it is any help, I'm 5'9" (and shrinking) and when I set the drivers LWB on the GT4 I drove at PCNA HQ the way I want it, I still have more forward adjustment. In my 987 Spyder with LWB my 5'2" wife, who likes to ride on the steering wheel can slide the seat far enough forward for her legs

BTY she is a retired registered nurse as is my sister

MrNurse

It's fine in your 987 Spyder as well so it seems that only the (2) GT4's may have this slight "issue".

Ahhh, nice

anselmw

I have the exact same thoughts as this. When I got my GT4 with LWB, I moved the seat up to where I normally sit and was taught in driving school. Lucky for me, I am about 5'9 but because I sit very close, I am actually at the closest position. If you are shorter and sit like me, I think you will have an issue getting close enough.

I will say there was one thing I noticed is that if you raise the seat height, it does alter the distance a little as well. I would sit in another GT4 with LWB to confirm you can find a comfortable position before your car locks.

MrNurse

This doesn't sound right. Why would just the GT4 have this issue? I'm going to stick with the LWB's. There must be some adjustment I can do with the brackets.

jphughan

The seat does move forward as it rises. I'm only 5'9" and if I put the seat as far forward as it will go, I can hardly get in and out of the car and I feel very uncomfortably cramped. I can't imagine someone who's 5'4" having a problem unless you're all torso and no legs? My wife is that height though. I can ask her to try the driver's seat if you don't get any better data points.

MrNurse

I'm of normal proportions. lol

Yes please! And please have her try it with the seats all the way forward so I have an idea of how close it gets. As I stated before, in the 991 GT3 I'm pretty sure even someone under 5' can drive the car.
When did you take delivery of your GT4? The one I sat in obviously was an earlier production. PistolPete also had an early delivery. Maybe this is only with the early production GT4s?

PistolPete

I keep my LWBS at the lowest position which probably doesn't help.

What I did find strange was that in the 981 Spyder I could move the seats forward enough to bang my knees on the bottom of the dash. No way could I do that in the GT4, not even close.

Can the rear Firewall on the Spyder be that much further ahead than in the GT4?

That said, I checked the front/rear movement of both drivers and passenger seats and they are symmetrical at the extreme positions judging by the seat backs lining up. So that eliminated any suspected issue with the drivers seat rail.

I could use another 1" of travel for my left leg to keep more of a bend in the knee when the clutch is fully depressed, but if not, I'll adjust.

I'm 5'7" but probably more torso than leg. Maybe I'll just tie a wood block to the clutch. It'll need some deviated stitching however!

jphughan

Ok, my wife turns out to be 5'3", and after moving the seat all the way forward she was still able to push the clutch all the way down but only had a tiny bend in her knee. Raising the seat helped somewhat, but she couldn't go too high without her knees getting too close to the steering wheel for comfort. So it's definitely close and requires the seat to be all the way forward, but it's doable. Note that she was wearing flats at the time. If you have shoes with a thicker sole, that might help quite a bit. I notice a difference between my regular running shoes and the New Balance Minimus shoes I use at the track.

MrNurse

Okay great! Thanks for your help It's still odd that it sounds like your seats slide more forward than my GT4 examples. I would be good in your car.
Most of the time I wear driving shoes or loafers (most flat shoes) especially when I drive a manual.
When did you take delivery of your car?

RealityGT

You should be able to find aftermarket rails that will fit the lwbs and offer further travel..

MrNurse

I have a feeling I may be able to unbolt the current ones and set them forward. Maybe someone can confirm this?

I don't see why Porsche would have these so different than all their other cars that have LWBs.

jphughan

Built mid-September, took delivery early November.

orthojoe

I'm 5'8" and didn't notice anything unusual when I drove a GT4 at Laguna seca the other day. My friends always laugh at how close I sit to the wheel, but I like my arms bent so they are totally relaxed. The seat was not maxed out in forward position.

anselmw

Mine was built in late September and deliver early December. I have this feeling they are all like this. Tough to judge everyone's opinion on height alone as it is the leg length and how you like to sit that confirms if the seating position will work or not.

From what I learned about seating position, if you rest your wrist on top of the steering wheel, you need to have a bend and relaxed enough position where you can turn the wheel side to side as much as you can. This can also be resolved by the telescoping wheel if you are taller. In this case probably not an issue.

For the legs, you need to have a slight bend in your leg so that you are not fully extended when depressing the clutch. I like to be able to fully depress clutch and still have a bend even if the friction point is not at this point.

I will see if I can get some measurements of how far the firewall is from the back of the seat.


So I just went out and measured. With the seat fully fwd, it looks to be a very close so you would think that the length from seat back to firewall will be close. If you measure from firewall to seat back, straight, I got 42". The seats are very deep so depending on your body type, it will make a big difference in length to clutch fully depressed. If you are smaller and fit all the way to the back of the seat, it makes the length further vs someone who does not go all the way back. I would compare to your current car where you are comfortable and do the same measurement. I think best would be to get into another car with lwb to see how you feel.