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I have always been absolutely content with my 4 way heated sport seats in my Spyder. I find them comfortable, plenty supportive, and very adjustable. I know most folks lust after the carbon sport bucket seats though so when a new 987 generation set came across my radar I felt it only prudent, in the name of research, to purchase them and see what all the fuss was about. Below is a guide to performing the installation on your own, which is relatively simple and requires only a handful of tools. Being that they were going into the Spyder, I weighed everything.
Sport bucket PAIR (73lbs total)
Sport bucket driver: 35lbs
Sport bucket pass: 38lbs
4 way heated sport seats PAIR (106lbs total)
4 way driver: 50lbs
4 way pass: 56lbs
Tools needed:
3/8 ratchet
1/4 ratchet
Extensions
17mm socket and open end (or ratcheting) wrench
10mm socket
E12 torx socket
Small flat screw driver or trim tool
Work light
Moving blanket or equivalent
Start by disconnecting the negative terminal on the battery using the 10mm socket to loosen and remove. Take a towel and cover the cable to keep isolated from the battery.
Slide the drivers seat all the way forward, exposing the rear E12 torx heads. Remove both E12 bolts and set aside
Slide the seat all the way rearward, and remove the trim covering the front of each seat rail by gently prying up on the tab. The covers slip right off, which is easier if the floor mat is out of the way. Then remove both of the front E12 torx bolts.
Tip the seat backwards to view the electrical connection. (passenger seat shown) Pull out the black tab on the yellow connector which will disengage the connector allowing you to remove. On the passenger seat there is also the weight sensor connection to unclip. Pull out the red tab and then depress connector to remove.
Drape something over your sills to protect them just in case you're clumsy with the seat and slowly remove the seat being careful not to scratch any shiny bits of the car. The seat is slightly heavy at ~55lbs so be judicious in your movements.
Vacuum and clean the area under the seat. Then locate and remove the rubber cover from the seat belt near the floor. Remove the bolt using the 17mm socket. You will be threading the belt through the cutout in the sport bucket and reinstalling this bolt into the new seat. I found a 17mm ratcheting wrench easiest to install the bolt as there isn't much clearance for a 3/8 ratchet with socket.
Lower the (much lighter!) sport bucket seat into position. Tilt the seat back and reconnect yellow (and grey on passenger side) connections. Ensure both seat rails are adjusted to the same length before installation so all the holes align perfectly. There are locating pins on the rear of the rails to aid in installation. Install rear bolts but don't tighten. Slide seat forward and install and tighten front bolts, then finish tightening rear bolts.
Stand back and admire your lovely looking seats. I also tossed on a GT2RS shift **** while I was in there to tie the colors together.
It should be noted that the weight sensors in the passenger seat will need to be calibrated with a PIWIS system. Until then, the passenger airbag OFF light will be remain illuminated. Supposedly 30 min labor at a dealer or indy with the system but they effectively need to teach the sensors their empty weight and the weight required to enable the airbag for a passenger. I found a document from Porsche about the procedure that states the seat should be ~14lbs empty and ~106lbs with passenger, with a tolerance of (+/-) 25%. Meaning a minimum of a 80lb person sat in the passenger seat is required to enable the airbag once calibrated correctly.
Final thoughts: The seats feel firmer around the seat and shoulders, likely due to less padding and greater rigidity. I feel they fit the 'ethos' of the Spyder and do look the business indeed. The weight savings are neat to geek out on and who doesn't love more carbon construction in a vehicle? Without a ton of driving seat time however I honestly can't say these are a must have or far superior to the 'sofa' seats. While I am very glad I now have a set of buckets I was not discontent at all with my sport seats.
For me personally, the buckets do locate me slightly higher while seated, but not to any great extreme. The 4 way seats are of course height adjustable which I always ran in a fairly low position, even at my 5'9" height. While the backrest is indeed more upright than how I had my 4 way seats positioned, it's still very comfortable. I could see adding a small washer or two under the front rails being an easy solution to tipping the seat back ever so slightly. As far as ingress and egress, I don't find it to be an issue, especially as the driver since you have the steering wheel to assist slightly with exit. I have a slim build (160lbs) and don't find the seats tight at all, perhaps just snugger in the shoulder area.
My seats are of course leather and I will consider adding alcantara cushions to them. The covers are easily sourced in various fabrics (albeit at a cost) and simply install on the seat cushions with velcro. I'm also considering adding heat to my cushions. The 991 ROW versions of these seats are heated from the factory, and since my Spyder came from the factory with heated seats, I have all the buttons and provisions for heating them already in place. It seems like a relatively fun/easy project to buy either OEM or aftermarket carbon heating pads, and wire them right into the yellow connector to allow the seats to be heated at the push of the factory button. Will update this thread if I pursue this avenue.
All in all, very pleased with the outcome. Between the Antigravity battery and the buckets I do suppose I lightened the car by a not insignificant 69lbs. Although whether the lightening of ones wallet is commensurate with the weight savings, only you can decide!
Great write-up, thanks for taking the time. I was a little surprised on the weight. For some reason I thought they saved more than that. 33 lbs is nothing to sneeze at, but it is 33lbs of mostly low weight savings. Somehow I had it in my head it was more.
I did this upgrade a month ago. Well worth it! You can turn off the weight sensor completely w. PIWIS or Durametric. What I found interesting is that the seat is coded to a VIN and the software recognizes that. My buckets came from a local 2010 GT3 for instance. This is important to know when you're buying used seats since they may have been pulled from a wrecked car. In which case you wouldn't want to install them.
Do you have the part numbers for the ROW 918 seat heating pads?
I was able to find a new pair of seats so not coded to any VIN. I'm going to go ahead and have them calibrated properly as our younger boys sometimes ride along in the seat and definitely want things functioning as intended.
The 991 ROW seat has the heating. It looks identical to our version except for the bottom seat cushion looks like 3 cushions instead of 2. No luck on part numbers just the heating elements/wiring alone. I would very much assume they're sold as a set with new cushions/covers all together. Looking at my 4 way heated seats I removed though it looks simply like 4 spade connectors for the wiring. In theory quite simple to DIY and add with aftermarket heating elements so I may just Amazon a set and experiment a bit.
Regardless of using our product or not (thanks for going with us).... I always love these clear-cut right up that just nail how to do something and make it so easy anyone can do it. Simple, uncomplicated and clear explanation. Great job.
Surely will update with more time. Especially if I'm able to heat them it will go a long way to making them permanent fixtures in the car. Here in PA the heated seats help extend the driving season a bit in either direction so they were used frequently on the 4 way factory seats. I just wish I had found them earlier as our season is rapidly coming to a close here and the car will sit covered from Nov-Mar soon.
As the 997/987 generations seats are no longer available new from Porsche you only have a few options, all of which are admittedly quite expensive. I was extremely lucky to actually find a relatively local set of new seats that had been stored since new. They still had the factory plastic wrapper on the carbon backs. This is unlikely to happen again for anyone so you can either hope to find a used set pop up in the classifieds or from a dismantler. You can purchase 991 'Rest of World' generation sport buckets (from somewhere like Carnewal) which the only obvious difference to the eye is a three section bottom cushion versus the 997 two section bottom cushion. (and they are heated from the factory!) They're in the realm of $11k delivered after all duties/fees. They will plug and play in your car BUT the 991 ROW lack any provisions under the passenger seat for the airbag weight sensing system. They lack both the weight sensors themselves and the module to plug into your car that all US models have, so as a result the airbag light will come on. You will have to code the system to tell it to ignore the weight sensor, which supposedly leaves the passenger airbag ON all the time. I could find no data of that theory ever being tested. As our younger ones ride in the car, a safe seat working as the factory intended was paramount to me.
The only thing I would advise when buying used is the familiarize yourself with the generations of seat and vet them carefully when purchasing. There was a time in the past when the 991 generations seats were sold as a pair new for something like $6k. (Yes, really!) So I think most of the used market seems to be those seats. Obviously they will sell for more than that now but IMO should still trade at a decent discount to the actual 997 generation seats that have all the provisions and functionality for our cars as the factory intended. Just my .02. The obvious differences are again the 3 cushion bottom and complete lack of airbag module on the passenger seat. The drivers seat is a non issue as both 991 and 997 generation only have the one yellow connector underneath. (In fact Suncoast still sells new 997 gen drivers only seats)
10-28-2021, 10:16 AM
Sport bucket seat installation DIY (and weights)
