The truth about GT3 seats for tall drivers

[Mike_Yi]

Originally Posted by Jaxonalden

How's the back angle? I'm 6' and I find that I'll sacrifice leg room and slide the seat forward and then lay the back down a little for a more comfortable ride. I'd hate to buy a set of seats and find I can't stand the fixed position. I'll stick with my stock seats, thanks for the heads-up.

That's a hard question to answer. I can't put a number on it because, like the stock seat, the GT3 seat back is not a straight line. I have always sat with my back at a pretty large angle too because it usually helps with the head room. However, I do find the GT3 seat to be very comfortable. It does feel very upright, but it's not so upright that it is uncomfortable.

To try to give you an idea of the seat back angle, I found a way to measure it. I set the stock seat as described above. I looked at the seat back for a flat surface, and the only part that was flat was the back side of the head support. I put a protractor on that part with the flat side against the seat. I then put a small level on the arm of the protractor. The angle it gave me was 96 degrees. If you imagine the protractor as a backward D, the arm of the protractor is pointing down at 6 degrees. That means that the top of the headrest is leaning slightly toward the front of the car. That seat position is, as far as I can tell, the same seat back position as the GT3 seat. They feel the same, or very close to it.

[Mike_Yi]

FWIW, I VERY carfully test fit the seat in the car. I am so far from fitting in the car with that seat, it isn't funny. Because the seat back angle is so much more upright, I can't even sit with my head upright (it's tilted on an angle) because it pushes through the headliner on the hardtop and up into the roof. Even if I took the sliders out, I still wouldn't fit in the car with the GT3 seat.

I guess that makes my mind up. I will be putting the stock seat back in.

I contacted BK to ask if the Recaro SPF XL with their mounts, or the GT3 was lower. They gave me the measurement from the seat pan to the top of the seat, which is useless. I wrote them back asking about distance from the floor to the bottom of the seat. I never got a response. So now I have no way to figure out if the SPG XL would even work for me.

[johnsimion]

Hi, and thanks for the informative post. You are 6'4" with about a 35" inseam; I am 6'4" with a 34" inseam. I have only two problems. First, I have plenty of headroom but I worry about hitting my head on the roll bar if I get rear-ended (it would be a glancing blow but still . . .). Second, at times my leg will contact the cruise control stalk and my hands sometimes hit my knee when turning.

For the first problem, I am thinking of doing what Nurvus did in this post: http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=11222&st=40&p=130404&#entry130404
and photos: http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll216/j...nt=rollbar1.jpg

By the way, I have checked the BK web site and I can't figure out what brackets would make the stock seat any lower. Suggestions? Worthwhile?

For the second problem, there isn't much I can do other than take out the console, which I don't want to do since it isn't that big an issue. However, I have wondered whether it would be possible to use a hair dryer to heat the cruise control stalk enough to soften it and move it upwards an inch or two? Has anyone tried this?

[Mike_Yi]

I forgot. I meant to post this additional information.....

I sat in the car with the seat out. In other words, I was sitting directly on the floor. He eyes were about at the top of the dash. I reached up to feel how much headroom I had, and the first thing I noticed was that my head would still hit the roll bar. Did you know that in the maintenance manual they describe the plastic part on the rollbar as "padding"? I imagine that it is some sort of energy absorbing material. Yeah, you'll have a headache, but you'll be alive.

Get the GT3 delete kit. It really helps. I was skeptical about it until I drove on the track. My right hand kept hitting my right knee while turning. I got the GT3 delete kit and my hand never hits my knee any more.

[edevlin]

When I got my GT3 seats with factory sliders I was also suprised at both the upright seating position and how high you were sitting. I got the BK brackets for factory GT3 seats that mount onto the sliding mechanism. Perfect, at least for me. They tilt the seat back more, which effectively gives you more headroom and lower the seating position about an inch as well. The BK brackets are not cheap, but made the seats work perfectly for me. Best of luck,

Ed

[Mike_Yi]

Originally Posted by edevlin

When I got my GT3 seats with factory sliders I was also suprised at both the upright seating position and how high you were sitting. I got the BK brackets for factory GT3 seats that mount onto the sliding mechanism. Perfect, at least for me. They tilt the seat back more, which effectively gives you more headroom and lower the seating position about an inch as well. The BK brackets are not cheap, but made the seats work perfectly for me. Best of luck,

Ed

That's great information. When I had the GT3 seats in I did not bolt them down. I tried tipping the seat rearward so the front bracket came up about an inch. Based on the pictures of the BK brackets, I figured that would be at least as far as those brackets tilt the seat. That didn't help much at all. It may have gotten me an extra 1/4" or so. Maybe.

I also tried sitting in the seat without the cushion in the car. I left the front cushion on. I could sit in the seat that way for quite a long time. Most of my weight seemed to be resting on the front cushion. At 220 lbs, removing that cushion gained me about 1/2" of headroom. I was still sitting higher than in the stock seat.

I suspect that part of the problem is that the headliner in the hardtop is lower than the convertible top. I'm going to heat up the garage today and find out just how much lower.

BTW, I didn't mention it in the original post, but my car is a '99 Boxster.

If I have to get the BK brackets, I will buy the Recaro SPG XL instead. When I priced out the two seats, the GT3 seats ended up being slightly cheaper. The Recaro seat is quite a bit cheaper, but by the time you end up buying all the BK hardware to mount it, it ends up being about $75 more. If I have to buy BK brackets anyway, the Recaro will then be the cheaper solution.

[teutonic986]

Originally Posted by Mike_Yi

FWIW, I VERY carfully test fit the seat in the car. I am so far from fitting in the car with that seat, it isn't funny. Because the seat back angle is so much more upright, I can't even sit with my head upright (it's tilted on an angle) because it pushes through the headliner on the hardtop and up into the roof. Even if I took the sliders out, I still wouldn't fit in the car with the GT3 seat.

I guess that makes my mind up. I will be putting the stock seat back in.

I contacted BK to ask if the Recaro SPF XL with their mounts, or the GT3 was lower. They gave me the measurement from the seat pan to the top of the seat, which is useless. I wrote them back asking about distance from the floor to the bottom of the seat. I never got a response. So now I have no way to figure out if the SPG XL would even work for me.

Great Thread! Thanks for the detailed information.

I am (was) contemplating buying a 986, but at 6'3" with a 34" waist, the seat was going to be my first modification. Since my seat will need sliders, I think a 987 may be my only option (or a tall girlfriend).

Since Porsche designs the car, airbags, knee bolster, etc. for a wide range of body types, I think there is very little wiggle room in the driving postion.

Also, spinal compression due to improper belt height is a real issue. I had a T12 L1 burst fracture after a collision in a race due to an improper seat.

Thanks again for the great post!

[RandallNeighbour]

Originally Posted by teutonic986

Since my seat will need sliders, I think a 987 may be my only option (or a tall girlfriend).

A 987 is going to be a high maintenance vehicle for sure, but nothing like the cost of keeping a tall girlfriend happy.

Get the 987. It may want more of your attention, but you'll never hear about it unless you have a loose belt, a worn pulley roller, or a wheel bearing that goes out on you.

[mmuller]

I am new here. Been lurking a while and decided I had something to offer.

I had the same issue in my 2002 S. I am 6'2" and 200lbs and always felt I sat to high in the car. 2 years ago I decided to solve it.

I bought 2 Recaro SPG's (non XL). They came with the stock Recaro sliders and adjustable side mounts. I then took the BK R-9040 Seat track adapter kit to mount the sliders to the floor and the mounts to the sliders. I mounted the seats as low in the brakets as they could go.

By doing this I gained around 3 inches of seat drop. Where I used to look through the top of the windshield, I now look through the middle to lower half of the windshield.

I am very satisfied with the change this made for me

[johnsimion]

Is the vertical adjustment of the stock seat limited by the electronic whatzit that's under the driver's seat? If so, can the whatzit be relocated to under the passenger's seat? I am just looking for an inch or two additional clearance from the rollbar on the driver's side (my passenger is 5' tall and height isn't an issue). I can't see investing $1500 to $2000 for a couple of seats for a 10 year old car.

[Mike_Yi]

Originally Posted by mmuller

I bought 2 Recaro SPG's (non XL). They came with the stock Recaro sliders and adjustable side mounts. I then took the BK R-9040 Seat track adapter kit to mount the sliders to the floor and the mounts to the sliders. I mounted the seats as low in the brakets as they could go.

By doing this I gained around 3 inches of seat drop. Where I used to look through the top of the windshield, I now look through the middle to lower half of the windshield.

That's pretty much what I've decided to go with Mmuller. I sat in a Boxster with Pole Position seats + sliders and had much more headroom. If you look at the BK brackets, they have more adjustment holes for reclining more too. I've been told that the BK brackets will let you lower the seat even further, though I have come to trust those people less now. I've also read (in only 1 place) that the Sparco slider is actually lower than the Recaro slider. BK's brackets work with the Sparco slider. I have to call BK tomorrow to ask them about that. I'll let you know what I find out.

By any chance do you still have the stock seat around? If so, could you do what I did (first measurement I described) to measure to see just how many inches lower the SPG is from the stock seat? It would require you to pull the Recaro seat to get a really accurate measure, but it would be great info for people like us.

Originally Posted by johnsimion

Is the vertical adjustment of the stock seat limited by the electronic whatzit that's under the driver's seat? If so, can the whatzit be relocated to under the passenger's seat? I am just looking for an inch or two additional clearance from the rollbar on the driver's side (my passenger is 5' tall and height isn't an issue). I can't see investing $1500 to $2000 for a couple of seats for a 10 year old car.

Not that I can tell John. I looked at the stock seat pretty carefully. I was trying to figure out if there is a way I could modify it to lower it. It could be done. There is a piece of metal between the seat frame and the sliders. In the front it could save you about 3/4" to an inch. The problem is that in the back it would only save about 1/4" unless you actually modified the seat frame. Most of the space up front, I think, is for the shock that pushes the seat up when you are raising the seat. Us tall people don't care about that, so that could come out. It wouldn't help in the back though.