The truth about GT3 seats for tall drivers

[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.