Thoughts on seat upgrades
 

I think I may finally have time to participate in Driver's Education sessions. I completed one a few years ago and the biggest issue I had with my car was the seats. I found myself sliding around in corners due to the lack of bolstering and slippery leather in the stock comfort seats.

I'm considering the following options to keep me more securely in place.

1. Buy a pair of 987/997 sports seats. This is a fairly expensive option, and I would lose the heat, full power and memory of my current seats. (I've seen posts from members STL986 and TTGator that show how to retrofit the heat function.)
2. Buy a pair of non-sport 987/997 seats. This would be slightly less expensive than the 987/997 and I could probably retrofit both the heat and full power, but probably not the memory function. These seats would provide less bolstering than the 987/997 sports seats, but I have seen some posts that suggest they provide more support than 986/996.
3. Put the back from a 986/996 sport seat on my current driver's seat. I have found one and also located a local upholsterer who said he can tailor the foam to fit me and recover the seat to match my interior. This is the least expensive option, but I'm wondering whether it would look goofy to have one sport seat and one non-sport seat in the same car.

I'm interested in options especially if they are based on experience with the various models of seats.

Thanks in advance.

I may not give you a definitive answer, but want to add a few tidbits to consider:

Be careful if you do a different seat between driver and passenger. All PCA regions will require you to have the same seat belts for driver and passenger. If you put a race seat in the driver's side, they may require you to have one for the passenger too. This is so an instructor riding along has the same protection as the driver. They may be lienient if you just had a sport seat for the driver and regular for the passenger, but be aware this could be a tech issue.

I have sport seats in my CSS. I notice at times I slide around in the seat. Not a lot, but I'm not fully strapped in and immobile. There may be just some inherent movement with any stock seat.

Maybe an alcantara insert would help? I have alcantara in my LE and while I don't get too rambunctious with her, the alcantara does keep me more planted in the seat. Maybe there'd be less friction taking a corner at 90mph that 50, but if you're having an upholsterer do some work an alcantara insert might be worth looking into.

I was wondering if you'd have to wire the airbags in the 987/997 seats but then remembered the airbag in a 986 is in the door, so no issues there.

Sorry for not giving you a definitive answer, but wanted to give you some more items to chew on.

Thanks for sharing this piece of information. That is something I may not have realized until after I made a decision. I could have shown up for a DE event and failed the safety inspection.

Thanks for the suggestion on Alcantara inserts. I saw a Porsche 356 that had been used on the track in the 1960's. The center of the seats had been upholstered in corduroy. I was wondering whether the driver also wore corduroy to hold him in place. Alcantara inserts may have a similar effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaMVlmV41_o

If anyone else is considering a seat upgrade, this video provides helpful information. It confirms Husker Boxster's point that both seats/restraint systems must be identical.

From a race viewpoint, it's also important to remember that many clubs require aftermarket safety features to be fia or sfi approved and within the certification date on the tag.

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