GT3 Seats

I'm considering ordering a pair of GT3 seats for my '02 Carrera, but I have a couple of questions for those of you who have 'em: 1. Are they comfortable for daily driving; and, 2. How much lighter are they than stock sport seats? Your responses are greatly appreciated!!

there is a ton of info on the GT2/3 board, Weights, DYI, Prices, mounting brackets, comfort, you name it - just use search

They are surprisingly comfortable. (mine are heated!) I've driven over six hours, essentially non-stop, with no discomfort. I won't go so far as to say they are more comfortable than the stock seats, though some of my regular passengers have. Why are you considering GT3 seats? If it for track use, absolutely! Get them. If it for daily street use, consider this: They do not adjust any way but forward and back. Access to the rear seat is very restricted. Use of stock seat belts is a compromise at best. If you are planning to use them with harnesses (harni?), consider the safety implications of being held upright in a rolling car with no rollover protection. (There are two sides to that argument, consider them both) And so search, not just in the GT2/3 forums but here as well.

...I noticed in your bio you also have a Caterham. Do you enjoy it? Did you build it yourself? I've beenlusting after a simple, light weight "go-kart" for canyon driving and occasional track use...

The weight of GT3 seat is 29lbs. It is almost as comfortable as stock. The draw back are limited space behind you and hard to stepping in and out.

if you get the gt3 seats, can you still put passengers in the back seat? i wonder how hard it would be to step in/out from the back. anyone tried that?

ain't gonna happen

not a problem - with a cab. with a coupe? ugh!

Ben is right, the functionality of the back is history (if there was any to begin with) with GT3 seats in a coupe. As others have said, the GT3 seats are more comfortable than they look, but getting in & out is a pain in the butt. Not good for short trips, running errands, etc.

Ingress and egress are a bitch. But, once you're in them, they are comfortable for up to about 2 hours. After that, some of your butt thigh muscles can get fatigue sores. 45 lbs for a set.

One thing I didn't consider was access to the back seats (duh). Since I have 3 kids that love to ride around in the Porsche, I'm sure they'd be disappionted if they couldn't ride in the back. Dang, and I love those darn seats! The Caterham is a blast to drive in the spring/summer. It gets a lot of looks and is extremely quick (0-60 in about 4.8 seconds). It also handles like no other car I've ever owned. I guess it should, weighing only 1300 pounds and all. I wouldn't get rid of it for the world...well, maybe for an Exige....hmmm.... Kids especially love it. I guess you can call it a car that all kids love, but only fathers can afford. Thanks for the responses!

the rear seats are still accessible, but not in the old way, you have to use the slider rail, and move the seat forward, instead of just tilting the back like with the stock seats.

Do the GT3 seats take-up more room in the rear than the sport seats? I really don't mind sliding the seats forward everytime I take the kids out, but there isn't a whole heck of a lot of room now back there. I'd hate to sardine them in the back...what fun!!

Remember that if you are in a wreck and one of your kids needs to be rescued from the back seat, it will be much harder to do if the seat back doesn't fold forward. Instead of just jumping in the car and starting first aid, the rescuer will have to cut the roof off before reaching your kid (10 minutes minimum). If it were me, and I put GT3 seats in a Porsche, I wouldn't let anybody ride back there, especially not my child. (It's not really a question of whether a child can climb back there, but more a question of whether a full sized person can get to an injured child easily.) Sorry to bring a bit of harsh reality to the discussion, but being on a volunteer fire department, I see the unfortunate results of a lot of similar decisions. Tim

I think you should stick with the stock seats.

how bout only replacing the driver side seat. problem solved

it might look funny

most DE rules mandate having equal seat restraints for both driver and passenger, but not equal seats? so its ok to have a gt3 driver seat and a stock passenger seat as long as you have 5pt harnesses for both seats?

I think I'll stick with the stock seats. I simply can't risk my children's safety. Hmm, maybe I can get the seats and just belt my kids to the roof. Wonder if the old ball and chain would go along with that. Thanks for the help all.

2. How much lighter are they than stock sport seats? From what I can remember I think you save a total of 70lbs.

I went with just a GT-3 for the drivers side and left the stock seat on the passenger side. This keeps the rear area functional. After reading this thread I went out a measured how much room there actually is with the seat moved forward. It is a good 8 to 9 inches so there is room for a pretty large person to get in and out. The problem would be that they would have a really difficult time moving the seat forward by themselves if the need arose. These seats are great. A little tougher getting in and out, but the extra support is very noticable.

so someone would still be able to get to the backseat when you move the gt3 seat forward?

I would say so, yes. Now, if you wanted to put a 12" square box back there you would have a problem. Since I only have a GT-3 for the driver I can easily access the back seats from the passenger side. Note that this means in many PCA Regions I cannot have a passenger on the track because I do not have "equivilent safety equipment".

thats what i was talking about earlier - i want to get a good track seat but i want to keep the stock sport seat for comfort for the passenger. my question was whether equal safety equipment meant equal safety restraints like 5pt harnesses for both or if that included seats. my next question then is, if you need equal seats, would it be ok to have a gt3 seat for the driver and say, a reclining sport seat for the passenger then?

Better check with your region. Most of the time they will consider the seat part of the safety equipment. I personally think this is silly. Isn't the passenger safer if the driver is well positioned behind the wheel? If the stock seats are good enough when they are on both sides how does the passenger seat become unsafe when the driver's seat is changed? This has been bouncing around for years and I have never heard a coherent arguement as to how this rule actually improves safety.

maybe because if the car were to get in an accident and the passenger was injured then there might be an argument for liability because the car was not equipped with the "better" safety equipment that the driver had ::shrug::