Upgraded seats

First of all, I want to thank everyone for the really nice welcome in my first thread. I can't tell you how much I love my new car, I knew I would, but I had no idea how quickly I would fall in total love with it and how much passion I now have for Porsche's. I got some great companion books on the 911 and am learning so much more. One thing that I want to do in my car is upgrade the seats. I have a very bad hip, yes at age 40 I am actually a candidate for a replacement but I am holding off so I don't have to have 2 hip replacements in my life. Current medical tech only will give me 20 years so I've been advised to wait. My car came with the base seats and for me they are causing pain in my hip and back. The former owner also had back pain when driving it. I think all I need to do is upgrade to the comfort seat which I have seen on the Porsche web site. Besides getting a new one from the dealer, is there somewhere I can find them used or salvaged? How does one go about that? with a Porsche? OR do I just need to suck it up and order myself a new seat? And I guess I really need 2 if I want the car to look right. Advise? Anyone else experience some back pain while driving?

Do you have the sport seats currently? I thought the comfort seats were the standard seat in the 996.

Tim, honestly I don't know, but they do not have lumbar support. from what I read on Porcshe, what I want is something called the comfort seats. I'm sure I don't have those based on the description.

The comfort seat is essentially the standard seat with 8-way power and with power lumbar support that has multiple adjustments. I've got them in my car, and they are quite nice. They don't offer quite as much lateral support as the sport seats, but they are nice for touring. As for relieving hip/back pain, I'm not sure how much they would help you. They might help a little, but I'd suggest trying to sit in some before you spend the money. I think there are a couple of options for finding some seats aside from buying new ones. You may be able to find another rennlister who has swapped for sport seats and buy them that way. You could also try Oklahoma Foreign or LA Dismantlers.

A few thoughts come to mind. Is lumbar that you need? An inexpensive route is http://www.seats4cars.com/products/lumbar.htm Or I see used seats on Craig's List all the time. I use this link http://www.allofcraigs.com/2009/08/s...sa=Search#1916 Keep an eye out because pop up very often. Also post something in the 'WTB or F/S' section of RL. Hope this helps.

Sneaky Pete, yeah I think Lumbar is the main thing I need, and I have ordered a get seat that should also help to put the pelvis in a ergonomically correct position. But ultimately I'd like the seat to be comfortable without gadgets, if possible. Thanks for the tips !

I have arthritis in my right hip also. I have had to modify all of my auto's seats. The 996 seat bottoms are pretty easy to take out and work on. The seat backs are a little harder to remove. On the sport seats in my 2003 the center panel is not sewn to the side bolsters. That allowed me to slide a piece of foam in between the panel and hard back. This made a height adjustable lumbar. Then I just adjusted the thickness to get the support I wanted. I modified the cushion to move the "pocket" (where my butt fits) forward a little and added foam under my thighs. It works and did not cost much for the foam. I bought a stock seat foam from Sunset and used it to modify mine. An electric knife works great for shaping foam. Go find a good upholstery shop and have them modify the foam bottom cushion, and also add some foam for lumbar.

I believe Porsche offers 2 types of seats for the 996, the high shoulder bolstered Sports Seats and the standard Comfort Seats. There are a few options available like a multi position power adjustable feature, a power lumbar, heated option, and memory option. All seats have the power back angle adjustment. There is also the ruffled leather option. Many have made their own lumbar using commercially available cushions or just added cut and shaped foam described in other posts.

you can pull the back cushion out and try to put some more padding for lumbar support, maybe the seats you have are just to soft. The stock seats are the most comfortable seats Ive ever had... they are really nice.

before going too far down the road to replacement go sit in some cars with other seats... get hooked up with some locals, I am sure they would let you test out their seats.... find what fits then start looking hard for those.... BTW black seats in a savanna interior is not bad with a couple accents like mats (my old car)

OH one more thing, lots of used seats especially those heavy comfort seats as track doods want lighter seats - if you get a membership here you will have access to the "for sale" forum - great place to deal with trustworthy people like yourself.........