987 seats - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Hi all, I did ask a broader question in my other topic, but let's make it specific. Is there any data on how much lower a 987 seat will be in a 986? My current 986 seats are the one with electric back adjustment only. The 987 would be equal in that sense (so not the full electrics). So to my knowledge this would be lowest 986 vs lowest 987.. Does the seat height change differently in the 986 seats compared to the 987 seats? Reasons for asking is that I have my head too high in the car. Due to my short legs, the seat is quite far forward (which raises the seat) and due to my long body I can't see the top of my instruments nor the traffic lights. The instrument visibility can be improved by reclining the back, but that doesn't help for looking out of the car. Second reason is that I have a set which I can buy for reasonable money, so would be a good deal if it helps my case. Many thanks

Semi ironically? After my 986 seat bottom collapsed it was still comfortable and very low. But I also have short legs, and you might be sitting farther forward than you need to be still. Your legs should be nearly full extended at full brake and clutch pedal deflection. You should not be able to lock them but not far from it. It will feel like too far away at first but you’ll get used to it soon if you’re not already there

987 seats are not much lower than 986 ones. If headroom is your main issue, lowering brackets are a better option since they can drop the seat by about an inch and help when the seat is slid forward.

I may have the same seating position issue as you do. I'm 6 feet (182 cm) tall, but my legs are short in proportion to my height. I installed 987/997 adaptive sports seats in my 986. If they are lower, it is by a small margin. I have read that the seating position in a 987 is more accommodating than a 986, but that may be due to the design of the car rather than the seat. The seats I installed are fully electric adaptive sports seats. I found the manual height adjuster in my original 986 seats more difficult to fine tune than the electric seat control. I like my new seats, but it was a time consuming and fairly costly modification. The benefit may not be worth the cost.

Thanks for the info. Price wise I can probably get these seats and sell my own for a similar figure. Drawback being the work on the electrics and that these 987 seats are black while my interior is metropole blue. Both dark, so it would work, just slightly less pleasing to the eye. KevinH, did the 987 seats solve your seating problem? Or do you just like them for other reasons? Pringle86, would you have an example of such lowering brackets? So far I found many brackets for racing seats, none for the OEM seats. Another thing I do notice is that lateral support of these seats is minimal. At least much worse than the sport seats in my BMW. It didn't really look like the 987 seats are much better in that aspect.

[QUOTE= KevinH, did the 987 seats solve your seating problem? Or do you just like them for other reasons? [/QUOTE] I participated in a HPDE - High Performance Driver Education - event a few years back. The problem I had with the standard 986 seats was that I slid around in them during hard cornering on the track. I wanted a seat with more substantial side bolsters that would do better at holding me in place. The 997/987 seats adaptive sports seats seem to be a good option. I am participating in another event on October 10th and 11th. I will know for sure whether the seats solved the problem. The track I'm using requires that you pass the "broomstick test." The requirement is that your head while wearing a helmet must fit below a broomstick that has one end on the windshield surround and the other on the roll hoops. I don't think the 987/997 seats will sit low enough to allow me to pass the test. I bought a second-hand Brey-Krause rollbar extension to make sure I would be allowed to participate.

Here is a solution for installing 987 memory seats in a 986 with minimal re-wiring. Works great and I’ve run it for the last year. Note that a manual 987 seat can be installed more easily, but the comfort seat won’t work without the approach below (simple microcontroller for CAN commands) which is very straight forward or a more invasive full re-wire of the seat motors. This GitHub article covers the full build. Works for 987 memory seats in a non memory seat 987. Also works for 987 seats in a 986. 997 and 987 are interchangeable, so are 986 and 996 wiring. All 4 have the same bolt pattern. https://github.com/trudant/987-997-Comfort-Seat-Hack/

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I can only speak to 987 comfort seat. Bolt in to 986 no problem. I think the driver seat sits lower and is much more comfortable. The head rest is an inch higher though. In lowest position all the way back it fills the roll cage arch perfectly. I’m 6’1” so I drive in this position. It’s more comfortable than original 986 seats and I love the lumbar support.

All good info, thanks! So I did some more research in the seats. Seems my seats are the manual standard seats, not the sports (with the shoulder flaps). Do the sports sit any lower than the standard seats? I think my options are: - 9x7 manual sport seats. Will fit and are supposed to be lower - 9x1 sport seat plus. Conflicting info out there. These might be higher than 9x7, might be the same - Aftermarket seats. Cobra Nogaro seems one that still look right in the interior. Probably big money though.