Best "OEM" low seat option - 996 turbo

Hi forum. Firstly thanks for being a great resource! I've not posted much but learnt loads about by hostoric and current purchases here. I recently bought a 996 turbo which has comfort seats. I want to be lower and better supported, at a reasonable cost and ideally without the seats standing out too much (although I'm not hugely fussy in this regard. For example I have draped leather but don't mind losing that in the front - not a big fan anyway!). I believe the answer is 997/987 sports seats. The car is seal grey so it would be nice to have matching plastic backs. I had a 997 turbo s with these seats in it so I know I like the fit, but I'm open to other possibilities especially given that it might be hard to find exactly what I want. Ideally I wouldn't sacrifice anything in the process eg electric adjustment (mine are all electric, but no memory). I have a few questions to help me decide what to do - hope the forum can help! 1. Are 996 sport seats usefully lower than comfort? 2. Are 996 sport seats with manual adjustment lower than electric 996 sport seats? 3. Can anyone tell me how much lower 997 sport seats would be, compared with my 996 electric comforts? 4. Are manual 997 sport seats lower than electric ones? 5. Is the sport option from a 987 the same as that in a 997? 6. Do I need to be an electrician to fit replacement seats?? 7. Has anyone ever had plastic seat backs successfully resprayed? Thanks!

From my experience switching from manual 996 standard seats to manual standard 997 seats: Sitting position is much lower More supported feel in the car I'm no electrician but researched on here and was simple enough when you have the right bits Game changer for me to be honest, really felt the standard 996 seats spoiled the drive experience although admittedly I think I do the prefer the actual aesthetics of the 996 seat

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I agree, I had 997 comfort seats fitted in my 996 turbo a few weeks ago, they are A) cheap, mine cost £135 on e bay, B) Have a way lower seating position, I’d guess a couple of inches, which even for a short arse like me puts the steering wheel at a comfortable height, the stock seats must be a nightmare for 6 footers!

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Thanks, appreciate the response. I think "standard" is "comfort" so it sounds like you had the same as me. Do you find the 997 comfort seat to be any/much more supportive? I agree that these are terrible seats, mounted way too high relative to the steering wheel.

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I'm 6ft1ish and can confirm it's a very strange driving position! Are your new seats electrically adjustable? Was it a like-for-like swap in that regard?

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They are just elec backrest, manual forward / back and height, I had them fitted by my garage when they were doing some other work, can’t remember the exact cost, but I think it took them a couple of hours, the 997 seats (same as 987 boxster) have an airbag so that has to be deactivated, it is a diy job if you’re handy.

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Thanks, sorry I wasn't very clear. Were the outgoing seats also partial manual adjustment? Just trying to get a feel for how much of the drop in seat height is down to having less "gubbins" underneath. It's the sort of thing I'd take on and would take me all weekend! So better to let a professional do it.

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Yep, the originals were electric everything, with memory. Although I’m not sure manual 996 seats are any lower.

1Squadron - You’ll be pretty pleased with the 997 sport seats. I love mine. I previously had the couches and hated them. -A relative bargain -Lower (I’m 6’ 4” and can fit better with a helmet.) -Sit further back. The form of the bottom allows the seat to slide back even further than with Extend-a-Seat. -Hardback on mine is a silver/grey matching well enough for my seal grey -4-6 hour project with basic wiring skills needed. -A nice assortment of tutorials on line so you can decipher what pin configuration you need. -987 sport seats are the same as 997 with different seat pull knobs.

997 comforts are lowest apparently, thats what i ended up sticking in my 996. I got some heated ones and you can use the gubbins from the 996 seats to make the 997 seats work on the 996 switches.

Pic's: 20260407_120750 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr 20260407_120808 by Scott Osborne , on Flickr

mine also came with the 987/997 seats fitted - not sure if they are heated or not as my car didn't have that option. I originally wanted to swap them for 996 seats, but everyone on hear told me they were a worse option and to stay with what i have.

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Thanks for this - reassuring that it feels a good fit for you in the 996. I had them in a 997 so I know i like the fit. Am I right in thinking that it's not possible to adjust the rake of the seat/lower part on this basic manual version? As in, you can't raise/lower the front edge of the seat? At the same time, to my eyes it looks like these are higher at the front than the comfort seats (they being more "flat" front to back). Someone else said below that they think the 997 comfort seat is the lowest - I wonder if this is what they mean. I like to have some support behind the knees and also like to be relatively close to the wheel. This all exacerbates the feeling of the wheel being in my lap. I'd been wondering about colour match. Maybe I coupd tolerate something close to seal grey, like yours. Thanks for sharing your thoughts ans pics!

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Interesting. I'd be a little surprised if the comfort was lower than the sport seat. I wonder if the sport seat is maybe higher at the front? As in, more rake? I do believe the basic mostly manual seat doesn't have adjustable rake on the seat part so this is causing me a little hesitation. But I'm also under the impression that a seat with more electrical gubbins underneath may be higher than a manual one. It's a minefield!

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Re the heated part, are you saying that you were able to *add* heated seats to your non-factory heated seat 996? Or just that you can make 997 heated work with a 996 that had factory heated? I'm useless with electrics! Or at least, have never tried to embrace it.