L/W affordable easyfit seats

[Mike58]

I would like to fit L/W race seats to my 3.2 ( 87)
What recommendations do you have for my spec of lowish cost , easyfit.
Mike

PS I bet Richard B knows the answer.

 

[Guest]

Hi Mike58,

I don' t know the answer! But I' m trying to work out the answer (have been trying to work it out for some time now).

I wonder if Stephen Darnell (keeper of the Club Sport register) would be kind enough to shed some light on this based on the experiences of the more hardcore Clubsport guys. There must be some of them running lightweight seats.

Best info I have is from the Brey Krause site (www.bkauto.com). If you use their sidemounts you can fit Recaro Pole Position (best online price around £310 incl. - picture below) but you need to buy Recaro sliders to replace the Porsche sliders. If you want Sparco you can fit Sparco Evo (narrow seat at around £210 excl. - fine for my size 5' 9" and 70kg) or Evo 2 (wide seat at around £220 excl.). For Sparco you need BK sidemounts and Sparco or Recaro sliders. If you use Sparco sliders you need a BK handle thing. If you go for Evo seats, they mount slightly toward the centre of the car compared to OE seats. So Evo driver and Evo 2 passenger is my current preferred option.

You can buy BK bits from Porscheshop but they are not interested in providing any advice or support for these parts as they sell their own lightweight seat (yes I have spoken to them and they were not helpful). Their seat is a cheap looking seat that I would not buy (not pukka enough). They will order for you and take care of post, customs etc and presumably they clip the ticket and add a margin.

I have sent BK an inquiry but have yet to receive a response. I think I will have to call them. I find their website to be a little confusing. I also understand that there is an issue with the centre seat belt mounts, so I want their input on how to solve this.

I have looked at Rennlist and Pelican and there is some info but Americans all seem to fit Recaro SRD seats or similar. This is a seat similar to OE that retains a fold forward facility - so it is not much lighter than OE and no more supportive than the OE sport seat. I want something lighter. It would seem that the average US 911 owner is more like 6ft plus and 220lbs plus - so there needs are a little different to average UK owners! Sparco sell an Evo 3 in the US for real fat b@stards!

Anyhow, hope this helps.

Richard

 

[Richard Pottle]

As my car is an SC - albeit with a 1996 V/Ram engine fitted - my seats have none of the electric gadgetry that you posh 3.2 owners have. Hence, they probably don' t weigh anything like as much - so I guess if your search proves unfruitful you could just put bog standard SC seats in[]

 

[Guest]

Richard,

You would be surprised how much they weigh. Try unbolting them and lifting them out.

 

[Guest]

Attached is a picture of the Sparco Evo for comparision. I have sat in the Evo and Evo 2 and I can confirm that they are very comfy seats regardless of the lack of major padding. Evo 2 is at least an inch wider and is too lose for me.

 

[Richard Pottle]

OK - fair enough!! I took all the soundproofing out from behind the rear seats and ' parcel shelf' last weekend. The engine bay soundproofing was taken out when I had the new engine so as you can imagine it' s nice and loud!!! Who needs a flash stereo when you have a wailing flat six with H&S exhaust (and induction kit) belting out behind you!!!!

 

[Mike58]

Thanks both Richards for your replies, any experience or tips when fitting these seats as I was led to believe that only Recaro Pole pos. fitted without hassle or is this rubbish?
In other words what is involved in fitting race seats.
Mike
PS Richard B Fancy the PCGB Knockhill trackday against another fast 3.2, the fee is so cheap it will pay your petrol.
Then again perhaps your 3.2 isn' t that quick....................[][][][]

 

[Guest]

Hi Mike,

The honest truth is that I am on a farily curtailed track day programme this summer - my wife is expecting our first child at the end of summer and with that comes a whole lot of expenses. In our case it means buying a second wife/child friendly car and a trip to NZ to see all the relatives pre-delivery and pre the flying restriction period. My wife also insists on a post delivery trip to NZ. Anyway, it means that holidays and budget are tight.

I have however booked in for Castle Combe (3 July), Silverstone (end of July) and Bedford (August) with PCGB. Will also slip in a quick pilgramage to Le Mans but Scotland may be difficult.

Richard

PS my car isn' t all that quick - its the driver[][][][]

 

[Guest]

Richard,

I too am down for Bedford (in amateur class), perhaps I will be able scrounge a passenger ride? I imagine I could learn a thing or two.

Are you going to Lemans with PCGB?

regards

Hugh

 

[Guest]

Yes and Yes.

I will be at Bedford with my friend Jeremy who has a 964 3.8 RSR. At over 350hp it is just about the quickest thing I have driven, so keep an eye out for that car also.

Going to LM on the Thursday night and back Monday.

Looking again at Mike' s post, I think you can fit Sparco as easily as Recaro PP - going by the info on the Bk site anyway. If you fabricate your own sidemounts you can use the OE sliders with the Recaro, Sparco or any seat BUT I think you have to grind a triangular piece of metal off the OE slider which is needed for the OE height adjustable seat (got this info from a guy in Holland so it might be wrong). Making your own sidemounts would let you incorporate whatever offset was needed to match a seat width to slider width and you can drill your holes to match original seatmount points.

Richard

 

[Guest]

Just confirmed with BK, you do lose the centre seat belt mount if you go with the options I described above. They have alternative mounts for 996/Boxster and " late 911s" that allow you to use the factory sliders and retain the centre seat belt mount. I have queried what late 911 means. More info tomorrow hopefully...

 

[Richard Pottle]

Mike

Take a look at the Demon Tweeks web site - they have quite a few seats for sale - with each one having a description including how much they weigh. They also sell the mounts.

Web site is www.demon-tweeks.co.uk

Cheers

Rich

 

[Mike58]

Thanks I do have the DT catalogue but I like to check with owners before big purchases as i have made a lot of costly errors in the past.
Mike

 

[Guest]

Take a look at the Demon Tweeks web site - they have quite a few seats for sale - with each one having a description including how much they weigh. They also sell the mounts.

Hi Richard,

Unfortunately it is not quite that easy. The widths of the seats all vary, so you need the right sidemount in order for them to bolt up to the factory manual sliders. The generic sidemounts that DT sells will ***not*** (AFAIK) allow a simple bolt in installation. Maybe Recaro has a common width and bolt spacing as our factory seats are Recaros???

Since my last post, I have had further contact with BK and their advice is below:

" Yes, you can use your manual factory sliders with the 907x line of seat
brackets."

This means that you get a simple bolt-in install and that you can keep the factory seat belt mounts in the centre. The guys at BK said that they developed their products because of the frustration they ran into trying do exactly what we are doing to their own cars. The only downside with BK is that their sidemounts are expensive. Another option would be to get your local mechanic to just make up some sidemounts after taking measurements. While this would not be difficult, the last time I embarked on a custom fabrication it cost me an arm and a leg for something supposedly very simple!

Mike, which seats are you thinking of - do you have a favourite? How do you think you will mount them?

Richard