seat questions

[terryb]

My '88 911 has original electric non-sport seats with 3 point lap belts and I'm hoping I can get some advice on upgrading to something that will hold me in better and accommodate 5 or 6 point belts. I have a harness bar (thanks Carl!) in anticipation of the new setup, but after a bunch of research I think I have more questions than when I started.

Would a sport seat like the Recaro Speed, which reclines, prohibit me from entering certain events? I like the idea of still being able stow stuff behind for the occasional sunset/back country/101 cruise. I drive it to work 1-2 days/wk too.

Or could a racing seat like the Pole Position be mounted on sliders so that it could move forward far enough to allow the same access to the rear as a reclining seat?

Does anyone know how much the Speed weighs? I can't seem to find it anywhere. The Pole Position is listed at 15.4 lbs but I don't think that includes the mounting hardware.

Also, my coupe has a sunroof and I *barely* fit with a helmet. Would either of these two seats allow more headroom?

Thanks for any suggestions and tips--and thanks to Keith, Yoichi and Gary at Saturday's AX who were kind enough to let me sit in their seats to get a feel for fit.

[Dan Chambers]

Terry:

I have an '83 SC with Recaro Speed seats. I don't know their weight, but quite a bit lighter than my original seats.

The Recaro seats that I have are qualified for DE/and TT's because they appear to have the factory-installed center slot for a 5 point harness sub. belt.

I put them in the SC primarily for more headroom in my sunroof'ed SC. I gained about 1.5" of verticle room with the Speed's, their bottom cushion being a bit "thinner" than a stock seat. They made a big difference for extra headroom for my wife (5'11") and me (6'3"). I also like the comfort and the flip-forward seatbacks for behind-the-seat access.

My suggestions: If you go with the Recaro Speed, be sure it has the factory-installed center slot in the bottom cushion. If it doesn't, Tech will not pass you for 5-point harness systems. If you're buying them new, get the slot-option. If you buy them used, be prudent in getting factory-slotted bottoms.

Good luck with your project.

[terryb]

Thank you Dan. I'm really happy to hear that you get more headroom with the Speeds. That pretty much clinches it for me. Did you mount them using the sliders from your old seats or do they require some other mounting kit? Also, did you fasten your sub belt through the chassis or to something like the BK bar?

BTW, that was very nice driving in Carl's car on Saturday. JP's getting crowded!

[Dan Chambers]

Terry: I mounted the seats with Recaro sliders, although you probably can use the original seat sliders ... with a little tweeking (if I recall, you may need to drill out the slider holes in the front of the stock rails to fit the slightly different seat-hole configuration ... but I can't remember. I used those seats in both a 944 and now the 911.)

My sub belt is mounted through the pan with bolts. I was recommended to mount the sub-belt toward the rear of the seat, so I aligned the mounting to line up with the rear rail-mounting holes in the pan. Should the sub-belt actually be needed, it is secured from behind and under the buckle, disallowing any possible forward movement (good thing I'm not planning on kids :shock: ).

Personally, I think you'll really like the Speed seats. For really long trips, I use a thin pillow because I get just enough pressure on the Sciatic nerve to cause discomfort. Other than that, I can cruise in those seats all day (like when I drove to Portland for the Parade in '06).

Thanks for sharing JP. Carl's car was really fun. Sorry I won't be staying in JP, but the Trans is done, and I've got a few more chances to take the black ribbon away from Steve G. before he really runs out of tires (sandbagger!).

Good luck with the seats.