Which sports seats?

[aporschefan]

I'm considering changing my linen electric comfort seats to sport seats.

I was at Demon Tweeks recently and tried all of the seats on display, but for the money, didn't really fall in love with any.

Someone here bought the gold 944 from RPM. I drove the car once and liked the seats but can't remeber which seats they were. I think they were recarro pole position but not 100%. Does anyone else know for sure?

One option is Porsche sports seats if they can be found cheap. But I don't know at what point are they considered cheap. (Assuming they are in good condition.)

Also, there are plenty of Boxster sports seats on eBay. Will these fit a late 944?

What would you do?

Alternatively, I could spend the money on upgrades??

 

[Joss Walker]

KW V3 in my opinion! but I would check with Edd Mortimer (Copperman) I'm sure he'll be along soon and he has both the KW and some very nice black leather Recaro poles

 

[Frenchy]

I have Porsche pole position Recaros ALA 968 and they are brilliaaaaant !
I also have parked my hiney on Ed's Pole Positions covered in cow again supberb, buy some and they will be an investment, a set recently went on e bay with sprung rather than fixed squabs for £1800 !

 

[T3rra]

Boxster seats will fit with some work, as will
And later Porsche set with same rails as boxster. But there worse the 944 comfort seat 4 holding u. Got to be sport seats really.

 

[andrew_churcher]

No affiliation but look good

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1986-Porsche-944-Turbo-Electric-Leather-Interior-Seats-Door-cards-911-VW-/330875874390?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4d09bd2c56

 

[Kongsodoken]

I'm biased but sport seats imho[]

 

[ChasR]

I have to say that the Sports seats make quite a difference over the normal seats! Getting in and out of the car can be a little fun however! I have yet to try aftermarket seats in a 944 so I cannot comment their. Hmmm, it's easy to see why the 968 CS is a desirable car now!

I can agree that KW V3s are a great upgrade, even if they are not what one would call cheap. OK I have Michelin Pilots all round on my car, but the grip the car has in addition to the composure surpassed what I thought a 944 could do! Really wonderful stuff.

If you are looking to not spend quite that much I would say the upgrades depend on the car you have. In order:

1) Suspension refresh and geometry check: Good OEM products should suffice and an geometry should vastly improve how a 944 drives. I know my 951 drives much better than my old S2 did, and that seemed OK in comparison to previous 944s I drove! The bushes on 944s seem to be more resilient in comparison to other cars.

2) Throttle response cam on 2.5s and 2.7 NA Cars. These are said to really improve the character of the engine.

3) Good tyres. On both my S2 and 951 fresh rubber helped alot. Especially on my old S2 which went from a set of near 10 year (but not cracked) Pirelli P6000s to Kumho KU31s. OK they are considered to be 'cheap' by some, although they were a massive improvement over the near lethal Pirellis in addition to true budget tyres which make driving down a damp road an event even in comparison to road legal semi slicks like the Toyo R888s.

 

[WBray]

ORIGINAL: Kongsodoken

I'm biased but sport seats imho[]

Those particular seats are well nice! Like the original pasha but in black on that looks awesome!

 

[Copperman05]

If its for a track car I would say go for the bucket seats, the RPM/Slodge car has the Recaro Pole Positions as does mine, for buckets they are very comfortable and you save about 35kg in weight over the heavy motorised Porsche items. They are pretty similar to the seats Porsche put in the 968CS, with perhaps slightly less padding. You do lose some comfort and ease of getting in and out, however your butt certainly knows whats going on chassis wise and this proves useful when pushing on.

Only issue for me with most bucket seats are the garish logos, ok for a track car but too much for me and hence why I went with the leather option. Not sure what you car has already in upgrades? Is it the other RPM one? I would sooner spend money on a suspension refresh than fancy seats, but if already done then why not?

Edd

 

[MarkK]

SO pretty[]

 

[rav]

Oh my......

Those seats are beautiful........


Fantastic.

 

[edh]

You should be able to pick up the Porsche 944 sports seats in decent condition for £400 or so - a cheaper option than a good pair of bucket seats, particularly if you want leather (or want to use the rear seats..) Black is the most common colour.

One thing to bear in mind when looking is that minor damage, cracking and general wear can be treated on leather seats quite easily. Major rips & tears will cost more as they need the leather replacing.

Mounting bucket seats with sliders can get quite expensive

 

[TTM]

Sport seats offer an advantage over standard seats if you are fat/wide enough to fit firmly between the larger bolsters. I am not and like standard seats better. Don't spend money on a set before having had a sit in them.

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: TTM

Sport seats offer an advantage over standard seats if you are fat/wide enough to fit firmly between the larger bolsters. I am not and like standard seats better. Don't spend money on a set before having had a sit in them.

Well that's me confirmed as a fatty then! []

Leather sports seats are a little heavier than the standard seats in cloth. They are much better tho' (IMHO).

Having said that, I can see the appeal of looking for something lighter. I'm sure it's not necessary to spend as much as Edd has done, but there will be definite advantages of losing some weight.

(A thought - the likes of the Lotus Elise has very, very light seats. Would it be possible to fit something from another manufacturer? The good old Recaro N-Joy was a pretty light seat and I made a pair of those fit easily enough in my old Mk2 Golf.)


Oli.

 

[Catamax944]

Imho the best factory seats are the early manual sport seats .They offer much better support than the comfort seats but not so much to make it tiresome to get in and out like the later electric sport seats. I've done 2000 mile trips in mine without ever getting tired. They are also light at 15kg each .

 

[DavidL]

KW3s are the best change I have made. Not cheap at £2k fitted (no reindexing) but do this before winding the power up.
I've put sports seats in mine and usually they are fine but just occasionally I find them uncomfortable due to broadness of beam!
Interestingly 996 sports seats are really narrow across the shoulders so I wouldn't have those - the comfort seats suit me much better. Maybe Germans are getting smaller!

 

[Diver944]

Edd your seats have just caused an amazing turnaround []

For the first time ever I would consider a black interior [8D][8D][8D]

 

[Copperman05]

I love a black interior in these cars, looks smart, easy to clean, not distracting, the good thing with those seats is that they can be transferred to my next Porsche, if I ever get another...[]


Edd

 

[zcacogp]

Funnily enough, and having had black interiors in other cars previously, the linen interior in my S2 has converted me to light-coloured car interiors and I don't think I will ever voluntarily go back to a dark one. It's lighter and makes the car feel much more spacious (black interior 944's are dark, confined places to be). It's also a bit less germanic and much more welcoming. I know I will probably only ever buy second-hand cars and hence won't have much choice, but a pale cream (or tan) interior will be a distinctive appeal when looking at a my next (second-hand) car.


Oli.

 

[aporschefan]

Edd, think I've said it before but your seats look stunning!

The more I think about it though, the more inclined I am to choose the Porsche sports seats. I don't track the car enough to worry about the weight saving with bucket seats. I'd love to do what Edd's done but the budget won't stretch that far.

I'm guessing the bucket seats will be less comfortable for daily use so that's another plus point for the sports seats.

I've got KWv3 and a geo setup by CoG so that's already taken care of. I might improve some other mechanical bits but on the whole, the car now needs to improve its appearance. (Tyres are relatively new also.)