Design911 Bucket Seats (GT3 Reps)

[crash7]

I guess you pay your money and take your choice.
I would have no interest in putting my butt, or loved ones for that matter in a replica- non tested seat. These are ultimately made in some far eastern factory, and design 911 themselves have no idea how they would perform in a crash. I know this as I have asked them when investigating this route myself.

You have obviously not read the thread on pistonheads!! :nooo:

 

[HSC911]

Very nice indeed. However too tight for my build. That may say more about my diet than the seats though.

OEM seats are a bit wider than the replica seats if you are carrying a bit of extra pork :grin:

:thumb:

 

[Marky911]

My biggest concern is the seat runners. (I used the D911 heavy duty mounting kit, I searched hard for other solutions but could not find any) The side mounts are heavy duty, no issues, however the sliders are pretty sh*tty and the way in which they bolt to the car, in my eyes, could be more substantial.

The HD side mounts will attach directly to the stock runners. No need to buy the D911 runners & floor brackets.

This is exactly what I'm doing.

Good to here your report Crash.
I fully agree, those floor brackets are a bit poop.
I can feel a few mm of fore and aft play in one of mine, so I know if I fitted it the seat would clunk back and forth a small amount, but enough to drive me insane.

I'll be mounting the sidemounts to my Porsche rails.

 

[Teg]

My biggest concern is the seat runners. (I used the D911 heavy duty mounting kit, I searched hard for other solutions but could not find any) The side mounts are heavy duty, no issues, however the sliders are pretty sh*tty and the way in which they bolt to the car, in my eyes, could be more substantial.

The HD side mounts will attach directly to the stock runners. No need to buy the D911 runners & floor brackets.

Do you have a link to the HD side mounts? Not sure which ones these are?

Thanks

Ben

 

[Sundayjumper]

'HeavyDuty SEAT SIDE BRACKETS"

https://www.design911.co.uk/mobile/#part;id=1109

 

[crash7]

SJ - Thanks for the tip regarding the standard runners, when the seat next comes out I will definitely look into this.

Marky - If your fitting yours anytime soon pictures would be ace! :grin: :thumb:

I dont suppose either of you, or anyone else, has an option for bolting the passenger seat straight to the floor, no runners

I will take some pictures for those interested later in the week.

 

[Tomo]

I guess you pay your money and take your choice.
I would have no interest in putting my butt, or loved ones for that matter in a replica- non tested seat. These are ultimately made in some far eastern factory, and design 911 themselves have no idea how they would perform in a crash. I know this as I have asked them when investigating this route myself.

You have obviously not read the thread on pistonheads!! :nooo:

I really, really have, Not sure why you would presume I haven't. Just because I don't agree with you? I have read all info on the internet regarding these, and chose to go OEM. As I say lots of people for and against them. Some guy bangs on about that the layup apparenty looks good and legit. While there are also reports of someone apparently going through the back window as the backrest sheered from the base causing serious injury. We are free to choose who to side with I suppose, but as the replica dealer could not give me any satisfactory replies. I voted with my feet.

 

[Marky911]

Tomo - Can you pop up a link to that thread please?

I've read pretty much all the threads I can on these and haven't come across that one, so it will make interesting reading.
It won't change my mind though, as you say we make a judgement and go with it. I'm happy with the risks as I don't drive like a tool on the road. Quick yes, stupid no.
When my wife is with me I'm much calmer and if we go on an Euro trip I'll be fitting the standard seats for comfort anyway.

You'd need an absolutely massive rear end force to snap a seat so I'm pretty sure I'll be ok. No track use so bar an HGV hitting me when I'm stationary and it's doing 60mph, I can't think of a situation that remotely worries me.

Genuine GT3 ones would be nice but spending £4K on seats for a £15k car isn't going to happen. :wink:

Hi Crash - I haven't seen any mounted straight to the floor in a 996 but it shouldn't be too hard. My mates do it in their race cars to take people out on trackdays/events.
Maybe offer the side mounts up to the floor and see where things are.
I'll have a look.

My interior is to be done after the bodywork, brake and suspension rebuild,
So a month or two probably.
You know me though and maannyyy photos will follow. :grin:

 

[Sundayjumper]

I dont suppose either of you, or anyone else, has an option for bolting the passenger seat straight to the floor, no runners

Not *straight* to the floor, I'd rather not cut more holes in my car !

Use THESE and bolt the side mounts to them directly, no runner in between.

Or if you're going to use 6pt harnesses, THESE.

 

[crash7]

You got my drift, I have no intentions of drilling the floor pan.

The first link is of the items I already have to mount the runners to the floor and these are the what I see as the weak point on my current setup, there are only 3 studs per bracket that from memory are around M6, I would rather them be M10.

I will look into the BK item - Cheers

 

[EGTE]

I guess you pay your money and take your choice.
I would have no interest in putting my butt, or loved ones for that matter in a replica- non tested seat. These are ultimately made in some far eastern factory, and design 911 themselves have no idea how they would perform in a crash. I know this as I have asked them when investigating this route myself.

You have obviously not read the thread on pistonheads!! :nooo:

I really, really have, Not sure why you would presume I haven't. Just because I don't agree with you? I have read all info on the internet regarding these, and chose to go OEM. As I say lots of people for and against them. Some guy bangs on about that the layup apparenty looks good and legit. While there are also reports of someone apparently going through the back window as the backrest sheered from the base causing serious injury. We are free to choose who to side with I suppose, but as the replica dealer could not give me any satisfactory replies. I voted with my feet.

Tomo,
Do you know who popopbangbang is? You might want to look at some of his posts on here before describing him as "some guy".

Not taking sides; just think you need more information.

 

[NLW73]

oh dear tomo. you might want to do your homework on the poopabong as he builds races cars for a living

far from some scene dude!! c:

 

[Armagreggon85]

I have a set ready to go in mine but not fitted yet so I'm not much use really.
Nicely made and feel plenty stiff enough and that's before they're even bolted in.
Pretty much identical to genuine ones dimensionally so a snug fit. Deffo try and get a sit in them first if you're slightly more rotund. :wink:

Interesting thread below, especially page 2. If they're good enough for the Pop-meister-general, they're good enough for me. :thumb:
(Although who's to say they are identical)

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=230&t=1564441

Another pic of mine. Sorry, but I'm happy with my re-trim so you're all going to look at them, right.

Those look fantastic Marky. Can you tell me who did your retrim/rough ideas if cost? I have a grey interior so my plan was to buy the cloth ones then retrim in grey leather with grey alcantara centres

 

[Marky911]

Evenin' matey,

Thanks, yes they're probably the job I'm most pleased with on the car so far.
I've had a lot of messages about them so I'll put the details on here.

They were done by Simon Lee at Hide N Seat in County Durham.

I paid £650 for the pair to be retrimmed in the grey leather. The grain isn't quite identical to the Porsche stuff despite scouring all the sample books but it's very good and still looks fantastic.

Simon has also done my handbrake grip and gearknob in black alcantara with grey stitching, for another £85.

So £735 all in. Way better than prices down south.

Now the bad news. He has a one year waiting list...
but he can fit pairs of seats, steering wheels etc in between full interiors so worth asking.
I first contacted him last November and explained that I'd like things done by May. True to his word they were done by Monday which was the 30th April.

If you speak to him tell him you've seen Mark Watson's GT3 seats. He'll sort you out. :thumb:

Edited to add - On collection Si did say whilst they weren't a nightmare, they were a bit trickier than he thought, so I'm not sure if the price would be slightly higher in future. He never said it would be though. Just ask him.

 

[HSC911]

If I get time this weekend, I will be fitting a single bucket in my car.

I will take loads of pics, I have original runners/rails/spare rails/OEM brackets/etc so we can compare notes.

I'll start a new thread and we can all add to it :thumbs:

On a side note, I am getting the seat belt blocks and bolts CNC machined along with the side brackets to OEM spec...so watch this space

Gratuitous pic: