The porsche parts department said the circled seat would work rear facing in a 991.


Jonas

 

Can you provide more detail on this option? Brand, name, where it cam be purchased? I see its from the dealer but I didn't see it on the P site anywhere.

 

I got the part number 955 044 802 89.

 

That seems to be the $600 Porsche Junior w/LATCH: http://donrosenporsche.oemdealer.com/prod1438_24723.php AFAIK that's a rebranded $100 seat but I forgot the original manufacturer. Maxi Cosi perhaps? or Römer?

 

I am not sure if Porsche recommends a rear facing seat in the back of the 991 or not. What I will tell you is that getting the child in and out of the rear-facing seat is a nightmare. For a month I used the infant carrier that snapped into the base. The base was tethered in using LATCH. This worked OK until he out grew the seat. I had to move him to a 5 point harness rear-facing. I used a seat with LATCH and put it in rear-facing. It worked fine except getting him in and out. I had to climb in from the opposite side of the car while holding him. Then lift him and put him into the seat. It was awful. I gave up and waited until he was 20 months. Now he fits in a forward facing 5 point harness attached with LATCH. Works great.

When I bought the car I was told that you could not turn off the front passenger airbag. I would not put a rear-facing seat in the front passenger seat without a way to turn it off completely. Yes, the airbag is off unless there is enough weight to trigger a switch to turn it on. But I was not comfortable putting him in the front seat without a manual off. Now I am hearing that you can actually turn off the airbag. This would be an OK solution as long as you install the LATCH for the front passenger seat and manual airbag off.

Marc

 

Which rear facing seat did you end up using?

While I agree it is a bit awkward getting him in/out, for occasional use it's not that bad.

 

I used a Britax. I think it was the Marathon. It was absolutely awful getting him into the seat.

 

Thanks. That is the one I was looking at as well, as it seems like it will fit the best. I currently use a Chico Keyfit 30 and it really isn't that bad getting him in/out of the actual seat, so I can't imagine it would be that much different with the Marathon. Getting in/out of the back seat with him is a bit more difficult (mainly just making sure I don't bonk him on the head), but again this is really just for occasional use.

 

I have the Britax maraton and rear facing is my preferred method as well but I just can't get it set right. I removed the base on the carseat and it's much narrower and fits great forward facing, although it is pretty tall. I did remove the seat back and that helps provide a bit more room but i still think rear facing will make the front passenger very uncomfortable. I want to find a smaller rear facing seat that is narrow enough to fit in the back and still allow a 'smaller' front passenger to still be able to sit comfortably up front.

My one advantage is that I have a cab, so with the top down it's much easier to get them in an out. The one posted above with the part number looks very big in the picture so seems like rear facing in the back would not work, and the pictures on the site only show rear facing in the front seat....

 

i am going to try to find a cybex aton to see if it will fit rear-facing in the back seat of my 991 coupe. its pretty small.

 

My son is 2.5 years old, I think I am going to try this seat.
http://www.clekinc.ca/foonf/
You can fit three across in most cars, so hopefully be a good fit in the 991.

 

Yea. I had the older version and now use the current version in the eBay pic. The seat is britax so it's top quality & safety. As for fit it's so so. The 991 is wider but so too is the rear center transmission hump. Also the roof is s tad lower than the 997 was.

In sum, it's a good seat at a good price. The version we can buy here in the states does not have latch, even though the car has the anchors..? The euro spec seat has them. Go figure?

Last thing, the seatback is removable so it becomes a bottom only booster for bigger kids (approx7-8+)

Good luck,
DRP

 

FWIW, my dealer still had a number of those seats in stock when I got my car, but they were asking a figure north of $600!

CO997 also pointed me to some helpful instructions on how to remove the rear seat seat cushions and backs, so I gave that a try over the weekend. I thought for sure the bottom seat cover would give me at least an inch of extra head room, but it turned out to be fairly thin at the lip of the seat (deep in the butt), so removing them really only gave an extra 1/4 to 1/2 inch of extra head room... so I just re-installed. You can feel how thin it is at the lip by reaching under there while it's still installed.

 

If I had a smaller child in a rear facing seat, I would install the seat in the front of the 991. Reason being that is where it is intended to go as per porsche literature. (check the tequipment catalogue on porsche.com)

Children are safer in the back seat of vehicles. They are also safer in the middle of the rear seat.

I'm not an engineer or accident reconstruction specialist however, there are some obvious idiosyncrasies with a 911 vs your typical vehicle upon which these general safety tips are premised. The most obvious is that in the rear, your child (like my 4 year old) is sitting inches in front of the engine. I'd be concerned about rear compression in a rear end accident.

Next obvious issue, there is no middle seat in the back, so your about as susceptible to side impact in the front of the 911 as in the rear.

The rear facing porsche seat is very expensive @$700 USD. For that you get Europe' s finest (Britax). The rear facing seat has a bar/rod that extends from the front edge of the seat to the floor. It's top of the line, latest and greatest.

The only caveat is that you must have it installed by Porsche since I believe they add latch anchors to the front seat (cannot be used with a sport seat) and they add an airbag deactivation key (they did in the 997, not sure about the 991). With the proper install there is no threat from the frontal airbag (which is a major reason why the US requires kids in the back seat to a certain age).

SLK/SL Mercs, and Boxster/Caymans all allow for a rear facing seat in the front. The law onlr requires rear seat placement if you have a rear seat. I can't see anyone getting ticketed in a 911 for having a $700+ seat in the front of a 2 door sports car.

I would feel comfortable using it. My 2 cents.

DRP

 

I have fitted perfectly multiple child seats at the back of the 991 for 3 year old kids and older.

Thanks