I drove my new to me 2001 996 TT home yesterday and all I can say is, WTF is up with the seats?!?! After a 45 minute drive, I felt like someone had been punching me in the middle back, aiming at the bottom of my ribcage. I understand there are sport and comfort seats, and maybe these are sport. Only three adjustments, up/down and fore/aft, as well as recline angle. My 89 930 is so much more comfortable and adjustable. I'm 5'10" 205, and super fit, so I'm not dealing with fat guy issues here.

What are my options? I imagine I have the "sport" seats. Swap for grey "comfort" from a boneyard?

 

Hmmm. I find 996tt seats to be super comfortable on long tours.

I once did 1000 miles in one sitting (+ 3 or 4 gas stops ) and felt better then stepping out of my Merc after a 2 hour drive.

 

Im 6'6" and find them to be pretty comfy. Maybe you have back issues that you didn't know about.

 

Buddy, I feel the same way! I posted about this a while back and got the same replies.."there's nothing wrong with the seats"...Blah Blah Blah.. It's sad that my 2500HD diesel truck seats are 10 times more comfy! I too am looking for a solution before the for sale sign goes on her

 

I'm a "fat guy" at 5'9" and 220lbs. and don't have any issues. Maybe it's the way you have the seat adjusted. The issue could be that the seat is reclined too much. Can you comfortably lay your wrist on the top of the steering wheel with your shoulders still touching the seat back? If not, give that a try. It my feel strange at first, but it will give you better control and be easier on your back.

I don't believe it's a difference in the base seat or sport seat. I've driven cars with both and couldn't tell much of a difference in comfort.

FYI I have driven my car from New Jersey to North Carolina with no issues.

Good luck,
Steve

 

My lower back hurt as well and I'm 5'11 175 - I have the seats with the porsche logo in the headrest not sure if they were the sport seats or not. My 2002 mini is more comfy unfortunately but the x50 is too much fun to complain

 

The best factory seats I've had were the Recaros in my 1990 GLI with the sport seats from my 1997 A4 second. The seats in my car are the standard and feel fine but I have never driven for hours at a time.

 

They are fine for me. But someday I want recaro seats

 

The factory Recaro seats in my 2001 Audi S4 were the worst seats ever. My wife and I both had back aches anytime we drove for more than 40 minutes and she's 5'5" and 120lbs.

Later, Steve

 

Okay, I drove the car for a second time.

As an aside, I have an iron butt, have driven Route 66 nonstop from LA to Chicago in a Mustang 5.0. Also as an aside, the seats in my 83 300SD Benz were second only for comfort to the bench in my 76 Pontiac Grand Safari wagon.

I've isolated the discomfort of these seats to three issues. The worst is the mid/lower side bolsters which jab me right in the floating ribs. The second is that the upper side bolsters jab me in the latissimus dorsi. The third is that there is insufficient lower lumbar support. The seats in my 930 are way more adjustable, and I can sit in those all day.

Are there 996 or later retrofitable seats with adjustable lumbar support and with adjustable side bolster width? If so, I'm on the phone to the boneyard today looking for a pair in grey.

 

I put in CGT replicas and they are super comfy even on long trips.

 

Do you have a link or a source for the seats?

 

Steve, I agree with you on the B5S4 seats. Put in some Recaro Sportster CS
seats that made all the difference.
In the 996tt I put in GT3 seats and find them very comfortable(esp for fixed back)

 

https://rotteccarbon.com/parts/scgt/?stype=sbs&sel=true

Only complaint as others have mentioned is that the supplied sliders are a little weak and it's possible that in an extreme crash they could fail so many have replaced them with recaro or similar sliders.

 

The seats in the 1997 A4 were a one year option in cloth and much better then the S4 in my opinion anyway= Found a mint set to put in my 1999.5 also. I believe the Gt3 would be great for track or short trips but not so sure about longer.