A 997 buys you the last 911 Porsche built with a hydraulic steering rack before the next generation went electric, and that is usually the reason people end up chasing one rather than something newer. It also buys you a cabin that sits lower and tighter than anything Porsche has built since, which is fine until you are wearing a helmet on a track day and the roof lining is an inch from the top of it. The factory seat does nothing to help with either problem. It holds you loosely through the shoulders, and the bolster has usually gone soft after fifteen-plus years of daily use. It also sits you higher than the chassis actually needs.
Most of the 997s that come to us for this are already doing track days rather than heading for a concours stand, and the seat is often the last part of the car still behaving like it is 2005. Swap it for a base mount recliner on the right frame and you get the low seating position the chassis was always capable of, without giving up the reclining backrest that makes the car liveable on the drive home. We stock three separate frame routes for this car, more than most modern 911s get in this series, and the frame you choose is what decides which of the five seats below will actually go in.
We stock a fitting frame for the 997 from three different brands, which is more choice than most modern 911s get in this series. A frame is the vehicle-specific base that bolts to the floor in place of the standard runners, and it sets your final seat height. On a car with a cabin as tight as the 997’s, getting that height right matters more than usual. Which frame you buy decides which seats you can run, so this choice comes first.
Part Cob-Porsche-997, £255.00 inc VAT. Bolts direct to the factory mounting points, tell us which side, or that you need a pair, when you order. Takes the Le Mans, the Daytona and the Corbeau RRS Low Base direct.
Part SB017-4957, £222.60 inc VAT a seat position, RHD driver and passenger. A flat base that takes any seat in this guide, paired with the runner that matches that seat's pattern.
Part 86.26.16-997, £403.20 inc VAT a seat position. Built to Recaro's own pattern for this chassis, so it only takes a Recaro seat, there is no adapting another brand onto it.
Every reclining seat we sell bolts down through a base mount pattern, and on this car there are three that matter. The Cobra Le Mans and Cobra Daytona use 291mm x 330mm, which is what the Cobra subframe is built around. The Recaro Sportster CS uses its own 405mm x 290mm pattern, matched by the direct fit Recaro subframe. The Corbeau RRS Low Base is drilled for both 291mm and 345mm, which is why it bolts straight to the Cobra subframe as easily as the Planted bracket. The Sparco R100 uses 345mm x 271mm, and we do not currently list a Sparco subframe for the 997, so that seat only goes on with the Planted bracket.
| Seat | Bolt pattern | Cobra subframe | Planted bracket | Recaro subframe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cobra Le Mans | 291 x 330 | Fits | Fits | No |
| Cobra Daytona | 291 x 330 | Fits | Fits | No |
| Corbeau RRS Low Base | 291 or 345 | Fits | Fits | No |
| Recaro Sportster CS | 405 x 290 | No | Fits | Fits |
| Sparco R100 | 345 x 271 | No | Fits | No |
The Le Mans is the seat we point most 997 owners at first, mainly because it is built to the same 291mm pattern as the Cobra subframe we sell for this car, so it goes straight on without adapting anything. The bolsters sit deeper than a factory seat without tipping into full bucket territory, so it still works for a run to the shops as well as a track day. It is built to order through Cobra’s Signature range, spacer fabric, vinyl or leather, with contrast stitching, heating or lumbar support if you want them. Prefer a period look off the shelf instead of speccing your own trim? The Le Mans Heritage covers that without the wait.
The Daytona is the one I point people at once a 997 starts doing more circuit time than road miles. The bolsters at the shoulders and thighs sit deeper than the Le Mans, so your body stays put mid-corner and you are not bracing against the door card to hold your line. It uses the same 291mm pattern as the Le Mans, so it bolts to the same Cobra subframe or the Planted bracket without any extra parts. Like the rest of the Cobra range it is built to order, so tell us the trim you want when you order and allow the lead time.
The RRS Low Base earns its place on a 997 for two reasons at once. It is drilled for both 291mm and 345mm, so it bolts to the Cobra subframe as easily as the Planted bracket, which matters if you have not settled on a frame yet. And the Low Base version buys back headroom that the standard RRS eats into, useful on a car where the roofline already sits close to a helmet on track. The backrest keeps Corbeau’s sculpted shape rather than the flatter profile of some of their older seats, worth knowing if you have sat in an older Corbeau before.
This is the only seat in the guide with a subframe made to its own exact pattern, because Recaro lists a direct fit subframe for the 997 rather than leaving it to a bracket. The Sportster CS holds you through the shoulders and thighs without the aggressive squeeze of a full bucket, so it stays comfortable on the drive to the circuit as well as on it, and Recaro rate it for all waist sizes and all heights, which is unusual for a seat with this much support. The heated version is worth the extra if the 997 is doing winter miles as well as summer ones.
The R100 is the cheapest way into this guide, and on a 997 that has never had a seat swap it is usually where the conversation starts before people decide how far to go. It is a compact seat, the recline knob clears the door card easily in a coupe this narrow, and the flat open base keeps the footwell easy to live with day to day. Sparco lists it for all waist sizes and for drivers both over and under six foot, an unusually wide fit for the price. There is no Cobra or Recaro route open to it here. It uses the same 345mm pattern as Sparco’s own frames, and since we do not currently list one for the 997, the Planted bracket is the only way to run it on this car.
All three frames bolt to the 997’s factory seat mounting points, so there is no drilling on a standard floor. Torque the floor bolts properly and check seat belt buckle clearance before you drive, because a sport seat often sits the buckle somewhere new. Between seat and frame go the sliding runners, and they follow the same pattern logic as the frames. The Planted bracket and the Recaro subframe are both listed per seat position, so a pair of seats means adding either to the basket twice; ask us to confirm the same for the Cobra subframe when you order, since its own listing does not spell it out.
| Your seat | Runners to order | Works on |
|---|---|---|
| Cobra Le Mans, Daytona or Corbeau RRS Low Base | Cobra Premium runners, £84.00 a seat, 291mm handle option | Cobra subframe or Planted bracket |
| Recaro Sportster CS | Recaro double locking runners, £365.40 a pair on the Recaro subframe, or the Endurance Recaro-compatible kit, £95.04 a seat, on the Planted bracket | Recaro subframe or Planted bracket |
| Sparco R100 | Sparco sliding runner kit, £78.00 a pair | Planted bracket only |
The 997 covers the 911 generation built from 2004 to 2012, split into the original cars up to 2008 and the facelifted range after it, across Carrera, S, 4, 4S, Turbo, GT3 and GT2 form. The frames in this guide are listed for the model generally, so if you are on a Turbo or a GT-series car with a different floor, tell us the exact spec when you order and we will confirm fitment before it ships.
| Seat | Bolt pattern | Waist | Height | Weight | Price inc VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cobra Le Mans | 291 x 330 | 32 to 38in | All heights | 13.4kg | From £619.00 |
| Cobra Daytona | 291 x 330 | 32 to 38in | All heights | 13.5kg | From £599.00 |
| Corbeau RRS Low Base | 291 or 345 | 32 to 38in | All heights | Not published | £498.00 |
| Recaro Sportster CS | 405 x 290 | All sizes | All heights | Not published | From £1,581.30 |
| Sparco R100 | 345 x 271 | All sizes | Over and under 6ft | Not published | From £282.00 |
Prices include VAT and were correct on 15 August 2026. Where a weight says not published, the manufacturer does not give one and we will not guess it. Waist and height figures are the manufacturers’ published fitment ranges; if you are on a boundary, ask us before ordering.
Not on a standard floor. All three frames bolt to the factory seat mounting points. Torque the floor bolts properly and check the seat belt buckle clearance before you drive, because a sport seat often sits the buckle somewhere new.
No. The Cobra Le Mans and Daytona are drilled at 291mm x 330mm, the Recaro Sportster CS at 405mm x 290mm, and the Sparco R100 at 345mm x 271mm, and none of those line up with each other. The Corbeau RRS Low Base is the exception, drilled for both 291mm and 345mm. If you want the Sportster CS on its own subframe, or the R100, go straight for the matching route.
Every seat in this guide is listed by its manufacturer as 4 point compatible, with belt slots in the backrest. If you are planning harnesses, tell us when you order and we will make sure the whole setup works together.
The Recaro subframe and the Planted bracket are both listed per seat position, with driver and passenger side selected on order, so a pair of seats means two of either in the basket. Ask us to confirm the same for the Cobra subframe before you order, since its own listing does not spell this out.
The 997 was built from 2004 to 2012. The chassis before it had the widely disliked headlight design most owners call the fried egg look, and the chassis that followed switched to electric power steering rather than hydraulic. If your registration date sits outside 2004 to 2012, check the exact generation before ordering, since the frames in this guide are built for the 997's floor specifically.
If it were my money: the Le Mans on the Cobra subframe for a road car that still needs to be comfortable on the drive there, because it uses the frame built specifically for this chassis and does not ask you to compromise on trim. The RRS Low Base if you are not certain which frame route you want yet, or if headroom on track is already tight with a helmet on, since it keeps both the Cobra and Planted routes open. The Daytona once circuit days start outweighing road miles and you want the bolstering to match. The Sportster CS if you want the best all-round support seat in the lineup and do not mind paying for a subframe built exactly to its pattern. And the R100 if the budget needs to stretch to cover the frame as well as the seat, since it is comfortably the cheapest way into any of these routes.
Every combination above uses parts that bolt straight to the 997’s factory mounting points. If you want to see what a full bucket seat swap looks like on this car instead of a reclining setup, we wrote up a customer’s 997 fitted with OMP RT seats. If you are between two of these seats, or between sizes, get in touch with your height and waist measurement and we will talk it through before you spend anything.
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The five reclining sport seats we rate for the Fiat Seicento, with the Cobra and Sparco direct-fit subframe routes that bolt each one straight to the factory mounting points.
The five reclining sport seats we rate for the Porsche 997, with the Cobra, Planted Technology and Recaro frame routes that bolt each one straight to the factory mounting points.
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A customer asked which lightweight seat suits his Fiesta ST180, why his last bucket felt too low, and whether he needs a subframe, side mounts and runners. Here is the full answer, with three combinations and what each costs per side.
The five reclining sport seats we rate for the Fiat Bravo, with the Cobra and Sparco direct-fit subframe routes that bolt each one straight to the factory mounting points.
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