Goldrake racing seat and mechanical seat lifter

I have the lifter in my 488 Spider and my F12. I am 6 2 and the seat does sit low and the lifter helps.

 

Interesting. So you are 6'2 and you need to lift the seat to be comfortable?

 

I found the lifters lowest setting was higher than a race seat fitted without it.

 

Interesting. So if your 6'2 like I am, would I need this option. The reason I'm asking is that I'm ordering a spider to replace my coupe and will be going with race seats for the first time.

 

I would say no on the lifter, as I am 6ft and there is definitely a bit less room in the spider.

 

I ordered spider with lifter. I recommend going to dealer and trying it out.

 

How much higher? My dealer said that the lifter is optional on the F8 when ordered w/ racing seats, but it comes on all new 812's ordered with racing seats. They also maintained that the lifter does not otherwise change the installed height of the seats. I ordered an 812 w/ racing Daytonas. Please inform on your experience.

 

This. And for that very reason I would never order it. It's easy to end up sitting too high in the 488. I'm 181 and a normal build, and with the comfort seat in the lowest position, I kinda feel like I look at the top of the wind shield frame I know I don't but it's definitely in the upper part of the window. With race seats and no lifter, I look though the middle and fee like I sit in the car, instead of on top of it. Same goes with the 812. Race seats and no lifter for the best seating position. At the end of the day it's not hard to change position. The notion that you need the dealer, is not really true unless you have ten thumbs and think a left handed screwdriver is a real thing.

 

Interesting indeed. I'm 183cm and use the seat on max low position all the time. If I raised it even a little bit it would not be good. It needs to be all the way down for me. Only got the lifter to future proof and for my wife in the event she ever gets brave enough to drive it. Funny thing was the 3 guys that were interested in my gtb when I was selling it all wanted the lifter as they were all shortish. They all would have walked from my car if it didn't have it so the advice my sales guy told me at the time I ticked the racing seat lifter box proved spot on. Another reason why I put it on the Pista.

Note:
I recall when I spec'd out my 488gtb back in late 2016 I measured the racing seat in a 488 with and without the lifter from two 488's at the dealership (sitting side by side) as I was very skeptical and reluctant to order the car with a lifter if it were to make the seat higher in ANY way. I'm also quite certain I posted the measurements on Fchat when this topic came up a couple of years back.

Anyway seeing the topic has come up again I can safely say the seats are both same height on the base from the floor with and without the lifter and I challenge anyone to measure otherwise. Forget measuring the passenger seat. Ferrari tech and sales guy also told me they were the same at the time but I didn't believe them and just wanted to be 100% sure in my own mind so I took a tape out and measured them myself as I knew just how compromised the sear height was already for tall guys and I certainly didn't want to lose a milometer .

 

As my ordered 812 w/ racing Daytonas comes with mandatory lift, this is music to my ears. Thanks, Shadowfax!

 

Mandatory? I never heard of it as anything but an option.

While I definitely take Fax on his word, I will add this as per what I will call a trustworthy source looking at various 812 spec options.

He measured two 812 seats, both Daytona race seats, One without lift, one with. He also found the difference of about 2 cm. What he told me was this. The front of the seat is the same between the two, but the rear slopes down a bit more in the lowest position w/o the lifter. I hope to spend a few hours at the local dealer in a few weeks, so will bring a tape measure and annoy the hell out of my rep, measuring seats in what is there of Pistas, 812's and F8's.

Would be great if we had some kind of table showing the heights here in FChat, because this has been up countless times over the years.

On a different note. Napoli, have you sat in the 812 Daytona race seats? One thing to keep in mind about them. I love the shape and the CF race seats are the most comfy for me, but one thing about the Daytonas. You feel the pattern quite a lot, and for my thighs and to some degree my back, that's not a great thing, I definitely think the other seats are way more comfy as they are smoother and not "lumpy" because of the Daytona stripes.

Just something to be aware of.

 

Yes, just placed an order and the new config system does not allow racing seats without the lifter. When you uncheck the lifter box in the configurator, it removes racing seats from your selection. My dealer said they thought it was a configurator glitch, so they contacted Ferrari and Ferrari confirmed mandatory w/ racing seats on the new 812 (2020?), but not on the F8. FWIW, every 812 at the dealership I sat in - racing and standard seats - had the lifter.

Thanks for the advice, Co-Pilota. I have the Goldrakes (which I love) on my 488, but they are not available on the 812. I sat in several 812's with leather Daytonas before choosing them as the most comfortable seat available to me. Though, a long drive might produce a less desirable outcome. The standard/electric seats, which were more cushioned and decently comfy, sit up too high and put my head in the position of competing for space with the hatch hinge mechanism bump-down. Oddly, my 488 has way more leg and headroom with the Goldrakes than the 812 with standard/electric seats. Hoping to regain the leg/headroom with the racing seats.

So, my next question (for anybody) is: Can the lifter be reasonably removed - and without consequences. And, if so, will the removal lower the seat to "normal?"

Looking forward to reading your seat/lifter research results!

 

Thank you.

Haven't been in the electric Daytonas in the 812, only electric Standard and Diamond. The ones I was thinking of compared to the Daytona carbon racing seats, were either the Stile carbon racing seats or the ones called Standard Carbon racing seats. They are all the same shape and type, just different patters.
There are also the Carbon full bucket racing seats, but those I have not tried. Look similar to the GT3RS buckets.

The goldrake racing seats in the 488 are like the other racing seats in the 488, much lower than the electric seats. You sit really high in those. The electric seats in the 812 basically have the same problem as the electric seats in the 488, 458 and F12. You simply sit way too high as the car was originally designed for the much thinner and lower carbon seats. Sure if you're an Italian of 165-170 it's probably fine.

 

The standard seat (no electric settings) is also low (some will claim is too cheap though).

 

The standard seat is like sitting on a bus seat except with having less cushioning than the bus seat. So in that regard it is worse. There is virtually no lateral support on the swab either so the seat hardly belongs in a sports car of this nature anyway. I found the standard seats place the driver and the center of gravity far too high. I was shocked the first time I drove a 488 with the standard seats....very very ordinary indeed. And agree with LVP they feel cheap and nasty.

 

My 2019 812 with racing Daytona’s required the lifter too.

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Nice color spec.

 

So, you are 6’7”, right? Please tell us about your thoughts/experience with the Daytonas and the seat lifter on the 812.

 

6’6” 265lbs. I fit great. No problems whatsoever. I even drove an 812 with a helmet on at Road Atlanta a couple summers back as part of Corso Pilota. I lowered the lifter all the way the day I took delivery and haven’t touched it since.

 

Thanks for providing your height & weight in your comment. As a 6'5"/260 pound person my primary concern when shopping a car is the fit.

 

No problem. As you know, height and weight is carried differently by different people. I’m almost perfectly proportionate between body and legs, and my weight is all in my gluten and my back (from decades of deadlifting). Depending on how someone is distributed, they might find it easier, or harder, than me to fit in certain cars.

 

I try to tell my wife that I am built like a 50 year old JJ Watt...guess I will be putting that theory to the test with the 812 race seats.

Thanks again for your response.

 

I’m considering a 488 spider 2018. It has Goldrake racing seats. My wife and I will be driving it. I’m 6ft 225. She is 5’6 medium build. Will we be comfortable? We like to take road trips. Our new 992 911 is very comfortable. I am coercing her to buy this car and I really don’t want to hear I told you so. Thanks

 

I just had to cancel my 812GTS order (****) because I didn't even come close to fitting, even with the size (L) CF racing seats. I'm 6'5", 225, long in the torso.

I'd advise everyone to sit in one before ordering. I fit just fine in my 360 spider and 458 spider (both of which I only drive with the top down), and fit really well in my F12 with the (L) CF seats, but the 812GTS (which I'd really only drive top-down) wasn't even close on leg-room, which was odd, because leg room in the coupe was fine.

Mike