In my case a sat in the 296 with carbon racing seats and the lowest possible position waas best for me (I am 175cm) so I don't think there is a need for the lift. Also in my 488GTB I had it and never used it. In my McLaren 650S Spider there was no lift either and from factory there had been three different hights, where you could position the seat. It needed to be done at the dealers site but thats one time and you were done.
I specc'd it at the recommendation of our SA as he said its very frustrating to drive for anyone < 5'10", so if my wife wants to drive it would help. Apparently retrofit options are very involved.
I have the racing seat with lifter and notice one annoying quirk. with the seat towards its highest position it pushes against the roof meaning that you have to be careful trying to recline or move the seat forward or it can get jammed. Also it makes an annoying squeaking noise when you are driving and your body/ seat shift slightly, bumpy surfaces. Nothing something I had expected to find in a car this expensive. Not sure if this is just a GTS issue given the different roof line to the GTB.
I was to cheap to order the lifter, and i also don't think you need it for street driving. However, I was at track experience monday and found the seat to be 1 or 2 cm too low. I will probably 3d print some nylon spacers or have it made by a machine shop
and it is also electric in the 296 at long last, besides the ease of use, it looks way better than the old style handle. If you spec the racing seats, you might as well add it for 0.5% of the car value Image Unavailable, Please Login
Porsche GT cars also have this feature and it is pretty useful. I change the position of height for track and city use in our GT cars.
This happens to me on my GTB and I'm actually really annoyed it was never pointed out to me. I have the seated lifted quite high (the main reason I optioned this feature) and it never occurred to me in a million years it would let me run the seat into the (leather) headliner. When I was folding the driver bucket seat forward, and the passenger bucket forward, I was at a loss as to why the driver side felt so "stiff" and like you had to really yank the seat forward. Of course - after a day or two I cottoned onto the fact the top of the seat was in fact jammed and rubbing against the headliner causing the extra friction. It's slightly damaged the leather - not badly - but I can see it. Now that I know the lifter will let you damage the car - I know to lower the seat fully before moving it back/forward and using the folding function. No big deal - but if it had been pointed out to me I'd have avoided damaging the car. I can kinda appreciate why the electronics let you force the seat up onto the roof...since the max height is depending on the forward/after position of the seat. Still, annoying... Be warned!
It is a great option - racing seats make the car IMHO… but as I and other have pointed out just be wary of the seat height/ position when you try and move it back or forwards and it can jam or rub against the roof.
I have the lifter but don't need it because I am quite tall. Another thing that I wonder if anyone has any experience with, I like to tilt the whole seat backwards, so I can get more support for my legs. Any advice ?
