Recaro Seat install (1 Viewer)

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Feb 16, 2012
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Received one my Recaro specialist M seats today. They look really nice and felt great when I sat in them. Brackets will be wedge. Planted looked good but by the time you add the price of the seat adjustment the wedge came out cheaper. The seat cushion on bottom is extendable. Hard to see in the pics, but well engineered it has a plastic bar under front seat that you lift up to extend\detract just like a slider. The knob in the side for adjusting back rest works really well better than the factory ones.

Price/value ($1,100.00) was very important to me, which is why I went with Recaro. Plus the website and history of the company.

As for the color I did black leather w/Artista Black. I went back and fourth on the brown, but it was $200 more the brown so decided on black. The other factor was I needed new carpet and back seats recovered. So I plan on doing black carpet and black leather on the rear seats to match. Door cards will be at some point.

Anyhow here some pics of the seats. Hope to have installed in the next couple days.

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Well the wedge brackets do not line up as advertised. I sent an email about it, so will see what they come back with. Geez, always something with the aftermarket stuff. Went ahead an ordered the planted since people have passed those mount up correctly. So looks like I’m delayed a week.

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I also went ahead and ordered some recaro seat sliders the ones are the wedge are cheapie. That’s what I get for trying to save a couple bucks, more time and effort expended.
 
damn that sucks. On a brighter note, those recaro's look great. I love the leather and alcantara combination.
 
Didn't someone say the Planted brackets put the seats off center by an inch or two?
I have some but never liked that they were just flat stock and didn't seem all that structrually sound. Never used them, and I think I still have them in storage.
I know it's a pain but maybe get the brackets modified and reinforced- would not be difficult to do for a welder.
 
Alright, finally got this project completed. So sent back the wedge brackets. Ordered up the planted bracket and recaro slider. Then went to work. Was pretty straight forward mount the seat to the slider and then to the planted bracket. Put the seat in the car. Thankfully the planted brackets work great and line up in the factory holes so no issue there. Got it all done looked great except when I went to drive it was to low to the ground.

So that begin the next part of the project. Went to HD and bought some flat bar to start shimming the seat. Did a couple pieces which gained me about 12mm of height. Tried that and it still felt to low. So went back to HD and decided to try a square flat bar that gave me about 25mm of height. Completed install today and it seems to be the sweet spot. Anyway hear some pics. If anyone is interested I can do a deep dive on the materials used and what I did to to get fitted.

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Love the seats, they are definitely on my list of things to do.. any idea on weight savings? I want a pair in tan leather to match the rest of my interior. Where did you order them from? :beer:
 
I need to post up my install. I used recaro tabbed sliders and a tube style bracket. Much easier because you can adjust the height and tube seat pan angle.
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I need to post up my install. I used recaro tabbed sliders and a tube style bracket. Much easier because you can adjust the height and tube seat pan angle. View attachment 2533858View attachment 2533859View attachment 2533860


Nice that’s awesome. May have to look into those. As for weight, I will see what I can figure out. Ordered from vivid racing, they had the best price with free shipping at $1,065.00 for the Mediums. Arm rest was extra. Overall they feel great and are easy to get in and out off. No issues with the back seat having room. I really liked the Scheel mans but at 2k a seat I just couldn’t justify it.
 
Also, I started eyeballing those Recaro Ortho those are next level, but there around $2700.
 
Those centers......they alcantara or a patterned black fabric?

There was a OE 1995 VW Corrado (CA & EU only, 95 went to CA) - with a patterned black fabric that was the most pimp they ever did aside from Rallye Golf / VW Motorsport Golf 2’s.

Here’s a FR set transplanted into some Rabbit :

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Those centers......they alcantara or a patterned black fabric?

There was a OE 1995 VW Corrado (CA & EU only, 95 went to CA) - with a patterned black fabric that was the most pimp they ever did aside from Rallye Golf / VW Motorsport Golf 2’s.

Here’s a FR set transplanted into some Rabbit :

View attachment 2533961

Recaro Specialist M 3 Point Belt Black Leather|Black Artista Silver Logo. The artista is patterned. The main reason is I wanted the black leather but did t want to have the full seat in leather and to keep costs down. People don’t reliaze it but they prolly spend more time on there coach or bed at home so why not spend more money there. This way I could do the back seats in the black leather and they would match
 
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Hi Mickey - Thanks for the write up. I'm looking to get the Orthopeds with the heating (for the wife) and AC ventilation (for me!) I also wanted to get them in matching tan leather interior. Any idea if Recaro does custom colors? I've been in contact with them via email but they are telling me to talk with an installer/distributor.

Also, does anyone know if/how the electronic seat adjustments and the heater/ac would work? Do I need a special bracket? And would the wiring used for the current seats work for the seat adjusters on the Recaros? If the folks at Vivid or Recaro get me answers, I'll report back here.
 
Alright, finally got this project completed. So sent back the wedge brackets. Ordered up the planted bracket and recaro slider. Then went to work. Was pretty straight forward mount the seat to the slider and then to the planted bracket. Put the seat in the car. Thankfully the planted brackets work great and line up in the factory holes so no issue there. Got it all done looked great except when I went to drive it was to low to the ground.

So that begin the next part of the project. Went to HD and bought some flat bar to start shimming the seat. Did a couple pieces which gained me about 12mm of height. Tried that and it still felt to low. So went back to HD and decided to try a square flat bar that gave me about 25mm of height. Completed install today and it seems to be the sweet spot. Anyway hear some pics. If anyone is interested I can do a deep dive on the materials used and what I did to to get fitted.

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Hard to see. Where'd you install the shims? Heading to HD tomorrow
 

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