Find Recaros or go Aftermarket?

[jay_red]

Hey guys, like many of you, I wished my Fiesta came with Recaros, I bought used and while looking around there were no Recaro equipped Fiestas to be found. The base fiesta seats are horrible, its like sitting on a bench with no bolstering at all! I have been searching for some for a while now, and they are rare for sure, and the ones I have found are going for $1500ish. I know I can make Focus Recaros work with the base swap, and I would consider that for sure if I found some. I started looking into aftermarket options and have found that to get a pair of Corbeau A1s with sliders and the Planted brackets it would be about $1100. That would be all new stuff shipped to me without having to endlessly search for a part out or something, and having to schedule times to meet off craigslist. I am leaning to the aftermarket option, but wondered what other peoples thoughts were.

 

[Bizzareo]

Here's my take.

Do you plan to track or AutoX the car? If so, recaros aren't worth it. They push your head forward alot when wearing a helmet and it gets uncomfortable. I really like the style of seats the Type R gets, and if you are bigger they will fit well. I plan to end up swapping over to that style eventually. Sucks to miss out on heated seats though.

If your going for style, then the recaros are the "originals" and you might be able to get them from a wreck.

but honestly, save the money, go for aftermarket.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Another vote for aftermarket, as that is what I am planning to do, and saving my pennies for now (it may take me 6+ years to do, but I will get there eventually ).

The naysayers will also bring up the loss of Joannie Claybrook's exploding whoopee cushions in the factory Recaros, but I have somehow survived for 45 years of driving without them so far, so I will take my chances, as I do not trust Recaro's quality (or more specifically their lack thereof from past experiences) as a company anyway.

The all alcantara Status Spas I plan to eventually get will fit the bill PERFECTLY!

 

[slowcord]

Here's my take.

Do you plan to track or AutoX the car? If so, recaros aren't worth it. They push your head forward alot when wearing a helmet and it gets uncomfortable. I really like the style of seats the Type R gets, and if you are bigger they will fit well. I plan to end up swapping over to that style eventually. Sucks to miss out on heated seats though.

If your going for style, then the recaros are the "originals" and you might be able to get them from a wreck.

but honestly, save the money, go for aftermarket.

I agree with the above. If the optional seats on the FiST were as good as the Type-R seats I would have paid the premium for them.

 

[blurred]

I think the Fiesta Recaros are absolutely perfect. I fit them well and they are super comfortable for long 10+ hour drives and provide excellent bolstering. My other car has a Recaro Pole Position ABE and that seat is also excellent and the only aftermarket seat I would purchase due to it being designed for road use and 3 point seatbelts. They are both super comfortable although the PP has very little cushioning so anything more than 2-3 hours would be a pain.

 

[FLORIDAST]

You can also install FoST Recaros as another option with some minor work.

 

[M-Sport fan]

I think the Fiesta Recaros are absolutely perfect. I fit them well and they are super comfortable for long 10+ hour drives and provide excellent bolstering. My other car has a Recaro Pole Position ABE and that seat is also excellent and the only aftermarket seat I would purchase due to it being designed for road use and 3 point seatbelts. They are both super comfortable although the PP has very little cushioning so anything more than 2-3 hours would be a pain.

I am glad that your experiences with aftermarket Recaros has been great, I wish that I could say the same.

So to me, they are about the only company which I will NEVER EVER consider (again) for seats.

 

[blurred]

I am glad that your experiences with aftermarket Recaros has been great, I wish that I could say the same.

So to me, they are about the only company which I will NEVER EVER consider (again) for seats.

I wouldnt feel safe in any other brand to be honest. The pole position ABE is used as an oem seat for Aston Martin, Porsche, lotus, etc... no matter what your complaints are, they are simply the best engineered for a road car and have likely been through much more rigorous testing from that standpoint.

Unless you can use a 3 point belt bolted though the loops I wouldnt bother with any other seat. This one also has reliefs/cutouts to make sure the belts and buckles don't dig into your sides.

Most race seats are developed simply for use in a caged car with harnesses and not designed to work on the road with belts and their safety rating are not based on road crashes. The ABE is TUV certified for road use in Germany as

Ps: ive driven in the status spas and they were very uncomfortable for me.

example.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

 

[M-Sport fan]

Again, very HAPPY for you!

I simply do NOT trust them even if EVERY single exotic/hypercar manufacturer in the universe chose them for their machines, and even if they are the most tested/certified seats in HISTORY.
That company lost me as a customer FOR LIFE with their ABJECT lack of customer service/backup/warranty honoring, and some of the outright shoddiest manufacturing and choice of materials of any product I have ever owned, and for a market PREMIUM cost no less.

I will take my chances with either the Spas, or IF I can afford them at the time, the all alcantara Cobra Daytonas, as I do not want to use a one piece shell seat with factory 3 points, no matter how they are routed into/around it.

 

[jay_red]

So Ive been researching seats non stop for days now... I was able to check out some Corbeau seats at a local shop, and while they felt nice, I was not a fan of the cloth material. I have also gotten reports of the fabric fading really easy in like a year, so that is a turn off. I could spend a little more and get a different material, but I cant find any reports on if their micro suede material is any more durable.

This has led me into looking into factory seats from other cars, and there are quite a few our there that look nice and can be had for decent prices. The good thing about getting OEM seats would be no worrying about the fabric durability or the safety of them, and with the right ones, they will look like they were supposed to be in there. I recently stumbled across the FRS/BRZ seats, they look great and can be had for like 400-500 a pair in great shape. Ive been trying to figure out if I could make these work with the Planted bracket, but it is hard coming across info on these for swapping them.

I keep going back and forth on waiting out some FiST/FoST recaros, or going this route and can't decide.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Do the Toyobaru seats have any model markings/embroidery on the headrests?

 

[jay_red]

There seem to be some with marking, but the majority do not, there are a few different color options too. Believe me any marking is an instant no go for me, it would drive me crazy.

 

[zanethan]

I've considered swapping in seats from another make but I hadn't considered the BRZ before though. I might have to look into this now. Based on the pictures the cloth seats wouldn't look out of place compared to the back seat either.

You might even be able to use the existing base depending on the seat dimensions.

 

[zanethan]

Welp. I'm gonna be the guinea pig on this one. Just picked up a set of BRZ cloth seats for $450.

 

[jay_red]

Welp. I'm gonna be the guinea pig on this one. Just picked up a set of BRZ cloth seats for $450.

Do post pics of them and how you tackle this! I can get a pair locally at a wrecker for $400 so I am leaning heavily on this option...

 

[blongo804]

Very interested to see how this swap goes!

 

[zanethan]

I'll start a thread once I get them home. I'm hoping I can switch over the rails and call it a day. However, nothing in life is that easy so my hopes aren't too high.

 

[jay_red]

I'll start a thread once I get them home. I'm hoping I can switch over the rails and call it a day. However, nothing in life is that easy so my hopes aren't too high.

I wouldnt count on that working out, but please take a bunch of pics of the brackets and how they attach to the seat. From what I have gathered the rails will unbolt from the BRZ seats pretty easily. In a thread I read here about the recaro seats, the guy said that the rails were riveted on to our seats, and thus would require a bit more work to get them removed.

I also found this thread on a Miata forum where the guy got them fitted with pretty minimal fabrication, just some bar stock with new holes drilled...
https://www.miataturbo.net/general-...topic-2013-brz-seats-na-miata-say-what-90202/

If it looks doable based on your pics I will probably go buy the seats this weekend.

 

[BRGT350]

With a modern car, I strongly suggest keeping with an OEM designed seat. The Gen II airbag system with weight sensors and side airbags means the seat is now a critical safety item. A full racing seat, which for full disclosure I have in my Mustang and had in my first Focus, is designed to be used with a full roll cage, helmet, 5 or 6 point harness, and without an airbag. Putting a "race seat" into a street car can disable or alter the force of the airbag due to the weight sensing capabilities. It is also can pin the driver against the roof in a roll over. I have used both a composite (carbon/Kevlar) and a tubular FIA approved race seat on the street and have since decided that after countless bits of information from automotive engineers and my own observations on the function and design of the products, that using a racing seat on the street isn't the best in a modern car. I still run one in my Mustang and accept the risk since the car has a 6-point roll bar, 5-point belts secured to the roll bar, wasn't built with an airbag, and the car is rarely driven on the street. I would not consider installing a race seat in my Fiesta, even though I think they look fantastic and provide outstanding support.

As for not needing the Recaro, I can report that I did a back to back road trip with a regular Fiesta seat (in my 2011 and is the same seat as the base ST) and the ST Recaro and noticed a decrease in fatigue and discomfort in my knees and back with the Recaros. The Recaro seat provides additional support that decreases the need for the muscles to hold parts of your body in a position for an extended period of time. My right leg tended to want to relax against the shallow bolster of the regular seat, which meant I needed to use my leg muscles to counteract the tendency and keep the knee-ankle-and hip aligned with the gas pedal. After a few hours, this sucks. The Recaro kept my leg in the proper orientation and decreased discomfort and fatigue. A well bolstered and designed seat keeps the body in the optimal driving position and can transmit feedback from the car to the driver that can result in better driving.

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^Granted, this is ultimately correct, and makes sense.

But what if one also plans on disabling the steering wheel whoopee cushion as well with an aftermarket steering wheel?
Would a FMVSS approved/tested aftermarket RECLINER (NOT one piece shell/tube frame) seat STILL be considered "unsafe" with NO airbags in the mix to worry about/consider (given one's own personal opinions on the benefits of the exploding pillows is negative/null anyway), with the use of the factory 3 point belts?

BTW; I will 'live with' the base seats before I install ANY Recaro product into this car, let alone the optional ones for this car, so those are OUT OF THE CONSIDERATION/QUESTION.