Recaro leather seats vs. standard leather (heated/cooled)

Please weigh in on your opinions of either the Recaro leather seats or standard leather with the heated and cooled feature. This is the last decision I need to make before placing my order today. I'm having a rough time deciding.

I wouldn't hesitate if the Recaros had the heated feature as others have suggested they might in the future (and do in other Ford lines). I would hate to see that option available later and not have it myself. That being said, I know some people here are passionate about getting the Recaro seats, and I was hoping you might fill me in on why. Are they worth it?

I have sat in Recaro seats before, but never for extended periods. Are they as comfortable as a stock leather seat?

Please elaborate on why you might be choosing one option over the other with regards to leather seating. Your discussion here is greatly appreciated.:ford:

Recaros are very comfortable to me but I'm not a big guy. If they were heated they would be the bomb


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I'll take the standard leather seats, the heated and cooled feature is top.

It's not expensive to add aftermarket heaters to a seat.

Air conditioned seats has been a feature I've been looking for in a car for years. Heading down to my local dealership today to order a GT Premium without Recaros. I've never had a hard time staying in my seat and while a nice tight seat does feel cool, I'm good with the standards.

I went with leather Recaro's. I would like to have heated and cooled seats but I prefer the Recaro's given the nature of this car. I think they fit its personality and me likey .

Either way, both sets of seats are a great choice.

The Recaro seats offer much better side to side (lateral) bolstering, but aren't more comfortable than the standard seats for just cruising (if anything they are less comfortable on long trips). They hold you in a little better under heavy cornering. On top of that they have pass-throughs to allow for easy use of 3 point racing harnesses (typically required at a lot of race tracks). So if you are going to track then it is probably worth it to get them.

However, if you wanted heated and cooled seats I would guess this isn't going to be used on a track a lot (nothing wrong with that btw). So beyond looks (those Recaros do look cool) I would say there are not a lot of good reasons to get them when you could have perfectly good seats that have heating and cooling features.

If you were getting the base car I think a better case for the Recaros could be made, but with the premium I feel like you are throwing out heated and cooled seats and still paying for them when you opt for the Recaros. So my vote is pass on the racing seats. The standard seats aren't bad (from the looks). The only true way to know would be to test drive it yourself, but since you are ordering soon that seems to be out of the question.

Curious to know if any "big guys" have sat in the Recaros, and what did you think? I wear a 46 coat, so I have a pretty big torso and am not looking to be squeezed as the car will never see a track. It will be a cruiser. I think from the above I should get base seats. Any agree/disagree?

I would consider myself a big guy at 6'3" and 220 lbs. To their credit I would say that Recaros are very comfortable. They didn't squeeze me like the Recaros on the Fiesta ST or Focus ST. They hold you pretty well, but I never felt squeezed. They are very good. Note that I've only ridden in the ones from the 2014 Mustang so I'm not sure if they are different for 15.

In my opinion I would still opt for heated and cooled seats unless you really like the look of the Recaros over the standard seat. I prefer function over looks when it comes to the seats, but I wouldn't blame anyone who saw it a different way.

Edit: By function I mean comfort + heated and cooled. The Recaros are very functional as racing seats, but as a cruiser they sort of lose their track function.

I'm 5'7" and 290. I'm a big guy. Those Recaros are VERY comfortable and I've sat in them for extended periods of time.

Allerick said:

The Recaro seats offer much better side to side (lateral) bolstering, but aren't more comfortable than the standard seats for just cruising (if anything they are less comfortable on long trips). They hold you in a little better under heavy cornering. On top of that they have pass-throughs to allow for easy use of 3 point racing harnesses (typically required at a lot of race tracks). So if you are going to track then it is probably worth it to get them.

However, if you wanted heated and cooled seats I would guess this isn't going to be used on a track a lot (nothing wrong with that btw). So beyond looks (those Recaros do look cool) I would say there are not a lot of good reasons to get them when you could have perfectly good seats that have heating and cooling features.

If you were getting the base car I think a better case for the Recaros could be made, but with the premium I feel like you are throwing out heated and cooled seats and still paying for them when you opt for the Recaros. So my vote is pass on the racing seats. The standard seats aren't bad (from the looks). The only true way to know would be to test drive it yourself, but since you are ordering soon that seems to be out of the question.

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This is solid reasoning. I have no immediate plans of heading to the track and do appreciate comfort. I also like the value argument.

I know that the dealer I'm headed to has a couple 2014 Saleen Mustangs with Recaros that I can sit in (unfortunately cannot test drive). Unless that experience sways me back to the Recaro option, I think I'm going heated/cooled leather.

Does anyone know for sure whether the cooling option is linked directly to the A/C unit or if it is simply fans pushing cabin temperature air through the seats?

The only way to know is to sit in both and compare them.

I've never sat in the Recaros, but the heated/cooled feature has the standard seats sold for me. Power seat is nice to have too. You can always swap out to aftermarket Recaros later and probably retain the power bracket....at least I think you could do that. You could easily have the dealer add heated seats to the Recaros...they offered that to me for my Fusion but I ended up getting the package with it anyway. I think they were only going to charge $400 or something which seemed reasonable. Considering you're not getting a convertible, the cooled seats may not be that big of a deal to you (I would love it, myself, but to each their own).

Being that you have to pay the extra $$$ for the Recaros from Ford and you lose three nice features (four if you have the memory seat package), just to have better side bolstering...I don't see the point unless you're going to do a lot auto-Xing or mountain carving (which I will, but I'm getting a convertible so I can't get Recaros anyway, so my decision was easy...LOL)...of course this is just my opinion, and I've never sat in them before, I may love the way they feel.

My wife on the other hand, would probably hate them on road trips, because I'm betting they're not easy to lay back and snooze with! She always has a hard time getting comfortable in a car anyway, so I'm just guessing she'd complain all the time about it...I'd rather give her the heated/cooled seats than hear the complaining...LOL

TheLeftSchuh said:

This is solid reasoning. I have no immediate plans of heading to the track and do appreciate comfort. I also like the value argument.

I know that the dealer I'm headed to has a couple 2014 Saleen Mustangs with Recaros that I can sit in (unfortunately cannot test drive). Unless that experience sways me back to the Recaro option, I think I'm going heated/cooled leather.

Does anyone know for sure whether the cooling option is linked directly to the A/C unit or if it is simply fans pushing cabin temperature air through the seats?

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BTW, the cooled feature is not actually A/C...it's just ventilated. My friend has it on their Lincoln MKZ and it is pretty neat. It is basically a fan that sucks the air through the perforated leather...it works much better than you'd think! Check it out on an Expedition or something next time you're at the dealer.

I went Recaros. I like seats that hold me in. I track and AutoX my cars. I hate power seats and don't need heated seats here in San Diego. Cooled would be neat though, but I'd still rather have the Recaros.

To each their own!