Anyone have the Ford Perm. Recaro’s?

[svt93style]

Was wondering if anyone has the Ford Performance Recaro’s seats? The more I look for a car the more I realize I might have to bend in color or seats. Too many cars are for sale with the non Recaro’s which won’t work for me.

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[proeagles]

There are plenty of cars out there with the Recaro seats. The reason you don't see them much is because they are very uncomfortable for generously built Americans plus you get more goodies with the tech package that most people want.

 

[Threebanger]

FP Recaros are the same ones that are an option in the Mustang. I had them in mine and they are super comfy but not as supportive as the GT350 Recaros.

 

[key01]

Yes, I do. The GT350 looks so wrong with the Dairy Queen seats. I love them and I’m 6’-3”

 

[mavisky]

There are plenty of cars out there with the Recaro seats. The reason you don't see them much is because they are very uncomfortable for generously built Americans plus you get more goodies with the tech package that most people want.

You can get the recaro's and the tech package. All you lose is the heated and cooled seats. My car has the recaro's and all of the navigation and sync upgrades available in 2018. For me the Recaro's were a must have. I was 6' 240lbs with a 38" waist and they hugged me tightly and I love them. I've lost some weight now and if anything I wish they were a little tighter now.

 

[EvilMerlin]

I have the Recaro's with the Tech package (and over the top stripes and black painted roof).

I'm 5'9" and 190lbs and the seats fit me great. Love them.

HATE the "upgraded" seats. Especially at the track.

 

[pilotgore]

I have the Recaro's with the Tech package (and over the top stripes and black painted roof).

I'm 5'9" and 190lbs and the seats fit me great. Love them.

HATE the "upgraded" seats. Especially at the track.

Just curious, have you actually driven a Gt350 with the new “Upgraded” seats on the track? I’ve driven both (recaros at track attack and comfort seats in my car on track.) I honestly didn’t notice much of a difference and I love my seats on the track. That being said, I think the recaros definitely look cooler though... that part isn’t in dispute.

 

[EvilMerlin]

Just curious, have you actually driven a Gt350 with the new “Upgraded” seats on the track? I’ve driven both (recaros at track attack and comfort seats in my car on track.) I honestly didn’t notice much of a difference and I love my seats on the track. That being said, I think the recaros definitely look cooler though... that part isn’t in dispute.

Yeah at the Time Attack course with Ford. They felt too squishy to me... I mean the cooled/heated was nice... but just to damn squishy

 

[V8 Voodoo]

Not sure if you ever found a car with Recaros, but various sites/places like the Parts Farm, Midway Mustang, MARS auto will sell Recaro seats when they part a crashed GT350 out. Sometimes the seats are damaged, other times they look brand new.

 

[Hack]

Was wondering if anyone has the Ford Performance Recaro’s seats? The more I look for a car the more I realize I might have to bend in color or seats. Too many cars are for sale with the non Recaro’s which won’t work for me.

AFAIK the FP Recaros have bolsters and the "racing seat" shape, but the bolsters don't have as sharp of an angle on them. Meaning they are a little less aggressive of a fit.

However, if you are concerned about staying well-planted in the seat on a track day and not sliding around - neither Recaro will be sufficient by itself if you drive the car hard. You need a roll bar and a harness to hold yourself in the seat on track. Any Recaro with a 3 point belt is not going to do it.


And if you have the non-Recaros with a roll bar and harness they are also fine on the track. What I'm telling you is that IMO the harness is the key to being able to safely drive the car near its limits. The seats are much less important.

 

[Prowl647]

I’m finding the recaros are a bit too stiff and unsupportive. I even have experience with the full leather recaros. I don’t mind the bolsters it’s the narrowness on the seat cushion that bothers my legs. Especially after a very rough leg day. To each their own. I was actually trying to trade out my cloth recaros for the premium seats or corbeaus.

 

[Buckwampum]

Was wondering if anyone has the Ford Performance Recaro’s seats? The more I look for a car the more I realize I might have to bend in color or seats. Too many cars are for sale with the non Recaro’s which won’t work for me.

I'd advise you to make sure you actually sit in the OEM Recaro seats before you buy the car. I was all for the Recaros until reading in this forum (and others) that many people didn't like them. I could find no logical cutoff points for knowing if they were go/no-go (e.g. if you have a waist bigger than X inches they are too tight, if you weigh more than Y pounds, they will not work...). Opinions were all over the place, with 240 lb guys saying they fit fine and guys weighing 175 saying they were too tight.

So, I finally just went and sat in them, thanks to a local dealer with a 2020 in a color I didn't care for. Seats were a total disaster for me.

I wear a 46 jacket and have big lats. Sitting in the seats w my hands on the wheel, I could not get my upper back against the seats because my lats were overflowing the bolsters.

Same for my hips. I only wear a 34 waist but my hips must be wider than deeper, as I could not wedge my hips down into the seat to get my lower back in contact with the seat bottom. Combined with the aforementioned problem with my shoulders, I felt like I was sitting on the bolsters, not on the seat.

My two legs were tightly pressed together to get my thighs between the side bolsters, such that I had difficulty moving my feet in the pedal box. Very uncomfortable on the 'nads as well.

So glad I tried them out, as I was getting ready to fly-and-drive to get a car w Recaros and boy that would have been a fiasco.

Also, consider your spouse's comfort as well, as my wife has lumbar spine issues and those seats would have punished her.

What really sealed it for me is that I think it would be easier to convert a car w/ original leather seats to Recaros, rather than vice versa, as the Recaro-supplied cars lack the wiring harness for the power functions and heating/cooling of the leather seats. If you have an original leather-seat car and a future owner wants to convert to OEM Recaros, they can just leave those harnesses unplugged. Going in the opposite direction will be a lot of work due to the missing harnesses and dash controls for the leather seats

Once I retire next year and actually have time to do some track days, I will look for a different Recaro seat for the driver's side that fits me and leave the leather seat for my wife on the passenger side.

Good luck with your hunt. Based on Corrieb's spreadsheet of production totals, looks like 364 non-R cars have Recaros, out of a total of 1349 cars that he has data on. That's 27% of all 350's have Recaros. If you tell me what other options you want, I can tell you how many cars are out there with that configuration (or at least how many are in the spreadsheet).

 

[Cobra Jet]

Hit up cargurus.com and do nationwide search - there’s a ton of S550 Shelby’s with Recaros....

 

[johnny1]

It was a no brainer for me when I had my 16 and then 17 GT350. I'm an old fart and had no intentions of tracking either car. Back then about mid year 17's you could only order Recaro seats. My 16 had the leather seats in it on showroom floor. The 17 it took considerable looking but dealership finally found one in color I wanted with the leather seats. It was a world of difference in comfort then when I'd set in one at first with Recaro seats. Both seats all power angles, heated/cooled.

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