Recaro Seat Replacement - Lower? Where installed?

This place in Palo Alto, CA has installed a number of Recaro seats in 2nd Gen Prius' -

SIDS CUSTOM UPHOLSTERY, Your RECARO SEATS Authorized Dealer

Talk to Hugo Sanchez there, he's a cool guy.

This outfit in Berkeley, CA has also installed Recaro's into Prius' -

Griffin Motorwerke Products | Auto Tech, Walbro Fuel Pump, Control Arm & Suspension.

Terry Griffin is the contact at the place above.

 

Hugo Sanchez, owner of Sid's in Palo Alto told me a Recaro ends up sitting the driver quite a bit lower than the stock Prius seat and that the height / angle can be asjusted by changing bolts underneath the seat.

I've sat in a Recaro Specialist M on a display stand. It's pretty form fitting. There's a thigh rest that extends forward for even more thigh support.

If you go on with this, just make sure the shop gives you everything back with your stock driver's seat - you will need it if / when you go to sell the car.

 

I have a Recaro Style XL installed in my 09 Prius Touring by Rad Rides by Troy in Manteno, IL (radrides dot com) Seat was about $1700, install fee was $300. The Style XL has electric dual horizontally stacked lumbar support air pads. No heat, no cooling, manual for/aft sliders and back tilt, electric seat height for back of seat only. Side (seat) airbag is gone. Steering wheel airbag is set to high intensity only. The seat comes with a Prius bracket from Recaro but the airbag intensity sensor tab has to be welded on. The seat can be installed at 3 levels. Mine is at the lowest level. Then, only the back of the seat is height adjustable via an electric switch. I am 5' 11" and at the seats lowest level, with the back tilted back for comfort, the bottom portion of the speedometer is visually clipped. At its highest level I am higher than the stock seat and lower at its lowest level. At its lowest level I become too folded into the seat unless I tilt the seat back to compensate, feels like a low rider. At the back of the seat I measured about 1 3/4" vertical movement and about 1 1/4" for/aft movement during raise/lower operation. But it feels like more! At my most comfortable position I may be at or just 1/4" to 1/2" lower than the stock seat height but the Recaro is worlds away in comfort and lumbar support compared to the stock seat.

 

Not to totally jack the thread, but I'm gonna throw out some hypotheticals and things I know about replacement seats

- I'm using a modified Corolla seat in my 2009 Prius and tell you what ... it is MUCH more comfortable to me than the stock Prius seat.

- There are places that advertise used Corolla seats with airbag (I understand airbag seat was an option in some Corollas)

Here is one of those ads taken from www.car-part.com -

2007
Seat, Front
Toyota Corolla not FX LH GREY CLOTH FB11 W/BAG 00006857$CallSpecialized Parts Planet TAP Recycling Toyota and Lexus USA-CA(Rancho-Cordova) Request_Quote 916-631-7100 / 888-967-2787 Request_Insurance_Quote



* I don't know if the Corolla airbag seat plugs and plays (electrically) into Prius (haven't peeked in a Corolla airbag seat yet), but it might.

* If it did plug into the Prus and keep the airbag, seatbelt and position sensor circuits happy, it wouldn't take too darn much to get it to bolt into Prius.

* Corolla seat bottom offers much more tilt than Prius and it's better shaped. Get about 18 cranks up or down on height adjuster. Works well. Lumbar area is likely the same.

Last time I drove my 2009 with stock seat mounted was in January. I was just laughing in disbelief at how bad the stock seat is. It's as if they had a contest to see how bad they could make it, but still sell the car. Beyond me why owner's didn't scream louder to get Toyota to improve it within 6 years.

Anyrate, not laughing anymore after 1 year of mods and $1,500. Feels normal to me.

 

1. So the seat goes much lower than the stock Prius seat, that's what you meant about whether you could see the speedometer, right?

When you raise or lower the seat with the electronic switch only the back of the seat moves up or down and the entire seat moves back or forth. The front of the seat remains level within 1/4" but moves back and forth about 1 1/4" as described in my previous post. So, if the seat is in its highest position and you press the button to move it down then the entire seat moves back 1 1/4" and the back of the seat moves down about 1 3/4". As a result of moving the seat down the seat bottom is angled up to a greater degree. To accommodate the lowered position I usually slide the seat forward and lean the back of the seat backwards more until I am comfortable. In this lowered position I am lower than the stock seat.

2. But it sounds like only the rear part of the seat goes up and down and is height adjustable, right?

Yes, only the rear part of the seat goes up and down and is height adjustable, practically speaking. The front part of the seat moves up and down about 1/4". So the seat bottom goes from high and flat to low and tilted.

3. When you say that only the back of the seat is height adjustable when you also talk about measuring 1 3/4" vertical movement...I'm a tad bit confused.

The back of the seat pan moves 1 3/4" vertically. The front moves about 1/4"

4. Did the seat installer say anything about needing to create a special bracket for installing the seat - sounds like you're saying you just used the standard prius bracket the seat came with from Recaro, right?

Recaro supplies a bracket that bolts into the Prius and upon which the seat is bolted. Your installer must weld a tab onto the new seat or bracket to hold the steering wheel air bag distance sensor. My installer said that the sensor would indicate to the air bag to use full power at all seat positions. My seat was installed at Rad Rides in Manteno, IL, their average customer spends several hundred thousand dollars for a custom hot rod, the place is worth seeing! My seat installation was peanuts… They consulted with Terry Griffin in California during the install, and I believe they obtained the seat form him as well. In fact Mr. Griffin recommended Rad Rides to me. You might ask him if he knows an installer near you.

5. Thanks for the info about setting the front airbag to max intensity...though that sucks. The guy I've talked to say he knew how to move the seat position sensor and everything...I don't know if that will make a difference. If it doesn't, I suppose that's just one more reason to be leery (for safety reasons) of replacing the front seat.

Yes, I have lost the side air bag and the intensity sensor, I sure hope not to have to test it! Terry Griffin also said to me that the side bolsters of the seat should hold you in the event of a side impact. Ultimately, you have to assume the risks for any modifications made to your vehicle that are not sanctioned by Toyota.

I have an 09 Touring with grey leather seats and the Recaro Style XL in grey matches perfectly. I have never had anyone seem to notice or comment on the seat. It blends in extremely well. It does not look like a racing seat in my car, in fact you would not notice it unless you were looking for it. I found no need to go to the expense of replacing the passenger seat as well.

I am not affiliated with Terry Griffin, Rad Rides, Recaro or Toyota. I am not trying to sell this solution, but I am glad to share my experience and knowledge about the subject. I assume no liability for modifications that anyone makes to their vehicle based upon the contents of this message.

Cheers,

David

 

As I understand how it works, the front airbag intensity sensor only detects seat fore/aft position. When the seat is closer to the steering wheel it tells the airbag to deploy at lower power. When the seat is further back from the steering wheel it tells the airbag to deploy at full power. There is a precise point in the seat fore/aft position where the sensor switches form one mode to the other. The switch is magnetic, so I was told, and when the seat is at or beyond a certain position the switch is activated via magnetic attraction to metal in the seat rails. When I looked at my stock seat I could not noodle out the logic of this. I could not find an area of the seat where there would be more or less magnetic attraction - but maybe I missed it. Having said all this, my point is that perhaps a clever aftermarket seat installer could devise a way to preserve the sensor function.

 

Another thought, Rad Rides builds custom hot rods and does a great deal of custom machine work and fabrication. I witnessed the middle of an adaptation of the entire driveline and wiring harness from a modern Mercedes SUV into an old classic car. They would have the skill install a Corolla seat into a Prius. When they were done the Corolla seat airbag and position sensor would work. Uh, and you would probably have a 600 HP, supercharged Prius with an awesome paint job

 

I was at the New York auto show last April. I saw the new Lexus CT 200 H hybrid and spoke with the Lexus MC at the show. This car will have a 1.8L engine + electric motor 134hp driveline but promises to have much better seats and suspension than the Prius. Coming from sports cars I think seating and suspension are the Prius's major flaws. Maybe the new Lexus will be more satisfying in those regards. The Lexus should cost around $30k.

 

That article was way back in February 2010, when I went to the NY Auto Show, (3 months later in May) the Lexus spokesman told me the CT 200 H would hit our shores in January 2011. Lexus sure needs to get their message straight. I think the Prius hatchback is a brilliant form factor. With the seats folded down it holds about as much as my old Rodeo sport-ute. OK, I'm half serious and half trying to make people laugh. This is a true story. Last year on a trip to the west coast, on a whim, I purchased a lightweight plastic lumbar support device at a gas station for about $3.99 to use in our rental car. To this day my wife uses the thing in her '06 Prius, with stock seats, and she drives 18-20k miles per year!

 

Recaro seat will look very unique in a Prius.

On the front left side of your driver's seat, behind the trim, there is a 'Seat Position Sensor'. It's basically a magnetic piece bolted to the frame and sits close to the 'seat rail'. It senses how far the seat is slid back and sends a signal to the cars electronics. I've unbolted and adjusted it so am familiar.

True for me too. There's some things I don't like about Prius' - not very sporty, seating is small for me, and the steering wheel placement I really don't like.

Even in the 2010 Prius, the steering wheel, telecopes only comes barely past my knees. It ends up quite reach to the wheel or I have to slide closer, then the legroom goes to pot. It shouldn't be that way in my opinion. Even the new Prius is not my cup of tea, I'm looking at other cars and brands.

I moved all the used Prius seat wiring over to the Corolla seat.

The Corolla seatback frame is a Spittin image of the Prius frame, I kid you not. So, the Prius seatback with airbag upholsters perfectly onto the frame. I moved the Prius airbag and wire over to Corolla frame. Check.

The rest of the wiring is the Seat Position Sensor and seatbelt latch.

The Corolla seatbelt latch is shorter than the Prius since Corolla seat goes lower, but wiring simply unplugs from a Prius latch and into a Corolla latch. Have pics in my seat building thread.

The thing I don't know is IF the Corolla airbag seat (an option on 2008 and couple years prior Corollas) wire harness is similar and would plug in and be happy into the Prius chassis connectors.

 

You're reading my mind. I stopped at Magnussen's Lexus today to inquite about the CT200h. A fleet manager *thought* it would not go over $30k loaded, but I doubt that.

I too am interested in the CT. I just hope I could be comfortable in it as it's pretty small exterior dimensions.

I rented the 2010 Prius for the 6th time today and it's just not sporty enough for me plus, the steering wheel does not pull close enough for my liking.

This market for a 5 seater hatchback that's seats a 6'2" er very well, at least 25MPG avg and starting around $25k has left me with VERY few choices,

a Mazda CX-7 i SV being one of them. I can't get interested much in a VW Golf / GTI

back to thread

 

Check LEXUS site, CT200h is coming Winter of 2011 (this Winter!)