Old Library

Jud said:

<Since I joined this list, haven't heard a discussion about SEATS.
Anybody replace theirs?  Mine won't hold me in anymore!>


With the length of this message, you may be sorry you ever brought it up,
but I'm currently in the process of replacing the seats in my '95.

Cosmetically they've never been my favorite since day one, other '95 owners
on the list most notably A.Emerson, have grumbled about the funky color
scheme as well. I've also never been a fan of how they fit me, at
6'2"/200lbs the seat back always has seemed too short with no support for
my lower back. I like the width of the bottom and the back, much better
than my '89 GTI 16V, but on the down side they have no where near as
aggressive bolstering.

I spent a long time agonizing about what to do. I hadn't looked at the
Recaro seats for several years, and as it turned out they had quit making
their modular seats where you had all these various styles with slight
variances to better accommodate your particular body, and replace them with
two seats the "Style" and the "Trend". Looking at them in the New Dimension
catalog, the styling of both didn't do much for me. Joe at New Dimensions
had mentioned that he had a pair of the old style LTL modular seats that he
might be willing to sell out of a 95 sport, so I waited to see if he was
going to... In the meantime, I called Recaro and requested a new catalog,
and called another seat manufacturer called Cobra.

The Cobra seats looked on their web page very similar to the older
Recaro's, but having never seen or sat in them I remained a bit skeptical..
good prices though, and for those in Southern Cal it's probably worth
taking a look at them since the distributror is located in Orange county
and has the full line on display.

Weeks pass by and no Recaro catalog, and Joe at ND has not had any calls on
his car in whole, and has decided to sell the seats separately-decision
time buy new Recaros or buy Joe's (which cost almost the same as new, but
include the rear seat with matching upholstery + shipping). So I decide to
drive out to a Recaro dealer during a business trip and look at their demo
seats of the Style and Trend. Lo and behold they look much nicer in person,
both were black cloth with the center section in black Artista. They have
electric height adjustment, manual lumbar support via an inflatable bag
located beneath the seat cushion, and on the Style-adjustable side
bolsters. The Style also has better shoulder support than the Trend. Cost
for the "Style" is only a $100 or so more than the Trend, and seems to fit
a little better and be more of a "sport seat". They still don't seem as
aggressively bolstered as the older Recaros and if you're really into all
out driving, the SRD or Sport (Recaro wise at least)  are probably better
choices and provide cut outs/belt guides for a four point harnesses, yet
still recline and tilt forward to allow access to the rear seat-non
adjustable headrests though.

Anyway to make a long story short:  I ordered the "Style" in Black Artista
from New Dimensions. Drivers side fitted with the heat and vent package,
passenger side no options. Total cost was somewhere around $2,500 including
the required brackets from Recaro. Cost could be as low as $2K if you go
with standard fabric and no heat and vent package. For comparison the
Cobras would probably have been around $1,200 for the pair.

As a side note, roughly two weeks after I ordered the seats, and 4 weeks
from my original call, I received my catalog from Recaro. Absolutely
pathetic...with this sort of customer service it's a good thing they don't
have much competition. Side note #2, Recaro only had the passenger side
mounting bracket in stock-8 week lead time to supply drivers side bracket.
Side note #3, New Dimensions customer service, Joe in particular, has been
stellar. Side note#4, make sure you see and of course sit in the seats, the
Recaro catalog doesn't do them justice, they look much better in black than
grey. Side note#5, the cloth that is used on the outside/sides of the seat
is very simlar if not identical to what VW use, so the rear seats seem like
they'll almost  match with you only needing to replace the center fabric
insert.

As this is and will probably remain, an all time high $ amount spent for a
car mod I hope to have these seats with me for a long, long, long time.
Will report back in when I install them.




Tom Der
Nashville/Chicago
'95 GTI
'89 GTI 16V

PS   I think Joe @ ND still has his older Recaros up for sale


--
For info on: how to subscribe & unsubscribe, the list's mailing errors,
    list archive, etc.  see:   http://www.panix.com/~aqn/gti_vr6_list/