Recaro is a company with a long history of innovation in the racing industry, particularly with respect to racing car seats. Fortunately, they have also shown an interest in car seats for children, and have a growing line of car seats that make use of their racing technology. I’ve recently had the chance to review the Recaro Performance Coupe infant seat and Recaro ProRIDE convertible, and both of those seats impressed me. A friend ordered the Recaro Performance RIDE from Amazon after reading my ProRIDE review and lent it to me for a review so I could share my thoughts on it. In short? I think it’s a pretty good car seat.

2015 Recaro Performance RIDE – What’s the big deal?

As with the Recaro ProRIDE, several racing features present in Recaro adult car seats have been brought to the Recaro Performance RIDE, including the HERO harness technology and extensive side impact support. The side impact support is particularly exciting to me due to the degree to which side impact collisions threaten the lives of children and adults alike. A great number of the side collisions I’ve looked at involved forces that may have been survivable in frontal impacts, where vehicles offer more protection. That’s why I’m a fan of any car seat that makes side impact protection a priority, and the Recaro Performance RIDE is one of those seats.

More generally, the Recaro Performance RIDE is a convertible car seat, so you can use it forward-facing as well as rear-facing. This makes it and most other convertible car seats a better deal for most parents than infant car seats simply because they can be used directly from the hospital until around kindergarten or even later in some cases. Of course, infant car seats can also be worth looking into simply because they make it much easier to transport sleeping newborns and infants than convertible seats, which are too heavy and bulky to carry with you everywhere.

Buy the Recaro Performance RIDE on Sale at Amazon here.

Recaro Performance RIDE Limits for Weight and Height

Rear-facing: 5 to 40 pounds. There is a 49″ height limit for children as well as the standard 1″ rule relative to the top of the car seat shell. There is an internal shell height of 22.5″, which, while not nearly as good as that in a seat like the NextFit or Olympia, is certainly better than what you’ll find in any infant seat. Best practices indicates you’ll want to keep your child rear-facing for as long as possible, in order to increase his or her odds of surviving a collision.

Forward-facing: 20 to 65 pounds. The 49″ tall height restriction continues when forward-facing. This is unfortunate, as it means you aren’t going to have as much time forward-facing as you would in a seat like the NextFit or Olympia. In line with best practices, you’ll want to ignore the lower 20 pound requirement for forward-facing and aim to reach the 40 pound rear-facing limit, or as close as you can to it before you consider forward-facing, and then forward-face until you hit 65 pounds or until your child outgrows the seat by height.

Dimensions of the Recaro Performance RIDE

The Performance RIDE is 19 inches wide, 11 inches deep, and around 28 inches high, with an inch more at full head restraint extension and an inch less at minimal head restraint extension. Because it’s a decently narrow seat, you’re not going to have too much trouble fitting a 3 across car seat installation with it in most cars that are mid-sized or larger. It’s certainly wider than a seat like a Foonf or Fllo, though, so if 3 across is your priority, keep in mind that there are narrower seats out there. The eat weigh 20 pounds, which is rather typical for a convertible seat.

Buy the Recaro Performance RIDE on Sale at Amazon here.

 

Using the Recaro Performance RIDE

As with the ProRIDE, the Performance RIDE has a solid, sturdy feel to it. You feel safe when using it and strapping your child into it, and knowing Recaro has a history of designing seats to protect people traveling at more than 100 mph on race tracks helps ease the mind when merging onto an intersection in Chicago highway traffic. Installing the seat is straightforward whether you use a seat belt installation or a LATCH setup.

I prefer using seat belts simply because they make it much easier to achieve a 3 across installation in comparison to LATCH. When I use seat belts to install car seats, I also don’t have to worry about exceeding LATCH weight limits. That said, I sometimes go with LATCH to save time if I don’t have to install multiple car seats, and the LATCH system here works just fine and has a push-button system for adjustment.

I have a number of reasons to be pleased with the Performance RIDE, but perhaps the most significant for me is the rather detailed side impact protection system. According to Recaro, the system was designed to meet the strictest standards overseas where it was tested, and was specifically made to give greater levels of protection to the pelvis, the head, the torso, the neck, and the face, which they determined to be the five parts of the body most vulnerable in side impact collisions. There is plenty of EPS foam throughout the seat that helps cut down on the forces felt by children in collisions.

I’m also a huge fan of the HERO harness system, which is also present in the Performance Coupe infant seat by Recaro, but not present in the ProRIDE. As a result, I automatically prefer the Performance RIDE over the ProRIDE if you get the chance to choose between the two of them. The safety feature essentially places the shoulder pads around the child’s neck, shoulders, and head when the child is restrained, and in the process, make harness twisting less likely to occur and the chest clip more likely to stay in place when buckled. There is also the Safety Stripe System present, which, per Recaro, is a white stripe inspired by racing practices that you can see on the outside part of the included 5-point harness. When the stripe is present, parents know that the harness is properly positioned. In contrast, when the stripe is twisted, parents know that it means the harness is twisting and can take appropriate action to correct it. It’s details like this that make me prefer the Performance RIDE over the ProRIDE.

Additionally, the Performance RIDE features breathable fabrics for easy air venting so children sweat less while in the seat. My daughter indeed verified that she felt more comfortable in the Performance RIDE than she often does in other seats that lead to more sweating. The mesh fabric itself can be washed by machine and comes in a wide range of colors. As an aside, another difference between the Performance RIDE and the ProRIDE is that the Performance RIDE comes with a cup holder. It’s an arguably small difference, but it was significant enough for my friend to use as a reason to go with the Performance RIDE over the ProRIDE.

In terms of fitting children, I’d say the Performance RIDE does a decent job with larger infants and toddlers all the way to the preschool age, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to go all the way down to the 5 pound lower weight limit, simply because the harness straps are too high even when they’re in their lowest positions. To safely ride in a car seat while rear-facing,t he harness straps need to either be below the shoulders of the child or at the shoulders of the child, and that’s simply not going to happen in the Performance RIDE with a 5 pound baby. Again, however, you’ll likely be fine with a typical-sized newborn and up.

Why Buy the Recaro Performance RIDE?

I’m a fan of the Recaro Peformance RIDE for many of the same reasons I like the ProRIDE. It’s a safe car seat with a number of unique racing-inspired safety features designed to keep children properly restrained for several years. Remember that you’re going to want to use the seat as long as possible by maxing out your rear-facing time until 40 pounds or as close as you can get to it as possible. The biggest drawbacks are the harness straps, which can make fitting smaller newborns a challenge, as well as less than optimal leg-room when rear- and forward-facing. I’d also prefer it if the rear-facing weight and height limits were better, as there are many car seats capable of rear-facing until 50 pounds today. That said, this is one of the most solidly-constructed car seats I’ve seen with perhaps the greatest attention to side impact protection on the market.

I believe the Recaro Peformance RIDE is a great car seat and heartily recommend it. You can buy it here in Marine, Plum, Rose, Sapphire, Slate, Haze, Vibe, Knight, and Redd. Canadians can buy it here.

If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.