Golf Recaro retro-fit

All

Thought I would start a thread to document what I did to fit my Golf IV leather Recaro seats. I'll link some decent photos when I get chance and do a full write up so you all get an idea of whether its worth it or not. It should also tie up the other threads I've hijacked

Now there are a few pros and cons

The major pros being comfort, lateral grip and just damn sexiness (and the fact they are heated cream leather in exactly the same colour as my interior and that A2 sports seats in cream leather are rarer than rocking horse poo- literally)

The major cons are the cost (but much cheaper than a full sport leather interior) and the fact that they are non-adjustable for height and that they sit about mid-way on the standard seat fitment (so not suitable for lanky gits ) I would prefer a lower seat, but they work well.


Just a quick picture to illustrate, but will edit this thread to add in the fitment when I get 5 minutes at my laptop


Cheers
Jason

I love that colour interior.

Has anyone tried the official ABE Recaro mounts for the A2?

http://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/brand...-audi-a2-direct-fit-sub-frames/prod_1781.html

ecoangel said:

Has anyone tried the official ABE Recaro mounts for the A2?

http://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/brand...-audi-a2-direct-fit-sub-frames/prod_1781.html

Click to expand...

At £418 a set I suspect not!

ecoangel said:

Has anyone tried the official ABE Recaro mounts for the A2?

http://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/brand...-audi-a2-direct-fit-sub-frames/prod_1781.html

Click to expand...

Sure this has been discussed in the past and the conclusion was the frames only suit aftermarket Recaros, not OEM Recaro seats

Cheers Spike

spike said:

Sure this has been discussed in the past and the conclusion was the frames only suit aftermarket Recaros, not OEM Recaro seats

Cheers Spike

Click to expand...

Spot on
The Golf recaros are OEM and as such are bespoke for that car
The 'off the shelf' Recaros are all designed to fit their subframes

Ohhhb how I would love a set of Recaro Sportster's. I had the RS4 B7 version in my TT and think they are the best seats I've ever sat in

Some people are wheel-whores, I'm a seat-whore.
It comes from having broken a few bones in my back so find a good seat makes life more comfortable. I'm really enjoying the Golf recaros, especially the lumbar support and over longer distances (I regularly do a trip that's 450 miles in a day)

J

You've done well there Hooley

Was mounting a problem on original A2 runners? I've seen a few TTs with the racing Recaro Pole Positions.

I hate that everything is now marketed as Sport though (and the insurance implications), I remember when Recaros were sold as orthopaedic. I certainly don't hate the seats though, and a set of lightweight Recaros would suit a 3L perfectly

Just an update....

Both seats now in (they have been for a few months but i've been very busy) and looking good











I'll take a few better pictures and how I fixed them later.

I have changed the interior a lot.... as I started with the 'twist' interior with the Grey/Beige dash and scuffed and dirty cream plastics. It looked like this:




J

First you need a subframe from a set of old blue A2 seats (any colour will do )
Then you take a severe amount of angle grinder to them until you are left with this:


Next you need to separate the Recaro seat from its subframe
this shows me test fitting the two together


You can see I use the original mounting holes to join the seat to the subframe
I didn't use a threaded rod in the final assembly, this was used to ensure everything lines up at the back
Once sorted (ground out) they were joined by high tensile bolts and locking nuts



This is the front where the mounting of the subframe is tricky
The Golf system has a central runner at the front and 2 rear channels built into the car for the rear, so I had to go from the central fixing to the bar connecting to the subframe runners. I used a U-bolt usually found on exhaust systems to join the two together
You can just see the drilled holes that were to be used but this was replaced as I found it held the front of the seat up too far so needed it to be lower. Thankfully there were other fixing points that didn't need drilling and were used with a pair of U-bolts to join to this tube (but forgot to take a picture at this point as I was 'in the zone')





So once assembled



They are just bolt and go....

Oh and wire up the heated seats as well

J

Any questions???

the recaro ABE frames have been used several times over on the German forums (as such mods as this are illegal over there) and work well.

- Bret

Today Sarge and I sorted the electrics so the heated seats work, and I must say they are great. They heat up quickly (within 2 minutes) on the seat base squab, seat base bolsters and the seat back and get very hot (on 6) after 4 minutes.

Bring on winter!!! I usually drive with them on in my TT all through the winter and find they help comfort/fatigue on long journeys.

Last year I was reluctant to start any journey when it was cold as (i have now found out) my thermostat was shot so the car used to take about 25 minutes to get warm. Now I'm positively looking forward to it with the heated seats and sorted heating system

A very happy
J

Good stuff I like my bum warmers too which, coincidentally were also fitted by Sarge. Top chap!

Hooley said:

seat base bolsters and the seat back and get very hot (on 6) after 4 minutes.

Click to expand...

I find that I can't get the heating level LOW enough! Each to their own, so they say!

David

I have also found that level 6 is way too much.
For me level 3 is the highest I use when defrosting after long photography sessions in the Arctic.

John

DJ 190 said:

I find that I can't get the heating level LOW enough! Each to their own, so they say!

David

Click to expand...

After-market regulators.

I can't find the emoticon for 'Handbag'

J