Recaro has been making a number of quality car seats for several years now as an extension of their work to design safer racing car seats. In the last few months, I’ve had the opportunity to review the Performance Coupe, Performance RIDE, and ProRIDE, so it was only natural that when there was a recent Recaro Performance SPORT sale on Amazon, I’d pick up a copy for a review, especially since it’s my general goal to review every single forward-facing combination seat on the market. The Recaro Performance SPORT is essentially an update of the Recaro ProSPORT, which has since been discontinued. Overall, it’s a solid seat and I’d be happy to use it with my family. For more details, read on!
2015 Recaro Performance SPORT – What’s the big deal?
The Recaro Performance SPORT is yet another child car seat derived from the racing technology Recaro has been pioneering for years in their adult racing car seats, which means that you’re going to get a lot more side impact protection from one of their seats than you would from the typical car seat on the market, per Recaro. Given the rate at which side impact collisions become fatal compared to head on or rear collisions, I’m a fan of any company that makes side impact protection and force reduction a priority.
The Performance SPORT is a combination seat, which means you can use it both as a forward-facing harnessed seat and as a booster seat once your child has outgrown the forward-facing phase. In this respect, it’s a better value than a seat that only forward-faces or a seat that only works as a dedicated booster. How well does it live up to its reputation as a great combination seat? Let’s take a closer look to find out.
Buy the Recaro Performance SPORT on Sale at Amazon.
Recaro Performance SPORT Limits for Weight and Height
Forward-facing: 20 to 65 pounds. Children should be at least 1 year old per Recaro, and between 27″ and 50″ in height. Of course, as a fan of The Car Crash Detective, you’re not going to forward face at 1, but will aim to keep children rear-facing as long as possible (ideally until at least 4), and then forward-facing for as long as possible (ideally until at least 8) before switching to a booster (typically between 10 and 12). I measure the lowest harness height at 12″ and the highest at 18.” There are 4 positions in total.
Booster: 30 to 120 pounds. Children must be between 37″ and 59″ in height. Again, best practices suggest children should be kept in forward-facing seats and not in boosters until they’re at least 8 or so, and then kept in boosters until they can pass the 5 step test and are ready for adult seat belts. I measure the highest seat belt belt guide at 20.”
Dimensions of the Recaro Performance SPORT
The Performance SPORT is 19″ wide at its widest point, which is at the torso wings, and 17″ wide at the base. The seat back is 27″ high and the seat is 14″ long in depth. There are 3 crotch strap buckles at 6″, 7″, and 8.”
Using the Recaro Performance SPORT
Out of the box, as is common with all of the Recaro seats I’ve had the pleasure of using and reviewing so far, the seat looks solid and designed to keep a child very safe. It’s inspiring to see a well-constructed car seat. Feature-wise, it’s similar to a number of seats already on the market, but still quite different when the extra features Recaro throws in are taken into consideration. For example, take a look at the sidewings. They’re reinforced with metal to provide extra protection against intrusion in a collision; this is the kind of technology Recaro brings over as standard practice from their racing car seats, and I’m glad we get to benefit from it in the child car seat safety world.
Installation
In terms of installation, something unique about the Performance SPORT is that when you install it with a seat belt, you can see the belt path from the front of the seat instead of from behind it. It looks a bit odd, but it’s very easy to do so and is gentler on the hands.
A LATCH installation is also possible and quite straightforward. There are LATCH connectors on both sides of the belt path. You can’t use LATCH past 52 pounds, and you also can’t use the top tether past 52 pounds, which is strange, considering that it’s quite important to use the top tether when forward-facing. However, since the shoulder belt routes above and behind the seat, it’s possible that it provides similar benefits.
Ease of Use
The Performance SPORT is an easy car seat to use, whether in front-facing mode or in booster mode. It’s a quick install and easy to adjust. I like how smooth the harness is when it comes to tightening it; you simply buckle it and pull it tight and that’s it. In fact, I’d say that the Performance SPORT is the single easiest harnessed seat I’ve come across so far in terms of how easy it is to tighten on a child.
Even the buckle is easy! My 4-year-old daughter was able to unbuckle it on her own, which for me was a pro, since she’s a responsible one. I could see this being a potential issue if you’ve got a child who’s more on the impulsive end. I also like how the seat sits close to the vehicle seat, as this makes it much easier for my daughter to climb in and out of the Performance SPORT.
The HERO Harness System
The harness is rather straightforward to adjust, although it’s not a no-rethread harness, unfortunately. You do it from behind the seat, which means you can’t do it once you’ve got the seat installed. You simply pull the handle behind the seat and move the bar to the proper harness height. You’ll need a bit of force to move the bar, but it’s not nearly as much work as dealing with a rethread harness.
The HERO System, however, is what I’m really a fan of. It’s also present in the Performance Coupe infant seat and in the Performance RIDE; it’s a way to keep the harness system straight and untwisted. This keeps the harness in the optimal position to protect a child in the event of a collision. Of course, I didn’t test the system in an actual collision, but I can definitely confirm that it’s much easier to keep the harness from twisting with the HERO System than it is in pretty much every other harnessed or combination seat I’ve tried.
Booster Mode
Something to keep in mind is that when you’re converting the seat from a forward-facing mode to a harnessed mode, you’ll need to remove the harness. It won’t take more than a few minutes, but it’s important to note.
Comfort
Finally, the Performance SPORT is a comfortable seat. My daughter gave it the sleep test, and it passed. The sleep test is basically a test of whether a child can fall asleep in a seat while driving. Infants tend to pass it well, but it gets harder as children get older. The Performance SPORT is a very padded chair, and it’s clearly comfortable enough to keep a child cozy while on the road.
Buy the Recaro Performance SPORT on Sale at Amazon.
Why Buy the Recaro Performance SPORT?
In the end, the most important reasons to buy a car seat come down to how well the seat will do in keeping your child or children safe. For me, the Recaro Performance SPORT is worth buying because you can use it to forward-face a child until she’s 65 pounds in weight, which will get most kids to 8 years of age, which is when I recommend switching from forward-facing to boostering.
From there, the high booster weight limit of 120 pounds and seat belt shoulder height of 20″ means children are likely going to be able to use the seat for an additional couple of years and might make it to the point when children don’t need booster seats any more, which is typically between 10 and 12. The fact that the seat has the size to make this possible makes me a big fan of it. Besides that, I’m also a fan of the HERO System, the ease of installation, the comfort of the seat, and the fact that it’s made locally in the United States.
I recommend the Recaro Performance SPORT wholeheartedly. You can buy it here in Knight, Sapphire, Plum, Rose, Marine, Slate, Haze, Vibe, 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.