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I went back and forth between this seat and the Britax boulevard 70. There were things I liked about both and disliked about both. This is how I feel about the recaro after owning it for a while...
I love that this seat sits up high. My son almost instantly stopped crying in his car seat now that he can see out. As a trauma nurse, I like the head rests much better than the Britax. They are closer to the side of my sons head which prevents the side to side whip lash of the neck that can cause injuries. I also like the amount of cushion in the side impact, enough to stop the momentum, not too soft or too hard. It was also extremely easy to fit in the car. And it is very easy to adjust the harness and head rest without taking anything apart. I also use the pockets for the straps quite a bit more than I thought I would, they are super helpful when trying to position a struggling child.
I don't love that the lowest buckle always slides back to his butt when trying to strap him in. The straps do seem to twist somewhat, but no more than when I buckled him into the Britax. My biggest complaint is that the cover is not machine washable. It cleans up well with a washrag so far and it is removable. I haven't tried hand washing the whole thing yet. Additionally, I couldn't have used this when he was an infant. Although it states that the minimum weight is 5 lbs, he would have been much too tiny for the straps to be positioned correctly.
Lastly, And maybe most important. I don't love that it stays reversed only to 35lbs or 37.5 in. But something that a sales person told me might come in handy for you, children tend to outgrow the height requirement in a carseat long before they outgrow the weight. You can often save yourself some money by getting a seat that doesn't go as far in weight but goes to the same height. (Unless your child is heavy or stocky). My child is very tall for his age but not very heavy. All in all, I love this seat, as does my son, and would buy it again over the Britax.
Addendum: At 9 months he is still using this chair at the absolute lowest setting. The low weight classification for staying reversed bothers me less and less. I'm confident that I can keep him reversed well past 2 with this carseat. Also, I recently put this in the minuscule back seat of my subaru and it fit wonderfully. Easy to position, took up less space than the infant car seat did. Still LOVE this seat.
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I recently bought this for my nine month old baby after reading hundreds of reviews. I was debating between this seat, the Radian XTSL, and a Britax Boulevard 70. After much consideration, I chose the ProRIDE and have been very satisfied with my purchase.The construction of this seat is solid, which you would expect from a manufacturer of the most premiere racing seats in the world. There is nothing flimsy about this seat. The head wings are soft enough to be comfortable when my baby is napping, but firm enough to provide protection in the event of a crash. Those head wings are one reason I chose this seat the Radian is the only other seat with comparable head wings, and as someone who works in a trauma hospital, this feature was important to me.
The fabric is well-constructed and well-stitched. The ventilation system does help quite a bit, which was necessary for us as we live in central Texas and summers here are HOT. Do know that the different colors of the ProRide are different fabrics; the all-black one and grey one are made entirely of plush velour, which would be substantially hotter than the colored fabrics, which are made of a smooth fabric that wicks moisture. It feels like the same fabric in the Chicco KeyFit seats.
The harness adjustment is super easy. My baby is in the 65th percentile for height, and the straps are at their lowest setting with room to spare. The thing I saw over and over again on the Britax seats was that kids outgrew them in height earlier than expected. The Recaro ProRIDE and Radian XTSL have the highest height limits on the market, which means that your child will fit in the seat longer. I want my child to rear-face as long as possible, and I believe that she will be able to do so in this seat until she's four, given her growth pattern thus far. The strap to tighten the harness is smooth and easy to adjust, as well.
The latch clips and chest buckle are easy to do, but the crotch buckle definitely requires two hands to undo. I don't mind that, as it means my child won't be able to undo it easily when I can't see her. :) The chest buckle requires to fingers to squeeze the piece so that it separates, which I think would be harder for a toddler to do than the pushbutton ones on some other seats. Some reviewers say that the straps twist I haven't noticed that they're any different than any other carseats I've used. Before I put the baby in, I just pull the buckle pieces up and then move the straps over the sides of the seat, which gets them out of the way to put the baby in the seat and also means I don't have to go digging for the buckles to strap her in. There are also little pockets on the sides that you can put the buckles in to keep them open, if you like.
My daughter sits up high in this seat and enjoys looking out the window. The seat fits well in my 2007 Honda CR-V behind the driver's seat. I put the seat in the center initially, but it was a bit tall and I had a hard time seeing out the back of the car with the rearview mirror. (That would be a drawback to any taller/higher height limit seat, though.) The driver seat is about halfway back, and there is still room to push it back more. I have more room in the floor space, too, than I did with my infant car seat (a Graco SnugRide 35). The Radian XTSL is too long/tall for many cars, especially if put behind a seat, so the ProRIDE might fit your car rear-facing if the XTSL does not. It is narrower than most other convertible seats out there, too, without infringing on the child's space in the seat. There's about six inches of space between the edge of the seat and my car door. The Britax seats are very wide, and may not fit in some cars.
The cover is easy to get on and off, and the clips that hold it on are very secure. You can also take the straps off to be washed which you can't do on a Britax seat. You need to be able to wash all parts of a carseat for kids that get carsick!
The only complaint I have with this seat is minor. The belt lock-offs are very sturdy and don't shift. If you use the LATCH system, it's hard to adjust the straps because they are really short. I have maybe two inches of strap to pull on while holding down the button to tighten the seat using LATCH. I found it much easier to get a tight fit using the seatbelt. I did have to use a rolled-up towel to get the right RF angle. People that have complained about using a towel or pool noodle to get the right RFing angle being a recommendation in the manual should also note that it's also in the Britax manual. I don't feel that my seat is any less secure because of that towel being there. The Radian XTSL has a seperate piece for rearfacing, and it was tricky to get it installed properly when I tried. I'd rather have an idiot-proof seat for installation, because it's not worth the risk of having the seat improperly installed despite best efforts of a non-idiot. :)
All in all, this is a great seat. It far EXCEEDS safety standards in the United States, as it is higher than the standards of the EU. (EU standards for carseats are much higher than the US, and require side-impact testing, which the US does not.) I would recommend this seat to anyone. I hope this review can help someone make an important decision!
Update December 2012: My husband was in a nasty car accident where a collision occurred and one of the cars spun out and T-boned him on the driver's side. My daughter's car seat is also on the driver's side, and my husband's car was struck just behind the back door, over the tire. My daughter was completely fine, albeit freaked. Yay for Recaro's side-impact protection! We replaced her seat immediately with another Recaro Pro-RIDE.
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Let me say first that we love this car seat and would recommend and purchase it again in future, BUT it is not a good rear-facing seat (or wasn't for us). I intially intended to keep our kiddo rear-facing until she was 2 years old and liked that this seat got such great reviews and had high safety standards. Our baby outgrew her Safety 1st baby seat (which we also loved) and needed a new seat around 13 months. After receiving the Recaro (shipping was fast, price was comparable to anywhere else sold or cheaper) we tried it rear-facing and it was HUGE! We drive a Nissan Sentra and a Nissan Xterra and while it could fit in both cars, the back is much too tall to use your rearview mirror with; it totally blocks the view (in the middle seat). When placed on the outer seats you have to pull the driver or passenger seat quite far forward (in the Nissan Sentra), not very comfortable for two taller people (5'7 and 6'2). Our baby is also tall for her age and ended up with her knees bent uncomfortably the whole time and got to where she would cry and fuss when taken anywhere. We tried this for a month before deciding that between the too tall back and her distress we either needed another seat or to turn it around. Since she was also already 26 lbs we decided to give the forward-facing a shot. Super success! The seat fits perfectly when forward facing in both vehicles and is not too tall (even in the Sentra). It is very easy to install (both our vehicles have the latch system which makes that part easier) and adjusting it is a breeze once you're used to it. The seat is also very well built! The padding is better than any other seat I looked at including several that were higher priced and I love that it is rated with the higher European standards. Personally, I think it looks like it would do more to cushion and 'hug' a child in a collision. I do realize looks are nothing when it comes to safety performance, but I point it out to note that there is a noticable difference in it's material features. Our daughter loves it, now that her knees are not in her nose, and she seems to enjoy riding in it and easily plays and falls asleep in it on drives. Several people complained about the straps being soft and falling behind the child, making it harder to strap them in. This is true, we routinely have to reach behind her and pull the straps over her arms, but I don't think that's different than most car seats and certainly isn't a deterent for us (it literally takes 3 seconds longer than if they had a spot to keep them open). I haven't had any reason to clean it yet, although the fabric looks easy to wipe down. The seat size is perfect for one of those disposable changing pads to fit folded in it if you're worried about it staying clean. Our child is now almost 33" tall and 28 lbs and has plenty of room to grow in this seat. I, like many others, also looked at the britax when deciding on a new car seat. The britax padding isn't as substantial (although I'd reason it's comfortable enough) but the back is several inches shorter so if you're definitely looking for a rear-facing seat that may be a better option. Again though, our kiddo is taller and the back seat rows are narrower than some so if you're on the fence you might give it a shot. I would recommend this seat for forward-facing with absolute confidence.**Updated: We've now had this carseat for about 6 months and still love it. As someone pointed out to me, you actually can wash this cover (per the booklet). I haven't attempted this and the fabric looks like it should be air dryed if you did, but it does wipe down very easily. I also tried this seat rear-facing again. After several of my granola-mom-friends (you know...the baby wearing, 'my child will rear face until they are 10,' breast-feeding until their child can unbutton the shirt themselves and ask articulately for boob, breast, milk, and/or tit-tey, and vaccines are the devil types) sent me SEVERAL articles about internal decapitation, I caved to the possibility of being an unfit mother if I didn't RF her and decided to give it another whirl. It was met with mild success. The seat cannot be in the center rear-facing and it is a bit of a squeeze to get our very tall 18 month old into the seat from the sides. This counld be simply due to the shape of our rear doors, but she has to be scooted in sideways and angled up before plunking her ungracefully into the seat. The seat requires a pool noodle or towel as others have mentioned in this position. Also, if you have an SUV or larger type vehicle the latch system works fine this way, but with a smaller car (say a nissan sentra) the attachment points are too narrow and you have to use the seat belt to get a tight fit. Not a deal breaker, but a pain if you're switching it between two vehicles as we often do. And the process of getting a very snug fit with the seat belt is a bit of a task in itself. I'm sure my Amish neighbors laugh themselves silly (from their carseat-less buggy) to see my ass half out of my tiny Sentra, wrangling this huge carseat into place and trying to strategically lean on it to squeeze it tight while tightening the belt. As for the kiddo, once she's been carefully krammed sideways to get into her seat and buckled in place, the fact that her knees are level with her chin doesn't actually seem to bother her. We took a recent 2.5 hour each way trip and she slept a good portion going and coming so I think she can't be too uncomfortable. All in all, I still think this isn't the greatest rear-facing seat, especially not if you have a child who is always in the 98% for height/weight. As soon as I can muster the gonades to bear the responsibility of my childs head rocketing away from her body in the event of a crash/sudden stop/extreme wind gust etc I intend to turn her back to forward facing. Until then I will continue shoe-horning her into her rocket-pod of a huge carseat while my husband glares daggers from the sidelines every time I bop her noggin into the doorframe on accident. I'd still recommend this seat to anyone and am more satisfied with the rear-facing than I was previously (partly due to user error I might add). Happy carseating!
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We bought this car seat when my son outgrew his initial one. We wanted one that would go rear and front facing. my husband did all kinds of research trying to find the safest one and he decided on this one. He liked all of the engineering aspects of this seat. I put it in my car and my husband used the britax.On November 9th 2012 my son and I were in a car accident. My vehicle flipped and unknown number of times and landed upside down in a ditch. I hear my sweet boy crying as we were flipping and then silence when we landed. I unclipped my seat belt and crawled out of my window. I immediately tried to get to my son but I was unable to reach him. I did however see him, he was swinging his little legs and smiling upside down in his car seat. The fire department removed him from the vehicle. He and his car seat were not only in 1 piece but completely unharmed. He was smiling and looking around at all of the people at the scene of the accident
My son and I definately had angels with us, but I also cannot say enough good things about the car seat THAT SAVED HIS LIFE. I cant explain how we both survived that accident, but I am certain that between my Subaru and his Recaro car seat, we had the odds in our favor. This is hands down the best car seat your could buy for your child. there is no price on safety. this car seat saved my life and it is all I will every buy!
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I (like some other reviewers) had been waffling between the Britax Boulevard 70 and the Recaro ProRide. I got a coupon for the Recaro and it was on sale so I decided to go for it. We love this seat. It is a stealthy, sturdy, soft, safe, monster of a car seat. I have an 06 Acura TL and it is installed Rear Facing behind the passenger seat (as it will be until she's at least 2) and if this thing was any bigger it would not work for our car. The space between the opening of the seat and the car door opening is just barely enough room for me to safely put her in and take her out. When she gets bigger I might have to come in from the other side and put her in there or move the seat to the middle if it will even work there. Having said that though I did NOT have to adjust my front seats at all!!!! We had to move them all the way up to where we were eating the dashboard for the SnugRide 35 to fit but didn't have to move them up at ALL for the recaro.. so when I say huge I mean its really tall. It comes up as high as the front seats! My daughter is only 3.5 months old and didn't need a bigger seat but she HATED her infant seat so as a result of that I was looking for the perfect convertible for us. We have had the Recaro for 2 weeks now and so far she is happily riding it. I will update my review later down the road.Installation: Easiest installation ever but bring a towel or pool noodle out with you... I don't see how this thing could ever be "level to the ground" Rear Facing without it. And really do make sure its level or else when your baby falls asleep his or her head will fall forward (leveling the seat correctly is what provides the angle of recline for RF along with seat reclined feature required for RF) and could result in breathing issues. The manual was a little difficult to read to reroute the LATCH straps for RF mode but after a little while I got it perfect. Tip: When you reroute the LATCH straps for RF make sure you put them behind the crotch buckle strap under the cover or else the tighter you latch the seat down the lower the crotch buckle goes until its all the way down into the seat and hard to use!! It said nothing about that in the manual and after I got it all perfectly installed I have to take it back out and redo it!
Few notes:
1. Strap Padding It could just be because my baby is not even 4 months old, but she doesn't have much room between the bottom of her head to her shoulders and the strap padding is quite bulky there and seems like its a little big for her (shes almost 16 pounds). The good part about this though is that it holds her head up perfectly when she's sleeping, but they just seem to be a little too big. I don't know how on earth a 5 pound baby could fit in there. I am sure that once she starts holding her head up higher and stronger it will not be an issue anymore but I am only writing about this because I think some people buy this seat to use from birth on. I would not recommend a newborn in this seat!
2. Male connecters of the buckle / Metal buckle parts they always fall down the sides between the seat and her legs and I have to fish them out and often times untwist them. Its not that big of a deal but it does make putting her in there take a little longer which makes her a little fussy because like most babies they want to be moving while sitting in a car seat!
3. This next note is catch 22 -the SIP Head wings make it physically impossible for me (5'6".. pretty normal body type) to reach around or see her from the front seat. For example She always wants her binky in the car and when it falls out I have either pull over sometimes or wait for a red light put my car in park, take of my seat belt and turn around and lean as far as I can without injuring myself to reach her lol. Unless you have go-go gadget arms or stretch armstrong capabilities you will not be able to reach around those things! BUTTTT that is one of the things that makes this seat so SAFE! This seat literally wraps itself around your baby which is great but it sucks for trying to reach them from the front seat. If we go on long rides either me or daddy will have to sit back there with her! I have one of those mirrors up so I can see her from the rear view and i can BARELY see her!
Overall, we are happy with our purchase. Hope this was somewhat helpful to any parents out there who want specifics!
***7 MONTHS LATER***
We are still more than happy with this seat! I have nothing new to report other than the fact that it still looks brand new and she is growing into it with ease! I still have all the original padding in there at 10.5 months and she has plenty of room! We have also used this seat in a 2007 Mercedes C230 sedan and it fits like a glove, no seat moving/dashboard eating in that car either!!! This is a great seat and not a day goes by that I am not happy for my purchase! :D
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