RECARO, yes it is spelled in all capital letters although I couldn’t figure out why, is a German company that not only makes car seats and strollers but also designs and manufactures seats for cars, race cars, and airplanes. But the most famous car seat is the Recaro ProRide. Their car seats have excellent safety ratings and they are constantly improving ease-of-use features for parents as well as comfort of the seat for your little one.
RECARO is a well-loved brand all around the world, from Europe to Asia to the US and beyond. This brand really caught my eye because they integrate designs and techniques used for the safety of race cars and airplanes into a much smaller car seat. I love it when companies take the time to really think through the safety aspects as well as ergonomics, style, and comfort.
Quick Specs
- Item Weight: 20 lbs
- Orientation: forward and rear facing
- Weight limits: 5-65 lbs
- Height limit: 49 in
- Harness: 5 point
What are the Pros of the ProRide?
- Side Impact Protection – Taking a note from the seats they design for race cars, RECARO designed side impact protection that protects the 5 most vulnerable areas of your child in the event of a crash including the head, face, neck, torso and pelvis.
- No-rethread harness – almost every seat these days is equipped with an adjustable 5 point harness, but what’s cool about this one is you don’t have to re-thread it which saves you time, confusion, and having to find that car seat manual we all know is already lost (at least in my case it is).
- Ergonomic Seat – RECARO has taken the ergonomics from other seat designs and put them into the seat making it cozier for your child with soft pads on the harness so it’s non-irritating and a softer foam in the head restraint that still provides protection.
- LATCH and Top tether – LATCH as always for easy installation and a tether that hooks from the top of the chair to the vehicle which prevents the chair from moving forward in a crash; this is only to be used in the forward-facing position.
- Easy to Clean – this seat is made of a mesh like material that is very breathable and also very easy to clean which means no sweaty children on hot days in the car and more longevity to the seat.
And the Cons?
- Big – as with many other convertible car seats this seat is big meaning that if you have a small to medium car, for example a Honda Civic or any car around that size you may have issues trying to recline the seat in the rear-facing position. I tried the seat in a couple of cars and it fit comfortable in an SUV, mine a Ford Explorer, but didn’t work so well in my friends Volvo Wagon. If this is the case for you, the Britax Marathon might be a better option, as it still has all the safety features but a slightly smaller profile with more recline.
How do consumers rate it?
This convertible car seat is only of the most frequently purchased and highest rated by professional organizations and parents alike. It normally comes in at around 4.6 stars out of 5 stars. Parents love the safety features, the sturdiness upon installation, the easy to clean/breathable material, as well as the easy to adjust straps on the harness.
What’s it going to cost?
This is not the most budget friendly convertible seat, but it’s also not the most expensive. It retails normally for $299.99 but I found it on Amazon with a deep discount from $194.99 to $224.99 depending on color. At $100 off the manufactures price, that make this seat a lot more budget friendly.
The Bottom Line
My final thoughts on the RECARO ProRide: at around $200 it’s a great buy for any parent looking for a convertible car seat with extremely high safety ratings and that’s comfortable for kids and easy for parents to use.
This seat also has definite long lasting potential if taken care of well, and in my opinion makes an even better forward-facing seat than rear-facing seat. My only caveat to this, is because of the height and bulkiness of this seat, smaller to medium sized cars looking to use this both rear and forward-facing should look at the Britax Marathon instead as it will be easier to achieve the recline positions in the car.
