info about Recaro Young Sport- help from a tech?

[mamatodaniel]

I know someone spoke of the Recaro Young Sport on an earlier post, but I had a specific question about it if anyone might know. I am starting to look into a new seat for my 2 1/2 year old who is nearly out of his Roundabout. He is 37" and about 33 lbs. I want him in a five point harness for as long as possible and don't like the Graco (bad quality, no padding) and the Cosco Summit and Britax Marathon don't seem like great options because they have 40" limits on the harness and it seems he will be out of them too soon to justify cost.

I was waffling on the Britax Husky because it is SO enormous...until I saw this Recaro coming out soon. In all the information it does not say what the height specs are for use of the five point harness...which is really key for me. If it is 40" then I am in the same boat as with the others. Do you happen to know or maybe have a Recaro contact number I could call? I know it's brand new, but do you think it's close (even if not the same) in quality to Britax? The only other possibility seems to be the Cosco Apex, but I'd be willing to spend the money on the Recaro if the harness height was ok.

Any help appreciated!

[Joolsplus2]

I have a (tech)friend who has contacted the "head Recaro guy", and he has said that the top harness slots on the Sport are 19 inches, and that the headrest notches up, so there's no rethreading (like an Alpha Omega or Evenflo Triumph, but not a smooth dial like a Wizard/Boulevard)...not that that's the most important detail, lol, but the 19 inches is promising. I just hope he's accurate on those. At any rate, for many average or thin children, even 17 inches is sufficient to get them to 40 pounds...so the Graco or Evenflo seats generally do the trick, and they are about 17, so even if the 19 inches on the Sport is inaccurate, surely they wouldn't be below 17 inches, I don't think.

The Marathon has 18 inch top slots and a 49 inch height limit...most kids comfortably make it to age 5 or 6 in the Marathon/Decathlon/Boulevard/Wizard...of course, I agree, for just about that same money, it'd be nice to have the seat go on and be used as a booster :)

I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever see the Apex...sigh...it was so promising, but they can't *quite* get it to pass testing!

Anyway, I have a couple friends who love to be "early adopters" of new seats, and have pre-ordered Recaro Sports, so I'll post as soon as they get them!

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[Joni]

I have heard that the Apex is a no go now. Bummer. I will agree that the Evenflo seats and Graco seats with the 17 inch top slots aren't going to my 30# 40" 3 year old to 40#. She grew 4 inches and gained 2 pounds all school year. I tried her in a Marathon today and she's only got MAYBE 1.5" to be too tall. She's got a long torso (and legs for that matter) and I'm praying we can stretch the seats we have now until March when she turns 4 since the law requires kids under 4 to be harnessed if possible in Washington. 4 inches in 9 months is huge growth. Even her doctor was pretty freaked at our 3 year appointment.

[nitaghei]

(Also posted similar query on the Baby Board).

Is the Apex really not available? When I googled it, I got this hit

http://www.showeryourbaby.com/coap65cocars.html

selling it at $169. What gives? I am getting really frustrated now. DS is going to outgrow his RA fairly soon, and I was really hoping that this would work out.

Otherwise, I guess I better suck it up and get a MA. The Husky isn't an option - I need a seat I take take on airplanes.

Nita (fleece is my friend)
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker (at the Rainbow Bridge)

[murphydog77]

Hi. No, it's not available yet and there's no release date in sight. I wouldn't hold my breath for it and would look at other options.

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.CarSeatSite.com

[nitaghei]

Thanks, Heather. Still pretty weird that site is showing it?

Anyway, it turns out my panic was premature. DS is definitely too tall for RF'g in his RA, but still has 2 or 3 inches FF'g. Though I probably will still have to shell out the $$$ for the MA. Which I should have done in the beginning. sigh.

Nita (fleece is my friend)
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a PWD and a cocker (at the Rainbow Bridge)

[threerugratz]

I'm one of the "early adopters" Julie mentioned, lol. Here is a link to some pictures of the Sport.
http://tinyurl.com/93c7j

[mamatodaniel]

Thanks so much for sharing your info so quickly. My biggest question is still this...in harness mode, what is the height maximum? Are you able to tell?

[mamatodaniel]

One more question...are you aware of any brick and mortar retailers of the Young Sport? Or is it only available online? I really want my son to sit in it if possible but can't locate a store.

[threerugratz]

The manual states the harness mode can be used for a child up to 40". But where a child carries their height affects that, a long torsoed child will fit different than a long legged child. I have a long legged child.
I did measure the harness heights and these are the measurements...14", 15" and 17". I know my measuring isn't perfect but I tried to be accurate.
I don't know of any stores off hand that have these. If you have a Recaro auto seat dealer close to you you may have luck there. I ordered my Sport from ProAm auto, they are an authorized retailer of Recaro vehicle seats. You can go to the Recaro USA site and see a list of authorized retailers. I knew I wouldn't have luck finding one in a store where I live so ordering online was pretty much my only option. Here's the Recaro link (once you're there, go to service-dealers-car seats. http://www.recaro-nao.com/INDEX_FRAMES.HTML