Recaro Trendlines on the cheap...

[dzm]

While fishing around on ebay a few weeks ago, i came across a pair of Recaro trendline seats with no reserve and a few bids. I kept an eye on it and eventually won the auction. They ended up costing me £145 and £20 for delivery. Bargain i thought, although I has no idea whether they were in good nick (the ad said very good condition, but the photos looked a bit dodgy).

They arrived and they were certainly not in very good condition, but barring a small tear on the driver's bolster seam, nothing that a good clean wouldn't sort out. After a bit of research I found out they were the trendlines out of an Accord Type R, and after some more research, found out that fitting them might not be straightforward due to the OEM vs aftermarket fitments.

I figured I might be able to fit them with a bit drilling, so i decided to order the clio recaro subframes from Capital seating. These ended up costing just under £190 all in with postage.

They arrived today and i had a go at matching them up to the trendline seat base. No joy: the subframe bolt spacing is around 300mm and the Trendline bolt spacing and captive nuts are at 340mm. Bugger, I thought. and the subframes are not long enough to driil extra holes wide enough apart.

But, there are other holes drilled in the seat base, and they happen to match up with the subframe, so by using the rearward mounting holes with captive nuts, and two of the extra holes in the seat base with some Nylock nuts I had, the two seem to mate together perfectly.

I'm going to try and fit the seats to the my 182 on saturday, and i'll take some pics and report how I get on. But so far it seems that, for £350 (i got the resistors from maplins for the airbags), i'll have trendlines in my car with proper recaro subframes. And no need to bust out the drill!

 

[osbid172]

Nice one,

think i saw them (in a Corsa from a breakers)

 

[dzm]

Yep, those were the ones.

 

[dzm]

Well, managed to fit them today. A few teething problems but not insurmountable. Basically, the Clio Recaro subframes will fit the Accord Type R Trendlines (and presumably the Evo 6 ones) without drilling, cutting or filing. The only thing you need to do is screw the subframe to the seat base using the rear captive nuts either on the inside and outside of the seat. With the rear two bolts in, you'll notice that the subframe holes line up with slotted holes on the Recaro seat base. I put the Torx T40 bolts through from the top and used the nylock (13mm) nuts below. That way I could tighten them up (the 13mm socket wouldn't fit from above but the Torx key would) With the sunframes bolted to the seat bases from there it was just a matter of following the excellent instructions on Cliomods.com. It took a while to get them in, and I managed to mess up the resisitors so I now have the airbag and serv lights on, but the seats are so much better. All for £350. I'll try and take some pics if anyone's interested.

 

[Andyman]

Watch the price of Evo and Type R Recaro's shoot up thanks to this guide lol

Good work fella. Bit better than paying a grand for the Clio versions

Yeah get the pics up

 

[Gaz_]

Yep. SBV116 off here fitted them into his Cup. He got the Recaro to Clio mounting frames. Two holes needed enlarging and that was it!!! Good cheap mod

 

[dzm]

So here's a few pics including one of the underside of the seat that hopefully explains a little better how the seat and subframe mate together.

These are the seats in the car. Note the photo colour is not very accurate, although the seats do have a very slight green tint to them in some lights.

Another angle...

From the back...

This is how they mount.
A. is the subframe mounted to the seat base. The Torx t40 bolt head sits in the seat frame and the nut below the subframe. At the rear of the seat, the subframe is bolted to the captive nut in the trendline seat base.
B. This is the Accord Type R Trendline forward captive nut. The spacing is too wide for the Clio subframe hence the need to use the different hole.
C. are the original clio sliding seat frames. These bolt through the floorplan of the car.
D. 13mm nuts that bolt the subframe to the clio sliding seatbase. There are 3 bolts on the tunnel side and two on the door side.

It's the same deal for the driver's side.

Only problem with the Accord Type R seats is that they don't have a forward tilt handle, so you have to tilt using the adjuster wheel on the tunnel side of the seat to let rear passengers in.

Weight for the passenger seat and subframe (without sliders) is 15kg.

 

[Ali]

Jainey has non Ren Treadlines in her Vee... The fabric ones do nout for me tbh!

 

[paul]

well done with your hard work! but i prefer my cobras! (much more keeping with the interior) looks factory and actually sits at the right height! (spacers need removing)

 

[172Ben]

They look nice.

Which are the recaros most people use instead of these?

 

[paul]

tredlines!

 

[dzm]

Paul: Those Cobras do look very good, but I doubt I'd have got a pair of them for £350. I was looking at other options to begin with as I was basically after something more comfortable and more supportive for trackdays than the standard pews, then those Recaros came up on ebay, and for £145 for the pair I couldn't say no. I don't worship at the Trendlien alter and I'm in no doubt that there are better seats out there (of the reclining sports seats the Recaro Sportlines out of the Clio 197 are awesome) but these do the job for a modest outlay.

 

[paul]

^^ as i say good work fella!

 

[Clgale88]

I think youv done a good job mate but they look really high up i like to be sat really low like it Pauls car with his cobras

 

[paul]

^^ That is the only down side to the tredlines! there great! and look great! but they dont sit low enough! taking my washers out took the seat down by 30mm which seriously makes all the difference!

4 and a half stars! LOL

 

[Clgale88]

ID rathe rbe really low then have nice seats

 

[paul]

thats why i think the cobra/daytonas do the job well! there a good price! they sit just at the right height (when washers are removed) hold you in very well! they recline and they also dont look out of place with the cup/ff interior!

 

[martandem]

I know its a crazy question, but how much would they charge you from Renault to buy Recaros as parts, i.e. not as an option when you get the car?

 

[paul]

^^ iirc you cant buy them after?! capital seating or lots of other companys offer them!

 

[dzm]

Cheers Paul! How much were your Cobras with all the necessaries?
Martandem: I think you're looking at the thick end of £1200 for a pair of Trendlines and subframes.

 

[paul]

595 i fitted them and got 100.00 for my old seats! so 500 for x2 new seats is not bad imo (250 each one) people say they look cheap! imo thats not true! the standard ones look nasty! and after all its only a clio! i find them very cumfy! (im thin) and i dont get back ache like i did with the old ones!

 

[paul]

what would you rather have

or

 

[Ali]

what would you rather have

or

I'm surprised you didn't keep the std seats...Given that you've kept the rest of the car factory fresh!

 

[paul]

the standard seats gave me back ache! and didnt do the car any justis! i think if/when i sell it people will see why i did this little mod! that makes a lot of difference!! + it was stooring the things there bloody heavy and take up a lot of room!!

 

[dzm]

That's a good price for a new set of seats. OK, so the material looks a little Mr Byrite in the first pic, but joking aside it's a no brainer between the Cup seats and the Cobras.

 

[Ali]

true, mine are still on ColinG's farm! lol

I'm bak to std seats soon as the vee hibernates for the winter.

 

[paul]

i like the material tbh! yeah reanult should have done a deal with cobra or the likes and put these in standard and not charged you tbh!

 

[paul]

true, mine are still on ColinG's farm! lol

I'm bak to std seats soon as the vee hibernates for the winter.

what you like!

 

[paul]

couple more nice pics!

 

[Ali]

true, mine are still on ColinG's farm! lol

I'm bak to std seats soon as the vee hibernates for the winter.

what you like!

172 power too!!!

 

[paul]

lol ^^

 

[Ali]

Someone appears to have stolen your sill plates and thumb grips?

 

[paul]

Someone appears to have stolen your sill plates and thumb grips?

im not fussed on the thumb grips! but i would like some sill plates! that was just tight of renault!