The Recaro ProSport is a combination forward facing harness seat that converts into a booster. The ProSport can be used as a harnessed seat from 20-90 lbs or until the top harness slot is reached and as a booster from 30-120 lbs.
The ProSport has many great features that make it an excellent car seat choice. First, the seat features a harness that can adjusted without rethread of the harness. The no-rethread harness makes it easy to adjust the harness as your child grows. The seat has 4 harness slot heights to choose from. In addition, for safety, the Prosport headrest and shoulder portion of the seat are lined with EPS foam to help absorb energy forces in a crash. The deep, reinforced side wings of the seat also help to protect a child in a crash.
In addition to safety, Recaro has certainly considered comfort when they designed the ProSport. This seat has an ergonomically designed shell to ensure that your child enjoys a high level of comfort in the seat. Recaro has also included special PUR foam cushioning in the seat to keep young travelers happy on long trips. The seat even features a recline block to increase the recline of the seat which can be desirable to some children but it cannot be adjust once the seat is installed.
The ProSport has a top slot height of almost 18.5 inches. This height places the seat in the middle of its competition. There are seats available with higher slots and some with lower ones but the height makes it unlikely that the child will reach the full weight limit of the seat in harness mode. It’s possible that some children who are heavier and have shorter torsos might reach close to the harness weight limit.
As a booster, the ProSport has a belt path that will likely fit many children well. It is extremely important when choosing a booster that you make sure it fits your child properly in the car where he will be using the booster. The ProSport has a nice low path for the belt to cross over the hips and upper thighs of the child. It is imperative that the seat belt ride low over a child to prevent injuries to the abdomen in a crash.
While this seat has many benefits, it is not without its quirks. First, the belt path for a seat belt install is a little unusual. The seat belt does not have it’s own interior belt path, like most other seats do, but rather the belt installs over the seat just behind the cover of the seat.
This seems to make placing the belt into the belt path easier than it is with other seats; however, the way the path is designed, it causes the seat belt to be slightly lifted off the seat back once the seat is installed.This is particularly noticeable when the top harness slot is being used since the cover does not cover the lap belt portion of the seat belt.
I would think that the seat belt not lying flush on the back of the seat might be an issue for some children especially children with sensory issues. I contacted Recaro to find out if they had and explanation or a solution for this problem. Recaro sent me a piece of foam to insert behind the seat belt so that a child would not feel the belt sticking off the seat.The foam does seem to address the issue at least for my child. It seems to me that this foam should be included with the seat at the time of purchase.
Also, this seat does not have any cup holder which might be important for families used to having cup holders included in their seats. Instead of cup holders, it does of small pockets on the side that could hold things like juice boxes or maybe a water bottle.
Overall, the Recaro ProSport is a versatile seat that could take a child through his forward facing years. The reasonably tall harness slot and the excellent booster belt path combined with an easy installation in most cars make the ProSport an excellent choice for families.
Disclosure: I received this RECARO ProSport car seat through MomSelect in order to facilitate this review. No other compensation was received. All opinions are my own.
Tara is a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician and mother of 2.
Thanks for this great post. I am a long time fan of the Recaro seats but was sorely disappointed when I received my ProSports yesterday. The latch belt path is an issue and I was also told by Recaro that they could send me the foam insert. Do you happen to have a picture of that inserted? The retailer I purchased it from is giving me the option to exchange for a Frontier and I am considering it but still unsure what to do. I am also having the problem with the shoulder strap hitting the harness under the pad when trying to secure it with the seat belt (my husband’s car does not have the bottom latch hooks so I have no choice). There is no fix for that issue….Recaro said it is just an annoyance and not a safety concern. The latch and lap belt path of the Frontier is a little more involved but to me seems far superior. There is no shoulder strap issue on that seat either.
I’d also like a picture of the carseat with the foam piece