What would you do? (Recaro question)....

[RedRobin]

....

Having bought Jonny's Recaro Sports seats, I now need to change the fabric from R32 dark grey to Interlagos to match my back seats.

I love the Interlagos and so changing the back seats is not an option I will consider.

I have found a local car upholstery specialist and he can do whatever I want. My options are : -

1) - Buy complete GTI Interlagos covers at £570 incl vat and have them fitted for £240 (a much fiddlier job than you realise).

2) - Source (not easy) and buy some Interlagos cloth and have it professionally sewn into my .:R covers for £320. But the .:R logo would remain.



So, assuming I can actually source some Interlagos fabric, the choice comes down to paying several hundred pounds more to have the GTI logos instead of the .:R logos. The .:R logo is quite subtle and I often wear the baseball cap VWRacing gave me which has a big .:R on the front (they are officially allowed by VW to use the .:R logo). "R" also stands for Robin or RedRobin but that wouldn't be so good if I ever sell my car.

Would you be put off buying my car because of the .:R logo on the Recaro Sports seats?

I could wait forever just for some cheaper second-hand Recaro Sports GTI covers, so it's not a realistic option.

The GTI badging is obviously the best and most appropriate but the cost!

What would you do? I'm currently undecided (unusual for me!)

[MongyUk]

Save the money, I would never be bothered, they look amazing as they are. The money would not be buying you anything, buy curry and beer with it instead.

[RedRobin]

Save the money, I would never be bothered, they look amazing as they are. The money would not be buying you anything, buy curry and beer with it instead.

....Thanks for the quick response

Are you saying save my money and don't even get Interlagos cloth, or just go for option 2?

Btw I don't drink beer (or any alcohol anymore) but I know what you mean. The money would go on my VWR engine mount or V-Power.

[JPC]

I would probably go for option two to be honest if the rest of the covers are in good condition. it does seem mighty pricey to do it the other way.

and i like the R! ;) but is "GTI" worth the extra money? thats a personal thing! ;)

[BeezerDiesel]

Option 2 I think, but is there no way you can use the interlagos from your GTI's existing seats sewn into the Recaros? Then wait for a set of second hand or new old stock standard GTI covers to become available for your old seats which I assume will be kept in storage.
You would then easily recoup much of the cost when eventually selling the GTI in future by taking the Recaros out and selling them seperately to the car (putting the originals back in obviously).

This method would save you time and money right now and the R logos are just fine as they are. The R is just Volkswagen racing's badge so pretty appropriate considering the modifications to your car and who did some of them! The R is also likely to appear next in a Golf with a 2.0 engine which will probably have inferior performance to your car too!

Is that any help or just 5 A.M typed twaddle? 

[182_blue]

probably option one for me out of your choices

 or option 3  , which is sides done in leather with interlagos middles

[RedRobin]

probably option one for me out of your choices

 or option 3  , which is sides done in leather with interlagos middles

....Option 1 is certainly the ideal and the choice of the purist

Option 3 is a non-starter as it's not only more expensive but also the leather sides won't match the cloth sides of the back seats. Then changing the sides of the back seats to leather would add even more cost.

[chungster]

i would leave it alone and spend the money on more carbon bits and bobs!!!!

seats look lovely.

hope they're gonna be on the options list on the Mk6!

[RedRobin]

Option 2 I think, but is there no way you can use the interlagos from your GTI's existing seats sewn into the Recaros? Then wait for a set of second hand or new old stock standard GTI covers to become available for your old seats which I assume will be kept in storage.

....That's an excellent idea except that I've now sold my oem seats to a modded Mk5 Caddy van and I had no room to store them anyway without first selling my oem exhaust, bonnet, and set of Monza 17's with tyres etc to make room. That money goes towards my upholstery conversion.

You would then easily recoup much of the cost when eventually selling the GTI in future by taking the Recaros out and selling them seperately to the car (putting the originals back in obviously).

....True but I have no intention of putting my car back to standard when selling - Too many mods! Plus I think that a real enthusiast would like my car as modded.

This method would save you time and money right now and the R logos are just fine as they are. The R is just Volkswagen racing's badge so pretty appropriate considering the modifications to your car and who did some of them! The R is also likely to appear next in a Golf with a 2.0 engine which will probably have inferior performance to your car too!

....Yes I have an ongoing 'relationship'/friendship with VWR and they are also an affiliate of BIALI Motorsport. I don't have a big problem with the .:R logo but a purist might. But you see plenty of alloys on VeeDubs which have other brand centre caps etc.

Whereas I wouldn't like to claim that my modded GTI would be more powerful or faster than the 'R20T' to come, I doubt if its expected ACC suspension and electronically brained diff will be as good as my VWR suspension and Quaife diff etc. It may have 4WD but will be heavier etc as a result. But that's another subject.

Is that any help or just 5 A.M typed twaddle? 

....No, very helpful and interesting ideas/contribution for which I'm grateful

[WhiteGTI]

Option 1 for me. I think that saving the money and waiting a little bit longer to make it perfect will pay off! You've spent so much time, money and effort in customising your car exactly how you want it, and I think that if you kept the 'R', then it would always be a little niggle in your head whenever you saw it...........

But any of your options (including keeping them as they are) look fine.

I guess what I mean is... that it seems to me that expense has never been spared on your car, so why do it now. Not that it makes it right to spend what is admittedly quite a lot of money, but i hope you understand the jiist of what I'm saying lol! 

Just my opinion!

See you tomorrow Red! 

[hotrod30]

Hi Robin,

Why not retrim the whole car by your local guy. You can then choose any combination of  (interlagos type) fabric or leather and it will be totally matching and bespoke. It might look odd if you can’t match the new Recaro front seats to the rest of the car.

Will be more expensive, but would be so much more integrated.

    Hotrod

[Top Cat]

I dont understand why the R section would have to remain Robin in option 2 are they just going to sow the interlagos straight over the cover that's there now 
I went to MJ interiors last summer to ask about getting the GTI in mine done in red stitching and it turned out very expensive due to the way it had to be done, seats stripped and the GTI section replaced with a pre stitched piece.
But what i am trying to say is surely the have to take those covers off to sow in the interlagos, and if so then its not going to be any harder to replace the R area.
I think you have to get rid of the R  your's is a GTI and one that gets showed off all over the place.. Save and replace is my thought's

And remember life is not a rehearsal   

[Greeners]

Some perspective needed!

Potential new owner to Robin, '' Nah I don't want the car as those beautiful Recaro's have the Volkswagen racing logo as opposed to the letters GTI (which of course aren't to be found anywhere else on the car  ) ''

I think not! Get your centre sections re-trimmed in Interlagos and enjoy your very unique seats which just happen to have the letter of your christian name on the top of them! 

IMHO of course! 

[chungster]

Top Cat,

I think option 2 is just to sew the Interlagos cloth into the darker grey bit in the middle, and the rest with the R logo at the top remain the same?

MJ Interiors are one of the best / known peeps in doing retrims I think, so not surprised if they wanted to charge more.

Option 1 changes both sections, so RR would then have the GTI logo in the head rest bit also.

[jonnyc]

Robin,

I really think that the 'R' looks great on the seats, 'R' does not necessarily mean its not a 'GTI'

Remember the R-GTI concept, for me the 'R' logo would represent a more special one off version of any of the VW product line.. Be it GTI or whatever.. Its like BMW and M.. You have the official models, M3, M5 etc.. But also the M-Sport etc..

If you really want to go with the Interlagos then I would say just get the sections made up and replaced in the covers that are currently on the seats..

The alternative would be to have the matching rears and not bother with the Interlagos..

If they had a BMW Performance logo on them then I get your point, but with a VW 'R' logo I think it ties in and makes perfect sense..

Jonny