I’ve bought RECAROs! Now to find out what exactly they are..
Hello again.
On the most recent and last entry of being in Penang, I mentioned that we’ve finally secured a set of Recaro “Ergomeds”
Well, is it? What are they? How come some of them are different? What makes these unique? Why wasn’t it possible to mount these as an office chair? Well, let me answer these questions.
First off. Recaro has a frankly very confusing line of seats.
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| Source Image: Recaro (Brochure) |
To start, not all Recaro seats with this shape are Ergomeds. I’m not sure who else initially thought of it this way, but I was completely convinced it as such until I was doing research on my new-to-me set.
To simplify my summary, I won’t be including the SR series and other seats as they are comparatively different in general design from the “Classic design”. So seats like the SR-3, SR-4’s and beyond I will not be talking about.
For these variant of seats, Recaro has offered many names for them, included but possibly not limited to:
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| Recaro Specialist Source: RECARO |
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| Recaro Ergomed (Pictured is E variant) Source: RECARO |
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| Recaro Expert Source: RECARO |
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| Recaro LX Source: RECARO |
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| Recaro LS Source: RECARO |
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| Recaro DS Source: Pinterest |
The list might go on, becaue information is pretty scarce to do the necessary research. Plus, it tends to be the optional extras that could be optioned on the seats, and each variants complicate the matter even more. If I am not mistaken, there are other variants, like Orthopaedic, for one.
Of course, the variants per model are many, like the Recaro Expert S or M, or Recaro Ergomed D and E, Recaro LS, LX, LS-VF, the list can go on forever.
However, again, information is plenty scarce since there are many variants, and these seats were produced over decades of different variants, patterns, offerings in different cars and more.
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| Ze cuck Recaro |
Oh, here is my shoddy and quite possibly inaccurate attempt with trying to distinguish differences between the more common variants of each model.
Ergomed
Ergomeds have come in both thick and thin bolster configurations, depending on variant. Suppose the E variant that is currently available on RECARO’s website (EN Link) use the thick configuration, while the listed Ergomed that is available on RECARO Japan’s website (JP Link) is a thin variant similar to the LX.
The MV variant for instance and in comparison to the E is a thin variant with lumbar support, and an adjustable seat length.
The E has thicker bolsters and has a distinguishable inner seat padding, with adjustable seat length (or cushions), seat adjustment and an optional climate package that introduces seat heating and air conditioning.
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| Recaro Ergomed MV(?) Source: RECARO |
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| Recaro Ergomed E/ES Source: MillerCanvas |
Expert
The Expert model comes with a distinguishable inner seat padding, similar with the Ergomed. It features different prominent side bolsters compared to other models. The backrest side bolsters are adjustable as standard.
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| Recaro Expert Source: RECARO |
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| Recaro Expert Specifications Source: RECARO |
LS / LX / Specialist
Regarding the LS and LX, the difference in either is seen mostly on the backrest, with the LS having a more pronounced backrest bolster. Both came in fabric and leather choices.
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| Brochure sample for the LX and LS, differences in specs can be compared here. Source Image: Recaro (Brochure) |
The Specialist features a similar distinguishable inner seat padding as the Ergomed and Expert, with less bolstered lower side bolsters, and available from RECARO as an office chair. The upper side bolsters remain as the same as the LX.
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| Recaro Specialist Source: RECARO |
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| Recaro Specialist Source: RECARO |
Alright, so research on this whole line (Which I’m confident I barely scratched the surface, and it is likely pretty wrong as well), what is my set?
With heavy digging thanks to Ping and anti, we have come to the conclusion that these are a set of LX-VS Ellisse II.
Color me surprised that the set that I bought turn out to have a name similar to a certain Lotus. Suppose the stars have aligned again.
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| Source: trial.co.jp |
If I remember, these were produced sometime from 1992 to 2004. They also came with blue inner fabric, and I believe red as well.
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| Source: aucfree |
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| Source: riki.info |
One of the seats still has the original tag on it. The other seat unfortunately had its tag completely disintegrated, and by the time we’d figured it out, the packaging box that probably had the rest of the tag was thrown out. But it is real, no doubt.
Now, onto converting it into an office chair. The base does not fit, which prompted the search for what the seat was, and etc. We figured out that the base was meant for a newer seat, prompting our search on how old the seats actually were. Again, we deduced it was a 1992.
Conversion wise, the screws also do not fit, and we’re now looking to have the base modified so that it may fit on the next trip. Do note this if you’re considering converting your old seats into office chairs with a seat base accomodating for newer seats, such as those Thailand-manufactured seats, or others. I’ll be taking my leave for now, any other updates I will add to this post. Cherrio.
~Efini
Read more: Penang: December 2024: Entry 4 (4/4)
FIRE