For a unique driving experience on the street and at the very limits of the racetrack, RECARO Automotive Seating presents the world’s first aftermarket seat approved for both arenas: the RECARO Podium. The seat boasts a general operating permit (the German ABE) for use on public roadways as well as a homologation 8855-1999 certificate from the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) for use in competitive motorsports. With its iconic RECARO design featuring a sleek one-piece carbon shell and a bold upholstery pad concept, it’s immediately clear that this world first makes absolutely no compromises in terms of comfort or safety. The RECARO Podium will become available in mid-2020, with a list price of 2,660 to 2,990 euros.
Essen, November 29, 2019 – “We’re very pleased to be at the Essen Motor Show, where we can use the spotlight of this international car-tuning meetup for the world debut of the RECARO Podium – especially since our brand experts Timo Bernhard, Sidney Hoffman und Frank Stippler unveiled and presented the new shell,” says Ulrich J. Severin, general manager of RECARO Automotive Seating. “With this new milestone in RECARO seat development, we’re literally ‘sharing the podium’ with all our fans. Here on the frontier between street and racetrack, RECARO has become the world’s first supplier to offer a performance shell seat that’s at home in both arenas. With the Podium we are raising the bar as it turns out to be the world’s lightest shell in this segment.”
The RECARO Podium encloses the body and protects it like a second skin. This is also reflected in its look, featuring an innovative exposed shell with contours that closely follow the human body. In describing its unique character, Frank Beermann, head of design at RECARO Automotive Seating, takes an image from bionics: “Here, we’ve taken the ingenious structure of natural bone and translated it into the seat shell architecture of the RECARO Podium, with a thin outer layer of maximum density and firmness enclosing an inner layer that’s porous, flexible and resilient. Through an innovative manufacturing process, we’ve sandwiched a strong, ultralight high-tech foam core between two shells of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP).” Thus makes the RECARO Podium the world’s lightest retrofit seat shell approved for both street use and racetrack deployment: with pad size M it weighs 6,1 kg, with pad size L 5,9 kg.
The backrest’s distinctive arrangement of three belt openings represents a new iconic design element from RECARO. Four-point belts such as a Schroth shoulder harness (type approval ECE-R 16.04) can be inserted into the two lower openings. Additionally, in street-legal performance vehicles it can be used with three-point belts. In GT or touring-car racing as well as club motorsports, the RECARO podium is compatible with four-, five- or six-point belts, as well as HANS (Head and Neck Support) systems.
The new upholstery concept, with pads placed at contact points between seat shell and body, further enhances the the stunning looks of the RECARO Podium while offering color and material combinations. This solution from motorsports not only saves on weight and materials but also allows for passive ventilation, with air able to circulate freely between the pads and through the seat shell’s openings. The seat will be available in mid-2020 with two different pad sizes (M and L).
With its projecting side bolsters, intelligently contoured shoulder support and integrated headrest, the RECARO Podium offers an incomparably dynamic driving experience, providing direct feedback from the pavement at all times. For its outstanding ergonomics, the new seat was awarded with the seal of quality from AGR e.V., the German Campaign for Healthier Backs, as the first product within the new AGR category “street-legal racing shell”. The AGR seal helps drivers choose back-friendly products.
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