Question Britax Boulevard vs Recaro

[BeyondTheMasquerade]

Britax Boulevard versus Recaro Proride/Performance Ride. Thoughts, pros, cons, and personal experiences?????

 

[abigaylebelle]

We have both a recaro convertible and a boulevard 70; I would say they are fairly similar seats. The main differences being a shorter shell height and a lower base on the boulevard.
Other slight differences would be the shape of the seat is a bit more L shaped on the recaro as opposed to the C shape of the boulevard seat. The boulevard will fit much smaller babies than the recaro. The old version of the recaro convertibles had a latch bar like the britax boulevard but I believe recaro has gone to a single latch strap. Also the boulevard has many little clicks for the harness height as opposed to the infinite adjust on the recaro.

The downside to both seats is probably a lack of legroom rearfacing although it has never been an issue for my kids.

 

[thtr4me]

Hope I can jump in and threadjack real quick. Does the Recaro have a taller RFing height limit than the Boulevard? My almost 3yo is just about over the max height (within 1" of the shell) on the Boulevard. Just curious if he would have a bit more growing room in a Recaro.

 

[MommyShannon]

Hope I can jump in and threadjack real quick. Does the Recaro have a taller RFing height limit than the Boulevard? My almost 3yo is just about over the max height (within 1" of the shell) on the Boulevard. Just curious if he would have a bit more growing room in a Recaro.

The seats that fit kids considerably longer are the Radian, NextFit, Foonf, and Graco Size4Me/Headwise/FitMe/a few other names. The True Fit is tall too but only 35lbs rf.

 

[abigaylebelle]

Well the shell height of the recaro is at least 2" taller than the boulevard. I measure it at 26.5" for the recaro and 24" for the britax. The limiting factor might be that there is not a lot of legroom for a bigger child in either seat. My ds turned ff at 38" tall so I cannot speak to whether or not a child taller than that would fit rf.

For forward facing use the recaro has a slightly higher top harness height around 17.5" but the britax installs more upright so I think in the vehicle it is a wash.

For a rearfacing three year old I would recommend looking at one of the seats a previous poster recommended (radian, mysize, maybe nextfit).

 

[abigaylebelle]

Ok just wanted to come back to say that I put my 44lb/46"/15" torso 7 year old in both seats installed rf to see how the shell height held up to my measurements.

Interestingly my ds had at least 4" of shell above his head in the recaro. His head was approximately even with the top of the shell in the britax but I couldn't be totally sure since his shoulders needed the headwings up a bit. So if the legroom wasn't a deal breaker you could potentially rf a really tall kid in the recaro.

Necessary disclaimer: this child is far too heavy to rf in either seat. Both have rf weight limits of 40lbs. No cars were moved during this test.

 

[thtr4me]

The seats that fit kids considerably longer are the Radian, NextFit, Foonf, and Graco Size4Me/Headwise/FitMe/a few other names. The True Fit is tall too but only 35lbs rf.

Thanks for the info. I knew about these seats, but was unfamiliar with how the Recaro lined up. Good to know where all the seats line up in the RFing height limits !

 

[romanoma]

I have a recaro signo (older version) and an older gen blvd. I agree with the statement that the recaro is more like an L vs the C shape of the britax. The recaro has higher sides at the thighs which makes it harder to place the legs outward when RFing an older kid. I moved my DD to a RFing radian when she hit 3, but I loved it up until then! She is now FF in the recaro as her primary seat at 5.5 and has lots of shell height left. I think the Signo is my favorite FF seat from what I have tried. I feel like she is tucked inside a soft, cozy, padded velour cocoon Feels very luxurious and very safe due to the way the shell comes around her, has great head wings, and I like the tall shell as well.