At first blush, visiting a seat factory might not sound like the most arresting way to spend a morning, but when Recaro gave us a call and offered a tour of its Auburn Hills, Michigan, assembly facility, we jumped at the chance. That's because Recaro builds performance seats for Ford and General Motors, and most intriguingly, for the awesome new Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. (We have one current—our Ford Focus ST—and have had two former long-term test cars—a Ford Mustang GT and Cadillac CTS-V wagon—equipped with the Recaro chairs, perches typically up to the task of holding one snugly during aggressive driving.) Surprisingly, Recaro gave us nearly free reign to wander the factory floor—and snap pictures of everything.
Before starting our tour, Recaro's people told us what sets the Z/28's seats apart from the Recaros available in the Camaro SS, 1LE, and ZL1 models. Admittedly, there weren't many differences outside of the cover's material choices; the Z/28 lacks the ZL1's power functions, saving four pounds per seat. As for the chairs' assembly, while Recaro's employees cut, embroider, and sew the leather seat covers together on-site using machines, the seat frames, foam, and electronics are shipped in from outside suppliers. The basic sequence starts with a large automated machine cutting seat-cover pieces from huge swaths of leather, which are then reinforced with foam backing. Next, the headrest cover is embroidered by a mesmerizing automated sewing machine, followed by the sewing together of the entire seat cover. The lower seat cover is stuffed with foam before being fitted to the lower frame assembly, while the seatback foam is fitted to the frame before the seatback cover is stretched over it.
- Instrumented Test: 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28
- Instrumented Test: 2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport Twin-Turbo V-6
- Instrumented Test: 2014 Ford Fiesta ST
Finally, workers test the seat's mechanized functions, use steamers and bone (not from whales—a source outlawed decades ago, we're told) to smooth out any wrinkles in the leather and ensure everything fits nice and tight. The completed, tested seats are then loaded onto special pallets and shipped to GM for final fitment in the Camaro Z/28. Naturally, this process is more or less the same for the other seats Recaro makes. You can check out Recaro's facility in the photo gallery:
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