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My son is 5 and we're using a booster seat in the back (does not work for younger infants) - it is the Maxi Cosi Rodi and it fits very well, especially after removing the car's rear seatback. No complaints. No need to modify anything on the car or on the seat.
It is not a harness seat - uses the OEM seat belt.
Has anyone tried the fitment of either of these two child seat/boosters in the back of a coupe? Britax FRONTIER 85 SICT or PARKWAY SG, see picture below.
The cup holders on the Parkway maybe an issue, they may slide back or can be removed (a couple of photos on their website do not show them).
I have both of those seats and I don't think there is any way the bottom will fit properly (disclosure - I do have a cab). I'm pretty sure I tried when I got them and it wasn't close. I use a really cheap booster (bottom only) from Target that someone recommended for my older daughter and have resigned myself to not taking my little ones out until they can use that as well.
I've had some luck with the Britax Diplomat, and I think Marathon in a coupe. Seats pretty far forward, but it works (my kid is small and my wife is short, so the passenger seat is way up).
I may switch to a booster as he's 6 and over 40 lbs, but I'm hesitant to do so as 5 pt is much safer.
Here is my solution. I have gone through a couple of these, luckily I already had the Britax.
I have a Britax 85 SICT for the Cayenne and it fits, but it has the side impact stuff so no way will it fit in the 993. To wide at the base, both front and back. The cup holders are integrated. One option was to use a heat gun to cut and remold. It probably would have worked, but still 50/50 I would have ruined a car seat. And i'm not swapping seats. So I needed a seat anyways
So I found the Diono diono radian rxt. This is sold as the only carseat that you can fit 3 across in the back seat. And also sold as the only seat you will need since it's both front and rear facing. Very sturdy steel frame that the seat folds if you need it.
For the mounting I removed the seat belt buckle and used one of the brey krause harness extender things to be used as the teather mount point. I couldn't find the tether mount on the rear deck like others have posted and then used the Ford tether mount. You have to remove the buckle for the seat to fit anyway, but still needed a way to mount the tether.
For the buckle I used the other side's seat buckle. I also cut the plastic cover off of the buckle so that it would bend over the tunnel.
The last part is I used one of the seat tightner things. I first wanted to use the one everyone uses for DE but it's not right. So I used the specific car seat one. Ran the seatbelt through the seat as you would do for a normal install and then used the tightener to snug it all down. It works great. The seat is not going any where.
I have some photos that I will upload.
Also, everyone talks about the recarro and other seats but they won't work. Also, if you have an infant then you must have a 5 pt harness so you need a real seat. As they get older the booster will work but when they are young you need a real infant seat.
Thanks for the great info Jim. We have a Recaro ProSport for my wife’s car, it does not fit the 993. I tried; I could not get it through the door. We love the Recaro, we take it on flights, it's been all over the world.
I will check into the Diono, I've installed a couple of 5pt racing harnesses, so that type of install will not be a problem. I will need to switch between my DD and the 993 pretty quickly. Pictures would be nice.
I bookmarked the Recaro ProBooster, but it looks pretty tall, and we may want a built-in harness at this point.
I'd love pics too. I have the radian 65, which I think is essentially the same seat, and couldn't get it to work. I've also used the BK mounts and I fortunately had the tether mount point already installed when I bought the car (doesn't look too tough, btw).
Ok, here are the photos. I have some with the infant seat as well. It's a Britax marathon. Pretty much a step up from the carrier thing that has a base and snaps in. This has a narrow base and tapered in the back and fit very well.
Here are the Diono photos.
You can see in some of the photos it doesn't totally fit on the seat, but most of it does, and this is probably as good as it gets until you can move to a booster. It is anchored in very well by the 3 pt belt and the tether. The key is the seat belt tightener, thats the only way to cinch it all down tight. It's hard to see the tether, but it's inboard with the seat buckle removed and then the BK tunnel mount installed and the tether is tight.
The Diono seat is ver solid steel frame. so it's not a plastic base so I feel comfortable with a little overhang. I was trying to figure out HTF to remove the flip up seat to give it a little more room to slide back.
I am also very close to just putting the car seat in the front seat and using the airbag disable buckle and pushing the seat all the way back. But i'm sure I would get plenty of lectures on why he's in the front seat.
Huh. I have essentially that same seat and are using the LATCH with the BK mounts on the Britax. But using that method on the Radian (which I also have) worked in the cab but not the coupe because of where the seat belt bolts hit. I never thought about using the onboard belts and cincher that way.
I'm a little confused still though. You have the 3 point standard belt routing through the seat and over to the OTHER passenger rear seat with the tensioner. When you say tether, do you mean a LATCH sort of lap belt thing in addition? Or do you mean the tether that mounts from the top of the car seat?
I feel embarrassed asking this but to those who went the rennline harness mount route, which combo of mounts did you use? It looks like two of the "door side" mounts is the way to go, right? The tunnel side mounts appear to attach to the driver seat belt mounts, which would do nothing to help secure the child seat.
^^ Yes, two of those, and the LATCH. Note that the LATCH that is sort of rectangular and has the clamp hidden in the plastic will not work. I had to buy the base unit of an infant carrier which had more of a carabeener sort of hook, and use that instead.
I just bought a Graco Affix booster with the front adjusting tether system. It fit's pretty well, but not perfect - still a little too wide. I bought it because it was the most narrow and shortest one I could find. I think a little closed cell foam or a beach towel under the seat will solve the problem. I'm waiting on the Rennline SA03 Harness Mount - Door Side 2 ($72.00) for the latch system to complete the install. Before, I bought the seat I purchased the tether bracket -1C3Z-28613D74-AA and trim plug - 911.555.627.00.01C thinking I would do the top anchor point. It's not necessary with the seat, because it only uses the bottom tethers. If anybody is interested in buying the tether bracket and trim plug (black) for a 3 tether system shoot me a PM.
Evenflo Tribute Sport will fit nicely, these are rated to carry up to 40lbs so on the smaller side. In Canada some of the seats recommended in this thread like the Diono will not work, the head position is to close to the rear windshield.
A few things I discovered to secure the seat:
- Lower lumbar area protruding out creates difficulty for the seat to push back completely flushed for a secure seat belt lock. To overcome this place a seat padding there to make it more uniform. As well, our 993 rear floor mats works well to place on the cushion part. Levels it out and helps minimize movement once the seat is strapped down. All of this protects from damage to the seat too.
- As Jaholmes indicated the tightening of the seat belt is very crucial, it's much more effective using the other side seat belt buckle in addition to a seat belt lock. 993s don't have a very good self-locking system.
- Since your not using the same side seat belt buckle, remove and replace with a rennline anchor.
So with a tight seat belt lock, tethered anchors on both sides + for Canadian vehicles you can tether from the rear = fully locked down baby seat.
06-25-2012, 04:29 PM
