ronmart

Hey statman, first I'll forgive you for your blastphemy for your are clearly the victim of being dropped on your head as a child for being a Vikings fan.

You DO NOT want to do the 5 point harness in the back. Go to a store like The Right Start and just take one of theirs from the store and bring it out to your car (they will let you do that) and show her how your kids will be leaning forward and be VERY uncomfortable. Furthermore, if she's 46" then she's pushing the limits for height for the 5 point anyway. You'll see that the straps go down from her shoulders instead of up from her shoulders which means she's too tall. That's bad. Go to any car seat clinic or talk to a trained expert and they'll convinice your wife that you REALLY don't want to do that.

ronmart

Yes.

Britax are the Porsche of car seats. If you can afford it and they fit, you really don't want anything else because they really are the best made seats.

How do I know? I've had the ultimate crash test with them. On December 7th 1999 I was at the bottom of a hill on a two way road with steep drop offs on each side waiting behind someone who wanted to turn left, but couldn't due to the non-stop oncoming traffic. I got to watch as a full-size van weighing over 5700 lbs (plus cargo) ran into the back of me doing at least 45 without ever touching his brakes. My 1 year and 6 days old son, who was just turned around forward facing in a Britax Roundabout that morning with NO tether or LATCH/ISOFIX, and I were hit so hard that I was knocked unconcious and I literally bent the steel frame in seat of my first Mercedes E320. My glasses landed on the rear deck and there was a ripple in the steel flooring all the way to the gear shifter. My son escaped with only bruises from where his legs and shoulders dug into the straps, but he was otherwise fine. The crews on the scene said that they have seen so many seats fail under less serious accidents and that they were shocked he was unharmed. Had he been rear facing he would have certainly broken both legs very seriously. At that moment I became a Britax fan for life.

The only reason why I went with Graco for my new boosters is because the Parkway's are too large for the Mercedes to fit properly and don't come apart for when the kids get older.

Dariof

I have the same seat exactly.

I do disagree on removing the back rest portion of the car seat, at least for my 7 year old. When she sits in just the booster, her neck is exactly even with the top of the Porsche seat. In case of a rear-end collision, her neck would snap back at that point, causing whiplash. Could be a disaster.

Even though the back rest does lean a tad forward, she says she is not uncomfortable, and the back portion of the car seat offers protection against whiplash.

Food for thought for those slightly older kids.

ronmart

Yes, if your kids don't compain about it then I can't disagree with your desire to use it. My kids don't last long enough for me to get out of the driveway with the backs attached in the 911, but they do fine in other cars or in the front seat.

That brings up another point. The front seat air bag weight-sensitive disabling feature on 2006 models works great. My son is 53 pounds in his pajamas which concerned me because I think the manual says 50 pounds is the limit, but it appears that the sensor is based on the pressure of the sensor which equates to torso weight. I have to keep him in the front for school drop off (in the neighborhood only - not on regular streets) and I was very pleased NOT to have to purchase the airbag disable kit.

gravedgr

Thanks for the info. I wrote down the toddler models - do you know which Britax model is for infants?

ronmart

I used the Britax Roundabout which is still available:

http://www.britaxusa.net/products/360_roundabout.aspx

It is good for 5 - 33 pounds rear facing and you can see my story about how effective it is. I had my now 4.5 year old daughter in hers forward facing until just last week. The new ones have LATCH support too which I highly recommend, but have never been able to use in my cars because my car seats didn't have it.

The Boulevard, Decathalon and Marathon have more advanced cushions, so those would be fine as well.

gravedgr

Oh! Awesome, thanks! I didn't understand that it was suited for both.

Arnzo

My first "mod"! Thanks guys...good info...solves an issue and makes my marriage that much smoother.

ronmart

I hear ya! If it weren't for Britax, I'd still have an empty third stall in my garage (or a M3 if I was lucky).

BiggerTwin

Weight is another issue that is often overlooked, especially with the new LATCH system. I have a very knowledgeable car seat salesman and have bought many Britax seats from him. When I was looking for a LATCH system seat last year he told me that it doesn't matter what the seat is rated for because the LATCH system is only good for up to 40 pounds and after that you should use the car's seat belts to secure the seat to the car.

Alan

robbonds

is it safe to put a 6 month old in the back of a cab ? if so - whast a good baby seat ?

ronmart

No, definitely not. < 1 year needs to be rear facing and that requires mounting in the front seat which requires you to go with the Porsche mounting system for the best results. You could do a rear facing in the front yourself, but you are taking a big risk with something that is more valuable than $1000 bucks you'd spend getting things done right. Personally, I wouldn't do it.

ronmart

Very good point. I haven't been able to use a LATCH system, so I hadn't run into this issue but it makes total sense.

gravedgr

Wait - I thought you said the Britax Roundabout (and possibly some other convertible models?) worked just fine in the front of a 911 for infants (rear-facing)?!?

ronmart

The Roundabout and other Britax seats work great forward facing in the rear. In the front seat you need the Porsche kit to install it safely. I haven't tried it so YMMV.

You won't be able to fit a Roundabout Rear Facing properly in the back of a 911. My apologies for the confusion as I was referring to forward facing only.