robbonds

so how old or big does he need to be before i put him in the back of my cab ?

ronmart

He needs to be forward facing, so that means 1 year old (it is an age, not a weight thing because it has to do with strength of the bones in the neck).

Again, my apolgies for the confusion as I haven't had a little one rear facing for over 3 years, so I actually forgot about that part in our discussion.

gravedgr

Ahhh, okay. I'm looking for the Britax model that is the same as the rear-facing infant seat for the front of the 911. Here is the info from the Tequipment list:

Porsche Baby Seat LATCH

(1998-2004 911 w/deactivation device) part no. PNA 044 800 82

(2005 911 w/o deactivation device) part no. 955 044 800 82

ronmart

Yeah, that is a different carrier style seat that looks like a predessesor to the Britax Companion (http://www.britaxusa.net/products/browse.aspx). Mercedes and Porsche have used the Roundabout with a custom fabric in the past, but this is a different kind that they have now.

There isn't going to be any car seat that goes into the back seat rear facing, including these Porsche seats. They are designed to go rear facing into the front passenger seat with a special mounting kit. You probably don't need the deactivation device since the 997 has smart airbags in the passenger seat, but I think the kit has something equivalent to Mercedes "BabySmart" to make sure that autosensor gets the signal to be disabled.

The kit also installs LATCH for the front seat too if I remember right.

The roundabout will work fine forward facing in the back of the 997 Coupe or Cab (with the aid of 2 rolled towels under it - which should be done for any toddler seat in the rear to fill the gap for a proper fit).

Scottsfantasy

My father in law (an engineer) and I are looking into the idea of custom installing a LATCH system for the rear seats, for a rear facing car seat for a new 911.

Within a couple of years, I'm guessing ALL rear seats, including the small things in the back of a 911, we jokingly refer to as "seats", will require some sort of LATCH ayway, but my wife and I don't really want to wait.

We were thinking of finding pros, who typically would install roll bars, etc, who might be skilled at this. Any ideas?

stumil

About a month ago, I bought the Fisher Price Safe Voyage Booster Car Seat at Babys-R-Us for $79.99 and am very satisfied. I'm using the booster seat only without the back for my almost 6 year old daughter (52 pounds). It seems well built, and the best feature is an adjustable width base. Fits very well in the back seat of my 2006 C2 Cab. If anyone has positive or negative thoughts about the safety of this this booster seat, please let me know.

http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?...tail&pid=36055

erv

I think you will have a space problem if you try to install a rear facing seat in the back of a 911. With just boosters installed, I find it necessary to move the seats forward so my children's feet have enough room and I'm only 6' tall. A rear facing seat will force the driver or front passenger to move farther forward and also in a more upright position.

I have the porsche booster, which was a little over $200, certainly way overpriced, and the brittax parkway, both fit perfectly. It's obvious that brittax makes the porsche booster seat but they do not look or feel identical. The porsche booster seat feels considerably more substantial and better built...maybe thats what the extra $100 gets you.
Somone mentioned the leather 5 point harness seat, that would be the Eddie Bauer high back. Don't waste your time even trying to fit it in the back of your 997. It's too large so it doesn't really fit properly and it also forces the people in front to sit too far forward. The female seatbelt anchor is mounted too far forward making a secure seat belt mount impossible with alot of the larger 5 point infant/toddler seats.

Johnza

Thanks for the great info. I found one , new on ebay for $55.00 plus shipping

docwyte

What about a forward facing car seat for my 19 month old daughter? We have a Britax now for her, but it's a fairly large seat. I don't know which model it is... I need the whole seat for her, not just a booster, will I be able to fit one in the back of a 911?

ronmart

You mean like this?

That Britax seat is in the back of 996, but I used in it in my 997 too.

Some Britax seats will be too big, others like the roundabout should fit.

I left the seat cushion in AND used two rolled towels to help fill the gap between the base of the seat and the seat cushion. Worked great for me.

docwyte

Yep, ours looks to be pretty similar...

c2cal

I tried this recently as well with a Britax seat in the back of a 997 coupe. The main challenge I found was getting the lap belt "in front of" of the seat belt anchors for a tight fit. I ended up using the slots designed for rear-facing, although it is front-facing. I don't think this is the recommend approach, but it was the only way I could get the seat in tight. Please let me know if you found a better solution.

ronmart

If you are referring to the red (or orange for the color deficent ) clasps on the top sides of the seat (shown in the picture above) then that is what you should be doing. You use those to get the seatbelt really tight and hold it after you clip the seatbelt in. I've used that in every car I've owned to make sure the seat was in tight and properly.

BTW, I've been in a car that was totaled with my 1 year old son sitting in that exact seat with the seat configured as mentioned above and he walked away with only bruises where the seat dug into his shoulders and thighs.

c2cal

Glad to hear you son was ok, that's why we go to all this trouble! I did not have much luck routing the belt back there. When fastened and taught, i could yank the base of the seat forward and it would move several inches. The top is anchored tightly using the additional tether, but I was concerned about the base moving forward during a frontal crash.

Perhaps the configuration is different on a convertible? Not sure... The other slots I'm referring to are towards the front part of the base, closer to your son's knee in the photo.

ronmart

Yeah, that's not what I'm talking about.

You will get a "little" fore and aft movement, but no side to side movement in a 911. You shouldn't get any in another car.

I've tried my technique on both coupes and cabs of 996's and 997's.

If I was at home (long story) I'd try to hook up the old seat with step by step instructions and show pics on how I do it. Unfortunately that isn't possible and I don't have access to the seat where I am right now.