Maxi-Cosi Airprotect Which report?

[SweetApril]

Hi. Has anyone seen the Which report on this car seat? As far as I can tell it's fairly new on the market and I'm not sure it's even been tested by Which yet. We were planning to buy the Maxi-Cosi XR but will go for this if it has as good, if not better, safety results. TIA.

this is from a previous thread:

Kiddy Energy Pro 79%
Britax KIDFIX (isofix) 77%
Maxi Cosi Rodi XR 75%
Cybex Solution X-Fix (belted) 74%
Britax KID plus 74%
Volvo booster seat 74%
Concord Transformer T (isofix) 74%
Maxi Cosi Rodi Air Protect 72%
Cybex Solution X 72%
Concord Lift Evo PT 72%

All in the Best Buys section.

Thanks. Bit disappointing that the new all-singing, all-dancing model is actually 3% lower than the XR! You'd think the safety factor would put it way higher - although I suppose they're considering other factors and not just safety.

not sure how they rate the safety ratings. a lot of the rear facing 2nd stage seats are recommended as 'don't buy's i think because they are more complicated to fit (i presume due to having to tether them), and state that they are only satisfactory in a frontal impact. i find this difficult to believe when rear facing seats are 5 times safer in a frontal impact than a forward facing seat! so a forward facing seat in the same category (age group) will get a much higher percentage rating than a rear facing one which is 5 times safer!
i know you are not looking at this age group, but it is just an example of why you shouldn't worry too much at what percent all the seats get. According to the maxi cosi website it is the same seat but with better side impact protection. Which scored it lower for comfort (xr got 5 stars and air protect only 4).
i've been looking at the same seat, but the only thing that worries me is the big gap between the headrest and the rest of the seat at the highest setting, which none of my other high back boosters have.
go with what you like after researching the safety of the seat and what fits your car. find out from the essex road safety officers (www.rearfacing.co.uk/safetyofficers.php) how to check as the staff in mothercare or halfords don't have a clue in my experience!

I've just looked at this one compared to the XR on Which? and they're very similar results. The Air Protect loses a star on comfort and gains a star on Instructions. Other than that, their star ratings (including Which safety ratings) are the same, so I don't know why the scores are different, and it's not clear from the text.

Thanks, molly and nicki. Well, I've ordered the Airprotect so we shall see.

Molly - do you know if the XR also has the big gap between the headrest and the main part of the seat? I haven't really noticed this on any of the online pics but then this is my first time buying a car seat in this group so I'm not really sure what they all look like! Also thanks for the essex road link. I've used it before but couldn't remember what it was called.

Nicki - I wonder how they test for comfort. Maybe they put various children in the seat and ask them what they think! My DD would give a different answer every time just for the hell of it!

I'll post back on how the Airprotect works out in case it helps anybody else.

i've just ordered an air protect as well.
there is a gap when the headrest is at a higher setting, but I spoke to one of the road safety officers this afternoon and she reckoned that the fact that the seat has no protection on the shoulders was not important.
What is good is the superior head protection of this seat compared to other seats.
The other reason i ordered it is that she had measured all the seats they have to see which one is the tallest from bum to top and this seat (or the rodi xp/xr) came out the tallest! i need this seat for my 7 year old, who is tall and i want him to be in a high back booster for as long as possible.
I am the most anal person when it comes to car seat safety as i worry about car accidents!
my son sat in it in mothercare and liked it.
Check when you fit it in your car if the seat at the highest setting touches the side of the car, if it does you might have to put the seat in the middle when your child is older if you have room.

Molly, that's really useful information. My DD is also very tall so it's good to hear there's a chance it'll last a bit longer. And thanks for the tip about touching the side of the car. I hope it doesn't - I doubt there'll be room in the middle for it as we have a Cabriofix in there as well. Does this mean I need a new car? Expensive business this car seat malarky

i know we've got two cars, and three kids, so six car seats! you only have to worry about it when your dd gets bigger and it probably is only a problem when you're fitting 3 seats in a row like me.