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Original poster

anyone with rf group 1 car seat?

28 replies

nicm · 05/01/2009 10:06

hello

was wondering what rf car seats you have? have been told that the only 2 that will fit in my car is the britax 2 way elite and brio zento.

the 2 way elite doesn't look like it has much side protection and i don't have anywhere to see the brio zento. have spoken to vicky in the essex safety centre and she has said it is just as safe.

have emailed the swedish shop about the mobi but haven't heard back.

please tell me which you have and would recommend as ds is fast growing out of his baby seat.

thank you.

OP posts:
Flightattendant7 · 05/01/2009 10:08

I have a Concorde Ultimax, it's RF up to 18 months.

Very highly rated on safety, it's German but available over here.

Original poster
nicm · 05/01/2009 10:24

hi flightattendant7 thanks but it was the next stage one i was looking for.

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NorktasticNinja · 05/01/2009 10:31

I have the BSafe iZi Combi, it is RF and has the option be used FF after 18 months (it is suitable for RF to age 4). The BSafe iZi Comfort is almost identical.

It's a fab seat with good side protection. It fits in our tiny Ford Ka, so I'm pretty sure it would fit in almost anything!

TheBlonde · 05/01/2009 10:35

We have the Britax Secura Hiway from Sweden and a Britax Roundabout from the US (which can RF til 35lbs)

Original poster
nicm · 05/01/2009 10:43

thanks NorktasticNinja and the blonde.

NorktasticNinja does the besafe izi combi or the besafe izi comfort have a support leg when rear facing? this seems to be my problem as i have underfloor storage unless i can fit it to extend past the storage.

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Original poster
nicm · 05/01/2009 10:45

sorry the blonde i think the secura highway has a support leg, does it? if not i will look into that thanks. and would like something to rf longer than 35lbs as ds was 23lbs at 7 months!!

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NorktasticNinja · 05/01/2009 10:48

Erm, I'm not sure! It's 'tied' to the seat in front but it might have a support leg too (I don't think so though). I'll check for you when DP comes home this evening.

Original poster
nicm · 05/01/2009 10:52

great thank you. would be much happier with these seats as they seem to do really well in the german 'which' tests. also can i ask where you got it from then? and what age you dc is and if they are still rf?

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NorktasticNinja · 05/01/2009 11:03

I'm not in the UK so didn't buy it there, I got it her in Holland. My DD is 13 months and I'll be keeping her RF as long as I can, it's so much safer and our car is not a particularly safe one...

Oh, and it's the BSafe Kid not the Comfort that's almost identical to the Combi, got confused!

Here is the BSafe site, there's a telephone number (Norway) at the bottom of the page, they might be able to advise you if it'll fit in your car.

The Kid is available in the UK here, and there might be other suppliers too. Not sure about the Combi though.

NorktasticNinja · 05/01/2009 11:03

her here

Original poster
nicm · 05/01/2009 11:04

thanks will have a look. look forward to hearing if it has the support leg.

OP posts:
TheBlonde · 05/01/2009 11:54

The Hiway doesn't have a support leg
It's not isofix
It fixes via the seatbelt and is also tethered to the seat in front
It's RF only to 40lb

link

Flightattendant7 · 05/01/2009 12:11

sorry not to be helpful nicm,

it does go up to age four forward facing so wasn't sure if that was group 1? I am bad at this stuff

Original poster
nicm · 05/01/2009 18:26

thanks flightattendant7. it is group 1 i think but i want ds to be rear facing until 4. he should stay in his cabrio until 18 months but looks like he'll be out of it by 10 months due to his weight/height!

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NorktasticNinja · 05/01/2009 19:44

Hi nicm, our seat does have a support leg, so maybe it's no good for you. The leg is adjustable but I can't find out it's maximum/minimum length without removing the seat from the car. I'm sure the manufacturer will be able to tell you though, if it's long enough it might still be an option.

This is from a mail Cathy at the Essex Car Safety Center sent me "Most of the rear facing seats have support legs and these should not be fitted into cars where there is under floor storage boxes as it is likely that the leg will punch through the floor in an impact. If the leg cannot reach the floor with the lid of the storage box removed a different seat should be purchased."

Can you safely disable the passenger airbag? If so you could fit an RF seat in the front which would probably make finding one a lot easier.

Have you been to rearfacing.co.uk? They have a forum which you might find helpful.

Original poster
nicm · 05/01/2009 22:06

thanks for checking. might call vicky in essex again and check if this seat will fit in my car. have recieved an email from the swedish shop saying this will fit as will the mobi or the brio, but would need to be certain as it is over £350.00 wasted if not!! (unless the swedish versions of my car don't have underfloor storage-but i can't see them changing this because of a baby seat)

hope it will as it comes out top in all the independent results but can't find results for the 2 way elite.

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rowrowrowyourboat · 06/01/2009 10:57

Hi, sorry I've only just seen this. We have the Brio Zento, brought it, online, from Paul Stride in York. It doesn't have a support leg it tethers to the seat in front. Is RF to 25kg. Oh and I paid £199 including delivery. Hope this helps will be out today but I'll check back later if you want to know anything else.

Original poster
nicm · 06/01/2009 11:09

thanks rrryourboat. can i ask what car you have it fitted in and where in the car? does it look like it has good side protection/deep wings/is comfortable iykwim? sorry so many questions to everyone but buying without seeing when it comes to a car seat i think is a bit risky!?

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NorktasticNinja · 06/01/2009 13:31

Just found this (again, from Cathy), thought it might be handy...

The space needed for rear facing seats is often considerable, so below are the measurements needed from the back of the rear seat to the back of the front seat.

Maxi Cosi Mobi ? 96cms 37?
BeSafe iZi Kid/Combi ? 72cms 28?
Brio Zento ? 86cms 34?
All the above measurements are approximate and dependent on the length of the vehicle seat.
Britax 2-Way Elite ? 83cms 33?
Britax Nordic Secura ? 84cms 33?

Original poster
nicm · 06/01/2009 18:21

thanks for that NorktasticNinja. it's not really the space issue in my car it's that i have underfloor storage in my car and you're not supposed to have a support leg resting on it. however my car is on the besafe list as suitable so think i'll go for this car seat. can i ask you if you think it reclines enough when your dd is asleep as it looks very upright in the pictures as ds is only 9 months and still sleeps quite a bit.

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NorktasticNinja · 06/01/2009 18:38

It is quite upright, as are all group 1 seats but it does seem to recline well enough to me. Even though the back seats in our car slope much more than is usual she's still reclined enough to sleep comfortably without her head falling forward at all. She's been in the BSafe since she was about 11 1/2 months.

Is your DS's head already level with the top of the back of his Cabrio seat? He's still absolutely fine in that until it is. Legs sticking out at the bottom is not a problem, I checked with the manufacturer because it was taking so long to track down a new RF seat for DD.

DD hated being in her Cabrio towards the end (from about 9 1/2 or 10 months) because she didn't like being forced to lay down, but safely wise, it would probably only be about now that she would be to big for it. She's 13 months and just under average height.

Original poster
nicm · 06/01/2009 19:13

that's good about the head not rolling forward when asleep. no ds was 10.5kgs at 7 months. haven't had him weighed since but guess he'll be near the 13kgs soon and it is taking a while to choose this seat!! he has about 2 cms left at the top and will keep him in this until he totally outgrows it but need to get the next seat sorted. wish there was more choice but as usual we're not given a good choice in this country. phoned a company today who had a besafe seat here and it cost nearly 3000 euros!!! couldn't belive it.

if i thought he would last until april i would wait and see it in the shops as we're off to the netherlands hopefully for queens day. do prenatal stock it or did you order online or from a local shop?

OP posts:
NorktasticNinja · 06/01/2009 19:30

3000 euros I paid 500 euros for mine, which was nearly enough to give me a heart attack! I see the varments have now reduced it to 400 euros now though.

RF seats are really hard to come by here too, Prenatal look at you like your mad if you ask about them. There's only one place I found that stock it, it is a web shop but you can visit too. Here. They stock the Recaro Polaric too.

According to MaxiCosi the weight of a child isn't an issue, just the height. But, in any case, there is little chance of him lasting in it until April! He sounds like a lovely big chap BTW, my DD is only about 11 kg now!

Good luck in finding yourself a good seat!

NorktasticNinja · 06/01/2009 19:31

BTW did you try the forum at rearfacing.co.uk? They might have some tips about stockists ot there might even be someone who has the same car as you.

Original poster
nicm · 06/01/2009 19:43

yes 2874.26!! had to say it back twice to confirm as i couldn't believe it. thanks for the link but i don't think he'll last until then and i can order it from a german site for 300euro. also the site will accept returns if it doesn't fit. have tried the rf site but no joy.

yes ds is great and is really long too(was 4.34kgs when he was born).

thanks for all your help.

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