The OFFICIAL Britax Frontier Spoilers & Speculation thread (part 5)

[Lys]

Uuuuugh...I've been almost as excited as you to hear about you getting it... now I'll have to find something else to keep myself busy till you get it

Ok. Got my tracking email. It should be here Thursday. Not too bad.

 

[snowbird25ca]

Does anyone know if the Frontier will have the seat belt lock-offs like other Britax seats? I haven't ever owned a seat with lock-offs, but a lot of our installs will be with belts, and it just seems like it would be so much easier and that much more accurate. When I looked at the Britax website I found the "user guide" for the Frontier, but there was no mention of lock-offs. It just said to thread the belt through the belt path and tighten.

Thanks!

No, it doesn't have lock-offs.

 

[emandbri]

Wow, I'm sad it doesn't have any lock offs.

I've read (okay skimmed ) all the threads and I just don't get the dimensions

Britax's site says W, H, D 19.5 x 22 x 26.5

but looking at the picture the seat looks more more tall than it is deep and the site also says that it has a Seating Compartment Height of 21.5 which isn't possible if the seat is 22 inches tall.

So I'm fairy sure the seat is 26.6 inches tall (I'm assuming without the headrest raised).

First the positive. I really like this seat and think I'll get one after they have had time to work out the first production glitches (I bought one of the first marathons and first decathlons ) I want to get a harnessed seat for my almost 5 year old and even though I know many people like the regent I really didn't like it when I had the husky in my van because I felt it blocked too much of my view out the windows. This seat is shorter and not as wide so that would be less of an issue.

Now the neg. I feel the need to say (even though it has been said already) that these covers are UGLY! I want plaid, prints, how about some dinos, jungle, or space for boys and how about girly covers that aren't pink.

 

[jen_nah]

Re: Lifesavers Conference- Pics of the Britax frontier

Hehe, we really let the carseat reps have it today. Evenflo, Britax, Sunshine Kids, Combi, we complained to them all, I think.

The Frontier is a nice seat, for what it is (not nice enough, IMHO, to make me want to buy it over a Nautilus, though, not unless booster mode is fantastically tall). But it's just frustrating when our kids outgrow all these seats by height LOOONNG before weight, and our kids are height-weight proportionate. We all really want/need seats with taller top slots, not just a higher weight limit. It seems silly to make the Frontier with an 80 pound limit like the Regent, but lower the top slots.

I agree with you Jenny about these taller kids needing seats longer. I think from the manufacture stand point they are seeing as many of us techs are seeing out in the field. Are kids that aren't taller but heavier that are outgrowing their seats by weight & not height.

I see where Britax, Sunshine Kids, etc... are coming from but I too stand on the side with a child that is tall but not heavy for her age. It puts us parents in between a rock & a hard place that is for sure but statistically children are getting fatter & not taller these days.

The reason why it has lower harness slots is due to it's smaller size then the Regent. Sarah said the reason for the lower slots is because to raise them they would have to make the seat bigger and us parents have been complaining about the Regent's size. So, To fix the size issues they couldn't make it wider to fit bigger kids like the Regent. As many of us know getting 2 Regents in a 4dr sedan that is supposed to hold 5 just lost a seating position. This is what the Frontier is supposed to fix is not taking up to much room and thos 5 passenger sedans can still be 5 passenger vehicles.

Supposedly they have gotten the Frontier 3 across but I would like to see that though.

My personal opinion on the Frontier is that is NICE and I will most likely buy one for K2 over the Nautilus just solely due to Britax reputation.

 

[scatterbunny]

Re: Lifesavers Conference- Pics of the Britax frontier

The reason why it has lower harness slots is due to it's smaller size then the Regent. Sarah said the reason for the lower slots is because to raise them they would have to make the seat bigger and us parents have been complaining about the Regent's size. So, To fix the size issues they couldn't make it wider to fit bigger kids like the Regent. As many of us know getting 2 Regents in a 4dr sedan that is supposed to hold 5 just lost a seating position. This is what the Frontier is supposed to fix is not taking up to much room and thos 5 passenger sedans can still be 5 passenger vehicles.

I figured as much. It makes sense, I suppose. I hope sometime soon someone can design a seat that's not HUGELY wide like the Regent (we all know the Regent's size issues are mostly the width), but with tall top slots like the Regent.

Supposedly they have gotten the Frontier 3 across but I would like to see that though.

Yeah, I'd like to see that, too. I wonder what type of vehicle? I can see it working in certain larger vehicles, but definitely not your average sedan or compact SUV.

 

[LCMOM]

Re: Lifesavers Conference- Pics of the Britax frontier

I will tell him; he had a blast going to Lifesavers and seeing all the new seats

 

[LCMOM]

ugh... then that doesn't bode well for the Frontier... Ruthie has a good 2-3" more in the Nautilus for growth than in the Radian.

She's 1" from being level with the top slots in the Radian, but is 1/3" (finally measured to be sure) from the 2nd to top slots in the Nautilus.




Do you mean in the shoulders or the hips? I was speaking about the hips. I don't see width problems for shoulders in the Frontier... and there it does look to be a little wider. For my kids, though, the issue for me comes to width for the bum and hips, as well as depth. Ruthie is all torso and part of the reason is she has a big booty. Damian, who is too wide for about any seat, fits the Nautilus for width in the hips so comfortably. It's just a shame he is too big to use it at all for height.

He is too broad in the shoulders, but he really looked and felt pretty squished along the whole side of his torso. I have not measured, but judging by looking at DS in both seats the Frontier IS wider.

 

[LCMOM]

let me give some perspective to what they are saying about how Tyler fits the seat.

He is not a large child by height or weight. He seems (to me, compared to my 96th percentile and 80th percentile boys), to be just above average. He's taller than my 6.5yr old only by 5", but it appears most of that is leg, because Jeffrey has a 19" torso now (he's now over the slots in the Nautilus... amazing how a growth spurt can do that).

He's not leggy by any means and is already too tall for the Regent, as well (in my van, the cushy seats make it lose a good inch in height). He's too tall for the Radian. He's too tall for most highback boosters, too.

The point is that Tyler is clearly a leggy child and too many kids are going to outgrow this seat more quickly than him.

So the 80lb limit, while great for overweight/bulky kids, is not practical, and the design of the seat overall seems targeted more toward the skinny kids... so where does that leave us??

for the price, I expected it to have features that just outshine the Nautilus.

It doesn't.

Now it certainly is a better choice for someone who is shopping for a seat like this for a 2yr old vs. a 4yr old, because of the lifespan, but if the kid is more torso than leg, I'm thinking that the Regent would end up trumping it for the price.

Just a comment on Tyler's size; he is really NOT all that leggy. If you see him in person, he is pretty proportionate and pretty average size for his age. He is still fine in the Regent for a little while, depending on which vehicle he is in, but like your Jeffrey has outgrown the vast majority of the high back boosters on the market, NOT only by height but by width in the shoulders and torso. The Frontier would not work for Tyler for very long at all, and then only in booster mode.
I completely agree with your point about the 80 lb limits being unrealistic given the seat designs; that was the point I made (w/ Judi and Jenny) several times to manufacturers at Lifesavers; here is a pretty average kid who does not pass the seatbelt test in any of the vehicles he is riding in, yet we only found one regular seat (Monterey) that really gives him enough room to make it worth getting, and he is fairly slim, so what about the obese kids?!

 

[aisraeltax]

yk, i am, as others, concerned about teh height limits than the weight limits b/c i dont see my sons getting to that upper weight limit in any car seats...right now my ds3 is pretty low on the weight scale.

but one thing im wondering about the weight limit, in Britax's defense, is whether they are taking into account that esp. in America, there are some pretty overweight kids????? If these kids are aveg. in the height dept....wouldnt it make snese for Britax to add a few pds. for this unfortunate fact in our country? I don't know..its just something I thought about when reading the huge weight limit on teh harness.

the height thing bothers me. Im 5'9 and my teenager is 6'3 so i certainly don't produce short kids....

I was another one who was completely on board w/ this seat and probably will still purchase it...but for a 2 year old who is still RF'ing in his Blvd. and probably has close to a year in it...I have some time to see what comes out on the market..for this seat to hit the shelves, etc. etc.

I was overjoyed when I learned about the Diplomat which was smaller than the MA and RF'd to 35 lbs. UNTIL i got into the store and my kid was too big for it at only 25 months (RF'ing). I guess the lesson to be learned is to not LOVE or HATE a seat until you put YOUR kid in it in YOUR car. So annoying when some of these seats you cant touch! lol!

 

[mom23boys]

Ok. Got my tracking email. It should be here Thursday. Not too bad.

SO Happy For You!! ours is supposed to arrive today! I will let ya know if it does! He really wants to ride in the 3rd row with the middle brother but I am not sure how it's gonna work there or if it is going to be the right seat for him! I am praying it is gonna work for him! I will be back later!

 

[mom23boys]

OK it is here now! However my son is at preschool! I need to put him in it to see how it's gonna work for him and then see how it's gonna fit in the MDX!

It's heavy I will say that! Our BLVD was 19 lbs and this one is 23.5! I never moved our BLVD and If this works for ds it will stay in one spot! One think that I already LOVE about this seat over the blvd is that you hear an audible click after both sides! My son was always scared one side wasn't buckled in the Blvd because there was only 1 audible click after both were in place. You will need to have the harness positioned at the correct heigth before installing. The harness adjuster is on the back. A little more difficult than the BLvd since you could just twist the knob near the head support to adjust with out ever having to remove the seat! I did find the harness adjuster on the back of the frontier to be very user friendly though. SIP wings look like they will be just as comfy as the BLVD and not squish his head at all. I ordered the Tan/black and the Hugs are grey! I wish they were tan as that would have looked better but that's just me! The cup holder is deep once you flip it out and push down a part extends to make it deeper. Hard to explain but it will be a usable cup holder for those who need those. Our MDX has a center fold down that has really nice cup holders that our son uses so we will probably never use those but nice if needed. THe arm rests move up and down but have to be in the down position when seat in use! When used as booster both the lap and shoulder belts will go under arm rests. My son will be here in a couple of hrs, I will let you know how he fits, with his 16.5 torso he is over avg at 4.5 yrs

 

[scatterbunny]

Woohoo, glad it arrived! Can't wait to see pics and hear how it fits him.

Oh, and FYI, Britax is moving to buckles with two audible clicks on all their seats, due to customer feedback. :thumbsup:

 

[jwren]

please post some photos of your son in it, and how big he is, thanks congrats! I am jealous... I want it now..

OK it is here now! However my son is at preschool! I need to put him in it to see how it's gonna work for him and then see how it's gonna fit in the MDX!

It's heavy I will say that! Our BLVD was 19 lbs and this one is 23.5! I never moved our BLVD and If this works for ds it will stay in one spot! One think that I already LOVE about this seat over the blvd is that you hear an audible click after both sides! My son was always scared one side wasn't buckled in the Blvd because there was only 1 audible click after both were in place. You will need to have the harness positioned at the correct heigth before installing. The harness adjuster is on the back. A little more difficult than the BLvd since you could just twist the knob near the head support to adjust with out ever having to remove the seat! I did find the harness adjuster on the back of the frontier to be very user friendly though. SIP wings look like they will be just as comfy as the BLVD and not squish his head at all. I ordered the Tan/black and the Hugs are grey! I wish they were tan as that would have looked better but that's just me! The cup holder is deep once you flip it out and push down a part extends to make it deeper. Hard to explain but it will be a usable cup holder for those who need those. Our MDX has a center fold down that has really nice cup holders that our son uses so we will probably never use those but nice if needed. THe arm rests move up and down but have to be in the down position when seat in use! When used as booster both the lap and shoulder belts will go under arm rests. My son will be here in a couple of hrs, I will let you know how he fits, with his 16.5 torso he is over avg at 4.5 yrs

 

[Defrost]

OK it is here now! However my son is at preschool! I need to put him in it to see how it's gonna work for him and then see how it's gonna fit in the MDX!

No, no, go install it NOW!!! We wanna know how well/easily it installs!!! LATCH and seat belt! Every seating position in every vehicle in your neighborhood!!!! What are you waiting for?!?!

 

[BookMama]

I ordered the Tan/black and the Hugs are grey! I wish they were tan as that would have looked better but that's just me!

What color is the harness? If the harness is tan, I'd call Britax and ask them to send you some tan HUGS. (And I'd make them do it for free, since this is a brand new seat ... )

 

[gwenvet]

Ugggh! No lockoffs? I was hoping that this was the perfect seat that I could use in our 2001 Saab that does NOT have ALR belts! Yes, it has lightweight locking latchplates, but I like the extra security of the lockoffs and I absolutely dread using a locking clip! Now what do I get for my 5 yr old who is so close to outgrowing his MA?

 

[TerisBoys]

What color is the harness? If the harness is tan, I'd call Britax and ask them to send you some tan HUGS. (And I'd make them do it for free, since this is a brand new seat ... )

Looking at every picture I can find - the harness on all 4 seats is black, and the HUGS are all gray.

 

[arly1983]

Your killing me, must have pictures.

I absolutly refused to be the alpha tester for this one and I am trying my hardest to stick to that.

 

[BookMama]

Looking at every picture I can find - the harness on all 4 seats is black, and the HUGS are all gray.

You're right - the Britax site shows black harnesses/gray HUGS with each Frontier cover. Looks nice, to me. :twocents:

 

[Christi61315]

I cant wait to see pictures...