FMVSS 213 compliance testing

LISmama810 · Nov 6, 2009

Was the Frontier tested? (With the Nautilus doing so well, I'm curious about a comparison of the two, since people always seem hung up on which of those two seats to get.) (And yes, I could look myself, but have to go take care of my other life now.)

carseatcoach · Nov 6, 2009

Pixels said:
If you read the test report, the Regent with the 3yo was not tested on a standard test bench. So really we don't know how that seat performed.

I did read it, and acknowledge that it wasn't really accurate for me to say that it "failed" for that reason -- but I am still unimpressed and am not mourning its discontinuation.

carseatcoach · Nov 6, 2009

LISmama810 said:
Was the Frontier tested? (With the Nautilus doing so well, I'm curious about a comparison of the two, since people always seem hung up on which of those two seats to get.) (And yes, I could look myself, but have to go take care of my other life now.)

I don't see the Frontier listed under combination or booster seats.

crunchierthanthou · Nov 6, 2009

chickabiddy said:
This is not bashing, sour grapes, bitterness, or anything like that -- but I am seriously baffled by the continuing Britax love. The Roundabout, untethered with a 3yo, was exactly at the head excursion limit. The Regent failed untethered with a 3yo. Some of the other tests did pass, but not all that well. I am really impressed by the Generations and hope that the 65 is as good as the older one.

So the Regent didn't pass untethered with a 3yo, but did with the 6?

Pixels said:
The following seats passed the 720 mm (tethered) requirement without top tether. They were all tested with the 6yo 53 pound dummy. In alphabetical order:

Recaro Como
Recaro Signo

The following seats did not pass the 720 mm (tethered) requirement without the top tether. They did generally pass with the tether. In alphabetical order:
Britax Boulevard
Britax Decathlon
Britax Marathon
Britax Roundabout

and the Recaro convertibles passed untethered? I guess we can't blame the tall Britax bases on the poor head excursion numbers.

firemomof3 · Nov 6, 2009

Ahhh, these tests always make me so nervous! So, basically tethering my seats ff (GN, YS, Signo, Radian) and I'm good..right?

a_js · Nov 6, 2009

chickabiddy said:
This is not bashing, sour grapes, bitterness, or anything like that -- but I am seriously baffled by the continuing Britax love. The Roundabout, untethered with a 3yo, was exactly at the head excursion limit. The Regent failed untethered with a 3yo. Some of the other tests did pass, but not all that well. I am really impressed by the Generations and hope that the 65 is as good as the older one.

The regent test results are not encouraging for those of us who have one

I'm considering returning ours (I just bought it).

SafeDad · Nov 6, 2009

chickabiddy said:
This is not bashing, sour grapes, bitterness, or anything like that -- but I am seriously baffled by the continuing Britax love. The Roundabout, untethered with a 3yo, was exactly at the head excursion limit. The Regent failed untethered with a 3yo. Some of the other tests did pass, but not all that well. I am really impressed by the Generations and hope that the 65 is as good as the older one.

The question is how repeatable is the NHTSA/TC testing and do you put all of your trust into just these specific test results to make a choice? For example, a lot of people buy seats strictly on the Crash Protection rating score in a Consumer Reports review, also.

Other factors include ease-of-installation, ease-of-use and features like a rear-facing tether. I always use a tether when forward facing, anyway. I know the seat is installed and used correctly. While impressive, untethered results are not really interesting to me, at least for my kids. Obviously they would be more interesting in other situations.

One very nice thing about Britax is that they continue to make innovations. If this is a genuine opportunity for improvement, I'm sure it will be addressed.

TechnoGranola · Nov 6, 2009

Is this the one you say is corrupted? http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/Cars/testing/comply/fmvss213/Jan 2008 ed.xls

If so, Excel 2007 says it is not in the format defined by the extension, but WILL open it just fine. So, those with Excel 2007 should have no issues viewing it. I've saved in Excel 97-2003 format and attached it here for those having issues viewing it. It would not allow me to upload a .xls file so I've uploaded it 2 different way:

a zipped format. Download it, unzip and the .xls file will be there.
If you're not familiar with unzipping, then download the .txt file instead and you WILL HAVE TO RENAME IT. Change the file extension from .xls to .txt

Calideedle · Nov 6, 2009

How about the Regent tethered? :dizzy:

crunchierthanthou · Nov 6, 2009

Calideedle said:
How about the Regent tethered? :dizzy:

Calideedle · Nov 6, 2009

Thank you.

That is not comforting. DS1s Regent is tethered and installed correctly but it is the only 5 point he fits in height wise.

a_js · Nov 6, 2009

Calideedle said:
Thank you.

That is not comforting. DS1s Regent is tethered and installed correctly but it is the only 5 point he fits in height wise.

I'm in the same boat, and am not very happy about it either. I'm really uncomfortable with those numbers.

Evolily · Nov 6, 2009

The untethered head excursion numbers for the Nautilus were better than the Radian's numbers

a_js · Nov 6, 2009

According to my math, between the Regent and Nautilus, the Nautilus does significantly better in HIC and HE untethered than the Regent does tethered. The difference is huge in the HIC numbers particularly, but I'm not sure how all this translates to real life use.

Pixels · Nov 6, 2009

crunchierthanthou said:
So the Regent didn't pass untethered with a 3yo, but did with the 6?

The 3yo didn't pass the test untethered but there was a problem with the test bench so they basically disregarded that data. IMO, they should have retested the seat. Barring that, they should have left the data off the summary.

and the Recaro convertibles passed untethered? I guess we can't blame the tall Britax bases on the poor head excursion numbers.

Correct.

firemomof3 said:
Ahhh, these tests always make me so nervous! So, basically tethering my seats ff (GN, YS, Signo, Radian) and I'm good..right?

Yes, tether your seats, and you're good. I provided the information on which seats performed well untethered in case you (general you) have to use a seat untethered.

carseatcoach · Nov 6, 2009

CPSDarren said:
The question is how repeatable is the NHTSA/TC testing and do you put all of your trust into just these specific test results to make a choice? For example, a lot of people buy seats strictly on the Crash Protection rating score in a Consumer Reports review, also.

Other factors include ease-of-installation, ease-of-use and features like a rear-facing tether. I always use a tether when forward facing, anyway. I know the seat is installed and used correctly. While impressive, untethered results are not really interesting to me, at least for my kids. Obviously they would be more interesting in other situations.

One very nice thing about Britax is that they continue to make innovations. If this is a genuine opportunity for improvement, I'm sure it will be addressed.

I don't disagree, and I understand and acknowledge that there are other factors that go into seat choice. I'm writing more about the "Britax is the best company with the best seats" phenomenon. I just don't get how that persists.

bobandjess99 · Nov 6, 2009

Whats up with those failing regent est listed in the rearfacing infant seat section? Do we know what that is about yet?
I can't follw the links to the actual descriptions of the testing, allI get is the excel sheet, so I can't see details.

a_js · Nov 6, 2009

Pixels said:
The 3yo didn't pass the test untethered but there was a problem with the test bench so they basically disregarded that data. IMO, they should have retested the seat. Barring that, they should have left the data off the summary..

I totally agree, and honestly, if the data aren't valid at all that doesn't make me feel any better. I'm equally not excited about using a seat that failed the testing as I am about using one that was never tested properly to begin with. It might be the best of the bunch, but how would we ever know?

Pixels · Nov 6, 2009

bobandjess99 said:
Whats up with those failing regent est listed in the rearfacing infant seat section? Do we know what that is about yet?
I can't follw the links to the actual descriptions of the testing, allI get is the excel sheet, so I can't see details.

I forgot to mention that. Book 1 of the Excel sheet is 2006 data. Why? I don't know. I'm guessing it's a copy-paste accident. Book 2 is the actual 2008 data.

bobandjess99 · Nov 6, 2009

Thanks! I was so confused.
Off to look at sheet 2 some more......

Oh, hey, does someone who can access the details want to see if they state whether or not the eddie bauer 3-in 1 and alpha luxe echelons they used were the new 50-lb versions?

FMVSS 213 compliance testing

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