Successful 3 across in 2010 Prius

I got my 2 Radian XTSL's today!

Since Leah is only 30 lbs, I was hoping to keep her RFing longer. Not going to happen. She'll be RFing until the baby comes, but then she will be switched to FF (she'll be just over 3 years old). The Radian is just too big front to back to allow the drivers seat to be pushed back as far as it needs to go for DH to drive.

I installed (from driver side to passenger side):

FF Radian w/seat belt
FF Radian w/seat belt (buckle stalk twisted 2 times)
RF Chicco KeyFit 30 with base w/ seat belt

All 3 seats were solid installs by themselves, but they do touch each other.









Note: The tethers are not attached since I didn't plan to keep the seats this way. The SafeStop should be installed on Leah's seat since she would be less than 40 lbs and riding FF (but SafeStop is not used when RF). There's a hump in the middle seat which is why the center Radian appears higher than the outboard Radian. The KeyFit is installed tight and properly, it just appears that the seat belt is twisted when in reality it's not.

And just because they're cute, here's how they will ride until Baby is born. (The RF car seat is installed with LATCH. I locked the seat belts and buckled them in so Leah wouldn't play with them with her feet.)

Looks awesome!

I love how the keyfit matches the radians

They do look really cute together!

Did you try the Keyfit on the other side, so the Radian can be passenger side? Or, the Radian in the middle and Keyfit passenger side, with FF Radian outboard? If you haven't, I wouldn't give up yet.

DH is really tall and any RF seat behind his doesn't allow his seat to be moved far enough back for him to drive.

I tried the Radian RF in the middle, just a little off center. It seemed to work at first since the driver seat could slide back beside the Radian, but then I checked the install again and it was too loose.

If I can find a way to make the RF Radian more upright, and if the KeyFit behind the drivers seat still allow DH room to move his seat back, I may be able to put KeyFit drivers side, FF Radian center, RF Radian passenger side. The Radians had about 3-4 in of room between them at the seat, but I couldn't move them any closer together because the tops are wider than the base. They would puzzle nicely together with one FF and one RF. I didn't have a lot of time to try different things yesterday.

The important part is that I can get 3 across (even though I needed to buy 3 new seats when I already had 8!), so we can still use the Prius as our main car (50 mpg) instead of the van (15 mpg). In the long run, it will save us more on gas than the $600+ that I just spent on new car seats.

KirasMommy said:

DH is really tall and any RF seat behind his doesn't allow his seat to be moved far enough back for him to drive.

Click to expand...

The Coccoro takes up less room RF than the Keyfit. Different car, but my 6'2" DH can put the driver's seat all the way back in our Passat with the CCO behind. That may be something to keep in mind when you need to move up to a convertible for the baby or if you don't mind skipping the infant seat. Doing that you could put a CCO outboard behind the driver, FF Radian center, and RF Radian passenger side.

I've done the RF Keyfit, FF Radian, RF Radian configuration in my sister's 05 Prius so I know that works there, though I wonder how different the 2010 Prius is inside.

so awesome! I'm glad it all fits... did you play around... try the radians on either side with the keyfit in the middle?

I love the covers on all the seats... they look great with the interior and with each other.

And it's so great she'll be able to rearface a full 3 years! I have no problem with a 3yr old over 30lbs forward facing.