Britax RA55 and MA70 HERE - any requests for pics, measurements, etc.? Anyone else have comparisons they want to share?

Athena · Sep 1, 2010

I ordered both the MA70 allison and RA55 smokey pearl and they are both here now installed side by side in my car. I couldn't decide and will probably return one of them (unused of course! .. they are installed but I am not going anywhere

). I am feeling a little guilty over ordering both, but I figured while I have them, let's make the best use of it. If anyone else is trying to decide between these two and needs pics, measurements or has questions, please let me know. I am not a tech or expert, but I will do my best to answer as accurately as I can.

And if anyone else has observations about these seats they'd like to share, feel free!

I'm still undecided, but leaning towards the MA. Has anyone found the MA70 to have less shoulder room than the RA55 because of those pads on the sides of the head piece? That occurred to me just looking at the empty seats, but DD has not been very cooperative today.

Let's hope we do better after her nap.

Has anyone observed any disadvantage of the MA70 compared to the RA55 that I might have missed? (except for price

)

T4K · Sep 1, 2010

I know the the RA55 is a rethread harness but does it go as high as the MA70? Basically what I'm asking is, how do the "slot" or harness measurements compare, lowest slot on RA to lowest harness setting on MA, then highest slot on RA to highest setting on MA. Clear as mud?

Athena · Sep 1, 2010

Thirsty4Knowledge said:
I know the the RA55 is a rethread harness but does it go as high as the MA70? Basically what I'm asking is, how do the "slot" or harness measurements compare, lowest slot on RA to lowest harness setting on MA, then highest slot on RA to highest setting on MA. Clear as mud?

Yes, I was interested in this too. I've already discovered that the MA70's harness does adjust somewhat higher than the RA55, but I'll try to get a better measurement and the bottom measurements too.

Anything else?

T4K · Sep 1, 2010

THANKS! You're awesome. I think Britax says that the RA is 1 inch lower.

MomToEliEm · Sep 1, 2010

Do you think you could gather some measurements from your seats and submit them to the carseat measurements data spreadsheet? We are still missing measurements on both the RA55 and the MA70.

If you wish to gather measurements, you can submit them using this form:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dGZNeVc3a3hEczN2cnBMVWlFYVptSUE6MQ

Athena · Sep 1, 2010

Thirsty4Knowledge said:
I know the the RA55 is a rethread harness but does it go as high as the MA70? Basically what I'm asking is, how do the "slot" or harness measurements compare, lowest slot on RA to lowest harness setting on MA, then highest slot on RA to highest setting on MA. Clear as mud?

Anyone know how to measure the slanted slots on the MA70? Do I measure to the lowest side, highest side, or in the middle?

I measured the RA55 with the cover on the seat while pushing down in an attempt to simulate how a child's weight would compress the comfort foam. I measured the lowest slot at 8.5" like Britax claims, but only got 16 for the highest slot.

Of course, my measurements could be wrong, but that's what I got.

I realized tonight that I'm not sure how to measure slanted slots (hence the question above), but based on my quick check, it looked like the lowest slots were around 9" and the top slots about 17". However, I'd like to measure more accurately (for both of us

) after I find out how to deal with these slanted slots.

Athena · Sep 1, 2010

MomToEliEm said:
Do you think you could gather some measurements from your seats and submit them to the carseat measurements data spreadsheet? We are still missing measurements on both the RA55 and the MA70.

Sure, I'll do what I can. Do you know how to properly measure slanted slots?

MomToEliEm · Sep 2, 2010

Athena said:
Sure, I'll do what I can. Do you know how to properly measure slanted slots?

Good question. This might be a question for the techs on the board as I am not sure. Maybe put a range for now from bottom portion of the slot to the higher bottom portion of that same slot and indicate "(slanted slot)" or something like that.

SafeDad · Sep 2, 2010

I don't think there is a "correct" way. A lot of kids sit such that their shoulders slant to match the slant of the slots. For that reason, you could easily say it's the highest part of the slot that counts.

Some kids sit with more square shoulder posture. In those cases, I don't think I've ever seen a guideline that says a slot is outgrown at the bottom or top of the slanted slot. Unless otherwise stated in the manual, I'd go with the tallest part.

Plus, some slots are quite wide, a quarter of an inch or more. Do you measure to the bottom of the opening or the top? I don't think it makes much difference, but you can see how people's measurements vary so widely even if they use the same point of reference at the bottom where they hold the ruler!

MomToEliEm · Sep 2, 2010

CPSDarren said:
Plus, some slots are quite wide, a quarter of an inch or more. Do you measure to the bottom of the opening or the top? I don't think it makes much difference, but you can see how people's measurements vary so widely even if they use the same point of reference at the bottom where they hold the ruler!

In the instructions on the spreadsheet, I request to measure wherever the strap comes out of the slot when the harness is tightened. This might be at the bottom on most seats, though some seats which have a bar holding the straps up above the slot, it might be the top of the slot. For boosters, it is harder as the belt can fall at the bottom or top. I just ask for a range in those cases.

Athena · Sep 2, 2010

MomToEliEm said:
Do you think you could gather some measurements from your seats

I just submitted them. However, I think I made a typo. The FF height for the RA55 should be 12-16.75 seated shoulder height and I think I wrote 9-...

Thirsty4Knowledge said:
I know the the RA55 is a rethread harness but does it go as high as the MA70? Basically what I'm asking is, how do the "slot" or harness measurements compare, lowest slot on RA to lowest harness setting on MA, then highest slot on RA to highest setting on MA. Clear as mud?

Okay, I got the RA 55 at 8.5" and 16" and the MA 70 at 8.75" and 17" so I did get one inch difference, but both a bit lower than Britax claims. Maybe they measured differently, but this does confirm about an inch difference and lower bottom harness slots than the previous model too. HTH.

Athena · Sep 3, 2010

I have a little more info that I thought might help others. I tried my barely 4 yo in them. RF, she had outgrown them, but not as horribly as I would have imagined. And her legs were squished. FF, she has already outgrown the RA55 and she's just about at the top slot adjustment of the MA70. She is about 42" tall and at the 2nd to top slot on her nautilus (approx. 16"?).

I think the install at the store was too upright because our measurements shrunk at home. She's about 37" tall and has only about 2" of growing room RF. I think we gained only 2-3" of front seat space, but for us, that is huge! So it is a keeper for that reason, but I think I'm going to have to just keep the RA55 given the limited use. I am disappointed.

Britax RA55 and MA70 HERE - any requests for pics, measurements, etc.? Anyone else have comparisons they want to share?

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