I finally got to see one of these in real life. 
Bottom line - if this seat had been available in Feb. 2008 when we last bought a convertible, we definitely would have bought one (or maybe a boulevard 70). Details...
I played with the seat a bit in the store and read parts of the manual. I had to read the part about the rearfacing seatbelt install twice because of the unusual directions about using the lockoffs. I had read complaints about the recline handle, so I paid extra attention to that. It does feel sort of like a tupperware lid (like someone else mentioned), but that really didn't bother me. (Tupperware never breaks, after all!)
I asked if I could take the seat out to my car (1999 Nissan Altima, smaller than current altimas) to try it out and the BRU salesclerks looked at me as though I was crazy. They called some other guy over (maybe security or something? They had some acronym for him.) to go out to my car with me and he said, "sure, she can just take it out."
I got it installed in my car, rearfacing, in one minute flat using the seatbelt installation. It was unbelievably easy. I didn't attach the rearfacing tether. The natural recline in my car was about 30*, same as my boulevard (that was installed behind the passenger seat). What sold me on the seat was that I could move the driver's seat ALL THE WAY BACK and I still had 3" of clearance between the ma70 and the driver's seat. For comparison, the RF boulevard (at the same angle) is braced against the passenger's seat and the passenger's seat is several clicks forward.
I would have needed a pool noodle to get a 45* recline, and I didn't have time to mess around with that. When I pushed the ma70 into about 45* angle (without actually installing it), it looked like it would *just* touch the driver's seat at that angle.
So, the reasons this would have been a good choice for me, 1.5 years ago, are:
1. two children rearfacing (at the time), so someone had to be behind the driver
2. small cars and tall husband, so it would be really nice to have the driver's seat all the way back
3. smallish children whose long torsos are still about average for their age
4. super easy seatbelt install in a car without LATCH and with long buckle stalks, which make for weird installs with some seats
Bottom line - if this seat had been available in Feb. 2008 when we last bought a convertible, we definitely would have bought one (or maybe a boulevard 70). Details...I played with the seat a bit in the store and read parts of the manual. I had to read the part about the rearfacing seatbelt install twice because of the unusual directions about using the lockoffs. I had read complaints about the recline handle, so I paid extra attention to that. It does feel sort of like a tupperware lid (like someone else mentioned), but that really didn't bother me. (Tupperware never breaks, after all!
)I asked if I could take the seat out to my car (1999 Nissan Altima, smaller than current altimas) to try it out and the BRU salesclerks looked at me as though I was crazy. They called some other guy over (maybe security or something? They had some acronym for him.) to go out to my car with me and he said, "sure, she can just take it out."
I got it installed in my car, rearfacing, in one minute flat using the seatbelt installation. It was unbelievably easy. I didn't attach the rearfacing tether. The natural recline in my car was about 30*, same as my boulevard (that was installed behind the passenger seat). What sold me on the seat was that I could move the driver's seat ALL THE WAY BACK and I still had 3" of clearance between the ma70 and the driver's seat. For comparison, the RF boulevard (at the same angle) is braced against the passenger's seat and the passenger's seat is several clicks forward.
I would have needed a pool noodle to get a 45* recline, and I didn't have time to mess around with that. When I pushed the ma70 into about 45* angle (without actually installing it), it looked like it would *just* touch the driver's seat at that angle.
So, the reasons this would have been a good choice for me, 1.5 years ago, are:
1. two children rearfacing (at the time), so someone had to be behind the driver
2. small cars and tall husband, so it would be really nice to have the driver's seat all the way back
3. smallish children whose long torsos are still about average for their age
4. super easy seatbelt install in a car without LATCH and with long buckle stalks, which make for weird installs with some seats
