Question Radian Info

I have a question regarding the 3 types of Radian seats. What is the big difference between the Radian R100, the Radian R120 and the Radian RXT? (Besides a higher weight limit between the 100 and the 120).
For tall skinny children, would it be worth it to get the ones with the higher weight limit? Do they have a higher height limit too?

I noticed that the R120 and the RXT say they can latch up to 85lbs, however the 5 point harness can only be used to 65lbs...does this mean when used as a booster it can be latched in, and then the seatbelt put across the child?

Also, did the Radians always do 3 in 1? I was under the impression that most seats that do 3 in 1 do everything ok, but nothing well. Has the Radian managed to make a true 3 in 1 seat?

What is the top harness slot height on each of these seats (rear and forward facing)? And what is the rule for booster seat height? (I noticed there is no height limit listed for the Radians, just weight). What is the average torso height you can expect to keep in a 5 point harness both forward and rear facing?

One last question, does anyone know how wide these seats are for install? Will they do 3 across in a small car, like a Kia Forte? (Ok that was actually 2 questions)

Thank you in advance for any and all help!

Hi and welcome to the forums. I'll do my best to answer your questions.

I have no experience with the Kia Forte so I can't answer that question, but most vehicles can fit 3 across if you find the right combination of seats. You may or may not need radians to do that, and one radian may be enough depending on what your back seat is like. Also, depending on how soon you are going to be needing to do 3 across, the Clek Foonf will be very 3 across friendly and it will be out by the end of August so it expands your options. It is marginally narrower than the Radian.

As for the Radians:

• all 3 have the same harness height and all 3 have a maximum ff'ing harness weight of 65lbs. On "record" the Radian as 18" top harness height, but measurements are more like 17 to 17.5" at most. Most kids will fit the seat by height past age 5 though and many will fit well beyond that. I believe the seat has an overall height limit of 51" but I don't have a manual here in front of me to confirm that.
• the RXT makes a "better" booster but still isn't great and most people likely won't get any use out of the booster mode
• RXT has the head wings
• R120 and RXT have higher rf'ing weight limit
• install is the same on all 3 seats

The Radian is great for rf'ing, fine for ff'ing, and as long as you don't count on being able to use it as a booster then you'll probably be happy with it. I would suggest that you try your kiddos in the seat first though - the harness adjuster can be very stiff and it has quite thick harness strap covers that are mandatory ff'ing and seem to make it more difficult to get the harness properly tightened. If you're not someone to loosen and tighten your seats every time then this likely won't be an issue, but for someone who does loosen and tighten every time, it can be a giant pain so you should see if it's going to bother you before buying 3 of them.

For ff'ing kids, I would just get the R100. You don't need the higher rf'ing weight limit, and the booster mode has a 50lb minimum which your kids won't hit before outgrowing the seat, so I wouldn't pay the extra money for the RXT unless you like having the head wings.

The Radians haven't always been a 3in1 - they just brought the booster mode in on the seats when they changed the brand over to Diono. If I remember right, the first Diono seats were available in November 2011 in Canada.

Hope this helps. I don't know the width dimensions of the Diono seats off the top of my head - I'm thinking it's something like 17.5" or so at the widest point. Their website has the full specs on it though.

Thank you for the help. That's what I was thinking (not too much of a difference between the models). I'm assuming that rear facing is usually outgrown by height vs weight first (especially with kids who tend to be tall and skinny), so that might not even be a huge determining factor? But maybe the extra padding in the r120 model would make that one worth it?
I'm looking for 3 across for my friend who has 10 month old triplets. So rear facing for quite awhile yet, then forward facing. It's not a huge deal if the booster isn't the best. How hard are they to adjust the straps rear facing? One child will be in the middle all the time and they are trying to figure out if the seat would be easy to adjust. They have a large vehicle right now (fits 3 true fits across!), but as is well known, the true fit is a pain to adjust the straps when rear facing.
Thanks again for the info!

How soon are they planning to get the smaller vehicle and how tall are they? The Radian takes up a fair amount of room front to back and while there is now an angle adjuster available, it still may not fit behind the driver seat if the driver is tall.

How soon do they need to move the triplets out of their infant seats?

The Foonf really takes up a small amount of room front to back when rf'ing - if they have time before needing the seats they may want to have at least one baby in the foonf to give the driver extra room. To give you an idea, a Radian with an angle adjuster in my car would touch the seatback in the position I drive. The Foonf had a full 6" of space between the back of the seat and the driver seat. But harness height and rf'ing weight limits are just as high as the Radian.

Of course the Foonf doesn't help her now if they're switching seats and vehicles right away, but if she has time still, then I wouldn't make any decisions just yet.

The kia is actually their second vehicle. They live out of town, so it's the commuter car. They are hoping to eventually be able to fit the 3 kids into it occasionally for trips to save on fuel, and also to downsize their current massive suv. I'm not sure of the babies heights/weights, but I do know they are going to be out of their bucket seats soon. They have 3 true fits waiting to move into, so it's not an immediate need, just something they want to do soon.

So the Foonf is just as good for height/weight as the Radian? I'll have to look into that one. I've never heard of it. Is it a good seat?

Your post reminded me to post some photos I took of DS in the Radian as a booster.
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?p=2233923#post2233923

I love it as a RFng seat, and when anyone has issue adjusting the harness, I just tell them to coax it along from the back since it's easy to reach. I've not tried our newer Diono one RFng, but the SK ones I've never had issue adjusting, it's just couple short, quick tugs, instead of one long pull. I've also found that I rarely loosen/tighten the harness.

It's also a great FFng seat, and with loading 3 children, I'd think it'd be extra nice to have the low profile to make it easy for their kiddos to climb in! I've not seen the Foonf in person, and don't know how that seat would be for children to get in/out of, but it's one key thing I love about the Radian -- that DS has, from a fairly young age, been able to get in his seat himself.

We have one of each model basically:
An older 48lb limit one, that is similar to the new R100 but with much lower limits. The Diono R120 in the photos at the post I linked to, and a pretty flowery one with the head wings similar to the new RXT. Of them all, I prefer the mid-range one. I'm not convinced the head wings are that awesome now that I have them, but the cover I wanted only came on that model. I can see that they would be difficult to work around loading multiple children in the same orientation. I never reach across my seats as I have 2 captains chairs in my 2nd row and buckle each child from their own door -- if I had to lean over the seat with headwings to reach another seat, possibly also with headwings, I think it'd be very frustrating.

Thanks for all the insight. I'll pass along all the good info. I can't see the picture since I'm not registered, but I've heard from a few people now that the booster isn't a good one. Boosters are fairly inexpensive later on (unless you buy a clek!) so that isn't a huge concern for them. The big concern is that they can possibly all fit in a smaller vehicle later on and also that if they put out the money for 3 Radians they are going to last until they are ready for boosters! Buying 3 of anything at once is expensive!!

From what you've told me, it seems worth it to pay the little bit extra and go for the R120, but not worth it for the next model up. That's kind of what I was thinking.

Thanks!