AK Dad
New member
OK, so while I've got a couple of minutes I need to submit something for comment by the masses:
I'm stuck in between my gearhead wants and desires and my safety advocate tendencies! I've been suppressing my gearhead side for the last 10 years for the sake of practicality, but I think I may have come up with a solution that will satisfy both sides.
Right now my daily driver is a 2011 Honda Pilot, which of course is a fine vehicle, reliable, safe, flexible ... and mind-numbingly boring and un-engaging to drive. I've thought of adding a Flex Ecoboost to our lineup, but I don't think it's different enough from the Pilot to justify having it. Also, the Flex is quick in a straight line, but the driving dynamics aren't much better than your run of the mill CUV/minivan.
So, what I need is AWD (and yes, living 2100' up a mountain in Alaska means "need" is the correct word) and I'd like to have a manual transmission and lots o' power ... which pretty much narrows my choices down to an Acura TL or an Audi S4. I really tried to like the Acura, but it's just so catastrophically ugly I just couldn't stand it. I also looked at the previous body style S4 or RS4, but the backseat is just way too tight to even consider it with my 3 kids.
The 2009-up S4 (fast version of the A4) though looks like it might be a winner, and that's what I want the opinions on. I didn't think it was going to be big enough, but I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I went and did some test-fitting of seats in a used one. The most amazing thing was that I could have the driver's seat in any position I wanted and the Foonf still fit in the center rear, RFing with no problem! It also was narrow enough at the base to avoid interfering with the outer two seatbelt positions.
Oh yeah, kids are as follows:
Nearly 6yo, 48" tall, 52lbs (around 90th percentile for height), Frontier 85
3.5yo, 38.5" tall, 33lbs (40th percentile height), Britax Multi-Tech (RF'd)
12mo, 31" tall, 26lbs (96th percentile all-over), Foonf or Radian (RF'd, of course)
So it was raining when I did the test fitting, and I always feel like I'm wasting the salesman's time, so I didn't get pictures, but I was able to get the Radian next to the Foonf, both RF'd with the Radian on the passenger's side. I also was able to get the Radian FF'd behind the driver's side, but just barely.
I also tried the Foonf FF'd, but it won't work in the middle because the middle seat belt receiver is pretty far forward of the seat bight. It did work FF'd behind the driver's seat though.
So, here's my thought process:
Yes, my current setup is likely safer, however it would be nice to let my wife start driving the Pilot since her daily driver right now is our 07 GMC Sierra 3500 Crew Cab Long Bed dually, diesel (which is even a ridiculous daily driver for Alaska). Also, while I'm a huge safety advocate, I sometimes wonder if I'm taking it too far and missing out on things that I enjoy. It's a bit like my whole Swedish RFing seat vs. Foonf/Radian debate - am I getting too wrapped up in minute differences to see that either option is better than 99.9% of the options out there?
So, here's what I'm thinking if I were to get the S4:
Youngest boy stays RF'd in the Foonf, in the center, thru at least age 4 (which he will assuming he sticks to the 95th percentile.)
Middle boy stays RF'd in the Radian, outboard passenger side, probably until his first day of Kindergarten at the rate he's going, then I either turn the Radian FF'd with the harness, or just do the Swede method of ERF direct to FF'd booster.
Oldest girl goes into a booster on the driver's side. This is probably my biggest personal sticking-point. I know the FF 5-point vs. booster debate is very hot, and I used to be on the side of "Harness4Ever" but I've got to admit that I'm changing that stance a little bit for a couple of reasons 1) the Swedes don't FF harness at all, and I really think if there were any advantage to it, they'd be doing it in a heartbeat and 2) even for me I have to admit that the harness x3 every time in and out of the car is getting a bit tedious.
One thing going for the S4 is that there are standard side curtain airbags, but also optional side torso airbags in the rear, which of course I would get.
Since I don't have much real-world booster experience yet, I'm thinking that the only thing that'll fit well is the BubbleBum. I know that a booster's a booster, but I'm having difficulty in my mind with her going from harnessed in a FR85 directly to essentially sitting on a balloon!
Also, I want to make sure this is going to be relatively future-proof, so I'm thinking once the youngest outgrows the Foonf RF'd, he can go a bit longer in it FF'd (although based on what I've seen he won't have too long between outgrowing it RF'd for height and then outgrowing FF'd for shoulder height) behind the driver with the other two in boosters in middle and outboard (so they'll be 8.5yo and 6.5yo by then.)
OK, so if you haven't hit your "back" button yet and are still reading my ridiculously long-winded stream of consciousness, what do you think? Am I totally over-thinking it, or am I being a selfish jerk for even considering it???
I'm stuck in between my gearhead wants and desires and my safety advocate tendencies! I've been suppressing my gearhead side for the last 10 years for the sake of practicality, but I think I may have come up with a solution that will satisfy both sides.
Right now my daily driver is a 2011 Honda Pilot, which of course is a fine vehicle, reliable, safe, flexible ... and mind-numbingly boring and un-engaging to drive. I've thought of adding a Flex Ecoboost to our lineup, but I don't think it's different enough from the Pilot to justify having it. Also, the Flex is quick in a straight line, but the driving dynamics aren't much better than your run of the mill CUV/minivan.
So, what I need is AWD (and yes, living 2100' up a mountain in Alaska means "need" is the correct word) and I'd like to have a manual transmission and lots o' power ... which pretty much narrows my choices down to an Acura TL or an Audi S4. I really tried to like the Acura, but it's just so catastrophically ugly I just couldn't stand it. I also looked at the previous body style S4 or RS4, but the backseat is just way too tight to even consider it with my 3 kids.
The 2009-up S4 (fast version of the A4) though looks like it might be a winner, and that's what I want the opinions on. I didn't think it was going to be big enough, but I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I went and did some test-fitting of seats in a used one. The most amazing thing was that I could have the driver's seat in any position I wanted and the Foonf still fit in the center rear, RFing with no problem! It also was narrow enough at the base to avoid interfering with the outer two seatbelt positions.
Oh yeah, kids are as follows:
Nearly 6yo, 48" tall, 52lbs (around 90th percentile for height), Frontier 85
3.5yo, 38.5" tall, 33lbs (40th percentile height), Britax Multi-Tech (RF'd)
12mo, 31" tall, 26lbs (96th percentile all-over), Foonf or Radian (RF'd, of course)
So it was raining when I did the test fitting, and I always feel like I'm wasting the salesman's time, so I didn't get pictures, but I was able to get the Radian next to the Foonf, both RF'd with the Radian on the passenger's side. I also was able to get the Radian FF'd behind the driver's side, but just barely.
I also tried the Foonf FF'd, but it won't work in the middle because the middle seat belt receiver is pretty far forward of the seat bight. It did work FF'd behind the driver's seat though.
So, here's my thought process:
Yes, my current setup is likely safer, however it would be nice to let my wife start driving the Pilot since her daily driver right now is our 07 GMC Sierra 3500 Crew Cab Long Bed dually, diesel (which is even a ridiculous daily driver for Alaska). Also, while I'm a huge safety advocate, I sometimes wonder if I'm taking it too far and missing out on things that I enjoy. It's a bit like my whole Swedish RFing seat vs. Foonf/Radian debate - am I getting too wrapped up in minute differences to see that either option is better than 99.9% of the options out there?
So, here's what I'm thinking if I were to get the S4:
Youngest boy stays RF'd in the Foonf, in the center, thru at least age 4 (which he will assuming he sticks to the 95th percentile.)
Middle boy stays RF'd in the Radian, outboard passenger side, probably until his first day of Kindergarten at the rate he's going, then I either turn the Radian FF'd with the harness, or just do the Swede method of ERF direct to FF'd booster.
Oldest girl goes into a booster on the driver's side. This is probably my biggest personal sticking-point. I know the FF 5-point vs. booster debate is very hot, and I used to be on the side of "Harness4Ever" but I've got to admit that I'm changing that stance a little bit for a couple of reasons 1) the Swedes don't FF harness at all, and I really think if there were any advantage to it, they'd be doing it in a heartbeat and 2) even for me I have to admit that the harness x3 every time in and out of the car is getting a bit tedious.
One thing going for the S4 is that there are standard side curtain airbags, but also optional side torso airbags in the rear, which of course I would get.
Since I don't have much real-world booster experience yet, I'm thinking that the only thing that'll fit well is the BubbleBum. I know that a booster's a booster, but I'm having difficulty in my mind with her going from harnessed in a FR85 directly to essentially sitting on a balloon!
Also, I want to make sure this is going to be relatively future-proof, so I'm thinking once the youngest outgrows the Foonf RF'd, he can go a bit longer in it FF'd (although based on what I've seen he won't have too long between outgrowing it RF'd for height and then outgrowing FF'd for shoulder height) behind the driver with the other two in boosters in middle and outboard (so they'll be 8.5yo and 6.5yo by then.)
OK, so if you haven't hit your "back" button yet and are still reading my ridiculously long-winded stream of consciousness, what do you think? Am I totally over-thinking it, or am I being a selfish jerk for even considering it???
