2017 Subaru OutBack VS 2016 Honda Odyssey - 3 Car Seats

cesium

New member
Hi there,

We are trying to decide a new vehicle for our family.

Children:
FF - 5 yr old, 47" and 47lbs
FF/RF - 2 1/2 yr old 36.5" and 31lbs
Infant - 12 week old

Seats we have:
Infant - Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP
2 x Britax Boulevard 65
Britax Frontier - Click Tight
Diono Radian RXT
Diono Radian R100

Currently we have a 2013 soon to be 2017 BMW x3 and a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid.

Going 3 across has proven to be a challenge in both cars. Best success has been the two Diono's and the Infant car seat.

We are looking to keep the infant RF as long as possible and are considering moving our middle child back to RF. And we prefer to keep the 5 year old in a 5 point harness as long as possible.

We are deciding between going 3 across in a 2017 Subaru Outback or a 2016 Honda Odyssey.

After reading that there is an extra 2" of width in 2017 Outback compared to the 2016 I went to the dealership and spent an hour installing seats. We had success with the FF Frontier, a FF radian and the infant seat. It was tight, but we made it work.

We have yet to try any configurations in the Odyssey. After reading lots of threads here (very helpful by the way) we are left with a few questions.

What possible installation configurations do we have with these possible vehicles?

We are open to new car seats if necessary, we just want to know our options...
 
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oliviacw

New member
The Outback is a nice car (I just bought one), but it really just a big station wagon with seating for 5. The Odyssey is a full-on minivan with seating for up to 7 (or 8, depending on what configuration you get). They both drive well, and you could certainly do a 3 across in either, but with 3 kids I'd almost certainly go with a minivan for future flexibility, unless cost was a real issue.
 

lgenne

New member
Possibilities in the Odyssey are pretty much endless. The +1 seat (2nd row center) can be tricky, but otherwise you can install just about anything anywhere.
 

cesium

New member
Thank you for your responses.
Cost really isn't a factor. It is more of a lifestyle decision.

My wife has not decided if she wants to return to work after Mat. leave. If she does return this comes with an 180km/day round trip...

So she doesn't want to do that big commute in a less efficient mini van. So we were thinking Outback for 3 years then move to the inevitable mini van.

Oliviacw have you attempted 3 across in the Outback? Do you have any RF car seats installed? How is the legroom for the passenger? Have you installed any in the centre position (either FF or RF).

Thank you, we welcome any and all advise, opinions or suggestions :)
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I am in a simliar situation trying to decide between the two cars. However, I only have 2 children (a soon to be 4-year old and a 18-month old). Which car did you decide on?
 

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