Monterey,Parkway,Recaro vivo lite(pics)

laccaycol

Active member
lowest settings
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Highest settings (lol couldnt keep my son off of them)
DSCN0117.jpg


And the seat depth
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And when my kids get home will try them out in the monterey. (oh im gettin about the same measurements for the monterey as the parkway)
 
ADS

scatterbunny

New member
I'm also disappointed that it isn't really taller than the Parkway. I hope it works for your dd, Joni! Maybe it's magical, and will somehow allow more growing room, despite being similar measurement-wise. :p

Seat depth/leg support is much better, at least, and the width-adjustable torso wings will help it fit bigger kids without feeling tight or constricting like the Parkway can be.
 

trinityklm

New member
I think its AMAZING to see the vast difference in SIP! Wow! For that alone I think the seat is worth the price of admission.

Here's a pic of the Monterey next to the Turbo Booster. Same story. I'm tempted to buy another Monterey for DHs truck because its got such better protection.

P1030563.jpg
[/IMG]
 

scatterbunny

New member
Definitely, compared to a Graco or Evenflo or Dorel booster, the Monterey's SIP wings are mind-blowing! :p It's pretty comparable to the Britax Monarch, or to the Recaro Vivo, IMO. The Parkway Vivo and Recaro Start have nice SIP, too, but not as all-encompassing as the Monterey or Monarch. I do like it when the wings surround the entire shoulder area, not just the lower torso, as the height is raised. :thumbsup:
 

ZephyrBlue

New member
Something that I've noticed after DD has been riding in Monterey for 2 days- she sits better in it than in the Vivo Lite, as in, the positioning is better. Maybe it's because the Monterey is so much wider and the torso wings angle sort of outward, but the overall fit is MUCH better. And she has more growing room in the MOnterey than the Vivo, too, which I can only attribute to the way she sits in the seat. She was in meltdown mode yesterday :rolleyes: and I didn't get to take any pics, but I"m going to try again today after gymnastics workout.

And I totally agree; the SIP of this booster is worth every single penny of the $130 plus shipping that I paid. :thumbsup:
 

scatterbunny

New member
ZB, is it the shoulderbelt or lapbelt positioning that is much better? Or both? I ask because I loved the way the Vivo positioned the lapbelt on dd, and we would have snatched one of those up if the seat depth had been better.
 

ZephyrBlue

New member
Jenny, I think the positioning of the lapbelt is very similar to the Vivo- across the thigs and hip bones, not across the tummy AT ALL. ANd the positioning of the shoulder belt is MUCH better in the Monterey than the Vivo. Plus, the belt guide holds the shoulder belt in on the MOnterey, and it always slips out on our Vivo for some reason. A bigger kid who was more accustomed to riding in a booster would no doubt just fix it themselves, but DD is such a novice booster-rider that I need to help her with it and when I'm trying to get 3 (or 5on carpool days, 3x week) kids buckled into seats, it's a PITA.
 

scatterbunny

New member
Awesome. :) I'm liking the Monterey more and more. When I got to see it modeled at Lifesavers, it was without a seatbelt. Russ and Dave did talk it up as being designed to prevent submarining, so I figured it had to position the lapbelt nice and low. :thumbsup: I'm happy to hear the shoulderbelt doesn't slip out of the guide, at least in your vehicle. That's something that drives us CRAZY on most boosters, and the only ones that don't do it for us are the Start and B510 (and one of our Bodyguards, it has slightly different belt guides than most Britax boosters). Even though H is used to riding in boosters now, if the belt falls out of the guide, it's a frustrating ordeal to get it back in there without twisting it up.
 

trinityklm

New member
I think it would be nearly impossible for the shoulder strap to slide out of the guide. The slot it slides into is in the middle bottom part of the guide and there some contouring that seems to keep the belt from moving around (other than sliding in and out). At least that's been my experience. I can post a pic if anyone wants to see it.

So, what we need now are comparison pics of boosters with comparable SIP. How about a side-by-side of the Monterey and the Monarch? Anyone have both? Are there others that are contenders for the ultimate SIP to date?
 

trinityklm

New member
Here's a pic of the belt guide. I already had it in my photobucket. You can see how different it is in design from the Turbo Booster.

P1030568.jpg
 

scatterbunny

New member
Thanks so much for the visual! That's very similar to how one of my Bodyguard's belt guide is. The Parkway (and Turbo) has too much room where the "slit" to slide the belt in opens up, allowing the belt to fall out, depending on the seatbelt geometry, and/or how violently the child throws the belt off themselves when unbuckling. :p I love my B510's guides, the belt can't slip out of those, either.
 

laccaycol

Active member
Ok here is my 11 year old(12 in aug) 69-70 pounds 19 inch torso.
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DSCN0133.jpg


DSCN0128.jpg


DSCN0125.jpg


Now my son 7 years old 63 pounds.
DSCN0122.jpg


With it fully extended up for him. lots of room for him.
DSCN0136.jpg
 

laccaycol

Active member
Re:UPDATED pic's with my 11 year old. Monterey,Parkway,Recaro vivo lite(pics)

just updating the title lol. ok nm dont know how to update the title lol
 

trinityklm

New member
The pics on the babycenter site that Ginny4 linked to were interesting. I think the disappointment is largely due to the vast differences between children's TORSO heights. I wish manufacturers would use this measurement as a standard.

My daughter is tall and very leggy. Having the deep seat was very important. The Monarch wouldn't have worked for her. That being said, she'll probably fit in the Monterey for three or more years (she's almost 8). So I'm happy.

The one thing from that board I'm not really understanding is why people would choose a Parkway over a Monterey. It doesn't have nearly the amount of SIP of the Monterey or the Monarch and the seat is quite shallow. Maybe I'm missing something. If you already have one, maybe it wouldn't make sense to replace it, but if you're choosing between the Parkway and either the Monarch or Monterey, it doesn't seem like a contest. Hmmm.....
 

ginny4

New member
people choose seats for a variety of different reasons. i have to tell ya we are NOT happy about the REAL torso height of the monterey nor the shorter lifespan than other SK seats. but it doesn't mean that the monterey isn't a bad choice. so far i LOVE IT! i'm getting the parkway just to compare. no stores near me carry it. one of these seats are goign back to the store for sure. keep in mind the parkways are MUCH cheaper now. so i'm sure budget comes into play here. $130 is alot to pay for a booster IMO
 

MomToEliEm

Moderator
The one thing from that board I'm not really understanding is why people would choose a Parkway over a Monterey. It doesn't have nearly the amount of SIP of the Monterey or the Monarch and the seat is quite shallow. Maybe I'm missing something. If you already have one, maybe it wouldn't make sense to replace it, but if you're choosing between the Parkway and either the Monarch or Monterey, it doesn't seem like a contest. Hmmm.....

I was needing a tall, lightweight, easy to use, little chance of being messed up by someone unfamiliar with boosters, and inexpensive booster seat, and the parkway seemed like the best choice for me. The other seats look great, but for what I am using the booster for (being moved back and forth into the daycare van by my DD or her teachers), the parkway just seemed like a better choice. My DD is all torso though and her legs are pretty short so I wasn't too concerned with seat depth (at least at her current age).
 

Starlight

Senior Community Member
I chose a PW because I can get 3 across with it in my 3rd row. Can't do that in a Monterey or a Monarch, not with those massive wings.
 

musicmaj

New member
While I would have loved to buy the kids a monterey, we chose two parkways so they could fit three across. (We love the parkways too.)
 

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