I live in Canada and was very excited to find the Radian as a cheaper alternative to Britax seats. My husband was impressed with the "safe-stop" as he has experience in construction safety training and they use similar devices in fall-protection. At the time we bought it, the seat was only rated to 48lbs here, but very recently was changed to 65lbs. It's been less than a year since we bought ours, and from what I know about the testing methods in Canada (previously they just didn't test them over 48lbs, which is a pretty dumb reason in my opinion), I'm hoping that no changes were made to the seat and I'll be able to use mine past 48 to save me buying an extra seat. (I'm waiting for a response from SK regarding this)
I've only used the Radian with my oldest son, at 4 yrs he's 38lbs and I'm not sure how tall, but I just moved the harness to the highest slot (his shoulders are dead even with the second-highest). He's always been a bit taller than average (although not sure where he gets it from!) so I was extra happy to find the Radian. I couldn't imagine moving him to a booster in the near future! Back to my review...As for the install, I found it a little difficult until I figured out a couple things. Since the belt track is so much lower than a lot of carseats it gets a little tricky. We have a 06 Toyota Sienna and I've had the Radian FF in the middle row (bucket seats) and FF in the rear bench, all with Latch. I think I briefly tried with the seatbelt, but gave up because Latch was just easier, from previous experience with other seats. I don't remember reading that Latch can't be used over 48 lbs, I'll have to check on that. I haven't installed it RF, but I'll have to try it soon because I'll be needing it soon for a baby I just started babysitting. I had trouble tightening the Latch until I discovered I could pull it through the openings in the seat cover to get a better pulling angle (on the same side of the buckle). The most difficulty I had installing the seat was in the 3rd row bench. The Latch anchors are slightly narrower than the seat and since the belt track is so low I had to play with the recline of the bench and ended up using the the built-in recline on the Radian as well and finally got it solid.
In Canada it's mandatory to use a tether FF, so that was nothing new to us. I don't really understand the V in the tether, though, maybe it attaches more securely to the seat(?), but it works fine. The only thing I wonder about the tether is that where it's attatched to the Radian is much lower than the top of the van seatback. On one of our previous carseats, the Costco Touriva, the tether came out the front of the seat under the seat cover and over the top edge of the shell, it seemed like it would do a better job keeping the seat from flying forward. Over all the Radian is rock-solid, so I'm not worried about it.
As to the comfort of the seat, my 4 yr old doesn't complain. The crotch strap seems a little short, but like I said, he doesn't complain! I think one of the comments I read was about the harness straps seeming too short with a bigger child and I have wondered about that too. My son is just under 40lbs now and it seems like there's not a lot of extra length, not to mention the safe-stop makes the harness a bit longer and we won't be using it much longer. It's not my biggest concern, though, because I'm a stickler about getting the harness is as tight as I can pull it, I use two hands and lean my weight into it. I do wonder about his head rolling around when he goes to sleep, it does tend to tip forward. I have seen some pictures (I think on the SK website) of the Radian with head cusions that are bigger than the infant ones (maybe the body cushions do double-duty?), but I don't think you can get them separate. I would like to know where to get them if anybody out there knows about them. I'm not sure what the seat's like with a young baby yet, but the infant cushions that are included with some models look like a good idea.
Over all I highly recomend the Radian if, and only if, you can get it installed tight enough in your vehicle as there are some vehicles that are just not compatable.
UPDATE:
I have gotten a good RF install in most positions both with Latch and seatbelt. I was, however, disappointed to re-read the manual and discover that Latch can only be used up to 48lbs (not sure how I missed it the first time), after that you have to switch to the vehicle belt. Unfortunately I can't get it anywhere near tight enough FF with the seatbelt due to the buckle being forward of the back of the seat. Maybe I'll be adding a Marathon to our collection eventually...
Further update:
I'm learning new things every day, so pls forgive my updates! I did get a MA (DOM Sept 07, YAY) with the new Canadian 65lb sticker, and am using it RF for a 13mo old I babysit. With the top slots fitting shorter than the Radian, I'm still out of luck finding a seat to harness past 48lbs (DS1 has 10lbs and 2" left in the Radian). I did just recently get the Radian installed w/the SB in the middle 3rd row of my 06 Sienna, I'm pretty sure it's acceptable, but waiting for a tech to confirm (due to a gap in the seatbacks, see the
Radian successfull install thread) Other note, I have since discovered that my Radian is one of the short-strapped ones, I'm waiting to get my new one, should be a new DOM and stickered to 65lbs:thumbsup::thumbsup:!