I got a reply from Russ.
elite carseats made an error.
Kat,
Sorry for the confusion, but thanks for letting me know. I will contact Elite tomorrow and correct the misunderstanding.
All Radian seats (65, 80 and XT) share the same basic plastic shell body and share the same dimensions (the structural difference being the steel). So, all can fit three across and yet all have about 3” more shoulder room than some other convertible seats (like Marathon/Boulevard/Decathlon).
I had linked him to where it was posted so he could take care of it more quickly... so the store wouldn't have to contact SK to double-check or anything.
But he ALSO gave me a ton of new info on the seat...
I think I had promised you a list of the updated features for 2009:
Radian updates for 2009: Rubber bottom grips for a no-slip installation
Aircraft aluminum reinforced sides
.5” thick memory foam for cloud-like comfort (seriously) < Radian80 and XT
Wider chest clip
Replaceable harness and tether
Updated rear-facing base to make RF installation even easier
Deeper harness pathway channel underneath and on the back
RadianXT is brand new and ships in a couple of weeks.
RadianXT offers the most complete and most advanced side-impact performance and protection of any seat – anywhere.
Let’s start with this: No other seat is made like Radian and it wasn’t designd this way just to help keep the steel industry in business.
Radian80/XT is the strongest car seat in the world and it’s built that way for a reason.
We believe high-capacity means high-performance for the high-capacity child, not just minimum standards to get a weight rating.
We built the highest capacity seat. For us, that means the highest performance including the highest-capacity child.
Safety is not a marketing approach. It’s actual performance and test results.
Forward facing:
Radian feature SafeStop – energy-absorbing harness system to provide the absolute best performance for smaller FF occupants (who from a physiological perspective, are, perhaps the most vulnerable group ). SafeStop reduces peak chest, head and neck loads by up to 30% - this is significant safety enhancement and protection.
Fact: Car seats for children above 50 lbs do NOT have to meet ANY performance criteria.
This is true, only seats below 50 lbs have to meet all the testing standards. This is why some higher capacity seats can get away with ‘requiring’ the use of top tether above 50 lbs. Below 50 lbs, the seats have to meet all the requirements and excursion values in every configuration – with and without top tether. Above 50 lbs, seats can actually have less strength and lower performance…for bigger kids. (Yes, it is about time they updated the government’s rules….)
Radian80/X meets all the biomechanical values established by NHTSA in FMVSS213 - even at 80 lbs, with and without top tether.
Tether use is important because almost all vehicles do not allow use of top tether about 48 lbs. In fact, only one vehicle mfg allows top tether to 60 lbs.
The concern is vehicle anchorage points which are not designed (nor are they required by FMVSS209 to be designed) for the loads of higher weight kids.
Broken piece of metal tethered to a car seat and flying over a child’s head in an accident is generally considered a bad thing.
NCAP is the 35 mph crash test strandard required by US govt for all vehicles to determine their safety rating in a severe crash.
Car seats are only crash tested to 30 mph FMVSS213 (translates to about 23 g’s)
Most safety advocates belief strongly that car seats should have to undergo NCAP at their highest weight rating, just as a fail-safe precaution.
What does 5 mph mean? Well, depending on the type of vehicle and the stiffness of its frame (like that of a smaller car, which more people are driving), the difference can mean almost twice the crash forces impacting the occupant inside. Think about it this way: 35 mph riding in ‘78 Volvo with a long hood and a big ‘crumple zone’ to cushion/absorb the impact or 35 mph in a ‘08 Toyota Echo with not a whole lot of space up their (or a Ford Explorer with a stiff frame).
Radian80/XT was tested to the most severe NCAP crash test – 46 g’s (almost double the forces of FMVSS213 test) with an 85 lb dummy – without top tether.
There is NO car seat that can even come close to this at 65 or 70 lbs, with or without top tether.
They’re ‘bad’ seats, they just weren’t designed with the strength for such fail-safe performance.
Side-Impact performance:
Reinforced sides, 7” deep reinforced head support with adjustable height.
Again, RadianXT is the ONLY car seat built this way, and we did it for a reason:
Car seats claim ‘side-impact’ tested…But what does that mean?...To what standard? With what results? With what dummy?
The NPACS European coalition side-impact standard has the highest degree of international acceptance.
The Q-series dummies are the most advanced and the only ones that can measure side-impact forces.
We also test with a standard, 10 yr old dummy to confirm containment safety and protection for larger children.
That’s real side-impact testing, and RadianXT is the ONLY car seat that does it.
You want great side impact performance? You have to completely contain and protect. For that you need depth and structure. Grab the head-supports of a car seat and flex-them in and out and tell me how that’s going to contain a 100 + lbs of force generated in a side-impact crash?
You want; high-capacity performance? Can’t do it with a hollow, plastic seat. You need a steel frame.
No other car seat is built like Radian.
No other car seat is crash tested like Radian – I take that back. I am sure they have been crash tested like Radian…they just won’t tell you the results.
How about this perspective:
Chances are you’ll never get into an accident, and if you do it will probably be minor and your child may not even be in the car, anyway.
So why even buy a car seat?
The uncomfortable truth is this: bad accidents can happen to anyone at any time. And they do.
All car seats are designed for accidents.
But only one features a steel frame, designed and crash tested for the worst, possible accident conditions.
Radian80/XT is the strongest car seat in the world and built that way for a reason.
A car seat is like an insurance policy.
Choose the best coverage for your child.
If you can find a stronger, safer, better performing car seat than Radian80/XT – buy it. You should.
It has a big feel of a sales pitch, but an informative one, at least.