3 across in a 2010 Mazda 3 (4 door)

[lncsmom]

DH drives a 2010 Mazda 3 (4 door, not hatch).

In May we will have a DD 5y6m, a DS 5y7m, and a newborn. Although it will be a while before all 3 kids will ride in this car on a consistent basis (I'll be home for the first 5 months and I will have all 3 in a Honda Odyssey 99% of the time), come September 2012 (when the kids will be 5y9m, 3y11m, and 5m) it is possible/likely he will have to bring all 3 to school in the morning in his Mazda 3!

Currently we have the 5yo in a brand new Britax Parkway and the 3yo in a (2yo) Marathon, both outboard, FF, and LATCH'd. DH doesn't really want an infant carrier. He'd rather use our (4yo) Roundabout RF in the middle with the seat belt.

Does anyone have any idea if this will fit? We're going to try it this weekend but I'm wondering if it is even worth trying or if it will be a waste of time! If it doesn't fit, any ideas for 3 across in a Mazda 3? I'm hoping for a RF convertible for baby, FF convertible for DS, and a booster for DD that will not involve buying all new seats!

 

[EmmaCPST]

You're almost certainly not going to be able to fit the a Roundabout and a Marathon next to one another, the side bolsters are just too wide.

The best bet would be to pick up a Radian, I'd get an angle adjuster with it and put it RF in the center and put the 3 year old in it, and then either the Marathon or the Roundabout will fit RF next to it. You probably won't be able to get the Radian next to the Marathon or Roundabout unless they're both facing the same direction.

 

[skylinphoto]

I have an 08 mazda 3 and I've been able to do coccoro rfing behind driver, radian ffing middle (seatbelt...very difficult to get good install but it can be done), and rather heavy adult behind passenger.
I'm thinking you could put just about any reasonably sized (not terribly wide) seat behind the passenger with this set up. I could set this up again and measure the space available where the adult was sitting (behind the passenger) if you'd like. I could even take pics if needed.

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[KaiLing]

I have a 2005 Mazda 3, and I've never been in a 2010, so if they changed the body of the car, ignore me. I've been known to refer to this car as "not three butts wide" because it just hasn't been for me. I can't squeeze three adults back there, while I can in the other sedans I drive.

I've never gotten a RF Radian to install successfully in the center of this car. I've never tried with the angle adjuster, but there's still the issue of the holes that the buckles come out of not fitting well with the RF foot. There's also potentially the issue with the angle adjuster that the center buckles are very close together back there and I wonder if even if it changed the geometry such that you could get one in if it would eliminate the narrow-ness of the Radian base, as the angle adjuster is maybe an inch wider on each side. I don't actually know; just guessing. But I'd be impressed if someone came up with a way to use a RF Radian in the center of a Mazda 3. A FF Radian (or two!) may be in your future, however.

Did they put a head rest in the center of the 2010? My 2005 has no head rest in the center (so I suppose it's not three heads wide, either). With 5 year olds, that may not be an issue, but it's something to think about when your kids get taller: backless boosters won't work in the center if there's no head rest, so 5 years down the road you're going to have to squeeze big kids on the outside and littler kid in a harnessed seat in the middle.


ETA: oops, I thought you had two 5 year olds, I see you have 5, 3, 0. So the head rest issue might still be there, but at least it won't be two kids arriving at the issue at once.

 

[KaiLing]

I have an 08 mazda 3 and I've been able to do coccoro rfing behind driver, radian ffing middle (seatbelt...very difficult to get good install but it can be done), and rather heavy adult behind passenger.
I'm thinking you could put just about any reasonably sized (not terribly wide) seat behind the passenger with this set up. I could set this up again and measure the space available where the adult was sitting (behind the passenger) if you'd like. I could even take pics if needed.

(I wouldn't mind seeing some CCO in Mazda 3 pics. I'd love, especially, to see how far back you can get the driver or passenger seat with the CCO installed outboard. Not worth you making another trip out in the cold, but if you've got any around, I'd be curious.)

 

[kam1011]

I'm thinking you may be able to keep using the parkway and marathon with one new radian: FF radian, RF marathon, parkway, because the radian and parkway should puzzle underneath the marathon, gaining inches. This is similar to my setup in my husband's tiny aveo...no room to spare!

 

[webMistress]

I have an 08 mazda 3 and I've been able to do coccoro rfing behind driver, radian ffing middle (seatbelt...very difficult to get good install but it can be done), and rather heavy adult behind passenger.
I'm thinking you could put just about any reasonably sized (not terribly wide) seat behind the passenger with this set up. I could set this up again and measure the space available where the adult was sitting (behind the passenger) if you'd like. I could even take pics if needed.

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Car-Seat.Org

I'm curious about the available width for the adult passenger. I'm thinking of purchasing either the 3 or the Volvo v50, & need room for 2 car seats & a very petite teenager.

 

[skylinphoto]

Ill take some pics and measurements this evening. (Gotta wait for dh to get back with the car).

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[skylinphoto]

Okay. I don't have a wide array of seats available..but I tried what I have. A coccoro, a myride, a radian, and a cybex solutions x fix booster.

First, here's the pics of the coccoro rfing behind the drivers seat:

And here is a successful three across using a coccoro, radian, and cybex booster:

Here is with a ffing radian in the middle with a rfing coccoro behind the driver:

Here is a rfing myride with the booster:

Here is the room available in any other these setups that leave an open space available (tape measure starting against side of middle seat):

So easily 15 inches across in the "deep" part of the backseat.

Okay. With the setup with the ffing radian and rfing coccoro...the coccoro could be moved to the passenger side rfing and it appears that you could easily fit a rfing radian behind the driver. Making a 3 across.

I wish I had some other boosters to work with..the cybex seems tough to do a 3 across with. If anyone needs measurements of my seats to compare with other seats let me know.

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[webMistress]

Here is a rfing myride with the booster:

...

Here is the room available in any other these setups that leave an open space available (tape measure starting against side of middle seat):

...

So easily 15 inches across in the "deep" part of the backseat.

Is the 15" for the passenger using the MyRide & booster? Trying to get an idea of the room w/o narrower seats installed.

 

[skylinphoto]

I got the 15" measurement using any of these set ups that leave an open spot. Basically, 15" across is the entire seat area and I was trying to show that its available. Even if there were no carseats in the back..that is the room for a person to sit there.

Does that make sense? I just overcomplicated that huh? Lol

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[KaiLing]

You're the bestest, Jessica! Looks like I'm right: the 6'9" driver is never sitting in front of any RF seat ever, cause there's no way he'd be able to drive in front of that CCO and I think it's smaller than everything out there front to back. Maybe he could get it past the CCO in the middle if I inched everything out toward the passenger? All speculation, but still great to know, thanks so much.

 

[webMistress]

I got the 15" measurement using any of these set ups that leave an open spot. Basically, 15" across is the entire seat area and I was trying to show that its available. Even if there were no carseats in the back..that is the room for a person to sit there.

Does that make sense? I just overcomplicated that huh? Lol

Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Car-Seat.Org

Okay, I get it now. This is awesome info! Thanks so much!