Britax Frontier vs. Pioneer

[kld182]

My 5.5 year old daughter has nearly outgrown her Recaro Performance Sport and Diono Radian RXT seats with the harness. Her shoulders are at the harness level in the Recaro and just slightly below in the Diono. I'd like to keep her in a 5 point harness a while longer and am considering the Britax Frontier and Pioneer.

The seat will not be moved regularly, so I don't feel too strongly that we need the Click Tight feature. I'm most concerned about how long they will last. I read that Britax recently increased the harness height in the Pioneer, is this true? I sat her in both seats at a local store today and she has at least 2 inches in the Pioneer, probably 3 in the Frontier. I'd love to save $100 by buying the Pioneer, but do you think this is a mistake? (The seat will be handed down to two younger siblings.)

Thanks.

 

[ketchupqueen]

The Frontier is 1 inch taller than the Pioneer (previously was 1.5 but the Pioneer harness was raised a half inch.)

The Pioneer install is very difficult in some cars, so try before you buy.

 

[austinmomtr]

I have both in third row of mazda5. My frontier is 4 yrs old pioneer is 1.5 so I don't know about current versions. One beef I have with Pioneer is that I can't get as a good a fit with seatbelt as I can with frontier. My frontier has a long belt path that rocks in my mazda5. I would say if you are going to use latch, then the pioneer is worth saving the money. If you are using seatbelt, I would consider the frontier from my experience with the seats. Try the pioneer out in your car before you buy. I still use it, but I wonder if seatbelt fit is ok.

 

[kld182]

Thanks for the responses. The car seat will be used primarily in a 2012 Odyssey (and, possibly, in a 2010 VW Tiguan). Will definitely try installing with the vehicle belt before buying!

 

[bnsnyde]

We had a Frontier in the Odyssey (2011). I'd go with the Frontier over the smaller Pioneer every time. But there are some tether issues. Not the easiest to tighten.


We ended up selling it. I would still get one again if my child outgrew the Recaro and I wanted a longer harness. It's great for that! Pretty much that's what happened. My child was too tall for the Recaro so we got the Frontier.