Carseat for a Prius - Extended RF

[hollyperret]

We have a one year old and just bought out second car, a 2010 Prius. Our current car is smaller, a Honda Fit, and both my husband and I are very tall (6'4" & 5'9") so we need the seats all the way back. Our current carseat is purposely small to fit in the space (Combi Coccoro) and I would like to get a second seat for the Prius that will last longer for rear facing. Budget won't be a factor if its a seat that we can ERF in past the age of 2 and still have both of our seats all the way back.

Any recommendations?

Also a couple of questions...

I was looking at the Diono Radian and what is the difference between all the versions available?
What dimension do I look at to see how deep the seat is? In other words the distance from seat front to seat back at it's largest point. I just can't figure out how to find that information.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Unregistered]

I just purchased a Diono Radian RXT for my 2011 Honda Fit from Diapers.com. shipping was free so I decided to just go ahead and order it because I was struggling with all the measurements. I figured I would just send it back if it didn't work.

It fits very well with the $10 angle adjuster that you buy separately. We previously had the Coccoro and, though I loved the low profile, he was on the verge of outgrowing it at 18 mos. It seems like The Radian shouldn't fit because it's so tall but with the angle of the seat, the angle adjuster and the way it sits sort of upright, it does. The view through the rearview mirror is partially obstructed because it's in the center seat, but, honestly, I'm not sure how you could have ERF and not have a partially obstructed view. I can still see out the rearview mirror, just not as well so it does mean I have to actually turn and look over my shoulder a bit.

My husband is 6'5 so we needed to be able to put the seats all the way back. It was also very easy to install.

 

[eduller]

I would say a Radian with the angle adjuster or a Truefit would work well for a tall child and a small back seat. How heavy is your baby? The Truefit only has a 35 lb RF limit, but it is super easy to install and can be installed as upright as 35 degrees. I have one in the back seat of a Kia Forte which has about the same size back seat as a Prius as far as I can tell.

The difference between Radians:
-The RXT is the same as an R120 except it has headwings.
-The R100 rear faces only to 40 lbs vs the 45 of the RXT/R120
-The R100 forward faces to only 65 lbs vs 80 of the RXT/R120
--The R100 Boosters to only 100 lbs vs 120 of the RXT/R120

As for what dimension to look at, I honestly don't know. The internal seat depth will give you kind of an idea of how much space it will take up but more depends on the angle of install, the shape of the shell, etc.

 

[hollyperret]

Thanks for all of that information.

I am so glad to hear of a different seat that fits in the Fit!! Thank you so much for sharing that.

And that clears up a lot on the Radians thanks. I was getting overwhelmed looking for seats.

I think I will go with the Radian with the angle adjuster. I don't think it is available at BRU. Do you know of any stores that carry it without having to order online?

My daughter is about 23 lbs and 31 inches tall at the moment. I don't think she is above average, but she will likely get tall considering how tall her parents are. Either way, I want to RF for as long as possible. I'd rather buy one seat, one time and not have to worry again.

 

[NicRic]

I think you are looking for the fore-aft measurement. The length of the seat when installed. I emailed Diono about the RadianRXT. They sent an image one with the adjuster and one without. With the adjuster it is 24" and w/o it is 29".

 

[eddis]

We have a 2006 Prius. DS RF'ed in his RXT until very recently, using the angle adjuster. (He's a peanut and is still within the seat limits to RF, but I compromised with DH about finally turning him around. ) If I recall correctly, we had the passenger seat back almost all the way (one click left), but that was with an outboard install - if you have the seat in the middle I would think you might be able to have the passenger seat all the way back as well. But also, I believe the Radian manual allows for the front seat to touch the car seat (after the car seat has been installed, and touching/bracing does not change the angle of the seat).

DS' current stats: 35 lbs. and 41.5 inches tall. The RXT allows up to 45 lbs RF'ing. So I'd say yes, you should be able to RF your DD for a while yet!

 

[cookie123]

Something you might want to think about in the Prius - this came up for us when we got ours. Matthew was not rf, he was 3.5 at the time. He wasn't tall enough to see out of the window in the Nautilus or the Secure Kid. I don't know if that matters with a younger kiddo. But it bothered him. Something higher profile might be nice, but I won't lie to you, the Radian with it's lower sides and profile are much easier to get a kiddo in to.

We used a Pro Sport forward facing for quite a long time. This spring we switched to the Nautilus again. Matt felt he was in a baby seat. He wants a booster! But alas, he can't sit still. I promised him we'd try again later this year.

Anyway, something to think about.

 

[eddis]

Interesting! Not the OP here, and I know every child is different. That said, DS switched from the Britax Boulevard 70 (which is quite high up) to the RXT at about the same age, and actually preferred the RXT because he could climb in more easily due to the lower sides. But he was RF at the time and I guess the view didn't change much either way.

(Now he's FF and back to a Britax in our/my primary car - it's about halfway between the RXT and Blvd in seat height. He hasn't commented much about the change, but that's just his personality... very different from his big sister's, lol. )

 

[twinstars]

I have an '09 Prius with an R120 w/angle adjuster on one side and a foonf on the other. I had a tech from here help me with the installation of both. I found them to have the exact same fore-aft though the measurements Nicric says diono claims are less than foonf claims (33"rf). Maybe it's just variable by how we installed it and the type of car and side it's on? I think the R120 could technically shave off an inch and a half since the top of the shell ends up higher so if you pull up the front seat head rest it won't touch the front seat where the foonf would because the shell part is lower and wouldn't fit between the seat and headrest pulled up.

To answer your original question you can have your seat scooted all the way back with an R120 and angle adjuster however the seat back would have no recline. So sit in your seat scooted all the way back and pull the seat back up to the most forward click. If you think that is comfortable go for it. I hope this helps.

 

[twinstars]

forgot to add, I *think* the 2010 actually has more back seat room than the 2009
if that is the case you should have no problem with room!

 

[newyorkDOC]

Are you planning on having more kids? If so go for the radian bc it is TIGHT in the back with two seats (I've got a 2010). And if you will ever need a 3-across you must have a radian in the mix.