2020 was a tough yr, but it surely gave the Snyder household one thing actually particular to understand. In November, we welcomed our second youngster, Leokadia (or “Lola” for those who desire) into our lives. After all, as our giant son Wollie has already completed so many occasions, Lola must be pressed into service as a take a look at child for automobile evaluations. So now her Maxi-Cosi Mico 30 toddler automobile seat will get put in subsequent to her brother’s front-facing Britax Frontier within the again seat of Autoblog‘s long-term 2020 Volvo S60 T8.
One of many issues I like about Wollie’s Britax is that it’s tremendous straightforward to swap from automobile to automobile once you set up it utilizing a seatbelt — a helpful trait when, in regular occasions, my job includes driving a number of automobiles in per week. As a result of bulk of a automobile seat, it may well nonetheless be a problem to maneuver it into some automobiles, and placing it within the again seat of a small coupe generally is a bit like shifting a sofa up a flight of stairs (Pivot!). On this S60 sedan, although, I simply put it in headfirst, rotate it upright and plop it down.
Like I mentioned, I take advantage of the seatbelt to put in it, which, with this Britax, is simpler than fussing with the decrease LATCH anchors. The difficult half with a front-facing automobile seat is clipping the highest anchor behind the headrest, which is critical above a sure weight advice, and looks like a very good follow even when pointless. These prime anchors are coated by plastic items that clip into place. After pulling the duvet off, I needed to attain awkwardly across the headrest within the confines beneath the rear glass, and get the highest anchor clipped. Then, the duvet could be changed, however the identical confines make that difficult as properly, so that usually discovered itself in a door or seat pocket if the automobile seat wasn’t going to remain put in for lengthy.
As soon as put in, Wollie was all the time completely satisfied at the back of the S60, and a passenger sitting in entrance of him may sit in a snug place with out having to fret about getting kicked within the again. Wollie had room to climb in, flip round and hop in his seat with out my assist, which saves time when making an attempt to load up the automobile and get the household on the street.
However, then, in November, got here the day once I needed to set up a automobile seat base on the opposite aspect to accommodate Lola’s rear-facing Maxi-Cosi. For that, I used the decrease LATCH anchors. The lowers have plastic covers that merely flip upward, which implies I didn’t must discover a long-term storage spot that I’d finally neglect about. These bases are all the time a ache to tighten, however there’s sufficient room within the again seat for me to kneel on the bottom whereas I tighten the everliving hell out of the belt connecting the LATCH anchors.
Notice: Whereas all three rear seating positions have prime anchors, solely the outboard seats have decrease anchors. If you wish to set up any seat within the center, you’ll have to make use of the seat belt.
Assured in my set up, it got here time to clip the precise seat in. Straight away, I may see issues weren’t going to be best. I needed to transfer the driving force’s seat ahead. It wasn’t sufficient. I needed to transfer it ahead once more, after which once more to ensure Lola’s seat wasn’t touching the again of mine. As soon as I received hers in, I sat within the entrance seat. For this 6-foot-tall driver, the place was uncomfortable. I’d be capable of drive safely, however I felt as if I used to be curled across the steering wheel, with my knees excessive and my face nearer to the windshield than I’d like.
Ultimately, relatively than swap the seats, I left Lola behind the driving force’s seat and Wollie behind the passenger seat to provide him most house, as he was my solely passenger for about 95% of journeys. Once we wanted to all journey collectively, we’d simply take my spouse’s automobile, however I left the spare base within the Volvo in case we would have liked it. I believe the one time I really wanted to drive the Volvo in that compromised seating place was when my spouse received a flat tire, and I needed to scoop the household up and produce them dwelling. For a brief drive, it wasn’t as horrible as I’d anticipated, however there’s no manner I might have pushed like that for greater than, say, an hour.
That’s to not say the Volvo is alone on this downside. Most smaller-than-full-size automobiles would in all probability require me to sacrifice some consolation to drive in entrance of a rear-facing seat. Now I’ve received the following couple years to determine precisely which automobiles these are.
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