Animagix

Parents or soon to be parents,

Please help me out here. We're deciding which infant car seat to get for the RDX. Something that's really safe, comfortable and doesn't take up too much room in the back (eg. moving the front seat all the way up...) This is a specific problem in relation to the rdx and I'd much appreciate it if other members can lend some input/advice. We're deciding between britax or graco safeseat. Though both are good and price really isn't an issue, it's the size I'm more concerned about.

Thanks,

batman

I just put our graco in my RDX this week. I wanted to put it in the middle but it seemed unstable. Now it's behind the passenger seat. Our seat is really big so there is not that much space in the front. The seat is not all the way up. I'm 5'9 and my knees don't touch the dash but it's close. I don't know much about britax.

batman

Here are a couple of pictures. My car is parked on a hill so the pictures are angled. Our kid is due in a few weeks. The door opening is too small for this seat to fit in straight. I have to turn it once it's through the door. My wife is 5' so we will probably move the front seat up.

Animagix

Thanks for the reply! And congrats on the baby!

The graco does look big back there but, probably not so much where it distracts the driver. Its likely your wife would be sitting back there with the little one so, front passenger seat shouldn't be a concern.

Rdxowner

My Little Nephew has just born a week ago and my sister asked me to use my RDX for a month.and I Accepted with pleasure she traded her Mercedes CLS 63 AMG =D .and her infant seat is a Graco.I Higly Recommend Graco Bcuz they Make Good Seats And They Look More Safer than the other brands.
Congrats On The Baby.!
Take Care-
Merry Christmas
-William,

mvwood

We have a 3 month old baby and the Graco Snugride. I believe it is the one in the pics. It is also in the passenger rear seat (trust me, you will need the 60% folded seats to be down A LOT with a new baby).

There is not a lot of room unfortunately, and I was a bit disappointed about this with the RDX. It is fine when the rear seats are not down and my wife or I can ride in the back, but the front space is, while not unusable, not at all comfortable with the car seat in there. I am 6 feet, and have once or twice had to ride shotgun with the baby in the car, and all I can say is I'm glad there was no accident because it would have taken the jaws of life hourse to pry me out of that front space (felt like I would need some jaws of life action even without an accident).

Animagix

Thanks for all the replies (and pics). Has anyone seen a britax companion in the rdx?

zuzzu

We have a Graco Snugride. I would go for that, its not too big in the back (we also have a Cosco seat for our 3 year old .. the colors match the ebony interior nicely). My 5'4" wife has no problems sitting in the passenger seat with the graco behind her and rear facing. Note that after 20lbs, you switch the Graco to be front facing, thats when you free up a lot of room in the back, since the seat will no longer stick out beyond the edge of the back seat. Back in the summer, there was a big kerfuffle in the media regarding child seat safety, and many seats were re-tested and found lacking in safety (some were called outright dangerous). The graco snugride was hailed as being a very very safe seat, and highest rated. In the end, with kids, I think safety should be the primary decision factor for any parent.

fugazi11

I am picking our RDX up on Wednesday and will be installing our Britax Roundabout. Let you know how it goes. I just can't wait until he can be forward facing.....2 more months. I was hoping there would be more room, but the pictures above of the Graco doesn't look promising.

mvwood

I was told not to sit the carseat in the car like that because it is dangerous - the carrying bar and cover are supposed to be pushed back to align with the top of the seat.

While that means there is even less room in the back (becasue you should be able to pull the carseat forward without that bar touching the chair in front), we do it cause we were told to. Leaving enough room to pull the chair is particularly important as this allows the movement to absorb some shock in an accident.

Just passing it along.

russianDude

dont be cheap, buy Britax!!

batman

Yes I know. Those photos were just for demonstration. When our kid gets here we will have the seat they way that you keep yours.

silver08rdx

I've bought the Chicco keyfit30, just because it was the safest from my research. The britax companion would have been my 2nd choice, britax is heavier and larger. I've only used the Chicco for 2 weeks now, it looks MUCH smaller on the RDX than the Graco(from batman's pics)
One thing though, I'm really using is the LATCH system. I'm keeping carseat in the center (safer) and am able to move it to the sides in 15 secs when I need the seats folded down. Chicco also comes with little level markers and level adjustments to make sure you install it correctly when you move the seat around different seats/vehicles.
All this for a slightly higher price, I'm really happy with what I got.

AC11

I also bought a Chicco. Do you have pictures how it looks like in the RDX? I plan to put it in the middle back seat and wonder if it'd be big like the Graco one ...

PR RDX

or Peg Perego. Graco always gets poor safety ratings, while peg Perego and Britax seem to be a lot safer.

I chose the Peg over the Britax beacuse of the travel system with the Pliko P3
stroller and the cooler colors.

Bricky

Just some advice- If you decide on the Graco- just know that if you get the travel system the stroller will take up the ENTIRE trunk! My little one is a little over a month old so I haven't taken him out much, but I'm going to have to buy something smaller.

silver08rdx

Bricky is right, I've picked the Chicco car seat and a snap-n-go stroller frame to save trunk space. Travel systems fill up the trunk and the RDX doesn't have much more usable trunk space than a midsize car if you're talking strollers/carseats.

brizey

We used the Graco safeseat with the stroller base (the stroller only can hold the car seat, not the baby directly). Nice combo. The seat is big, but the stroller base is small, not much bigger than an umbrella stroller.

We now use a Britax roundabout.

We switched to the permanent mount at about six months. In our opinion, once the baby can hold its head up well, it is easier to just carry the baby than to carry the carrier. Plus I feel the permanent mount seats are safer. We switched it to forward facing at about 14 months.

lawgirl2831

I have a Chicco Key Fit with the big stroller that comes in the set. We are still shopping for an RDX but we took both with us to the dealer over the weekend and I would say that the Chicco fit just fine - very similair to how it fits in my husband's Volvo S80 behind the passenger seat, which is how we strapped it into the RDX just for a test. When we buy, I intend to put it in the middle as there is supposed to be a LATCH in all 3 spots in the backseat. The big stroller also fit horizontally in the back cargo area but we did have to fold down the pushing handle for it to fit - but given that we have to put it upside down in the passenger seat in both the Volvo S80 and the Saab 9-5 because it won't fit in either trunk, this is an improvement for sure.

RDX Canuck

We used the Peg Perego VIP car seat which worked well in the RDX until he outgrew it in only 5 months. Now we have a Graco sport something or other that is a 2 in 1 which means it can convert to forward facing and is good for up to 40lbs. The front seat does need to go forward a little more but there is still more room then when we put it in our TSX or the CSX loaner we have been given. If I had to do all over again especially with a boy I'd go with a combo seat that can hold up to 40lbs. The Peg Perego stroller fits great in the back of the RDX too. Man, can't wait to get our RDX back someday (see post in problems and fixes) "3 weeks without my RDX" if interested.

russianDude

I'd also recommend getting car seat cover protector, its $20, and it protects leather good, very happy with it:
car seat protector

It comes in black color, and matches my black leather

mvwood

yeah. We got this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Two-Stage-Car-.../dp/B000083GHY

Very solid.

phoward_15

This was a great post. Very helpful. I'm looking at getting a new RDX next month and my wife and I are still about a year away from kids but is in the back of our minds. Sounds like the RDX will do but has it's limitations.

I was actually doing some research on Vehix and it looks as though the cargo space with all seats up in the BMW X5 is smaller than the cargo space in the RDX which I find amazing. In fact the X3 is way bigger than both of them...I just find it surprising that the X3 would be bigger in cargo space than the X5. We have friends that have a 2 year old and a 6 month with an X5 and they don't have any problems at all so I think we'll be fine with the RDX.

Plus I'm getting the roof rack so we can just get a Thule rack if we go on long trips and put some cargo in there if the stroller takes up a lot of room.

TurboZo

Hi all, first post..

I would highly recommend the Chicco Keyfit 30 carseats. I did a fair share of research and am really happy with this one. It is built really well, good quality, easy to install, and baby loves it...he sleeps very well in it. I looked at the other brands but found this one to be superb.

Also, try avoiding those bulky travel systems. For this carseat, we got the Maclaren Easy Traveler which is a perfect match. It's like the snap and go things but better. this one is lighter and folds much more compactly. They don't advertise the Chicco and Easy Traveler working together...but trust me, it's a perfect fit.

Animagix

We just threw up the britax companion on our baby registry and will let you all know how it fits come february. It has the best safety rating I believe.

Thule Rack seems like a pretty good idea.

phoward_15

Yeah with all the research I've done I realize the cargo space is not as good as other SUVs but I just love Acura's. You get so much more for your money compared to a Nissan, BMW, Volvo, etc. So you can easily add 17 cubic feet of cargo space for long distance trips but just adding a Thule cargo box. All of the ones in this link work with the Acura RDX.

http://www.thuleracks.com/fg_choices...ption_number=1

I like the soft covers because you can easily take it down when you want to. My buddy has one for his Lexus RX400h and it works great.

http://www.thuleracks.com/product.as..._id=11&sku=866

But for everyday trips around town as long as the stroller fits in the back without having to put the backseat down that's what I want. The last stroller shown I think would be a good fit. Much smaller than the previous pictures shown at the beginning of the post.

I also golf a lot and was told a golf bag fits in the back no problem. My buddy also said that a stroller is similar in length to a set of golf s. Any one else have comments on that?

fugazi11

I have the Britax Roundabout in the back seat behind the passenger and my wife who is 5'8" doesn't have a problem sitting in the front. Myself (6'2") on the other hand, very uncomfortable because of how the glove box curves inwards towards the driver seat.

In regards to strollers we have the bugaboo frog and a mclaren and both fit in the back no problem.

MacGuruTX

We have a Graco Snugride in the middle position. I"m 6'0 and when I move the seat back to be comfortable it does touch the car seat.

My wife is 5'2" and is comfortable sitting next to her (Addison) behind the passenger seat or in the front seat.

We have a bugaboo chameleon and don't have any space problems driving around town. However, going to the airport with 3-4 suitcases and the stroller is definitely a problem. After coming back home from christmas, I had 2 suitcases laying flat in the back, a large duffel ontop of them and that was it for the cargo space. 3rd suitcase driver side rear, and the stroller jammed in the front passenger seat.

So much for another child. But that's our fault for not realizing how much stuff we would have when travelling.