Our first born is due in november... does anyone know which infant eats fit best in the TSX? I have done some research but I haven't seen anyone post this topic in some time.

Also, which seat protector would you recommend?

 

This is the only related thread I found. It might help:

http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24075

 

Britax Marathon is a good car seat.

 

I use this carseat protector for my son's booster seat: http://www.princelionheart.com/site/t_cs_0560.html

I've been using it for a year and it seems to be working well so far.

 

The NHTSA has a pretty good summary of various child seats and also provides an "ease of use" factor. Choosing a seat with good useability and low recalls is usually the best ticket. I think Britax scores well on both counts:

http://nhtsa.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.9f8c7d6359e0e9bbbf30811060008a0c/;jsessionid=Cvy6EMozba2wXCp7RTWEhkWkDhy3bMOSRfrENj X32NIcCUwosMAE!-2047803961

If you're from Canada, the similar info can be found from Transport Canada:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/childsafety/menu.htm

One thing I will say about the location of the LATCH (or ISOFIX) anchors in the TSX is that they do not allow you to lower the 60% portion of the rear seatback when the child seat is installed on the 40% side. Acura/Honda have moved the location of the anchors inwards either due to the contour of the back seats or to avoid the side curtain airbags. I checked, and the location is similar on the Accord. In that case, the child seat would give you problems accessing the trunk pass-though. Probably the same for the TL, but I didn't check that one.

Interestingly, this is/was not a problem in my old '97 Civic or my wife's Mazda Protege. In both of those cars, you could lower the 60% side even with the child seat installed on the 40% side.

 

I'd personally recommend a different seat for a newborn, and then graduate to the Britax Roundabout (Marathon has poor reviews). One such newborn seat is the Graco Snugride. We personally didn't often put the car seat into the matching stroller, but the stroller is a good one and fits perfectly in the trunk (it's just deep enough) and it's pretty light for a full stroller.

If you are tall/like having your seat far back, you may run into some issues because of the backward facing seating required (and putting the seat in the middle if at all possible for the greatest safety).

 

My wife and I have a 10 week old. I am also a huge Britax fan.

We use the Companion infant seat with the base. It fits great. I am too tall to put the seat in the middle, so when I drive the wife pulls her seat up a good bit.

We also have the Prince Lionheart seat protector which I think is the best, but it's big and flat. The TSX rear seat has that bucket area which is a bit of a painful fit. But once you get it in there it works great.

Observations compared to my wife's Audi: The TSX anchors are very recessed into the seat backs. The seat bucket is very deep which makes it not a completely straight forward seat install accounting for the deep dish.

We plan to go to a Britax convertible when she outgrows the infant carrier. We're not sure which one because I haven't checked out fitment when rear-facing yet - some of the bigger seats rear-facing are huge.

 

I agree with the vitocorleone. Using the Britax seat for a newborn will be difficult as you will need to buckle/anbucle every time you go anywhere. The Graco Snugride allows you to put your baby in the seat and then just put the seat into the "permanently attached" base which stays in the car. This system is MUCH easier than putting a newborn into a seat at the mall in the rain. I used the Graco Snugride with good success and now have my 15 month old daughter in a Britax roundabout. When they are older and stronger, it's easier to put them into the Britax (it's a great seat, and easy to use, but in my opinion the wrong choice for a neborn.

We put the Graco in the middle using LATCH connectors from both sides (controversial) but it was installed by our local Fire Dept and the person had recieved a week long child safety course. It does impede the movement of the seat if the back is reclined too much. I'm 5'10" and was able to drive the TSX without compromise. We also used a seat protector. I think it's called "Supermat" and it works well. Good luck.