New rear facing car seats

Posted on by admin

During the recent Kind & Jugend convention in Cologne, Germany, some new rear facing seats were announced. For us who work closely with manufacturers and provide lots of feedback to improve products the seats were not new but some offered an interesting first look at functionality.

Britax:

The new MaxFix is a very nice rear facing Isofix seat for children 0-18 kg. It's basically an Isofix version of the very popular Max-Way seat. Seat shell is the same as Max-Way with a seat shell in a new lighter color which will also be implemented for other seats.

MaxFix is used 0-18 kg rear facing. It offers ultra fast installation with Isofix with great recline and sleep position. The recline function has been developed in house by the skilled Britax engineers and works nicely. Angle is changed by turning a small wheel, a smart and simple solution.

MaxFix does just like Max-Way offer a built in head support and an integrated harness. Isofix seats are in general heavy, MaxFix will be 20% lighter than current competitors which is a nice change. Britax does a great job in keeping fabric free of toxins and the 2013 line is no exception. Colors available at launch will be “Black Thunder” and “Stone Grey”. MaxFix will arrive in January 2013 and will be available for pre-orders at CarSeat.se in December 2012.

Maxi Cosi:

Sweden has won the battle regarding rear facing:-) This was clear at the giant and beautiful Maxi Cosi area. A huge stand with large LCD displays and lots of information talked about the importance of rear facing until at least age two. Nicely done by Maxi Cosi. While rear facing to age two would be a huge step backwards for Sweden, where rear facing to age four is the norm, it's a giant step forward for the rest of Europe (and rest of the world)

Maxi Cosi was showing off their 2Way model which will comply with the new European i-Size standard coming in 2013-2014. The Isofix seat can be used rear facing from birth to around age two and then used forward facing to age four. A nice addition for Europe where early forward facing is the norm but way too short rear facing time for Sweden. This seat is similar to the new and stylish Cybex Sirona which offer similar short rear facing time and then forward facing with a shield function.

The new Maxi Cosi 2Way model will arrive in late 2013.

Axkid:

Axkid showed off a nice new seat called Mini. Name is perhaps a bit misleading since space required for the new seat is small but rear facing time is long at 5+ years. The new seat is basically a simplified version of the current Kidzone model.

The current Kidzone has a base and can be used rear and forward facing 9-25 kg. The new Mini model is used rear facing 9-25 kg. Base from the Kidzone model is gone so bottom of the Mini is very narrow. Angle is changed with a metal bar under the seat which works nicely. Very similar in function to Britax Max-Way and Hi-Way.

Mini will offer the same great automatic adjustment of harness/head support as in the current Kidzone model. A nice improvement is a new locking mechanism which can be used for those who prefer to adjust head support manually.

The new Mini is a basically a competitor to Britax Max-Way offering about as long rear facing time and similar easy installation. Mini will be available in Janurary 2013.

Klippan:

The Finnish brothers showed off their Triofix model and also the new Dinofix infant seat. Triofix was shown at last years convention and arrived early this year. The seat is is used 9-36 kg, can be used rear and forward facing and installed with Isofix or seat belt. It's quite a unique seat, changing direction from rear to forward facing is done ery quickly and easily. Installation is done in seconds and the seat is the most compact rear facing seat on the market. It's a favorite among parents with small cars. A popular Isofix choice together with Klippans Duologic 2/Kiss 2 model.

The new Dinofix is a classic infant seat. The Isofix base used with Triofix can also be used with Dinofix which make things a lot easier and cheaper for parents.

The Kind & Jugend convention was as always a nice place to meet manufacturers and discuss new seats. Very nice to see the increased focus on rear facing seats in Europe!:-)

11 thoughts on “New rear facing car seats”

  3. JHP says:

    Is there any chance these seats will be a solution for cars with underfloor storage (long enough legs to reach the bottom of the compartments/ miss the boses).  I would like an alternative to the Two Way Elite for my Smax.
    Thanks

  6. Pingback: ”Sweden has won the battle regarding rear facing:-)” | Bilstolslotsen

  9. admin says:

    JHP: Cars with compartments can also use seats with support leg. We recommend to fill compartment, place a larger solid object on top of compartment, extend support leg to floor of compartment and/or use support leg and also lean against front seat. This options all work very well.

    /Håkan
    http://www.carseat.se

  11. Ana says:

    Hi, I'm a mom of a 11 month old big boy (77cm, 12kg) and it's time to move him from his babycoq. I want to keep him rearfacing for as long as possible but there's not much to choose from here in Portugal and I find it hard to buy something so important as a carseat on the internet. So, can I ask for your advice? I've heard all the best about this company and I would truly appreciate if you could recomend a RF carseat for my baby. During the week it is usualy I that drive him around on a VW Polo (only 3 doors) but on the weekend or for longer journeys we change to my husband's Mazda 3. So I guess I need a carseat that's not too big and that's easy to install as we change cars quite often. Also, my baby falls asleep after a while so I find it important that the seat reclines.
    Many Thanks  

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


three × = 21