A8 Parts Forum  

Go Back   A8 Parts Forum > General Natter > Daily banter

Daily banter For everything, and anything that doesnt fit in elsewhere

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 27th December 2017, 05:14 PM
pete-p's Avatar
pete-p pete-p is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Bristol
Posts: 662
Default High Back Booster - harness

So the time has come that my little one might be getting tired of facing backwards in his car seat and it's getting harder to reach to do up the harness.

We went to Mothercare and tried a high back booster but it was too loose when belted in so we were advised against that particular one. Has anyone else had similar issues with car seats in a D2?
__________________
Cars...
'93 Audi Coupe 2.0 Alpine White (sold)
'99 Audi S4 Merlin Purple - K04 upgrade to 412hp (sold)
'00 Audi S8 Agate Grey (Sold )
'11 Audi Q7 4.2tdi Unknown Red (Classic Red Pearl Effect - thanks MJ)

Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 27th December 2017, 07:51 PM
Adrian E's Avatar
Adrian E Adrian E is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Gatwick area
Posts: 4,051
Default

Hiya

Speaking from experience, spend a decent amount as this is the child restraint they'll be in for by far the longest!

I highly recommend the BeSafe iZi Up Fix X3:

https://www.besafe.com/product-category/child-car-seat/

The Isofix is only used to restrain the seat in the car and stop it moving about either when in use or not - it gives the added advantage of extra side impact protection as the seat is designed to swivel on the base, to move it away from the point of impact. Unrestrained high back boosters are a royal pain in the arse!

The quality of high back boosters is highly variable - as a manufacturing engineer by training, and a research engineer into child safety amongst other related areas, this product is by far and away the best one out there in its class.

This place is local-ish to you and sells it for £170 (you can get 5% off if you complete an order within 5mins/using BABYCO5 code) but you may find it cheaper elsewhere if you shop about - just make sure it says 'fix' in the model description or you're getting the inferior non-Isofix variant.

Your offspring needs to be fairly well up the weight/height range before moving to this stage of seat - ours moved up as he was literally at the weight limit for the harness seat, so it was no longer safe, but was well under 3 yrs. The seatbelt was a little high on his neck until his next growth spurt. He's now getting on for 8 and still using it daily!

Hope that helps

Adrian

ETA - other thing I forgot to describe is the adjustment mechanism, which is genius! It's like a worm and peg as the top and bottom halves extend relative to each other (most just move the top bit up and the bottom stays static) - at the same time the side wings expand as it goes up (again most don't adjust).
__________________
===SOLD===2002 Audi S8 D2 Final Edition (yes, really) in Avus Silver with purple extended leather===SOLD===

2011 S5 Sportback in Phantom Black with black Super Sports leather, 9x20s, tech pack high, adaptive xenon plus, intelligent key, memory seats pack, sunroof, B&O, Audi Drive Select & quattro Sports Diff, DAB, parking system plus

2015 VW Golf GTI Performance Pack in Carbon Grey with black Vienna leather, tech pack (Discovery Pro nav & Dynaudio), DCC, factory towbar and retrofit RVC

Last edited by Adrian E; 27th December 2017 at 07:53 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 27th December 2017, 09:04 PM
pete-p's Avatar
pete-p pete-p is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Bristol
Posts: 662
Default

Thanks Adrian that's very good to know. We don't plan to skimp on safety plus it needs to be comfy for longer journeys even though we do make regular breaks.

We have a BeSafe at the moment and it's very good. Similar to you, our 'little one' is quite heavy and tallish for his age (16kg and 2.5yrs) but would rather keep a harness for as long as possible. Most harness seats are only suitable up to 18kg but I've seen some with extended harness even up to about 25kg (Joie Bold is one).

I've seen a lot of the Isofix ones with a top tether but I don't think the D2 has this does it? I'm not sure the top tether is mandatory since not all cars will have it and it would also be held in place with the seatbelt anyway. I'm sure the retailer should be able to advise on that though.
__________________
Cars...
'93 Audi Coupe 2.0 Alpine White (sold)
'99 Audi S4 Merlin Purple - K04 upgrade to 412hp (sold)
'00 Audi S8 Agate Grey (Sold )
'11 Audi Q7 4.2tdi Unknown Red (Classic Red Pearl Effect - thanks MJ)

Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 28th December 2017, 07:55 AM
Joe2.0E Joe2.0E is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Ireland
Posts: 428
Default

I would recommend the Recaro range of child seats, I have used them in a D3, D4 and Q7. Top Quality and no more expensive than a lot of the tat being sold in mothercare type outlets. I always got them online from Demon Tweeks without issue.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 29th December 2017, 05:45 PM
pete-p's Avatar
pete-p pete-p is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Bristol
Posts: 662
Default

Well, we had a good look around and have tried a couple out and think we've decided on a seat now. A Britax Kidfix; mainly due to the extra seatbelt safety features, particularly the centre guide for the lap belt as when he was in one with just a seatbelt he tried to wriggle out under the lap belt!

http://www.britax.co.uk/car-seats/kidfix-ii-xp-sict/

Will keep with the rear facing seat we have until he is a little taller (a few more cm) or gets too heavy.

Definitely want isofix, they are buried quite deep on the D2!
__________________
Cars...
'93 Audi Coupe 2.0 Alpine White (sold)
'99 Audi S4 Merlin Purple - K04 upgrade to 412hp (sold)
'00 Audi S8 Agate Grey (Sold )
'11 Audi Q7 4.2tdi Unknown Red (Classic Red Pearl Effect - thanks MJ)

Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 30th December 2017, 09:22 AM
Adrian E's Avatar
Adrian E Adrian E is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Gatwick area
Posts: 4,051
Default

I've no personal experience of the latest Britax products - they always used to be superbly engineered, but went through a phase of cutting cost out of production and the quality visibly suffered by the time we were looking 2010 onwards. I'm led to believe they've now returned to their old ways, so wouldn't be surprised if this is a much better product.

A
__________________
===SOLD===2002 Audi S8 D2 Final Edition (yes, really) in Avus Silver with purple extended leather===SOLD===

2011 S5 Sportback in Phantom Black with black Super Sports leather, 9x20s, tech pack high, adaptive xenon plus, intelligent key, memory seats pack, sunroof, B&O, Audi Drive Select & quattro Sports Diff, DAB, parking system plus

2015 VW Golf GTI Performance Pack in Carbon Grey with black Vienna leather, tech pack (Discovery Pro nav & Dynaudio), DCC, factory towbar and retrofit RVC
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 30th December 2017, 03:24 PM
paulrstaylor paulrstaylor is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Manchester
Posts: 1,317
Default

I have two of these.....

http://en.recaro-cs.com/child-seat/recaro-monza-nova-is

Still using the impact shield, he loves the seat and is obviously very comfortable in it, and in most tests comes out much safer than a harness. That said, they do get mixed reviews, much of which I suspect comes from not using it right, it’s really important to get their bum in the back corner of the seat before the cushion gets fitted, else it doesn’t fit properly and they can wriggle out!

Grandparents had a Britax, he was less happy in it and they struggled with the straps. Bought another recaro and all happy now

Not used the speakers yet, but will come in useful in later life!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 12:50 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.