Sunshine Kids New Radian80 Convertible Car Seat Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)We got this seat for features which make it easy to travel with:it folds, it's certified for use in an aircraft, and it's narrower than other popular convertible baby seats, increasing our chances of being able to use this on an airplane or (forward facing) in smaller, non-U.S. vehicles.

On the ground, our attempts at installing the seat in a proper rear-facing LATCH configuration required a lot of careful effort on our part - to ensure that the seat was not movable more than 1" in any direction, etc.In our opinion, with a bit of effort tightening the LATCH belt, we got a tight and proper fit in one of our two cars.

But, we didn't to our satisfaction accomplish a rear-facing installation using seat belts in our second car which does not have LATCH.Using a typical 3-point seatbelt, we found that the car's seat belt receptacle extended high enough to rub against the side of the baby-seat to not allow the opposite seat belt connector to completely clear the baby-seat's belt-pathway.We therefore could not get a tight enough grip on the baby seat (as we could still move the baby seat back and forth quite more than an inch).

It was also impossible for us to install this seat rear-facing in both of our cars without requiring that the front passenger seat be moved forward enough to make it nearly unusable for adults.(We have two mid-sized, 4-door Asian-import branded cars.)Maybe persons with minivans and SUVs will have better luck.

We did not try a forward facing installation, but because the forward facing belt-pathway is a few inches higher than the rear facing belt pathway, we hopefully wouldn't expect the same issue using a seat belt as we described above.We think it's best for any potential buyer to try this seat beforehand if they are going to be using a seat belt to install this seat with.

In conclusion, we think that this seat is best suited for situations demanding the exploitation of its features that make it stand above the crowd: height, narrowness, and features intended to make it easy to carry when traveling - especially the included shoulder strap.For us, using LATCH is the best if not the only choice for rear-facing installations with this seat.We have yet to travel by plane, but when we do, we'll be sure to update this review to let others know our experience using this seat on an airliner.

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Update (07/2008): Fits fine (forward facing only) on 737, 757, and on Canadair Regional Jet seats.One may want to lift the airline seat armrest up to make it easier to fit.It was easy for us to route an airliner seat-belt through the upper forward facing seatbelt path, while lifting off the baby seat's cloth cover momentarily to hook-up the seatbelt. Be sure to ask steward(ess) for assistance if belt has too much slack (we had no issues on U.S. domestic flights).

Update (08/2009): The chair's (supercool model's) fabric does indeed stay cooler than the competition's, especially sitting under direct sunlight.Returning to a hot car was not much of a problem with this chair which got warm, but not too hot to sit in, whereas the competition's fabric felt too hot and needed a few minutes to cool off.Also, the chair sits nearer to a right angle than some of the competition (which tend to recline a little more), and the chair's left and right sides aren't as deep either;This may be a comfort issue for a child, but we don't consider it a major issue for the chair's convience when travellling.

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Product Description:
Radian80 is a convertible car seat for rear-facing children 5 - 33 lbs. and forward-facing children up to 80 lbs with the integral 5-point harness. The strongest car seat made, Radian80 features a steel alloy frame, 4-panel side impact protection and a unique energy absorbing harness system. The detachable base simplifies rear-facing installations and its low side profile makes child boarding a snap! Radian's unique design offers 3" more shoulder room inside than any seat its class and fits 3-across in a car. Includes full body support cushions for infants that converts into height-adjustable head cushions for older kids. All this, and it folds to just 7". Attach the shoulder straps and carry it over your shoulder or wear it like a back pack.
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