# car seat for subaru impreza



## Grivas (Nov 20, 2007)

our dd is one month old, and we are looking to buy a convertible car seat. the problem is, my subaru impreza has a small back seat, with kind of a mound in the middle. we don't know what seats will fit. we have some good gift certificates, so are not really worried about cost. does anyone else have a little impreza and use a convertible car seat? if so, what kind and with what success? right now, we have an infant rear-facing bucket, but it only fits on the passenger side, which makes us a little nervous.

thanks for any advice!


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

With the bump in the middle, I would plan to place any seat outboard. Since it's on the side, I would consider something with enhanced side impact protection.

My top choice would be the boulevard.

-Angela


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## mbhf (Jan 8, 2005)

I had a 2003 impreza outback when my first two were babies. I had no trouble getting a seat in the middle, even with the slight hump. I had two sceneras side by side for a while, which worked fine and left plenty of room for me beside the baby. A Britax marathon fit well too, but not side by side obviously. In my experience, A Marathon actually takes up less space than most buckets.


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## Juvysen (Apr 25, 2007)

I have an impreza outback and it's definitely a tight fit. Our convertable seat only fits backward w/the passanger seat down forward, which didn't seem real safe to me. Dh and I switched cars during the time that dd was rear facing (yeah, we turned her early...







), but now I'm looking into getting a couple of radian 65s and setting them sort of more upright, but still rear facing...


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## ShaggyDaddy (Jul 5, 2006)

2004 subaru impreza with a britax boulevard (currently rear facing convertable) and a Recaro Youngsport.
We have also had an Evenflow Triumph and a few other convertables in there

Just a note about the "hump" in an impreza you are not supposed to use LATCH in the middle.

I am sure my DW will have something to add, and since I commented, she will see this thread.


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## pixiepunk (Mar 11, 2003)

i have a 2000 Impreza wagon and actually have 3 in the backseat at the moment (we're car shopping this weekend! yay!). i'm on the short side, so we put the rear-facing seat behind the driver's seat and it fits just fine - but it probably wouldn't if i needed to push the seat way back. DH has a hard time driving my car for that reason (he's 6'). he can manage it, though, it's just not in the ideal spot - but it's doable.

but i have put two different models of Graco infant seats (Snugride and Safeseat) in my car, they fit in the middle but i preferred the fit behind the driver's seat, especially since it allowed more flexibility to push back the passenger seat. The convertible we used for DD and DS was an Evenflo Triumph and it fit great behind the driver's seat in both rear-facing and forward facing positions. And it was a pretty bulky seat. We've got a Radian 65 in the center position right now and it fits great even over the hump. it's in a forward-facing position, though. don't know how it would do rear-facing. the only rear-facing seat we've got at the moment is behind the driver's seat, it's the Graco Safeseat.

if you only need to fit one seat in the back you should be totally fine. but if you need to be able to push the driver's seat really far back on a regular basis, you'll probably want to put the rear-facing carseat behind the passenger's seat - if it's in the middle it will keep either of the front seats from being able to slide all the way back, at least IME. as far as forward-facing convertible seats go, we've never had a problem getting any of the ones we've tried in there, though i've neve tried a Britax, so i can't speak about those.

HTH!


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## ScotiaSky (Jul 2, 2004)

I do not know if the back seat are different in the Subaru models but DH as a 99 Outback Legacy and I am having a bear of a time getting our DS's Radian in it in any seating position.

This is FF but I cannot imagine RF it would any better. It is by seatbelt though maybe if you have LATCH it would be better. Right now I install and its acceptable and by the next day its loose.

DD's Marathon on the other hand went in RF like a dream. So I would think all the Britax convertibles would install just as easy.

I haven't tried our Evenflo Triumph Advance in it yet but I suspect it would go in equally as well. Bonus is that the EFTA takes up much less space so the person seating in the seat ahead is not eating the dash.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ScotiaSky* 
I do not know if the back seat are different in the Subaru models but DH as a 99 Outback Legacy and I am having a bear of a time getting our DS's Radian in it in any seating position.

This is FF but I cannot imagine RF it would any better. It is by seatbelt though maybe if you have LATCH it would be better. Right now I install and its acceptable and by the next day its loose.

DD's Marathon on the other hand went in RF like a dream. So I would think all the Britax convertibles would install just as easy.

I haven't tried our Evenflo Triumph Advance in it yet but I suspect it would go in equally as well. Bonus is that the EFTA takes up much less space so the person seating in the seat ahead is not eating the dash.

Britax seats can be installed very upright as well as long as the baby has head control.

-Angela


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## aja-belly (Oct 7, 2004)

in our impreza (2004 wrx wagon) the hump in the middle doesn't really effect installation of the seats we've used. in the middle we have had a marathon, triumph, snugride, and comfortsport. on the sides we have had a marathon, roundabout, alpha omega, comfortsport, snugride, triumph, boulevard, recaro young sport, some safety first infant seat, and some boosters. the only seat i had trouble installing was the snugride in the middle seat (although peter had no problem doing it). everything else has been pretty easy to install.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna* 
Britax seats can be installed very upright as well as long as the baby has head control.

-Angela

I think she is well aware of this, and was just noting that the EFTA takes up less room







. Ours frees up a good 2" of passenger leg room. Of course, with the Roundabout in the car now, we have a good 6" of space between the driver and the car seat









Juvysen, the Radian is probably the last convertible I would try in that situation







. In the vast majority of cars, they do not allow to be upright. Some cars have very steep seats and you can get a more upright RF install, but in a car with space issues it's a safe bet that the Radian is going to eat up huge amounts of room. One of the Britax convertibles or the EFTA both install much more upright and take up much less room


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ScotiaSky* 
I do not know if the back seat are different in the Subaru models but DH as a 99 Outback Legacy and I am having a bear of a time getting our DS's Radian in it in any seating position.

This is FF but I cannot imagine RF it would any better. It is by seatbelt though maybe if you have LATCH it would be better. Right now I install and its acceptable and by the next day its loose.

DD's Marathon on the other hand went in RF like a dream. So I would think all the Britax convertibles would install just as easy.

I haven't tried our Evenflo Triumph Advance in it yet but I suspect it would go in equally as well. Bonus is that the EFTA takes up much less space so the person seating in the seat ahead is not eating the dash.


Are you locking the seatbelt? Because of how it is getting loose my guess is you're not. Are you pulling it all the way out and then letting it retract, feeding it in, while pushing down as hard as you can on the seat? I don't have any issues with an outboard seatbelt install ff with my radian (we usually use latch, but I wanted to make sure it would work with the belt in case ds is ever heavy enough we need a belt install).


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## ScotiaSky (Jul 2, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DahliaRW* 
Are you locking the seatbelt? Because of how it is getting loose my guess is you're not. Are you pulling it all the way out and then letting it retract, feeding it in, while pushing down as hard as you can on the seat? I don't have any issues with an outboard seatbelt install ff with my radian (we usually use latch, but I wanted to make sure it would work with the belt in case ds is ever heavy enough we need a belt install).

I don't want to get too far OT for the OP.....but

Yes, I am locking the seatbelt. I've tried all the tricks for installing a Radian in a Subaru.

It goes in acceptably, still more movement then I would like but acceptable, until the next day when it is loose. It is the combo of the long seatbelt stocks and the narrowness of the Radian.
I've installed the Radian in many different car/trucks/vans and this is by far the worst.
DH only bought it last month and he has been having things done to it off and on since then. So I need to wait until we get it back permanently and work some more on it before I give up and get the Frontier for that car.


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## ScotiaSky (Jul 2, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *an_aurora* 
I think she is well aware of this, and was just noting that the EFTA takes up less room







. Ours frees up a good 2" of passenger leg room. Of course, with the Roundabout in the car now, we have a good 6" of space between the driver and the car seat










Exactly, when I was playing around with the EFTA in our Freestar I was in awe about how much space there was between the back of the EFTA and the front passenger seat.
The front seat was ALL THE WAY back and there was still a good two inches of space.
With the Marathon the front passenger seat is always pushed forward a bit, not that it makes a difference to me as I am the only person who sits in that seat and I am not even 5 feet tall.
I really think the EFTA makes an awesome seat for people who do not want to eat the dash


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ScotiaSky* 
I really think the EFTA makes an awesome seat for people who do not want to eat the dash









Yes! DD is RF in her EFTA, and she peed in it so I switched it out with the Radian. I was so eating the dash! We were on a road trip and I turned her FF. It's that much of a difference.


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## grumpybear (Oct 5, 2006)

We have a Radian RF in our 2003 Subaru Impreza wagon.
It sits at the center and yes, it takes up a lot of space.
The front passenger seat is rolled all the way forward (either DH or I always sit in the back with DS anyway so it's not much of an issue) so nobody can sit in it.
We have a tight installation though (using the center lap-shoulder belt) but had to employ a few tricks (twisting seatbelt stalk and use of locking clip).


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## bobandjess99 (Aug 1, 2005)

I've installed a alpha omega elite and a comfortsport (neither seats i would necesarily recommend, but they're what i have..)RFing in a METRO. your subaru can not possibly be smaller than that.


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## Grivas (Nov 20, 2007)

the size of the back seat isn't really the issue. it's the hump in the center of the seat. It keeps car seats from feeling securly installed. I think there are some really good recommendations here, though. thanks, everyone! I'll be trying out the Boulevard and the Evenflo to see what we like best.


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