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Britax Frontier Combination Seat Onyx
Only $226.99 @ Amazon
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Britax Frontier Combination Seat Onyx
Don’t even blink at the price or anything else that genuinely doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of life. We were in a freeway rollover accident yesterday in our Honda Pilot that entirely totalled the car. My cherished 4 year old daughter was all strapped in tight in this carseat and walked away without even a scratch. As soon as I complete up this review, I am buying another one. Seriously, when you are in an accident like that, won’t you be glad you put your munchkin in the safest seat possible, even whether or not it might be a ache in the neck to install and annoying to get the cover off to clean? as well require to note my 22 month old son was in an Evenflo Triumph (also gets high safety ratings). Thank God he was totally fine, but the strap that attaches the carseat to the anchor in the car in a literal sense ripped in half horizontally. It is a miracle that he is okay, because I shudder to think he could have been flopping around with only one anchor attached in addition to the over the seat tether…
I own assorted high weight harness seats, and this is my favorite! My son (5 yrs old, 47″, and 43 lbs) has previously been in a Radian XT and a Graco Nautilus. He started to complain in regards to the crotch strap being tight on both seats- I looked at it closer and it turns out the straps were coming out from beneath him even even though they were on the furthest setting out- in both seats! We tried the Frontier 85 and he was much more comfortable- he has at least an inch or two until he’ll be up against the crotch strap in the FN 85. I was worried regarding install, specially after reading in regards to the introductory Frontier not installing well (or at all) in Toyotas. I had the FN 85 installed with the seatbelt in my ’05 Highlander within 10 minutes, and that includes attempting the short belt path basi initial had to recline the seat and use the long belt path, but I have a rock solid install.) It genuinely helps to watch the Britax install videos before trying to install it, as I could see how I would have had such a heap of disturb whether or not I didn’t watch the video first. The 9 year lifetime of the set is in addition a tremendous bonus!
After doing the prerequisite research on all the car seats available, We decisive on the Frontier. It seems to me that all the seats were decent, it boils down to a personal choices We based our choice on features and safety. The seat appeals to me because of the height adjustment feature and it is ability to grow with our child up until she only needs the booster alone. Our 3 year old had grown out of our Marathon but was not ready of course to be in a booster without at least a 3 point harness. I am, so far very pleased with the seat. The only complainst or comments I have are: The seat has a net like material on top of the microfiber on the seat..The netting gets caught on everything like velcro and snaps. It became ripped within the firstborn week. I would instead have had the microfiber that is on the marathon (it does not appear that I may cut the netting out). Second, the seat is a little unmanageable to install. We went to the Fire Department as I had in the past and they had no idea how to install it seeing how it is so new to the market. I called an install expert who came out to the house and installed it in the right manner so we could see for ourselves how it will have to look. Third, the crotch buckle is genuinely unmanageable to adjust, it took the expert and myself more than 15 minutes to get the buckle through the slot. Overall, I like the seat and would reccomend it is
I own a Britax Marathon which I still use for my younger child, and had bought the Britax Frontier 85 as a long term seat for my oldest child, currently 3 years old. Occasionally I need to remove the car seats and install in another vehicle. The Marathon may be done with ease. The Frontier, is the most frustrating installation I have ever experienced. I believe it is due to a cheaper design. The Marathon offers 2 independent straps for the latch strategies Each is pulled on an individual basis for a taught fit. The Frontier however, only offers 1 pull strap for both latches. This might have saved $10 in design and construction costs per unit, but for the client , far more a struggle than the Marathon design.
What makes it unmanageable is how incredibly easy it is for the strap to become twisted and tangled in an area behind the seat which you have no visual nor access venomous I have read such a good deal of of the positive reviews here and one individual was questioning intelligence for those that are having difficultness with the installation. I am a technical engineer by day with a master’s degree, and may ensure you, I am not lacking intelligence. I am as well a volunteer firefighter, and have knowledge and experience on how to install, uninstall and in emergency situations, cut these seats in half.
Their client service is what may save them from losing me as a customers The representative acknowledged that whether or not you pull taught when the strap is in a twisted state, that could cause it to want to twist for the duration of consecutive pulls. They are sending me a new set of straps to try. Ultimately I’d instead see an independent 2 strap design like the Marathon.
I just bought and installed the Britax Frontier 85 yesterday. It was genuinely easy to alter the size to fit my son (3 and a half years, 43 inches, 41 pounds). I installed it in my Subaru Outback using the latch system, since the Subaru latch is shortlisted to 60 pounds. It is genuinely easy to do, the whole routine took about 10 minutes. I swapped him from a Boulevard, which took the same amount of time and ease to alter and install. My only complaint with the install is that the lower latch only adjusts on one side, dissimilar from my Boulevard, so the fit didn’t seem rather as tight. I was competent to crank my Boulevard so tight that whether or not I shook it, my whole car would rock. The Frontier 85 is tight, just not quite as tight. perhaps it would be better whether or not I employed the seat belt instead of the latch.
We got the Rushmore color which is black and grey. It looks genuinely nice, and the fabric is soft and high quality. My son genuinely likes it because it looks a lot like a “big kid” booster seat. He loves the cup holders and arm rests. I love it because I am certain it is very safe, exceptionally since my son may remain in a 5 point harness for a very long time with this seat. It is as well very big, meaning my son can in truth grow with this seat, eventually using it as a straight booster seat using the seat belt. It is big, but it doesn’t take up anymore space in my car than the Boulevard.
All in all, I am very happy with this seat so far!
Very happy with our decision to purchase the Britax over the Graco Nautilus.
My 7mo outgrew the carrier and necessitated to move into the Britax Boulevard CS that my 2yr was using. I originally thought why spend the cash on another Britax when we can purchase a Graco Nautilus. So we went to the store and had him sit in the Graco. I was initial turned off by the lack of padding…I could only imagine how that would feel after a 2hr ride to Grandma’s house. So I started my research and found myself agreeing with everything I read. The Graco is a fewer highpriced seat so I couldn’t anticipate the Britax wow components I could have overlooked the wow element but what I wasn’t going to overlook was the safety constituents Britax has treated us good for 2 years so why chance it with a fewer pricey seat. Afterall, whether or not I’m more than more than willing to spend money on a handbag I will have to be willing to spend money on my child’s safety.
We just received the seat this week and my 2yr LOVES it! After seeing him sit in the Britax compared to the Nautilus I acknowledge we made the right conclusions
In my opinion, this is s need to have item.
I was all set to buy the Graco Nautilus carseat, but was still wondering whether or not Britax Frontier 85 might be better. Both carseats were not being sold in any stores for me to go and check them out, so I decisive to order both and test them out. I am SO glad I did, because in comparison, the Britax was BY FAR the better seat! And believe me, I actually wanted to love the Graco seat.
I would recommend to anyone to recompense $100 more for the Britax Frontier 85, cause you get so much more in the long run!
Here’s why:
1. The furthest crotch strap slot on the Graco Nautilus measured at 6.5 inches from the back of the seat. On the Britax Frontier 85, the furthest crotch slot is 8.5 inches! My son was virtually sitting on the Graco crotch strap in its furthest position and he’s only 10 months and SKINNY. With the Britax, he has a outstanding deal of room to grow and most likely will not be sitting on the crotch strap!
2. When I put my son in the Britax Frontier 85, his back and head were straight and aligned (no curving of the spine). In the Graco Nautilus, my son was hunchback cause the seat or headrest pushed his head forward and curved his spine. That totally made me question how it would affect his constructing posture.
3. The material on the Britax Frontier 85 is sooo soft and smooth, but still SAFE (rock hard on the outside, cushiony on the inside). The material on the Graco Nautilus is awful! The seat is rigid and feels like sand paper/cardboard!
4. The harness strap on the Graco Nautilus is kinda short when pulled to the limit and doesn’t look like there’s much room to grow in its Pretty disappointing when they arrogate a child can be harnessed up to 65 lbs! I highly doubt that! BUT the harness strap on the Britax Frontier 85 is LONG!!!!! And here’s the best share — I’M HIS MOTHER AND I WAS competent TO SIT IN THE SEAT AND STRAP MYSELF IN! I am 5’1 and 105 lbs, and I was capable to sit comfortably in the Britax and strap myself in harnessed no problem! Most importantly, the crotch strap was still NOT beneath me. That means my son can grow to my size and still remain harnessed! That is phenomenal!!! Not that he’ll need to be harnessed when he’s my size, but the option is there! That’s how I acknowledge I made the right decision.
My son hasn’t been in the Britax for a drive yet (cause he’s still too little), but I imagine it will be very comfortable (to the point of sleeping in it). And when he sits in it in the house, he doesn’t squirm or scream (like he did in the Graco Nautilus). He loves it! Go for the Britax Frontier 85 over the Graco Nautilus… you will thank me! I returned the Graco Nautilus ASAP!
UPDATE: I did not realize that this seat specifies the child must be at least 2 years old. So with MUCH regret, I have to send it back. I still love it very much!!! And because I loved it so much, I decisive to go for the Britax Marathon 70 — as well a fantastic car seat for my 10 month old son. I am now a total Britax fan! They genuinely make the best car seats I’ve ever seen. They are very costly IMO, but so worth the money! I will be purchasing the Britax Frontier 85 in the future for sure, unless Britax comes out with an even better model by then! All I know is that each car seat I buy from now on is going to be a Britax! 
Automobiles are not built to protect little passengers in a crash – even little adults! whether or not you want to increase the odds your child will survive a collision, I recommend keeping him or her in a booster seat as long as you are capable to do so. The Britax Frontier 85 is more than just a booster – it is a booster with a top tether which importantly increases the safety of the seat. A 5-point harness is safer than the seat belt, and that’s how my petite 9-year-old rides. The law says 8 or 80 but I feel that law should be more stringent. I plan to keep my daughter in the harness until she reaches 85 pounds and the belt-positioning booster until she is 12 or older. I have taught her that safety is more indispensable than “image” – I don’t care that all of her friends are permitted to ride in cars with no booster of any kind. The vehicle’s seats and belts are NOT designed to protect your small riders. I’ll say it again – a Britax Frontier 85 is well engineered to increase small riders’ odds of survival in a collision.
We substituted our Britax Wizard (like Boulevard) with this seat, as my 6 y.o. DD is 48.5″ and the max ht for the Wizard is 49″. In addition, convertible car seats tend to raise kids up high, so that her feet were dangling quite a ways up from the floor. She was as well ready for such a lot of “big girl” features, like the cup holder. My only concern with the new Frontier was that the back sits up straighter and I was worried she may not be competent to fall asleep like she employed to in the Wizard – it’s a rare occurrence these days but when needed, it’s NEEDED! I was as well worried I might not be capable to install it myself but figured I could seek out support whether or not not.
First of all, the packaging was a breeze to open. Always a nice feature! I took the seat out and had my DD sit in it inside the house so I could alter the crotch-buckle and wing height before installing. Both were easy to do (although I DO prefer the dial-adjuster on our old Wizard, particularly for making adjustments once the seat is installed – more on that later). I then moved the seat out to our Toyota 4Runner and installed it myself, in about 10-mins, in the back, center position. It most likely would have taken me less time if our center belt was requiring little effort to tighten, but that’s no mistake of the seat. And it genuinely makes for a tighter fit – when I try, I can’t budge the seat. The seat does seem to be a tad wider than our old seat, even though I didn’t take any measurements, but previously, I could fit 2 booster seats on either side of our seat and now I seem to only be competent to fit one. Since we only have one child, this isn’t much of an issue accept when asked to carpool more than one child. It may as well just be the way I’ve got it installed, or perhaps the boosters I’m using (Compass, high-back boosters). Maybe something like a Graco backless would fit fine but I haven’t tried yet. The rear-tether strap was in addition easy to modify and tighten .
With installation out of the way, we went to comfort. DD without delay loved the seat, but I know her and the newness of something can influence her liking it so I waited until she’d ridden in it more ofttimes before making a final determination on the comfort. For one, the cup holders are nice and don’t in truth get in the way of anything. I guess having retractable ones would be a good idea but maybe they’d then have to be moved within the seat, making them not as desirable – I don’t know. But for us, they work as is and well.
As for ease, she is effortlessly able to do and undo her buckles by herself, just as in her old Wizard. I will say, I felt the crotch-strap adjuster in the Wizard was easier to use and access than the Frontier, but it’s not like it’s unmanageable on the Frontier – just different and if I had to pick one over the other I’d pick the Wizard. But I can see that maybe the Frontier’s design would prevent a child from self-adjusting. This was never an issue for us and in fact I’d ofttimes ask DD to support pull up on the lever if she was too tight so I could properly pull the straps out from the front seat. This actually isn’t an option anymore but not really a problem either. Possibly because it’s summer and she’s not wearing any layers but come fall, winter and spring where the number of layers she wears varies from car-ride to car-ride, it could become a bit more annoying. It is actually easier to use the lever now than before, but it’s just a bit tougher to access as it’s under the seat-cover and there’s no access slot like in the old Wizard. This is minor though, really.
Another, less minor but still relatively small issue is with the wing-adjustment. Our Wizard has a dial feature that, while slower to move up and down than the Frontier, was placed on the side of the head rest, making access to it easy. On the Frontier, the adjustment is a squeeze-and-pull from the back, which is fine when the seat is out of its packaging, or when the wings are adjusted so high up that there’s plenty of space for your hand, but when the seat is installed and the wings are still low sufficient that there’s little space among the car seat and the seat of your vehicle, it makes it a tight squeeze to fit your hand in and alter the wings. I had to actually undo the tether strap and seatbelt to loosen the car seat away from the vehicle seat to modify the wings up. Now that I have though, it’s at a height where I can better fit my hand back there to alter when I need toxi I’d say this is the only thing I really don’t like about the seat but again, it may have been a essential change, peculiarly since this seat converts to a booster and a much higher wing-elevation. And if so, well then it’s certainly a trade-off I’m willing to live with.
On to comfort. As I mentioned, DD could effortlessly sleep in the old Wizard when she was tired. But it reclined a bit and when I saw her sit in the Frontier I thought she might be too upright to fall asleep, or that if she did that her head would flop forward. Well, so far she has fallen asleep twice in this seat and her head has stayed up just fine. I have to say, I really love side-impact shelter for the safety factor but in addition for the comfort factor – without those wings, I can’t imagine how she’d still sleep on longer rides. She as well really loves that she has so much more freedom, including being able to touch the ground with her feet in the new seat with it being much lower in the car. Of course I can’t see her face as easily now but I in general don’t need to or can just change myself when I do need poisonous She in addition says the seat is comfy. The Wizard had side impact wings also so there’s no adjustment for her with having any sight blocked. I have read persons say they’re worried about galore kind of mesh cover on the back of the seat and I virtually can’t see what they mean. I mean, I SEE the material but I don’t see that it could be a wear-and-tear issue. I also like the removal of the Velcro side patches which utilized to keep the straps in place when not in use to prevent twisting. I guess on the Frontier you’re supposed to use the arm-rests for this purpose, but our straps aren’t long enough sufficient we change them to be each time we exit the car – not practical) to do this. But this is of no concern to me as we never used the old version anyway and things just got stuck to the Velcro, specially dance recital costumes!!! The straps are thick enough that they don’t twist and we go easy on the seat.
One other small area of concern for me is the chest buckle. It tends to slide down closer to DD’s stomach for the duration of a car ride, no matter how many times we modify it up. This was the case with the Wizard also. Yet I see my friend’s Boulevard buckle stay in place on her daughter so I wonder if it’s just us and if so, why. I’ve never seen DD lower it and have asked her if she ever does and she says she doesn’t so no too sure what it can be. For now we just check it when we strap in and modify as needed.
We also love the look of this seat (Rushmore). I’m not a fan of cutesy prints, exceptionally gender-specific, as it’s harder to pass down or trade if that’s your plan. The non-folding arm-rests have also worked well for us, and as cited earlier, so do the cup holders. If DD weren’t as skinny as she is, the crotch-buckle could possibly constrict her a bit early, but I don’t think it will be an issue for her or even intermediate sized kids. If your child is thicker, in particular in the thigh area or mid-section, you may want to try this seat in individual introductory to see how the fit is.
In all, it’s a great seat! At age 6, DD is almost 45lbs, 48.5″ and in the long run feels like a large girl in a 5point harness seat! Having a vehicle w/o side-impact airbags means that I’m willing to spend the extra on the car seat I feel will keep her safer, longer, and offers its own side-impact protection. She loves it and is comfortable and I was enjoyably surprised with how easy it was to install and adjust. IMO, another winner from Britax!
This Britax Frontier 85 is a alternate for the Diplomat that our daughter has almost grown out of. Overall, I really like this seat since Britax has adopted a number of nice features and the unit is fairly compact – i.e. you don’t need a immense car for a tall person up front and a kid in the back row to be comfortable.
My daughter loves the cup holders even though they seldom hold cups – rather it’s things she brings home from school, etc. The 5-point harness contains her very well, though the button to release the tightening web could be easier to utilized Comfort levels are high, she has no issues with falling asleep in this chair.
The Versa-Tether and the Latch buckles do an magnificent occupation of restraining this seat – once you use all three points, the seat will not budge. Tightening the straps is easy, and a really nice feature for this seat versus the diplomat is that Britax integrated a storage option for the LATCH buckles – they no longer have to drag along the ground when you remove this chair from a car or travel by air.
The height/angle adjustment of this unit is in such a lot of ways superior to the Diplomat it replaced, and in such a lot of ways a step back. Whereas one could modify the height on the head protection for the Diplomat inside the car, one has to remove the Frontier from the car to alter the height of the seat. On the other hand, the Frontier incorporates a nice bolster that allows you to fit it into a greater potpourri of rear seats (i.e. such a good deal of seats slope down backwards more than others) that the Diplomat did not have. Rethreading the 5-point harness straps to accommodate bigger children can be tedious – the crotch-strap on this unit is not fun to needle through the bottom shell and the fabric above.
So, in other words, set aside numerous time sporadically to adjust these seats – and this is very important for optimum performance during crashes (the whole point of buying these seats in the first place, right?). The manual details all the reasons, and I thought it was well-written. Unfortunately, this seat does not concede the manual to be stored inside it like numerous other seats, this may be utile for some owners. Shipping from Amazon was quick as usual, and the packaging did an excellent job of protecting the contents. No assembly required.
Overall, I am happy with this purchased