The good news: I have a grandson, Alex. (Pictures available upon
request.)

The bad news: Various government agencies have decided that I know
nothing about the proper care of a child, so they have mandated child
seat requirements.

My wife and daughter have purchased for their respective family cars
some car seats that are architectural wonders. I have little doubt
that they would protect the occupant in the event of global
thermonuclear war, let alone a mere traffic accident. However, they
are huge, bulky, awkward and really designed for semi-permanent
installation.

So...

Occasionally, Alex and I will sneak off for a "guy day", and I will
need a car seat that is legal enough to keep the cops from shooting me
on the side of the road. It needs to be petite enough that it will fit
in a rather snug sportscar, AND in a perfect world, it would fold up
small enough to fit in the space behind the passenger seat.

Any recommendations?

 

With the size and weight of the trucks and suvs out there you think I would place my child or baby in a car seat, in a car thats as small as an RX7? Your nuts if you do so. With every precaution you take theres always something bigger and badder around the corner thats can cause you extreme harm. IF I wanted to place my children in any of my rx7s I would wait until there tall enough to touch the floor.. and even then I would think about it.

I have a brother that back in the 90's he was in an accident. He was drive his car fast and suddenly a motorcycle cut him off. He avoided the cycle by turning right and up an embankment(?) A slop that leads to a parking lot. his rx7 turned over 4 times he got out ok and everything however his legs where pined and they had to use the jaws of life and a few crow bars. I would only imagine what could have happen if there was a child in the car with him.

 

^^^^ Yes i agree.... you should not put this kids life danger. There really is not a safe way to do this i dont think. They do have safety seat places where you can bring a seat and make sure that it is properly installed... i worked at a dealer and there was a guy who worked in parts that was certified in child seats. You can try and find a place like that and ask. It might just be too risky.

 

I "inherited" this RX as a result of my daughter and husband starting a family, and they could not figure out how to safely add a car seat that would be safe and comply with Delaware regs. I'll be watching this post because panther pink is not my color.

 

Get a paint-job, haha.

 

Wait...wait...

so your daughter...and husband...started a family? And all you got was this crappy pink rx7? Most mothers don't let their husbands and daughters associate in such a manner. And people talk bad about the south.

 

Recaro baby seat FTW

 

But it just looks precious.

Just get a Lavender helmet when you track it.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. The Recaros are lovely. They're also as large as the ones that my wife and daughter have already purchased.

 

Considering that this forum is full to the gills with teens, is this really the place to ask this question?

Im not a teen, but also do not have a child yet...and I like this one...
http://www.saferacer.com/simpson-chi...productid=1037
-a

 

My daughter was born when the RX7 was my only car, I just put her rear facing in the front seat at first, and then turned it around when she was 25 lbs. It doesn't matter what car you put your child (or grandchild) into, it's not going to change the way other drivers behave. You just have to be careful at all times and give people plenty of space in front of you.

 

Attilla:

No car is safe from an SUV crash. That doesn't stop me from putting the kids in my Honda Civic or my RX7. You can't leave them locked in the cellar for their protection. Having said that, I have seen a baby in a car seat survive a crash with a train where all the other occupants died.

It is a federal regulation that infant car seats must have a rigid shell so you won't find one that folds up. I take my little guy out in the summer, but I have to spend an extra 5 minutes installing the seat.

Love your little guy.

Iamsisyphus

 

Yes, this is the place to ask, because (1) it's FC related, and (2) there are more than a few parents here, even though we may be the minority.

I really don't understand what some of you are implying. Although the RX-7 is a small(er) car, how is it any less safe than the million of kids travelling in Civic hatchbacks (for example)? It does not have airbags in the front. It's a two-seater (in most cases), so the child can travel in the front (at least here in my Province). Now I know the child would be safer in the rear center in case of a side collision, so I can't argue about that point (which hasn't been brought up yet).

I think if you drive cautiously and secure the seat properly (which means a forward facing car seat would need the rear child tether strapped to the chassis), the kid is just as safe as in most passenger cars.

edit: hadn't even seen the post above...and on a related note....you should see the smile in their faces when they sit in the front (facing front) and go for a little drive.

 

At first, I was going to write a really snotty answer to your first sentence, BUT the link you included was to a very good source, so all is forgiven. Thanks for the link.

 

I didn't know that. Thanks for the information. Now, I won't spend a lot of time looking for a folding seat.

 

George,

I take my 3yr old in my FC all the time, as well as my rx8. He likes to ride in the denali best because there is more room and he gets to watch tv, and he can see out a lot better. I have the back seats in my FC and his car seat fits back there, although it sits a bit too high for my tastes. Luckily next year he will be in a somewhat thinner booster seat, and should fit better. HIs seat fits very well up front, and I think he is as safe as I am up there should I decide to put him there.

The good thing about the 8 is that there is plenty of room for him in the back, though he can still kick my seat when he wants.

We have 3 of the semi-rounded type graco car seats, to keep from moving them around in all our vehicles constantly. One for my truck, one in the 8, and one in my wife's millenia.

When they are really little, you don't use these kind of carseats though. The best ones have a plastic base that stays in the vehicle, and the cradle part of it unhooks and you carry them around with the handle so you don't actually have to get the baby out of the seat and wake them up every time. These are rear facing only. The cradle part actually fits onto/into shopping carts, too. This is what you'll start off with, and when they are maybe 9 months old switch to the bigger versions that stay mounted in the car and you put them in/out of.

 

I don't have any kids yet, but when I do, I will definitly be buying one of these.
http://www.simpsonraceproducts.com/p...ild_Seats.aspx
Now, if they only came in blue to match my harness.

 

damn though, you can buy 2 regular seats for one of those.

 

Good to hear from you, Kevin. I can see where having a TV would make the Denali hard to beat. Alex has just out-grown the base-and-cradle model that you mentioned in your last paragraph. I didn't even bother trying to fit one of those in the RXX-7.

Most of the other seats ar so large that I would have to take the rollbar out of the car in order to fit in the childseat. That would be soooo much safer, right? :/

George

 

I drive my kid around in the RX all the time. Its a great way to get better gas mileage because I slow down. An FC weighs around 3K pounds loaded and wet, this is not significantly less than many of the econo cars that people use as family cars.

 

The graco that walmart sells should fit reasonably well in the front seat then...I have had it in FDs and FCs, although none with rollbars. I like them because they give the kid plenty of room and don't look horrible either. And they come in rx-7 interior matching colors such as black and gray, instead of some gay pea green or sandy tan.

So I guess the rxx-7 is doing well then? got a retune? any numbers?

 

our DOT standards for crash testing of child restraint systems are only done at 30mph. While some overseas countries such as Germany, England, and yes even France, test theirs at 90kph. when you research most seats sold in the US, you'll find that they BARELY pass. This means that ANY accident at highway speed will be seriously detrimental. Graco makes some good products, but in my research I found that all seats that install easily have weaker plastic anchoring points. Long story short. A quality quick seat install doesn't exist. I highly recomment Britax. British company. made to their higher standards. Takes me 3 mins to install. This is where simpson gets their seats from.

 

A retune, yes, but the numbers were a little disappointing. Ray at PFS said that, in his experience, pieces of the damaged apex seal usually damaged the turbos. He believes that the lower hp numbers are due to the turbo's inability to provide enough boost fast enough. I think I'm going to go ahead and convert to a big, single turbo, rather than spend the money to refurbish the stock ones.

George

 

Thanks for the info. I'll check it out.

George

 

I have no recommendations. But I did want to say great post sir. Especially this part: Good job, you made me laugh today. The first laugh of the morning.