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  • mw

    Oct. 20, 2009 3:58 p.m. mw Reader

    My daugter is about to turn one. So we will be moving from the infant bucket to a forward facing car seat. I will be doing most of the transporting of her in my miatas (90 winter 97 summer). I have already removed the passenger airbag in the 97. My question is what is a good car seat that will fit well in the miata? What is the best way to mount it in a miata? Should I make my own UAS mounts and tether?

    Also, I will be taking it in and out daily, so if one is easier to remove/ install I would prefer that.

  • White_and_Nerdy

    Oct. 20, 2009 6:04 p.m. White_and_Nerdy Reader

    My girlfriend has been using a Cosco Alpha Omega Elite for a few years. It fits quite nicely into a Miata seat. The base fits snugly between the side bolsters in the seat bottom.

    Whatever seat you get, make sure you get and use a locking clip for the seat belt. The Miata does not have a way to manually lock the retractors, so a locking clip is necessary to get it in there nice and tight and have it stay there. The best way is to kneel with one knee in the child seat and tighten the seat belt up as much as possible with the locking clip. There should be no more than 1" of movement when you shake it after it's secured, and the less movement, the better.

    What can I say, I'm a former NHTSA certified child passenger safety technician. I should add the disclaimer that I haven't been certified in 5 years, so don't take my advice as an official opinion.

  • Keith

    Oct. 20, 2009 7:22 p.m. Keith PowerDork

    Use a CG Lock to lock the seatbelt. It has a bonus secondary use as well

    Other than that, I have no clue. I know what causes kids, everything after that is a mystery.

  • billy3esq

    Oct. 20, 2009 8:49 p.m. billy3esq Dork

    My '96 has a manually locking retractor on the passenger side. I've never checked my '90.

    I know that a Britax Roundabout is difficult to impossible to get secure in a Miata seat for some reason.

  • foxtrapper

    Oct. 21, 2009 6:15 a.m. foxtrapper SuperDork

    I really like the Britax Romer and isofix and such. Excellent design, so they aren't available in the US. You can carefully get them through the UK ebay and such though.

    The Mighty Tite seatbelt tensioner is apparently great (no personal experience). Amazon has it, and supposedly the Baby'sRus stores have it as well.

    I used an aftermarket old fashioned lap belt. One I could pull down so hard I thoroughly crushed the foam in a Volvo seat and settled the kiddie seat against the bottom of the seat pan.

  • Keith

    Oct. 21, 2009 10:23 a.m. Keith PowerDork

    Billy, if you're just talking about the seatbelt locking if you give it a sharp tug, every Miata does that. Heck, every car does that. I've never seen any other stock locking devices in a Miata unless I'm really missing something.

  • davidjs

    Oct. 21, 2009 12:02 p.m. davidjs New Reader

    Just a suggestion, most Babies'R'Us stores will let you take items out to the parking lot to check their fit in your car (strollers for sure, but probably car seats as well.)

  • Per Schroeder

    Oct. 21, 2009 12:08 p.m. Per Schroeder Technical Editor/Advertising Director

    CG Lock also sells a "seat snug" or for kid seats....which is specifically meant for this. www.seatsnug.com

  • amg_rx7

    Oct. 21, 2009 12:09 p.m. amg_rx7 Reader

    Sounds like Flyin Miata should add a new product line to the catalog

  • Kia_racer

    Oct. 21, 2009 12:21 p.m. Kia_racer New Reader

    CHeck your state laws. Not all states allow a child in the front seat even with the airbag removed. Also in some states removing the airbag will make the car non-streetable. if it was origanially equiped with one.

  • ReverendDexter

    Oct. 21, 2009 1:43 p.m. ReverendDexter HalfDork

    I thought GRM already covered this?

    I keed, I keed

  • billy3esq

    Oct. 21, 2009 3:50 p.m. billy3esq Dork

    Keith wrote:

    Billy, if you're just talking about the seatbelt locking if you give it a sharp tug, every Miata does that. Heck, every car does that. I've never seen any other stock locking devices in a Miata unless I'm really missing something.

    That's not what I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure that if I pull the seat belt all the way out and let it retract partially, the belt will be locked until the belt is fully retracted.

    I only put a car seat in my Miata once, about 3-1/2 years ago, and I don't remember having to use the locking clip that came with the car seat. It's possible that I'm mis-remembering, though.

  • billy3esq

    Oct. 21, 2009 3:51 p.m. billy3esq Dork

    Kia_racer wrote:

    CHeck your state laws. Not all states allow a child in the front seat even with the airbag removed.

    Every state I'm aware of makes exceptions for cars/trucks that have no back seat.

  • Oct. 21, 2009 8:20 p.m. skruffy Dork

    billy3esq wrote:

    Kia_racer wrote:

    CHeck your state laws. Not all states allow a child in the front seat even with the airbag removed.

    Every state I'm aware of makes exceptions for cars/trucks that have no back seat.

    In fact, most 2 seat vehicles made in the last decade or so have a convenient way to disable the passenger airbag for just this purpose.

  • Woody

    Oct. 21, 2009 8:25 p.m. Woody SuperDork

    skruffy wrote:

    In fact, most 2 seat vehicles made in the last decade or so have a convenient way to disable the passenger airbag for just this purpose.

    Miatas don't until 1999.

  • nderwater

    Oct. 22, 2009 8:44 a.m. nderwater Reader

    My only kid seat experience is with the Britax and Recaro models we've owned and installed in our BMW's. I had the Recaro Como in the Miata once, and I remember it being an ordeal to install and a bigger hassle to drive around with. The seat is quite large and has tall side bolsters, which limited visibility and occupied more than its fair share of the Miata's small cabin. I'd second the recommendation to test the fit the seats you're considering in the store parking lot before buying.

    FWIW, I saw a 911 GT3 at a recent local cruze-in with the same Recaro kids seat strapped in the passenger bucket (the car had a roll cage instead of a back seat). That's one lucky kid!

  • billy3esq

    Oct. 22, 2009 10:22 a.m. billy3esq Dork

    billy3esq wrote:

    Keith wrote:

    Billy, if you're just talking about the seatbelt locking if you give it a sharp tug, every Miata does that. Heck, every car does that. I've never seen any other stock locking devices in a Miata unless I'm really missing something.

    That's not what I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure that if I pull the seat belt all the way out and let it retract partially, the belt will be locked until the belt is fully retracted.

    I only put a car seat in my Miata once, about 3-1/2 years ago, and I don't remember having to use the locking clip that came with the car seat. It's possible that I'm mis-remembering, though.

    Follow-up: I checked both Miatas. The '96 does have a switchable locking retractor on the passenger side (operates as described above). The '90 does not. To put a child safety seat in the '90 you'd need a locking clip. Most car seats (read: every car seat I've ever bought) come with them.

    I don't know when switchable retractors became fairly common, but it was probably some time in the mid-90s. My '92 240sx didn't have them, but my '98 M3 did.

 

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