Britax Adventure Car Seat

I like to think that I'm a fairly savvy consumer, when I see something that seems like a bargain I will generally check on a review site like this that the product is, as fact, as good as it seems. When I saw this on offer from Tesco Direct for £27.50 (rrp is £59) I did check out the only reviews I could find on line, and, finding nothing negative and being reassured by the Britax name I decided to purchase this seat as a back up seat for our family's second car. Unfortunately this seat didn't prove to be a big success.

Description and Age Suitability of the Car Seat

This is a so-called third stage seat, for children from age 4 or just under, up to 11 or until a booster is no longer required. According to the manufacturer the body weight range it is designed for is 15-36kg, it comes with a 2 year warranty.

Unlike some seats of this stage the back is not detachable from the base, it's designed to be used as seen in the picture and sits directly on the car seat. The back is height adjustable, via a lever incorporated in the back of the headrest, your car's seatbelt fits directly into the red belt hoops you can see in the picture.

The upholstery, which is black, and pretty inoffensive, is removable for cleaning and there are two cup holders incorporated in the base.

The Seat in Use

The very first thing I noticed about this seat was that, compared to other car seats for this age range (we own a Maxi-cosi rodi xr and a Graco Logico L in our main car), the headrest seems rather excessively big. I had compare to see and it's a good few centimetres deeper. This is, probably, a good thing, as far as safety is concerned but it does mean the child's head seems rather constrained. Certainly neither of my two children (age nearly 4 and 6) were actually very happy with the headrest, admittedly they are used to other seats, if you are considering this seat don't do what I did and blind buy, and do sit your child in the seat if you can.

The main issue we had with this seat however was the actual comfort of the base. Though the upholstery is of good quality, the padding in the base is meagre indeed, they seem to have put the bare minimum into the base and compared to the two other seats already mentioned the comfort level is noticeably less. I have to admit that I wondered if the littlest Princess was having a bit of a Pea in Bed moment when she complained that it was too hard from the first time she used it, but actually having in desperation actually sat on the base to see I would have to agree with her - it's like sitting on one of those really uncomfortable school chairs and not pleasant at all. It's clearly not designed for adult buttocks, but I have to question why the manufacturer has skimped so much on padding, whilst being pleasantly surprised that my rear end fitted into the seat.

Things are a little better on the seat's back as far as comfort goes, but the bottom line (boom boom) is that in our case that mattered not a jot as having experienced better comfort both my children complained vocally every time they put their little derrieres on this seat and no amount of bigging up the seat could persuade them that the seat was comfortable. In my opinion a more chunky child might also struggle to fit into the sides of the seat, which are again more curved than most stage 3 seats, and the older age group may well find the seat too small.

On a positive note, I can't fault the design for ease of removing the upholstery, and the headrest is easily height adjustable. The seat belt does fit well through the loops, and the plastic this is made of does appear to be of good quality, but overall this doesn't seem like an expensive seat, even though at full price it is one of the more expensive Stage Three seats.

They've saved on costs too by not making the whole base covered, and the cup holders too are very cheap looking and not easy for little hands to pull out, a poor effort really, it's questionable if you *need* cup holders in a car seat, but if you are going to have them at all, Graco have done a much better job, even on their entry level car seat the holders are much better.

So, to sum up, my kids hated this seat and I could see why.

In case you are thinking "should have made the kids get on with it", I'm inclined to agree with you, however when a series of unfortunate events meant that our second car became our main car for a while, greater use of this seat made it become apparent that, even as a back up, this seat wasn't going to cut it. After a particularly memorable journey involving the youngest point blank refusing to stay in the seat under every threat I could think of, and the eldest complaining vocally even after being bribed into the seat- and let me tell you she drove a hard bargain - I came to the conclusion that this seat had to go. Of course if your child isn't used to another seat they may well be fine with it, but though safe looking it undoubtedly is, I would argue that for longer journeys you probably want something with more padding, and the fact that the back isn't removable at all is a definitely negative point too.

If, like me you are swayed by a positive stage 2 Britax Car Seat experience (I really rate the Britax Renaissance), don't let brand loyalty persuade you into buying this seat, and definitely don't contemplate paying £60 or above for it, it's just not worth it, and even at £27.50 it is, in my opinion, pretty poor.

So what's the alternative?

Having now ditched this seat, I've bought a Graco Logico L to replace it, at £39.99 from Mothercare and with a further 10% off on promotion and a few pennies back from Quico to boot, I know that I am getting a much more comfortable seat that won't have the issues this one does. You could also pay £100 or so and get a Maxi-Cosi Rodi if you wish to have a back on your child's car seat.

I am sure it is clear by now that I don't recommend this seat, and why, but if - like me - you see it at a good price, and unless you have sat your offspring in it for more than a minute or two to no ill effect, my advice would be remember the old adage "buy cheap, buy twice", and move on. Your kids' bottoms probably deserve better.