Having used the BRITAX baby car seat system successfully since our grandson, Matthew, was born, I was delighted when I was asked to review the BRITAX EVOLVA 1-2-3 SICT child seat. The seat is designed for use with children aged nine months to 12 years (9kg to 36kg). Matthew is 14 months and certainly ready to move on to a larger front facing seat for comfort and safety.
The seat may be installed via latching arms that connect to the vehicle's ISOFIX system, plus the vehicle's existing lap and diagonal seat belt, or by the seat belt alone. We use two cars regularly and the seat is easy to fix into both. We chose to use the ISO FIX system and the seat belt. It is more straightforward to fix into cars with exposed ISOFIX connections but this is a feature of the car rather than the car seat.
Smaller children are secured in the seat using the well-padded 5-point harness provided. As the child grows the seat operates effectively as a booster seat. It’s great to think that we will only need to use this one seat now until Matthew is ‘grown-up’.
Fitting using the seat belt is conceptually quite simple, looping over the shoulder of the seat, through a slot in the back, across the rear of the seat, out the other slot, over the arm and then down to the buckle. What makes it awkward is the need to ensure that the belt is both taut and untwisted throughout its route. The on-line videos are clear (even if dealing with an isolated seat on a pedestal in a studio is so much simpler than working in the back of a car in the real-world) and the downloadable PDF is readily enlargeable (definitely needed to locate the crucial "adjustment button" for the 5-point harness).
We are regarding the seat as a semi-permanent car fixture whilst Matthew is still young; regularly transferring it between vehicles would get tiring very quickly. (This doesn't apply when using the seat for larger children, as no 5-point harness, where the routing of the seat belt is the same as for an adult).
There are lots of safety and comfort features with this BRITAX EVOLVA 1-2-3 SICT making it superior quality. These include: Side Impact Cushion Technology (SICT), side head protection and easily adjustable headrest and reclining positions. Also the cover is easily removed without removing the harness for cleaning – useful when children make a mess particularly on longer journeys.
We have the Black Marble from a range of colours: RRP £210.
PWT rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
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