In the November 2018 issue, Stiftung Warentest and ADAC jointly tested 18 children’s car seats. In isolated cases, harmful substances were found that posed a risk to the little ones. The results are impressive in terms of safety: For the first time in years, all the seats tested passed the crash test, albeit with only a few sufficient results.

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Among the models tested were 14 baby car seats and four seats for children of running age and older. The child car seats were tested for accident safety, which was included in the final grade with 50 percent, handling, which accounted for 40 percent, and ergonomics, which contributed 10 percent to the overall grade. The pollutant results had no influence on the final score.

Child car seats from birth

Of the 14 new baby carriers, nine seats were rated “good”. Of these, one was rated “satisfactory” and four “unsatisfactory”. In the areas of accident safety and handling, the child seat rated “satisfactory” and the four seats with an “unsatisfactory” result were not convincing.

Britax Römer scored best with the seats “Baby-Safe2 i-Size + i-Site Base” for 350 Euro, “Baby-Safe2 i-Size + i-Size Flex Base” for 370 Euro and with the “Swingfix M i-Size” for 500 Euro. The “i-Level” joie also received a rating of 1.7. Second place went to the “Comfort Fix + Comfort Fix Isofixbasis” child car seats from Hauck, the “CabrioFix” from Maxi-Cosi and the “Dualfix M i-Size” from Britax Römer. All three child seats achieved a grade of 2.1. The “Comfort Fix” child seats from Hauck (2.4) and the “CabrioFix + FamilyFix” child seats from Maxi-Cosi (2.5) also received good marks. All the child seats mentioned have also achieved the grades “good” and “very good” in the area of harmful substances.

“We are very proud of our entire i-SIZE family. Four of the eight child seats are test winners and all of them have achieved great results, especially in terms of safety and harmful substances. The DUALFIX i-SIZE and the DUALFIX M i-SIZE are even the best tested 360° rotatable child seats and the SWINGFIX i-SIZE and the SWINGFIX M i-SIZE are the best reeboarders with Easy Entry function/ 90° rotating function,” says Moritz Walter, Marketing Director EMEA at Britax Römer.

Child car seats for children over one year of age

In 2018, four children’s car seats for children over one year of age were also tested. In this category two achieved a good rating, the other two seats received the final mark “satisfactory” from Stiftung Warentest. The clear test winner here is the new “Solution S-Fix” from Cybex for 190 euros with a mark of 1.7. Second place was also taken by the Cybex brand with the “Pallas S-Fix” for 300 euros. Both scored “very good” in the area of pollutants.

Cybex „Pallas S-Fix“

“Child safety is our top priority. The result of the latest generation of our Pallas and Solution seats fills us with pride and confirms the success of our S.D.F. innovation principle. It enables successful cooperation between our developers and designers and produces child seats that continuously meet the highest possible safety standards,” says Johannes Schlamminger, Managing Director of Cybex.

Leader in the last three years

The test results of the new car seats are satisfactory, but do not reach the results of the previously tested baby seats. The manufacturer Cybex received a grade of 1.6 (issue 6/2017) for the “Aton 5” child seat and, with a price of 130 euros, is still one of the top-ranked child seats tested by Stiftung Warentest. In addition to the “Aton 5” from Cybex, previously tested child car seats also achieved a top result of 1.6 at Stiftung Warentest. These include the Cybex “Aton M i-Size & Base M i-Size” (350 Euro), which was tested in the 11/2017 edition, the Maxi-Cosi “Pebble Plus” (220 Euro), which was tested by Stiftung Warentest in 2015, and the Maxi-Cosi “Pebble Plus & Isofix-Basis 2wayfit” (440 Euro), which scored well in the 11/2015 edition. The front runners among the child car seats tested by Stiftung Warentest also scored “good” to “very good” in the pollutant test.

The best child car seats

It turns out that none of the new seats manages to displace the best of previous years from the top positions. Child car seats of the brands Cybex, Britax Römer, Joie, Maxi-Cosi and Kiddy, for example, were rated on average between 1.6 and 1.9 on the grading scale. In addition to the evaluation, Stiftung Warentest and the ADAC recommend that when buying child car seats, the seat and car should fit together. For example, some child seat models can only be installed in modern vehicles with Isofix retaining lugs. Child seats that still comply with the old standard are usually fastened only with the car seat belt.

 

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ADAC recommends a trip to a specialist dealer for child seats

 

Link: Here you come to the test of Stiftung Warentest: Here you get to the test of Stiftung Warentest.

Image: Britax Römer

//JP