Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL

LOOOOVE mine. Reason's I bought it over other seats;
Good weight rating for both rear facing and forward facing (so can use it for a long time).
Can fit it with seat belt OR Latch system.
5 point harness for rear facing and forward facing.
Had one of the best (I think it was the best) height adjustments for the straps (and I hear most baby's outgrow their seats in height before weight). But because of this it is long and some people have found it won't fit in their car.
Narrowest one I found so you can fit 2 people in the back seat with one easily. If/when needed you can actually fit 3 across the back seat of most cars.
Good design so works really well both rear facing and forward facing (doesn't compromise one for the other).
Folds down for when you're checking it in as luggage(we take it with us when we travel so we're using a seat we're familiar with).

I find it very easy to use and fast to get in/out (when needed). It is pricey, but I reckoned that by the time I bought a rear facing then forward facing seat it'd cost about the same anyway.
Hope that helps.

I am getting a radian in the next few months once DS is too big for his capsule and I cant wait! I love the fact that it can rear face for so long.

I have my nearly 3 year old on one ,,rearfacing and she still has heaps of room to go both weight and height.

this was taken last month so she wont have grown much in the last 4 weeks but it gives you an idea of how long children can remain rearfacing in it
she is around 96cm and has torso length of about 36cms (radians have a top slot of 43cms) oh and is around 15.5kgs

I really wanted a Radian XTSL, however when we tried it in our car it wouldn't fit (middle rear), or it fitted behind the passenger seat, with it all the way forward, which we decided compromised the passengers safety.
So definately try it in your car before you buy.
I'm thinking we might buy it when our next child comes along and use it as a forward facing carseat.

Definitely try it in your car if you can, but some small cars fit them really well. A friend tried mine in her old Honda Civic and it fitted with far more room than in my car (Ford Mondeo). The Sunshine Kids lady might actually be able to tell you if it fits if you email her your car type (she was extraordinarily helpful for me).

Interesting, they've changed their website. This is the email address I got off their website when I bought it. sales@skjp.co.nz
The lady is in Belmont (near Takapuna) and I went and she tried one in my car and showed me how to set it up etc. She got into selling them because she herself needed a seat that she could fit 3 across a car because her 3rd child turned out to be TRIPLETS!

We have bought two one for my mums car (ford focus) and one for my husbands car (ford 4wd truck) this month. I have a brio in my car.
The reason why we bought them as Travis is 17 months and believe we will get more milage out of the Radians than buying two more Brios. Plus the five point harnes has a good weight rating so that was my selling point over getting another Brio. I still love the Brio but wanted to get as much milage out of the seats.

OOOHHHH, I have just discovered the 'tether connecting strap'
I'll go find somewhere to attach it to. I guess I shouldn't try installing a carseat at 10pm at night haha

Aethalia wrote: By NZ law if a car seat has a teather strap then you have to use it. I have to get a bolt installed in our car for rear facing as I cant clip the teather strap around the front seats sliding rails

What about where the seatbelt attaches to the side of the car?
Radian's are ok to use without a tether (page 28 of the instruction manual), they are the only seat I know of where using the tether is optional (highly recommended but your choice). I think the law is the seat has to be installed as per the manufacturers instructions isn't it?

Re: NZ law, this might be of interest. It doesn't look like it goes into the specifics of tether straps etc. http://www.childrestraints.co.nz/law.php.

I haven't tried our Radian rear-facing yet as my 3 year old currently sits facing forward in it. My 2004 Mazda 6 has an anchor point on the roof in the middle.. can you use that or does it have to go behind the seat in the rear-facing position? FYI it also has the Latch bits too which is handy.