[MINI Raider]

I am ordering an "S" next month to replace my Cooper, however my son is also thinking of ordering one at the same time as his "toy" - that said sometimes he does pick his son up from nursery, etc (nearly 4 years old) and he has a another child of 18months. Anyone use their car with normal seats - I think he has one from Recaro and one a booster seat from Mothercare or something similar. He has borrowed the Cooper a couple of times but not in "real life" situations - anyone with more hands on experiences - I did a search but there was only a bit on the subject so hope you can help.

Thanks on his behalf.

[MarcoRacer]

I did a test drive with both my daughters in thier car seats. One is two the other is four. Two car seats/boosters seem to fit fine.

[Shamster]

I tend not to take my kids in the car very often but ordered mine with ISOFIX because of the three baby seats I have available none is particularly good.

Mothercare - straps getting tangled up all the time and the strap release mechanism is not very good. Also
once the seat is secured properly the amount of sideways play is awful.

Britax - straps fine, release mechanism fine - again sideways play is very bad.

Recaro - easy to fit/remove but suffers from the same problem as above. Potentially useful in that it offers some lateral support for the child.


Luckily I ordered my MPV with integral child seats which are a boon and the kids travel in that most of the time.

I'm planning on buying an ISOFIX seat soon to get round the problem of fitting via seatbelts.

[Smurfn]

My 16 month old boy just loves going for drives in the S. We just have a cheap baby seat (can't recall the brand at the moment), but he has no problems with corners or anything.

[VooDooPope]

I have 2 kids. (Girl 2.5yo & Boy 10mo)

the girl climbs in by herself and buckles her car seat, I don't have to do anything except make sure she is strapped in. The boy is still facing the rear so getting the carrier part of the carseat in is kind of a pain. Not really a problem for me but my wife can't handle it. Once the rear facing seat is in the passanger has to sit an inch or 2 closer than they would like. No uncomfortably close just closer than normal. In 2 months the boy will be old (and strong) enough to face forward then we won't have any problems at all.

The rear seatbelts have a unique ratcheting system that allows the car seats to be secured rather tightly (you pull the belt all the way out then it ratchets back in and stays tight until release) and if used properly with the over the back of the seat anchor there should be very very little lateral movement even in the quickest of curves.

The MINI makes a great family car in my opinion.

[Colossus]

I have two daughters, one who is three and one 7 months old. The three year old loves the Cooper S and her Britax standard seat fits fine. As mentioned above the rear racing infant seat is slightly harder to get in and out, but not too much of a problem. There is not as much passenger seat movement as you would usually get because there needs to be some space for the child to put their legs down, but we have not had much of a problem in this regard, my wife is only 5ft 6" but with someone taller it could be a problem. My advice, your son should just do it, life is too short to not enjoy it!

[Kinster]

Check out the ISOFIX Britax DUO. It's great and only £160. Checkout this thread

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...x+ and+britax

[MINI Raider]

Thanks for the feedback everyone - I'll pass it on to my son and reckon that'll be the final straw and he'll do it too!