child safety

[ChrisZang]

I hope I can get a few opinions here, so every comment is welcome.

So I am the proud father of two girls: 5 and 9 years old
They love to drive with daddy in his Boxster - and daddy loves to take them
So I got "the works": Porsche child seat + airbag de-activation bar

I also track my car as often as my wife and the economy allow me to and amongst other things I have a set of Momo bucket seats and 6-point harness, which I so far only use at the track.

So finally here comes the question:
I am not sure how safe the Porsche child seat + 3-point harness would protect be in case of a bad accident (not that I hope to ever have one), they're a bit wobbly in my opinion and I am wondering if it wouldn't be much safer to install the Momo seat + 6 point harness on the passenger seat and "strap my girls in"?

Opinions please

[rob76turbo]

Not sure what other will say, but when my kids were 10, 12 I strapped them in my old 944T (Momo seats and 5-pt harness). They actually liked sitting in those seats and told me that they felt very secure.

[Topless]

My grandkids (7,8) ride in the Box with standard sport seats. Given the choice I would choose Momo w/harness and check their fit carefully.

[Aron in Toronto]

Chris,
I too take my 6 & 9 year olds with me in the Boxster with a Porsche child seat and deactivation bar, and share your opinion of the quality of the Porsche seat. I don’t know what model child seat you are using but mine is an early re-badged Britax seat. Britax has since discontinued this seat and replaced it with at least one if not two newer generations of this model with more head and neck protection and possibly other advancements as well.

You must consider that the 5 or 6 point racing type harness that I think you are referring to does not have the same recoil system that OE belts have that are designed to have some “give” or stretch. This may be a (big) disadvantage to your kids as the aftermarket harness is essentially adjusted snugly in a fixed state that doesn’t allow the users torso to move in the event of an accident and may concentrate greater forces to their (smaller/weaker) necks when their heads have any sudden movement. You must also make sure the shoulder belts are positioned correctly and don’t do more harm than good in the event of an accident.

I don’t know the specific details of seat belt design and am defiantly not an expert but this is one area that I will trust the designers of the factory system.

I’ve thought of buying a newer child seat for the safety updates and reusing the old airbag deactivation buckle.

There is probably lots of info on the web about how seatbelts are supposed to work with child occupants. I’m sure there are probably some legal issues with using an aftermarket system as well.

[ChrisZang]

Thanks for all the opinions.
I figured and get a few more opinions and asked the same question on the grassrootsmotorsports forum.
One poster had a very good point, I quote:
"If you are using non DOT rated harnesses and your kid gets hurt (God forbid) then you will be seeing the wrong side of a court room real quick."

So I am sticking with the stock seat.
However I since detached the seatbelt buckle (the one which deactivates the airbag) from the Britax seat, so that I am no longer stuck with this seat and I can look for and use a better fitting child seat instead of the ill fitting Britax

[Jaxonalden]

I like your idea about cutting off the belt and plugging it into the "D" bar. Now you can find another seat but remember; the Boxster (or any other Porsche I think) does not incorporate the LATCH system (Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren). That system is the only way you'll have a totally secure child safety seat and then use it's four point harness, the Boxster's seat belt is never used.

With that said it can't be that difficult to design a better mouse trap. How about have a couple of LATCH mounts designed on a singe bar that will mount to the aft seat mounts (longer bolts if needed) and top "D" ring that mounts to the lower crossbar of the seat rollover halo.

If this can be done, safely and with quality materials it will help us all that have children and no wanting to buy a $600 seat that's worth less than $100. The next thing is the airbag.

My question to the community is;

Can the airbag be deactivated without the $250 "D" bar and $150 service charge by a mechanic?

I think this can be done and it maybe as little as pulling the fuse when a child is ridding with us. Airbag light comes on...that can be cleared by Durametrics software.

Love to hear your thoughts. I'm going to start a new tread with this and see where it goes