We purchased this carseat because my 4 year old daughter has just reached the 40 pound weight limit for her traditional 5-point harness booster seat. She is technically old enough and heavy enough to use the vehicle seat belt in combination with a booster seat, however, it just makes me nervous not to have her in a harness anymore. I'd rather be safe than sorry. I actually bought two of them and moved my 2 1/2 year old daughter into one as well.
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br /The seat is very nice. The buckles and clips are easy to operate and the straps do not twist easily. The straps don't always lie as flat and straight as I'd like down her front, which is a geometry issue I think but I'm not sure whether it's just my daughter's size and shape or the carseat itself. They are, however, straight and flat enough that she is safe, in my opinion.
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br /This seat is a good alternative to the Britax Regent, which costs more and is impossible to get right now. I had it on backorder for two months and finally cancelled that order and bought this one. I have not been disappointed. The harness on the Britax Regent goes up to 80 lbs and this one only goes up to 65 lbs, though I believe that Sunshine Kids is coming out with an 80 lb limit version. Still, I have a tall and skinny daughter and I checked average height weight charts and found that my daughter is likely to be 8 years old before she reaches the height and/or weight limits of this carseat, so I went with it. By age 8, she will be fine to go into the vehicle seatbelt.
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br /One added bonus of this seat is that it takes up very little room by comparison with other seats. It has a very slim design. I have two in my backseat of my Honda Accord and there is almost enough room between them for another seat (though I haven't tried this yet so I can't be sure).
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br /The seat cover has velcro strips to hold the straps open for the child to climb in. That's nice. But I would also like to see a velcro strip that holds the crotch-strap/buckle wide open to the front edge of the seat so that when the child gets in, she isn't sitting directly on it. I'm alays digging it out from under the girls after they have gotten into the seat.
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br /Overall, it's a very good seat with a sturdy, safe metal-frame design. A good choice.

We recently bought a second car and needed a new carseat. My son is 22 months and weighs 27 pounds, so we ideally wanted a convertible carseat. We have a Graco Comfort Sport in the first car but I didn't want a second one (see my comfort sport review, I wanted a carseat that is safer rear-facing). I couldn't seem to find anything I was happy with other than a Britax, but the price seemed a bit excessive. I looked into booster-type carseats that only sit forward, but my son was really too young for them, and I knew in a Britax he could still sit rear-facing. Somehow my husband came across this new seat by Sunshine kids that sounded great. We bought the last one left at BuyBuyBaby with a 20% off coupon (not valid for Britax products) for around $160.00 and installed it rear-facing in our Hyundai Elantra without any trouble. We used LATCH and attached the floor strap, and the seat doesn't budge at all. Before putting it in the car, I put my son in it to see which slot the shoulder straps should be in and where to position the crotch strap. It was very easy to install and adjust the straps. Unlike the Britax, there are 5 slots for the shoulder straps and 3 for the crotch. Even though the seat can be used for up to 65 lbs, it's not as monsterous as the Britax. It's narrow enough to allow for 2 other passengers to sit in the backseat of the car (the carseat is in the back middle). When rear-facing, the seat is in a reclined position, so my son is very comfortable. However, the back of the carseat does hit the back of the front passanger seat, so the frontseat passenger can't recline. I have no problems tightening and loosening the carseat straps so that he's buckled in safetly no matter what he's wearing. The straps don't get tangled easily, and are easy to straighten out when they do. The material is holding up very well- it still looks brand-new, besides for the pretzel crumbs! I plan on turning the seat around when he turns 2, and I'm sure I'll continue to love the seat in the forward position too. I highly recommend this seat.

Problem: 2 toddlers and 1 infant all need to fit into a 2004 Prius.
br /Solution: 2 Radian car seats forward-facing on each side in the back seat and a Peg Perego SIP infant seat rearward-facing in the middle. All seats are using the LATCH anchors and the Radian seats additionally are employing the headrest/seatback tethers.
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br /Note: This setup also works in the Scion Xb.
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br /You could probably find something other than the Peg Perego to use as an infant seat since it is really the narrow base dimensions of the Radian car seats that make this setup possible.
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br /The only minor drawbacks I can see to the Radian car seats are the price (on the high side but still at $180 each not the most expensive seats out there) and the weight (HEAVY in comparison to others but that is the trade-off for the sturdy quality due to the steel support frame construction).

We love our Radian carseat. We actually have 3 different carseats between all our cars, and the Radian is by far our favorite. It fits very nicely in our backseat, and we love how it folds flat for travel. We chose the Radian because it is taller than most carseats, and we have a very tall child. If she continues at the rate she is growing, she wouldn't fit into most carseats in a few years because she would go past the height recommendations. She will easily fit in her Radian until it's time to go into a booster. It sits her back far enough that she still has plently of room for her long legs while she is rear-facing. I highly recommend this product.

My 10 month old daughter hated her 'infant' car seat from the beginning. Every time I tried to set her in it she would scream and cry~making our car ride frustrating. Once I purchased the Radian car seat, when she turned 9 months, our rides have been cry free. I think it's because in the Radian her back isn't curved so much. I wished I had known of this car seat before I had bought an 'infant' car seat. I am so thankful for Radian~Sunshine Kids !!!!

I bought this for my large 2 1/2 year old who outgrew his Eddie Bauer 3-in-1 (we sure thought it would last longer than that ;o).
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br /It is a little hard to install forward-facing (but no more than any other seat). It was a breeze going in rear-facing and almost bought another two for my younger son and pitch the EB seats all together (but alas, they are not cheap). The reclince function on some seats really help to tighten it forward facing.
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br /I love the slim design and velcro tabs too!
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br /It is available in Canada too (from Canadian Tire).

I love the fact that this seat got such great safety reviews. I did quite a bit of research to find a great, safe seat for my now four year old, yet also wanted a seat that would grow with her and not take up too much space. This seat is perfect. It's got a soft, suede-like feel to the seat, sits low in the seat, so I'm not lifting too horribly high when I put her in our Tahoe, and it feels VERY sturdy and secure. We haven't found it to be horribly difficult to install. My daughter finds it comfortable and has yet to complain of any straps or buckles digging in like she did with her Britax she was about to outgrow.
br /We've been very pleased with this seat, and will probably stick with the Sunshine line when our two year old outgrows her seat as well. Great product!

Our three year old is very happy with and quite comfortable in her new "big kid" car seat. Installation was simple (10-15 minutes) with the included instructions. I would certainly recommend it for toddlers or preschoolers who are not yet cognitively ready to sit still for prolonged periods of time in a booster seat without a five point harness.

I have to say that I am very impressed with the Radian 80® car seat. I absolutely love the folding feature because it makes it easy to transport. And it's so compact that it can fit in just about any car, including airplanes. The structure is also pretty sturdy. And the 5 point harness system keeps children snug and secure in the car seat, making it near impossible to wiggle out of. We got one to use when my twin nephews came out from California and one of the boys thinks it's so comfy that he's always asking to go for a ride in the car--just so he can sit in the new seat!

Seat cover keeps falling off to the left. This caused the styrofoam to chip off. The company (Sunshine Kids) refuses to send another one even though it's only been 3 months since purchase and I have a receipt. They keep saying it's amazon's responsibility. Amazon is only responsible for 30 days.
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