Reviews for Sunshine Kids Radian 80 convertible car seat

I was hoping to use my Graco car seat/carrier until he turned a year old, but at 9 months old, he has hit his 22 lb weight limit for the car seat so I bought the Radian 80. It will fit fine in my car forward facing, but it won't fit in my car rear facing unless I scoot both front seats all the way up, which then I can't drive or have a passenger. I am very disappointed in this. I bought the Radian 80 because of its safety features and the compact design since I have a car (Volvo S60) and needed it to not take up too much room. By the way, to the man who was wondering about the recline on the Radian 80. There is a lever on the bottom of the car seat. If you pull it forward, and pull the plastic piece down, it will recline for you.

I am the mommy of two boys who just turned 3 and 6. About a year a ago I was researching carseats to replace the younger son's convertible seat. It was a hand-me-down from his brother and it had just "uglied-out" from use and had the type of straps you had to pull over the child's head. I stumbled upon the story about Kyle. I was cut to the heart-- our oldest son had been in booster since he was 3 b/c he is 95+ percentile for height and weight. I was sick thinking of what could have happened. As soon as I read about the Radian 80 I knew that we would be purchasing 2 new car seats to make sure our boys were as protected as they could be. We've had these seats for a year now and we love them. The folding feature is excellent for airplane travel. I feel better when travelling abroad having our own seats rather than whatever the car rental company has on hand. The carrying strap is great. They are heavy but they feel sturdy not bulky. It doesn't look like a baby seat so my then 5, now 6 year old didn't mind switching from a booster. The ONLY criticism I have is that the Super Cool fabric, which I chose b/c of our hot climate, has snagged a bit and is kind of fuzzy in spots. It's probably only noticable to me and I'm picky. Nothing a sweater shaver can't fix. Afer seeing our seats some of our family and friends have purchased their own. By the way if you watch "Jon & Kate plus 8" you'll notice they have 8 of these seats in their van.

We researched car seats for days before my wife and I decided to go with the Radian80. This is our first child (daughter) and we were looking to find a very safe carseat, nomatter what the cost. After reading over several reviews, both by consumers and experts, we narrowed it down to the Sunshine Kids Radian80 and the Britax Marathon. There were no local retailers in our area that carried the Sunshine Kids brand so we had to take a leap of faith when ordering it. For the first year it was great. We had the seat in the rear-facing position and our little girl seemed to love it. Our closest family member is over 2 hours away, so we wanted a seat that she could rest comfortably in. The problem started when she turned one and we changed the positioning from rear-facing to front-facing. When the seat is unfolded it locks into a 90 degree upright position. We didn't notice this as much when it was rear-facing because of the attachment that leaned the seat backward. Now when we travel, our daughter can't rest comfortably because she is sitting in such an upright position. Her head dangles forward and she appears to be very uncomfortable. Unlike the Marathon, the Radian80 is not molded into a curved position, and there appears to be no way to recline the seat back. If there is a way, I would love for someone to share that information with me. If not, I'm afraid that we will be out another $250-$300 dollars to purchase the Britax.

We purchased the Sunshine Radian 80, after totally reviewing our carseat requirements for all three children, age 8, 5 and 2. We had been doing boosters for our older 2 children and after seeing Kyles story (Miller family foundation) on youtube and searching further, I then realized this was real and happens, when I saw it linked on www.elitecarseats.com with one of their carseat experts commenting. Our biggest problem to overcome, was we have extra tall children (95th% ++), all approx a head taller than most their age. We wanted 5 pt harnessing for all our kids, even our 8 almost 9yo daughter who complained loudly in a graco backless booster seat, about not being able to sleep on long trips (think an hr to 3 hrs). Elite Carseats helped us with all our selections and I cannot thank them enough. Customer service is so very informative and helpful, so when you call. make sure you have your kiddos height and weight stats available, it will help them and you. Sunshine Radian 80 was a new seat for us to consider, we are diehard Britax users and Compass boosters (which we adore too thx to ECS recommendations). Sunshine Radian 80 has met our expectations fully. The big positive is the ability to travel with it, wearing it as a shoulder or backpack style piece of luggage, thus keeping our son in a 5 pt harness even when we travel overseas or to the Eastcoast. It is FAA approved - a real bonus. The seat itself, is probably a tad more narrow than I originally anticipated, but it fits our 5yo, 48" tall 47lb son just fine with room to grow, he loves it too. He will move to a frontier when he outgrows it. Padding is just fine, install was straightforward. Downside is it has no cup holder, but thats low on our list of must have's. Works well in mid position, rear row, in our 2008 Toyota Sienna and fitted great in our 2008 Acura RDX. Our neighbors tried it in their Honda sedan (the hybrid version) and it worked really well there too. The height profile of the seat base is really nice and low, so much more like a booster than a 5 pt harness. Height from butt to head is nice and will last to its 53" recommendation. We also have the Britax Marathon, Britax Regent and Britax Frontier to compare it with. If you have a child with a husky type build then this seat is not for you, the seat base width will be outgrown too soon vs weight. If you have a lightweight or average weight but tall child, this is a great option. We will be using it in both cars. We especially loved it in our crossover car and I love that three will fit in a Honda pilot - that is some claim and I can see it would be true. Highly recommended for those with tall children, smaller cars or crossover SUVs, those in need of three 5 pt harness seats across one row and those who want to travel with a seat that harnesses to 80lbs. I am also a registered occupational therapist. I could see the Sunshine Radian 80 working pretty well for a child with some forms of special needs, esp those with autism, downs syndrome and some less severe physical disabilities, with some additional seating supports, though I have not tried this. If you have a child with a husky type build, then keep looking and I would suggest the Britax Frontier as directly comparable or the Britax Regent for a permanent install ( as the Regent is not good for regular carpooling needs or for travelling on aircraft). Hope that helps some of you make a great choice, to keep your children in 5 pt harnessing as long as you can. BTW, the sound of contented children travelling quietly long distances is totally WORTH the money.

I bought three of these because we are expecting a third baby and we are not ready to buy a different vehicle, so we are stuck with the 4dr sedan for the time being. This seat is very impressive (and heavy) but I was not confident in the angle of recline in the rear-facing position. I think an older baby would be fine, but I just don't want to put a newborn in it, so I ended up buying an infant carrier to use for now.

I puchased this seat late last fall and my son who is 5 40 inches tall and 40lbs has been riding in it. He never seemed very comfy in it. The past couple of months he has been crying in it and saying that is privates hurt. I noticed that the crotch strap is under him and wraps around his privates. I contacted customer service and they told me it was fine. I have now taken him out of the seat because he cries so much in it!! I have contacted sunshine kids by email twice and have not received any answers!! I just wish someone could help I spent over $200 on this seat and now can't use it!! Very disapointed in Sunshine Kids!!

Comments from The Staff:

Sorry to hear that your son is so uncomfortable. Sunshine Kids does make an longer Center Buckle Strap that you can purchase from us. Hopefully that will help you son ride comfortably in his Radian 80!
Michelle, EliteCarSeats.com Team

This seat seemed to be working fine until a couple months after using it. My now 3-year old suddenly started feeling uncomfortable in it- first from the huge tag stitched into the back of it, and now from the fact that the seat is so low that my car's buckle (a '98 Accord) has to stick partially behind the cushion at his back. I don't know what else to do, finding this seat was such a pain in the first place to fit my car and keep my large child (over 45 lbs.) safe in a 5 pt. harness. I think we're going to have to try the new Graco Nautilis, or even more expensive the new Britax Frontier. (We used a Britax Decathalon before baby #2 needed it, so my first was probably a bit pampered too since it's so comfy!) It sounded wonderful, but in the end we are disappointed with this seat.

THE GOOD:
** Narrow profile
** Folds for travel (with a caveat, see below)
** My 25 lb, average-size 1 year old seems comfortable

THE BAD:
** Heavy. I know others have said it, but WOW! schlepping this car seat though the airport just about killed us. The folding ability was nice, but the weight was a downer.
** Taller than other seats. This seat did not fit rear-facing in our '05 Subaru Outback. Granted, we're both 6' and have the front seats all the way back, but the Radian didn't fit at all...even in the middle seat. It does fit fine in our minivan.
** Too many pieces. You need the attachable wedge for rear-facing use. When you then use the seat forward-facing, you have to remove the wedge and hope that you remembered where you stored it when you need to use it again for the next baby. Also, you need to attach a strap onto the back for forward-facing use--a strap that you don't need for rear-facing (correct me if I'm wrong, but that is what the sticker on the side of the seat said. Needless to say, my child is still rear-facing because I can't find the strap at the moment.)
** Low sides. This is part of the low-profile benefit; however, my 1 year old loves to swing her legs over the side of the seat. The sides are so low that she can easily do it. She is not able to do this with her Boulevard.
** For me anyway, harder to install. I had to have my husband get this seat tight enough in the car. I am able to get the Boulevard tight w/o his help.

I also received the seat with a defective shoulder strap. Sunshine Kids did eventually replace it.
OVERALL, an okay car seat, but nothing special. I probably wouldn't order again.

I'm sorry this review is hard to read--the inability to include line breaks is frustrating.