Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm a Nationally Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, or "Car seat technician" in plain english : ) Let's talk about this seat! This is a forward facing ONLY, five point harness seat, that converts to a high back booster seat when the child outgrows the harness. It is only appropriate for ages 2 and up, as children who are under age 2 should still be REAR facing. This seat should last in harness mode until most kids are at an appropriate age for a belt positioning booster. It is outgrown in harness mode at 70 lbs OR when the childs shoulders are above the top harness position. That means if their torso height is taller than 18.5 inches (or 19.5 inches for seats made after 4/14), then this seat is outgrown in harness mode, and they then need to be using it in belt positioning booster mode. Children should ride in a five point harness until they AND their small bodies are mature enough to be safe riding in a belt positioning booster. This happens around age 5-7. Then kids should be in a booster seat until their bodies are big enough and mature enough for the adult seatbelt to adequately protect them. This happens around age 10-12, but usually closer to 12. **Only 50% of kids are tall enough at age 10 to safely ride without a booster. LATCH, or Lower Anchors And Tethers for CHildren: Lower anchors are only rated in vehicles to withstand a certain amount of weight in a crash. So after your child weighs 40 lbs, you have to install your childs restraint with a seatbelt and need to discontinue using the lower anchors. This is not a Britax thing, this is a vehicle thing. That is why this seat only allows you to use the lower anchors up to 40 lbs. You should ALWAYS attach the top tether, regardless of whether you install the child restraint with lower anchors or a seatbelt, as it helps protect the childs head and spine in a crash. Lower anchors can be used in belt positioning booster mode, in this seat, to keep the booster from flying around and being a projectile in a crash if the booster is unoccupied and not buckled in. It's a convenience feature. This seat, the Pioneer 70, is based off of Britax's very popular Frontier 90. It has the same function, but isn't near as easy to install as the Frontier 90, because you are NOT getting the "Click Tight" technology that the Frontier 90 offers. This seat also does not last as long in harness mode.. because the Frontier 90 harness is taller and has a higher weight limit. If you are looking for a seat for a very heavy and/or very tall younger child, THIS IS NOT THE SEAT TO BUY. You really need to invest the extra money in a Britax Frontier 90 in order to keep the child harnessed until they reach an adequate booster age. Also, if you are looking for 1 seat that you will be moving and installing in multiple vehicles, and need ease of use for the caregivers or parents that will be doing so, THIS IS NOT THE SEAT TO BUY. (The Frontier 90 is 150,000x easier to install. I'm talking instant, perefctly tight seatbelt install, every time, in less than 45 seconds.. with the Frontier 90.) But if you will never move your childs seat, you have a very tiny kid, etc, then this seat should be just fine for you. It's a little tricky to install, but it can be done. It's not something that I would personally want to be moving all the time, and I'm very adept at installing seats obviously. This seat does offer the Versa Tether, Safe Cell, and a no rethread harness. So that is super exciting. It's a nice seat if you can get it installed correctly and your child won't outgrow it at an early age. So to sum it up: This is a Frontier 90 without the Clcik Tight, and with a slightly shorter harness (This seat is 18.5 inches torso height for harness if made before 4/14, now it offers a 19.5 inch harness... F90 has 20 or 20.5 (I'm finding both measurements online) inch tall harness), and lower weight limit on the harness (This seat maxes out at 70 lbs, F90 goes up to 90 lbs) Because this seat is a lower limit version of the Frontier 90 without the Click tight, the belt path is weird. Where the click tight would be on the F90, you have to route the belt around that area on this seat. I'm not sure if that will make sense to you unless you are familiar with the Frontier 90 though.. (If you are familiar with the Britax brand, this is the Roundabout in comparison the the Boulevard. Both are nice seats, but the Roundabout offers less features than the Boulevard, and is outgrown much faster.. sometimes too soon, and those parents wish they had just spent the money and gotten the Boulevard.)