The Dodge Challenger isn’t the kind of car I typically check for 3 across situations. It’s a muscle car, it’s driven by a lot of bachelors, and it only has two doors. However, I’ve gotten enough emails from parents (and responded to them) to realize that, even if it’s not the most popular family car on the road in the US, it’s definitely one that a surprising number of people use to transport their little ones around. And if that’s the case, you bet your bottom dollar I was going to make a 3 across car seat guide for it.
Despite its muscle reputation, the Challenger does come with a number of safety features, including ESC, good NHTSA crash scores, and side airbags. Think of it as the coupe version of the Dodge Charger, which is itself a testosteronized version of the Chrysler 300. However you look at it, it’s a full-sized pony car you can use to transport kids. The question was: how many, and how safely? That’s what I set off to find out.
Before doing so, however, why don’t we take a look at some basic tenets of car safety. When questioned by parents, I always suggest starting with rear-facing.
It’s the safest position we know of, and the longer our kids rear-face, the safer they’ll be, regardless of what kind of vehicle they travel in. I recommend keeping children in rear-facing infant or convertible seats as long as possible (ideally until 4!), then keeping them harnessed in forward-facing seats for several years more (ideally until 8!), and then only switching them out of booster seats when they pass the 5 step test (which typically happens between 10 and 12). The goal is to keep kids in the safest kinds of seats for as long as possible to increase their odds of surviving serious car crashes.
With that all in mind, I got to work with my seats to create what I believe to be the most detailed 3 across guide for the Dodge Challenger on the Internet. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.
The 3rd generation Dodge Challenger is just under 198 inches long and just under 76 inches wide. On paper, that looks good. However, being a coupe, you’re going to struggle some whenever you try to get children into or out of that back seat, never mind car seats themselves.
The biggest issue is likely to be front-to-back room. Being a coupe, priority is naturally given to the front seats, which means you’re going to need to make sure that your rear-facing seats don’t take up too much room. You’ll want to consider the convertible car seat leg room comparison guide for convertible seats if you’ve got an exotic seat in mind.
Besides that, however, you won’t have any particularly unique issues besides those inherent to a coupe design. You’ve got LATCH anchors available, but use the seat belts to get more room. Try not to bump your head (or those of your offspring) while inserting or removing seats or children.
The Volvo S80 is the current flagship sedan produced by Volvo Cars (although it’s due to be replaced by the S90 in 2016), and is designed to compete with a range of large and full-sized luxury sedans in the United States, including luminaries such as the Audi A6, BMW 5-Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Acura TLX, and Lexus GS. It’s not as well known as some of the competition, but when it comes to value, it’s definitely competitive. It also naturally competes with its smaller sibling, the S60.
The S80 features a range of top notch crash scores and safety features, including side airbags and ESC, as well as frontal crash protection in the latest models. As a result, it’s not just favored by executives and business-types, but by families interested in one of the safest sedans money can buy. As a result, I got up close and personal with both generations of the S80 to see just how car-seat friendly they’d be for interested families.
Before looking at which car seats did and didn’t fit in the S80 in 3 across setups, it’s worth reviewing a bit of car safety, in terms of which kinds of seats to use and when.
For me, the most basic and essential part of car seat safety involves rear-facing. It’s the safest position we know of, and the longer our kids rear-face, the safer they’ll be, regardless of what kind of vehicle they travel in. I recommend keeping children in rear-facing infant or convertible seats as long as possible (ideally until 4!), then keeping them harnessed in forward-facing seats for several years more (ideally until 8!), and then only switching them out of booster seats when they pass the 5 step test (which typically happens between 10 and 12). The goal is to keep kids in the safest kinds of seats for as long as possible to increase their odds of surviving serious car crashes.
With that all in mind, I got to work with my seats to create what I believe to be the most detailed 3 across guide for the Volvo S80 on the Internet. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.
The second (and final) generation S80 is 191 inches long (except in the S80L, which is 196.5 inches long) and just over 73 inches wide, which gives you a decent amount of interior room to work with for 3 across situations. Due to the substantial doors and padding in the Volvo interior (for safety and comfort), the back row isn’t the widest, but it’s definitely wide enough as long as you’re willing to use your seat belts instead of LATCH for the installation. Remember that seat belts are as safe as LATCH, and in some cases, safer, depending on the weight limits of your car seats.
Because the S80 is rather short as far as luxury sedans go, you might easily find yourself compromised on front-to-back space, especially if you’ve got taller drivers or passengers. If you’re interested in which safe seats take up the least space, you’ll definitely want to check out my front-to-back comparison chart for rear-facing convertibles.
The first generation S80 is 190-191 inches long, depending on whether you bought it before 2004 or after, and just over 72 inches wide, which is about comparable to most mid-sized sedans on the road today. Due to the substantial doors and padding in the Volvo interior (for safety and comfort), the back row isn’t the widest, but it’s definitely wide enough as long as you’re willing to use your seat belts instead of LATCH for the installation. Remember that seat belts are as safe as LATCH, and in some cases, safer, depending on the weight limits of your car seats.
Because the S80 is rather short as far as luxury sedans go, you might easily find yourself compromised on front-to-back space, especially if you’ve got taller drivers or passengers. If you’re interested in which safe seats take up the least space, you’ll definitely want to check out my front-to-back comparison chart for rear-facing convertibles.
The Volkswagen Tiguan is an oddly-named yet dearly loved compact crossover, or small SUV, sold in the United States. It competes with a glut of vehicles in the compact SUV market, including the Chevy Trax / Buick Encore, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue, Mazda CX-5, Subaru Forester, Ford Escape, Jeep Compass, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson, and Jeep Patriot. Being a small VW, it shares a platform with the Golf, Jetta, Passat, and Audi Q3.
In other words, The Tiguan’s got company among families interested in fuel-friendly and safe transportation. As a result, I took it upon myself to figure out just how friendly and safe of an SUV it was when it came to fitting 3 car seats across the back row. Sure, it has good crash scores (except for the small overlap frontal test result, which is marginal as of 2016), ESC, side airbags, and all of the other basic safety elements we’ve come to expect from a vehicle made in the 21st century, but the car seat question’s one you just can’t take for granted.
Before we dive into which seats did and didn’t work in the Tiguan, though, why not join me for a quick read of what’s important to do and when (and why!) when it comes to car seat ages and stages.
For me, car seat safety starts with rear-facing. It’s the safest position we know of, and the longer our kids rear-face, the safer they’ll be, regardless of what kind of vehicle they travel in. I recommend keeping children in rear-facing infant or convertible seats as long as possible (ideally until 4 or later!), then keeping them harnessed in forward-facing seats for several years more (ideally until at least 5!), and then only switching them out of booster seats when they pass the 5 step test (which typically happens between 10 and 12). The goal is to keep kids in the safest kinds of seats for as long as possible to increase their odds of surviving serious car crashes.
With that all in mind, I got to work with my seats to create what I believe to be the most detailed 3 across guide for the Volkswagen Tiguan on the Internet. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.
The second generation Tiguan is significantly larger than the initial generation and has been split into short- and long-wheelbase versions. The LWB variation is the only version available in North America. It comes in four trim levels: S, SE, SEL, and SEL Premium, and all FWD versions have a standard 3rd row, which is optional in AWD trims. The LWB Tiguan is 185.5 inches long and 72.4 inches wide. The additional length makes front-to-back space much more amenable to car seat installation in the 2nd row, but it’s still too short for anything rear-facing in the 3rd row; you’ll want to stick to booster seats and forward-facing seats. The width is slightly easier than that in the 1st gen Tiguan, but you’ll still want to stick with narrow seats and seat belts over LATCH to optimize available space.
The initial generation of the Tiguan is just over 174 inches long and just over 71 inches wide. In other words, it’s neither a very long nor very wide SUV. The width hurts you when it comes to 3 across installations while the length makes it difficult to fit rear-facing seats without robbing precious leg room from front row occupants.
You can get around the leg room issue with my rear-facing convertible leg room comparison guide, and you can get around the width issue by using the seats I listed above. You’ll absolutely want to use the seat belts instead of the LATCH system, as the LATCH anchors are spaced wide apart, which keeps you from making the most of your rather limited back seat room. If you’ve only got one or two seats to install at a time, however, feel free to use the LATCH system.
The Toyota Prius – safer than many SUVs and pickup trucks?
A lot of people think that car safety can be summed up in three words when it comes to staying alive on the roads:
Bigger Is Better.
Is that true sometimes?
Definitely.
I’ve written about head-on and side impact collisions involving semi trailers and passenger vehicles, such as this one and this one, where that “bigger is better” maxim certainly applies. There isn’t a passenger vehicle on the road that would have kept Santos Reyes or Sarah Sanagan alive–no, not even a 2016 XC90, which currently leads all vehicles in side impact resistance, or a 2016 Tesla Model S, no matter how much Elon Musk and Co. tout it as the safest vehicle ever tested. There are some cases where mass simply wins.
However, there are a lot of cases where it doesn’t. And we’re going to talk about those today. Not specific collisions, but the driver death rates of certain smaller vehicles vs. certain larger vehicles. You might be surprised to learn that the big, bad pickup trucks and huge SUVs you see on your daily commutes aren’t always the safest things on the road. Statistically, a lot of them are more likely to kill their drivers than vehicles weighing half or even a third as much. Ready to challenge some misconceptions? So am I!
Which small cars are safer than which big SUVs, pickups, and minivans?
Every few years, the IIHS crunches numbers collected by the NHTSA on fatal crashes throughout the United States within a given period, and spits out a status report that describes an extrapolated driver death rate for a range of new vehicles sold within the given time period.
It’s not a perfect measure by any means, and there are a number of limitations to the design (for example, the margin of error for individual vehicles can be large enough that drawing conclusions comparing individual vehicles becomes difficult), but it does give us a good starting point to estimate, on average, how likely drivers are to die when driving one vehicle vs. another. And in 2015, they released the most recent driver death rate (DDR) status report, which I wrote about here. And guess what the safest small vehicle was?
The 2010-2011 Toyota Prius. It had a DDR of 16, which is a fancy way of saying that if 1 million people drove a ’10-’11 Prius for a year, you’d expect 16 of them to die as drivers in a collision. Nine of those deaths would be predicted to occur in multi-vehicle collisions while 7 would be predicted to occur in single vehicle crashes. This is pretty good.
The ’10-’11 Prius, by the weigh (ha!), weighs 3,042 lbs.
In comparison, only 12 other cars did better, and they were all either mid-sized family cars, mid-sized luxury cars, or very large cars. So who did worse?
Which large cars were less safe than a Toyota Prius?
2010-2011 Ford Taurus 2WD — 20. Weighing a minimum of 4,015 lbs, the Taurus had a DDR of 20, which, while very close to that of the Prius and within the margin of error, was still higher.
Think about that for a second. In a vehicle that weighed at least 1,000 lbs more, you’d have been slightly more likely to die overall in collisions than if you’d been in a Prius. Incidentally, the multi-vehicle death rate of 10 was also higher than that of the Prius at 9, suggesting you’d be more likely to die in a multi-vehicle collision in a Taurus than in a Prius.
Surprised? You’re not alone. But there are even more standouts. Here are a few.
2009-2011 Cadillac DTS — 46. Weighing 4,009 lbs, the DTS is a beast on the roads compared to most cars, but it didn’t keep its drivers any more safe than those who chose a Prius. In fact, your odds of dying in a DTS were more than 3 times higher than those odds in a Prius.
2009-2010 Mercury Grand Marquis — 57. Weighing 4,118 lbs, it’s another very heavy vehicle that was far, far more likely to be involved in driver fatalities than the Prius.
Which mid-size SUVs were less safe than a Toyota Prius?
2008-2011 Jeep Wrangler 4-door 4WD — 21. The 4-door 4WD Wrangler weighs around 4,005 lbs at the Sahara trim level, but was still more likely to be involved in driver fatalities, both in multiple-vehicle collisions (11) and in single vehicle crashes (10). It’s important to note that this is one of the few vehicles still sold today in the United States that doesn’t come standard with side airbags. 2008-2011 Ford Edge 4WD — 41. The Edge 4WD weighs around 4,086 lbs, but was approximately 3 times more likely to be involved in driver fatalities than the Prius, and featured much higher multiple-vehicle fatalities (17) and single vehicle crash fatalities (24).
2008-2011 Dodge Nitro 2WD — 51. Despite weighing at least 3,932 lbs, the 2WD Nitro was the worst-performing mid-sized SUV in the IIHS survey of new vehicles, and was more than 4 times as likely to be involved in driver fatalities as the Prius. The multiple-vehicle fatality figure (7) was lower, but the single vehicle figure (50) was much, much higher.
Which large SUVs were less safe than a Toyota Prius?
2008-2011 Chevrolet Tahoe 2WD — 18. Weighing in at more than 5,636 lbs, the 2WD Tahoe had a higher DDR than the Prius despite weighing close to 2,000 lbs more. The multiple vehicle fatality rate (8) was slightly lower, but the single vehicle fatality rate (10) was slightly higher.
2008-2011 Ford Expedition 2WD — 36. The Expedition is a beast, weighing at least 5,578 lbs, yet it still had a DDR more than 2x as high as that of the Prius. In fact, the 2WD Expedition was the worst large SUV surveyed in the IIHS study, primarily due to its multiple vehicle fatality rate (30). The single vehicle fatality rate was lower (5).
2008-2011 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 2WD — 60. The dubious honor of the worst “very large” SUV surveyed by the IIHS went to the 2WD Suburban, which, despite its starting weight of 5,607 lbs, had a DDR nearly 4x higher than that of the Prius.
Think about that. As a driver, you were nearly 4x more likely to die if you were driving a new Suburban than if you were driving a new Prius. If that doesn’t suggest large vehicles aren’t always as safe as we think they are, I’m not sure what does. And we can’t even argue that it just did particularly badly in one area, as it had both a high multiple vehicle fatality rate (31) and a high single vehicle fatality rate (28). It was safer to be a driver in a Prius both in single vehicle crashes and in multiple vehicle crashes than it was to be a driver in a Suburban.
Which large pickup trucks were less safe than a Toyota Prius?
2009-2011 Ford F-150 Super 4WD — 39. The F-150 is the most popular pickup truck in the US and also the most popular passenger vehicle sold in the US. However, if you drove one in the above model years, you were statistically 2x as likely to die as you would have been while driving a Prius, despite its weighing 5,683 lbs. Both the multiple vehicle rate (13) and single (26) rate were higher than that of the Prius.
2008-2011 Toyota Tundra Crew Max 2WD — 41. The Tundra is the largest vehicle Toyota sells in the US, but the numbers reveal it to be far from the safest. Despite weighing close to 5,785 lbs, it suffered from a DDR more than 2x as high as that of the Prius, with a multiple vehicle fatality rate of 34 and a single vehicle fatality rate of 6. In other words, you were more likely to be involved in a fatal multiple-vehicle collision while driving this Tundra than while driving a Prius.
2010-2011 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew 4WD — 79. The dubious award for the most dangerous pickup truck surveyed by the IIHS went to the Crew 4WD trim of the Silverado, which was just about 5x as likely to be involved in a crash that killed its driver than the Prius during the years surveyed. This occurred despite its approximately 5,345 lbs of curb weight. It performed poorly both in multiple vehicle situations (40) and single vehicle fatalities (36).
Which minivans were less safe than a Toyota Prius?
2008-2011 Chrysler Town & Country — 25. Multiple family vans scored more poorly than the Prius when it came to preserving their drivers, including the T&C, which weighs at least 4,335 lbs. Its multiple vehicle fatality rate (16) and single vehicle fatality rate (8) were both higher than that of the Prius.
2008-2011 Dodge Grand Caravan — 27. The badge twin of the Town & Country, the Grand Caravan started at 4,321 lbs, but this still wasn’t enough to protect its drivers over those in a Prius. It featured a lower single vehicle fatality rate (4) but a much higher multiple vehicle fatality rate (22).
2011 Toyota Sienna 2WD — 27. Finally, Toyota’s van offering, the Sienna, also performed poorly compared to the Prius, with a multiple vehicle fatality rate of 12 and single vehicle fatality rate of 16, despite its starting weight of 4,275 lbs.
Why is the Toyota Prius safer than so many large cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, and minivans?
This, to me, is the most important–and interesting–question: why did the Prius do so much better at keeping its drivers alive than a plethora of large cars, mid-sized and large SUVs, large pickup trucks, and minivans, especially when dwarfed in weight by so many of them?
To me, it comes down to the drivers, rather than the vehicles themselves. Nearly all of these vehicles featured ESC as a standard feature, and nearly all of these vehicles featured side airbags and good frontal and side crash scores. However, the way we drive is often influenced to a large degree by what we drive. Beyond that, different kinds of drivers tend to choose different kinds of vehicles. Male drivers are less safe than female drivers at every stage of life, and male drivers are more likely to drive large SUVs and pickup trucks than female drivers. Male drivers are also less likely to use seat belts than female drivers and more likely to speed, drive aggressively, and drive drunk than female drivers, which contributes to their higher death rates.
Prius drivers (or rather, hybrid drivers), however, overlap a number of safer demographics. They’re more likely to have college educations (a survey indicated they were twice as likely as the average car driver), which means they’re more likely to engage in safe driving behaviors like driving while sober and while belted, they’re more likely to be older (remember that drivers in their 60s are actually the safest drivers on the road, despite what the media would lead you to believe), and they’re also less likely to drive aggressively since they’re more likely to be invested in obtaining better fuel mileage.
Am I saying you’d be better off sitting in a Prius than in a Tundra if the two were about to meet in a head-on collision? No. I am saying you’re less likely to drive in a way that leads you to get killed if you’re in a Prius than in a great many vehicles on the road, including many (e.g., all of the above) that weigh thousands of pounds more than a Prius.
Drive carefully. The life you save may be your own. Check out my 3 across guides and remember to buckle up.
The (now-discontinued) Nissan Quest is the unsung hero of the minivan scene in the United States. It seems like everyone’s got a Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey, Kia Sedona, Chrysler Town & Country, or Dodge Grand Caravan (its twin), but very few folks seem to have a Quest. Those who do, however, tend to appreciate the fact that they cost a lot less than most of the other more popular minivans, and do just about as well of a job in getting the family from point A to point B. The biggest flaw in the Quest at the moment is its poor small overlap score, which Nissan will hopefully correct soon.
I borrowed a current generation Nissan Quest this week to see how it did when it came to fitting 3 seats across the 3rd row. Nissan is unique among the current US minivan crop in that it only permits 3 across seating in the 2nd row. The Grand Caravan and Town & Country only seat 7 the way the Quest does, but their 3-across area is the 2nd row. It’s not a big deal; it’s just something unique about the Quest. At any rate, before looking at what I was able to stuff into that 3rd row, let’s look at some good ideas for when to use which kinds of seats in the Quest or in any other vehicle.
The safest configuration we know of when it comes to vehicle safety is rear-facing. This goes for adults as well, but it’s uncommon to find rear-facing seats for adults outside of trains. That said, rear-face your infants, toddlers, and preschoolers for as long as possible (ideally until 4!), before forward-facing them in harnessed convertible or combination seats (ideally until 8!). Once they outgrow their harnessed seats, it’s best to keep them restrained in high-back boosters until they’re physically and psychologically ready to use adult seat belt systems (which typically happens between 10 and 12). We want our little ones in the safest positions we know of for as long as possible to give them the greatest advantages in a collision.
Keeping these ideas in mind, I set to work to find which infant, convertible, combination, and booster seats would work best in 3 across combinations in the Nissan Quest. It’s my goal to make this list the most thorough on the Internet. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.
The current generation of the Nissan Quest is 201 inches long and 78 inches wide, which is comparable to the length and width of every other minivan currently available in the US market. However, I didn’t find the back row quite as friendly as that in, say, the Odyssey or in the Sienna. That said, you can still fit just about any seats you’re interested in fitting back there without too much trouble. My biggest suggestion is to use the seat belts, as the LATCH anchors aren’t spaced nearly as wide as I’d like them to be (although that tends to be the case in just about every vehicle I try out).
As noted earlier, all 3 across setups are for the 3rd row, as there are only 2 captain’s chairs in the 2nd row.
35,000 Americans will die this year on the road. You don't have to be one of them. A car seat and car safety blog to promote best practices for families.
2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 Dodge Challenger
If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can buy my books here or do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can shop here for Canadian purchases. Have a question or want to discuss best practices? Send me an email at carcrashdetective [at] gmail [dot] com.
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 Volvo S80
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Volvo S80
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan (2C)
2009-2011 Cadillac DTS — 46. Weighing 4,009 lbs, the DTS is a beast on the roads compared to most cars, but it didn’t keep its drivers any more safe than those who chose a Prius. In fact, your odds of dying in a DTS were more than 3 times higher than those odds in a Prius.
2009-2010 Mercury Grand Marquis — 57. Weighing 4,118 lbs, it’s another very heavy vehicle that was far, far more likely to be involved in driver fatalities than the Prius.
2008-2011 Jeep Wrangler 4-door 4WD
2008-2011 Ford Edge 4WD
2008-2011 Dodge Nitro 2WD — 51. Despite weighing at least 3,932 lbs, the 2WD Nitro was the worst-performing mid-sized SUV in the IIHS survey of new vehicles, and was more than 4 times as likely to be involved in driver fatalities as the Prius. The multiple-vehicle fatality figure (7) was lower, but the single vehicle figure (50) was much, much higher.
2008-2011 Chevrolet Tahoe 2WD
2008-2011 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 2WD
2009-2011 Ford F-150 Super 4WD
2008-2011 Toyota Tundra Crew Max 2WD
2010-2011 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Crew 4WD
2008-2011 Chrysler Town & Country
2008-2011 Dodge Grand Caravan
2011 Toyota Sienna 2WD
2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Nissan Quest (RE52)