If you’ve always wanted a Mini Cooper, but also wanted to start or keep a family, you probably ended up settling for something besides a Cooper (perhaps a sedan, a minivan, or an SUV) while always wishing you could make the Cooper work. Fortunately, a few years ago, Mini, under BMW’s blessing, came up with the Mini Countryman, a crossover that, practically speaking, made owning a Mini and having a family a practical affair. And as a bonus, it also has an impressive safety record, and is one of the safest small cars you can buy for yourself or your loved ones.

Since then, a number of similar family-minded toy cars have hit the market, including the Fiat 500L as an American-sized version of the Fiat 500. There are also loads of more conventional choices, including the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Ford Focus, Nissan Sentra, Kia Forte, Chevrolet Cruze, Mazda 3, Toyota Prius, Prius C, Volkswagen Golf, Subaru Impreza, and  Crosstrek. But today we’ll ignore all of them and look at the Mini Cooper Countryman with the goal, as always, of figuring out which infant, convertible, combination, and booster seats can be stuffed into it successfully, and if any of them can work in 3 across configurations.

Before going into which seats work, though, I always like giving a brief overview of which kinds of seats are best to use and when. The essence of car safety is to use particular seats for as long as possible, as each switch into the next type of seat results in a decrease in safety. Start with rear-facing; that’s the core of car seat safety. Ideally do it until your kids are 4-5, or even longer if you can. Once you’ve reached at least 4, you can switch to a harnessed seat and keep using it until your kids are at least 6-7. However, if you’ve got particularly mature kids, you can start using high-back boosters from 4-5 onward, and continue using them until your kids pass the 5-step test, which typically occurs between 10 and 12. Following these steps will help keep your kids in the right seats and increase their safety wherever you go, no matter what you’re driving.

With this in mind, here’s what I’ve found for the seats that work best in 3 across combinations in the Countryman. Feel free to shop through my Amazon link below for any purchases. You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are courtesy of Wikipedia.

2017-2018 Mini Cooper Countryman (F60)

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Clek Oobr (x3).

Peg Perego Flex 120 (x3).

Maxi-Cosi RodiFix (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Combi Coccoro (x3).

Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT.

Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Fllo, Chicco KeyFit 30.

The second generation Countryman is just under 170 inches long and a slightly more generous 71.7 inches wide, which means that you’re going to have a slightly easier (but not that much easier) time making 3 across setups work in this generation than you would in the prior. However, as before, it’s definitely possible, keeping in mind that you’re absolutely going to need to use your seat belts and not even think about LATCH. Fortunately, as I’ve noted in a number of 3 across guides, seat belts are just as safe as LATCH while taking up far less space.

2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 Mini Cooper Countryman (R60)

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Combi Coccoro (x3).

Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT.

Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Fllo, Chicco KeyFit 30.

The 1st generation Countryman is 161 inches long and a scant 70.4 inches wide, which means that you’re going to struggle to get anything but the narrowest seats in the back if you want 3 across setups. However, it’s definitely possible, keeping in mind that you’re absolutely going to need to use your seat belts and not even think about LATCH. Fortunately, as I’ve noted in a number of 3 across guides, seat belts are just as safe as LATCH while taking up far less space.

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.

If you’re buying a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, you’re looking for something beyond an ordinary driving experience. Fortunately, when you buy an S-Class, whether new or used, you’re also buying one of the safest cars on the road at the time of manufacture. A larger version of the E-Class and the flagship of Mercedes-Benz, the S-Class has few rivals; two German examples include the BMW 7-Series and the Audi A8. Volvo doesn’t have a direct equivalent; their closest is the Volvo S90.

Regardless of why you bought the S-Class, it makes a fine family car if you value a good amount of room for passengers and a good amount of safety on the road. Today we’ll take a look at how it does fitting 3 car seats across the back row. Before we do, though, here’s a quick primer on best practices in car seat safety.

First of all, everything starts with rear-facing when it comes to car seat safety. Whether you’re 8 hours old or 80 years young, you’re best off rear-facing. Practically speaking, if you can keep your little ones rear-facing until at least 5, the way the Swedes do, you’re on the right track. At that point, if you wish, you can switch to forward-facing. To be honest, you can keep rear-facing too, but if you forward-face, know that you can also switch directly from rear-facing into boostering if your children are ready. From then on, you’ll want to keep your kids in high-back boosters until they’re ready to use adult seat belts; this typically won’t happen until they’re at least 10 to 12.  Beyond that, I suggest keeping kids in the back seat until at least 13, and delaying teen solo driving until 18 if possible. It’s not a race; keep kids in earlier stages if possible for as long as possible.

The guide below represents only a fraction of available combinations for the S-Class; if you find other combinations that work, feel free to let me know through the forums; I’ll add more seats as I get the chance to test them.

You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are courtesy of Wikipedia or the NHTSA.

2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 Mercedes S-Class (W222, C217, A217)

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Clek Oobr (x3).

Maxi-Cosi RodiFix (x3).

Peg Perego Flex 120 (x3).

Maxi-Cosi RodiFix (x3).

Diono Radian 3RXT (x3).

Diono Radian 3RX (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).

Graco Contender (x3).

Combi Coccoro (x3).

Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT.

Clek Fllo,Graco Size4Me 65, Graco Size4Me 65.

Clek Fllo, Graco Size4Me 65, Diono Radian / RXT.

Tips and Tricks:

The W222 Mercedes-Benz S-Class generation is 201 inches long in the short wheelbase and 206 inches long in the long wheelbase version; both are just under 75 inches wide. In other words, you’re going to be able to fit most car seats inside without much trouble as long as you’re willing to use seat belts instead of LATCH for the wider ones. Remember that there’s no safety difference between seat belts and LATCH, but seat belts are much more efficient in helping you squeeze out every available inch of space in your back seats. The center seat is the narrowest and is where you’ll want to install the narrowest seat.

2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Mercedes S-Class (W221)

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Clek Oobr (x3).

Maxi-Cosi RodiFix (x3).

Maxi-Cosi RodiFix (x3).

Diono Radian 3RXT (x3).

Diono Radian 3RX (x3).

Peg Perego Flex 120 (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).

Graco Contender (x3).

Combi Coccoro (x3).

Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT.

Clek Fllo,Graco Size4Me 65, Graco Size4Me 65.

Clek Fllo, Graco Size4Me 65, Diono Radian / RXT.

Tips and Tricks:

The 5th generation S-Class is 206.5 inches long and just under 74 inches wide; as with the 6th generation, you’ll have a lot of flexibility when it comes to car seat installations, even if you won’t have quite as much width to work with. However, since width is more important than length when it comes to car seat installations (at least in 3 across setups), you’ll want to pay close attention to using seat belts instead of LATCH when dealing with wider car seats. Seat belts are just as safe as LATCH but make much more efficient use of seating room, which allows you to fit wider seats together than you otherwise would with LATCH.

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.

The Volvo S90 is the current flagship sedan produced by Volvo Cars (having replaced the S80 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. It shouldn’t be confused with the original S90 (the 900 series) produced by Volvo between 1990 and 1998.

The S90 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 S90 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 S90 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 4-5!), then keeping them harnessed in forward-facing seats for a few years more (ideally until at least 6), 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 S90 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.

You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are taken by yours truly or are courtesy of Wikipedia.

The initial generation S90 is more than 194 inches long  and just over 74 inches wide, which gives you a good 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.

Although the S90 is a decent length, you might still find yourself a bit short 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.

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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.

The Volkswagen Atlas (marketed as the Teramont overseas) is Volkswagen’s newest, largest, and safest SUV. Featuring a record-breaking 32 cm of side impact resistance, it’s set the new standard for occupant protection during t-bone collisions. Go Volkswagen! Based on the already popular Touareg, the Atlas also competes with a bevy of 3-row non-luxury SUVs like the Nissan Armada, Chevrolet Tahoe, Dodge Durango, GMC Yukon, Toyota Sequoia, Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia,  Ford Expedition, Nissan Pathfinder, Ford Explorer, Chevrolet Suburban, Toyota Highlander, Mazda CX-9, and Honda Pilot. However, unlike any of them, it’ll also be backed by VW’s 6 year, 72,000 mile warranty, bringing an awful lot of peace of mind to its price tag. It’s also made in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for fans of things done locally.

With so many features targeted toward families built into the Atlas, I was eager to see how well it would do when it came to fitting car seats across the 2nd and 3rd rows–especially since this was one of the most directly marketed features of the Atlas. But before going into which seats fit (an awful lot of them) and which ones didn’t (very few), let’s review which kinds of seats are best for particular developmental ages and stages for your kids, and why.

In my books, the core of car seat safety involves rear-facing. It’s the safest position available in every vehicle, statistically speaking, and the benefits of extended rear-facing extend from childhood through adulthood. I typically suggest keeping children rear-facing as long as possible (until 4 or 5 like the Swedes), followed by harnessing until they can safely use booster seats (until 6, 7, or 8, like the Swedes), and then boostering until the 5 step test is passed (typically between 10, 11, and 12). Beyond that, I suggest keeping kids in the back seat until at least 13, and delaying teen solo driving until 18 if possible. The goal isn’t to move through seats as quickly as possible; it’s to keep kids as safe as possible whenever they’re in motor vehicles.

If you find my list of what I believe to be the most detailed 3 across guide for the Volkswagen Atlas / Teramont on the Internet, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.

You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are taken by yours truly or are courtesy of Wikipedia or the NHTSA.

2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas

2018 update: Due to the NHTSA recall, none of the 3 across installations below are valid, as VW has revealed that using wider ceats in the 2nd row center position can lead to unlatching of outboard buckles. How wide is too wide? Greater than 12.6 inches, apparently, in the base. Practically speaking, this means that only two car seats can be safely installed in the 2nd row (or 3rd row). Hopefully this will be fixed in future model years, but until it is, this is not a 3-across capable vehicle. Thanks Mike R. for the update reminder!

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If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can do your shopping through this Amazon link. Canadians can  shop here for Canadian purchases. Have a question or want to discuss best practices? Join us in the forums!

The Honda Ridgeline is a dark horse. It’s a non-US-branded large pickup sold in the United States, but it’s more domestic than most vehicles in the country, having been assembled in Lincoln, Alabama since 2008 (along with the Honda Odyssey and Pilot). It competes with other giant pickups like the Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra, Nissan Titan, Toyota Tundra, and Dodge Ram, and is more reliable than most of them with the notable exception of the Tundra. In other words, if you’re going to buy a pickup for reliability, this is one of the few worth considering.

Because the Ridgeline is reliable, safe, and a rather good value due to its smaller name recognition in comparison to the other big pickup trucks, it’s become surprisingly popular among rural families with young children. As a result, as I did with the Tundra, I took a look at the Ridgeline to see if it were as up to hauling 3 car seats across the back rows as it was to hauling bales of hay and blocks of concrete. The good news is that they were more than up to the task. Before getting into the details, however, let’s take a look at rear-facing, forward-facing, and other suggestions for keeping your kids safe in your Ridgeline.

For me, everything starts with rear-facing. To keep your infants, toddlers, and preschoolers as safe as possible, I typically suggest keeping children rear-facing as long as possible (until 4 or 5 like the Swedes), followed by harnessing until they can safely use booster seats (until at least 5, like the Swedes), and then boostering until the 5 step test is passed (typically between 10, 11, and 12). Beyond that, I suggest keeping kids in the back seat until at least 13, and delaying teen solo driving until 18 if possible.  Even if you’re in a large vehicle, you’ll protect your children far more by properly restraining them than by skipping stages.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s take a look at what worked and what didn’t. The fact of the matter is that with a vehicle as large as the Ridgeline, you typically aren’t going to have any issues with 3 across car seat installations in terms of width; your main challenges will have to do with front-to-back room, which depends on your cabin sizes. That said, this is likely to be the most thorough 3 across car seat guide for the Honda Ridgeline on the Internet, and I’ll keep adding to it over time.

You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are courtesy of Wikipedia.

2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 Honda Ridgeline

Guaranteed 3 across installations: 

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Diono Radian 3RXT (x3).

Diono Radian 3RX (x3).

Clek Oobr (x3).

Diono Rainier (x3).

Maxi-Cosi RodiFix (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Diono Rainier (x3).

Diono Pacifica (x3).

Diono Olympia (x3).

Combi Cocorro (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30, Britax Pinnacle 90, Clek Foonf.

Clek Fllo, Britax Pinnacle 90, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Clek Foonf, Britax Frontier 90, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Clek Fllo, Britax Frontier 90, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).

Graco Contender (x3).

Tips and Tricks:

The second generation of the Honda Ridgeline is close to 79 inches wide and 210 inches long in all trim levels. What this means is that you’re going to be able to fit most anything in the second row as long as you have enough front-to-back space and are willing to use seat belts instead of LATCH for the installations.

2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 Honda Ridgeline

Guaranteed 3 across installations: 

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Diono Radian 3RXT (x3).

Diono Radian 3RX (x3).

Clek Oobr (x3).

Diono Rainier (x3).

Maxi-Cosi RodiFix (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

Diono Rainier (x3).

Diono Pacifica (x3).

Diono Olympia (x3).

Combi Cocorro (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30, Britax Pinnacle 90, Clek Foonf.

Clek Fllo, Britax Pinnacle 90, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Clek Foonf, Britax Frontier 90, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Clek Fllo, Britax Frontier 90, Chicco KeyFit 30.

Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).

Graco Contender (x3).

Tips and Tricks:

The initial generation of the Honda Ridgeline is close to 78 inches wide and roughly 207 inches long in all trim levels. As with the current generation Ridgeline, what this means is that you’re going to be able to fit most anything in the second row as long as you have enough front-to-back space and are willing to use seat belts instead of LATCH for the installations.

If you find my information on best practices in car and car seat safety helpful, you can 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.