baby seat in MKV golf?

[AWD]

hi,

im at the sharp end of purchasing a car, maybe a GT or GTi.

but a sticking point is how easy will a baby seat fit in a 5 door MKV?
(will be for a newborn so it has to be in the rear facing position)

anyone with experience on this? or better still a photo showing how far forward the front seat will need to be.

thing is i dont have the baby seat yet so cant take it to the dealer to try out..

thanks.

[anarchycamp]

I have had both kinds of Baby Seats in my GTI.

Forward facing as well as the rear facing for a small baby. They both fit no problems at all. PLENTY of room and easy to hook up to the anchor points in the back.

[mitch_gti]

Pretty sure the Golfs have ISO-FIX aswell.
Which is basically the latest and greatest child restraint point system.

New baby capsules which are ISO-FIX compliant are strapless. they basically use a clip in mechanism which is between the backrest and the bottom cushion of the rear seat.

On the topic of baby seats my brother has a Mclaren racing baby seat for his son Clipped into the back of his Blue RX-8 lol

[JP-009]

Baby seat in the back of a MkV 5 door is just too easy. There is plenty of room to get the baby in and out of the car, as well as very easy removal and installation of the baby seat into the car. That rear door gives great access to the back seat.

Our 'Safe-n-Sound Platinum AHR' is a huge armchair (compared to other baby seats) and still fits easily. We can fit two of these baby seats in the back with the centre arm rest down.

Although, when the baby seat is facing rearwards (for an infant), the front seat needs to be pushed forward. On the passenger side (I'm 5'11)my knees almost touch the glovebox, which makes accessing the contents of the glovebox a challenge. Just remember that the baby only faces rearwards for 6-ish months (depending upon your baby's growth rate).

I was going to buy a new Liberty wagon (in '05), but realised that they have even less room for a baby seat than what the MkV offers. My knees were hard up against the glovebox while I was sitting at an angle - not good in an accident. Go figure

If you still need the pics, I can get some tonight.

My experience is that baby seats and the MkV work very well together.

[AWD]

If your seat is still facing rearwards pics would be great.. otherwise I can live with 3 +ve recommendations.

My wife is maybe about 5ft 6in.. so seems she will be fine.


lol at the seat in the RX8. just yesterday a mate raised the RX8 as a possibility cos of the suicide doors.. I laughed it off.. but now its got me thinking


Thanks for the advice guys.

[anarchycamp]

RX-8's are great....saw a nice one with an engine bay fire on the M4 the other day

C'mon...Join the Golf Club!....

[JP-009]

Hi AWD,

Here are the pics of the baby seat in the MkV...

There is enough space to slide your hand between the baby seat and the front seat (a minimum distance as rule of thumb) - which is very important if you want the baby seat to work as it is designed to in the event of an accident.

As you can see, the back of the front passenger seat is adjusted forward a little, but certainly comfortable enough for drives between Sydney and Canberra. But not so good if you're a bro from the hood who likes to drive with his shoulders rearward of the B pillar and looks at the road under the top of the steering wheel and above the dash

This is me in the front seat. Although hard to see, I can fit 3 fingers between the glove box and my knee. There is more room if you put your feet against the firewall (as this drops your knees).


Hope this helps.

JP

[phaeton]

Well documented JP great post

[REDMKVGTI]

Anybody tried it in a 3dr? Assume the room is the same just harder to get in and out?

[GermanwithaVdub]

Anybody tried it in a 3dr? Assume the room is the same just harder to get in and out?

no, there are mounting points on the roof on the 3 door

[LookOut]

We have an 05 Liberty wagon and a MKV 5 door. The golf is heaps easier for getting our boy in and out of, and mounting or dismounting the seat. My wife suggested i take back my suby and let her drive the R32 - but I said no.

[mikinoz]

XT Forester = no
MKIV golf = ok
MKV golf = really works well!

[AWD]

sold!
champion pics JP, the wife says thanks too.


interesting ppl are having problems with liberty's. that was going to be an alternate. guess i can live without the bootspace.

[JP-009]

Alternative to a wagon

Hi AWD,

Glad to be of help. The alternative to the 'big car/wagon' is the addition of a roof pod when needed.

For just under $800, I got myself a set of roof-racks and a roof-pod, and the combo is rated to hold up to 80kg gross (lugguage including the racks and pod) which is a fair bit of kit. Takes 15 min to set up, and 5 min to remove.

We only use this when we go on any trip that requires a sleep over. In it goes the porta-cot, high chair, change table and all the other baby crap that you need when travelling. It also carries most of the adult stuff as well, so there is hardly any stuff in the car. If we ever get a flat tyre, only the pram needs to come out to access the spare wheel and tyre changing stuff. Pretty cool.





I still enjoy spirited driving and cornering with the pod fully loaded through the Cyde and Brown mountain passes (similar to Kangaroo Valley). I just avoid rough driving with any sudden braking or steering (as there are limits). But the car's handling is hardly altered at all with normal everyday driving.

Not the sexiest bit of kit, but allows us a great deal of flexibility while retaining our beloved MkV.

Cheers,

JP

[Tim]

how does the baby seat attach to the roof rack? and what happens if it rains? does baby get wet?