Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL Convertible Car Seat, Eclipse
Review by Kelly Bardier : The Best Carseat

I've had way too many carseats as a result of not doing my research, but now that I've found the Radian XTSL, I won't buy anything else. I have three boys, ages 4.5 (51.5 lbs), 2.5 (37 lbs), and 11 months (22.5 lbs). We recently purchased 3 of these carseats in the Eclipse color. I love that they fit three in a row in my minivan, and actually, because we could fit three in a row, we sold our minivan and bought a crossover, and they fit perfectly in the bench seat in our Kia Rondo. I'm happy with the convenience of being able to fold them for travel, and the kids tell me they're comfortable, and my older two boys can even climb in and buckle themselves in. I'm about to order the travel bag because I'll be taking one through the airport next week, and they're a little too heavy to carry without the backpack straps, but for the safety of a steel frame, I'm okay with the extra weight.

Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL Convertible Car Seat, Eclipse
Review by M M Frank "frequent reader" : Very good seat, if a little cumbersome

This seat is the new edition of the old XT seat and has many of the same attributes. It is very narrow compared to other convertible seats and it is much heavier than other seats. Mine came with one shoulder strap but another one was easily purchased (thru amazon) enabling me to carry it like a backpack.

We recently took a cross-country trip with our ten-month-old, and the car seat went with us through two airports and a different model of car than we have at home. In an airplane, it fits forward-facing beautifully but does NOT fit in a rear-facing orientation. It is very easily installed using the forward-facing belt path and doesn't require a seat belt extender like other car seats might require. It also folds to fit in an overhead storage bin if you are so inclined. There are a few steps required to fold the seat but it becomes quite easy after a few tries.

Rear-facing installation in many different vehicles (Honda Accord, Ford Explorer, Dodge Ram) is a snap even if you don't use LATCH and use the car's seat belts instead. When properly installed, it seems to have about a 28-inch pitch, so it may be a squeeze in smaller vehicles. It may be difficult to thread the seat belt through the belt paths if you have large hands, though.

One thing I did find a bit problematic is that when rear-facing, the seat requires you to install a little boot/foot/wedge thing to maintain the proper angle. It is easily removed for forward-installation or folding, but there is no good place on the seat to store it. I ended up threading it through the strap of my carry-on bag so as not to lose it. If my child were big enough to be forward-facing I would have just left it at home. Another problem is that with the LATCH system and the other built-in tethers there can be quite a few belts flopping around. If you're traveling I would recommend gathering everything up with a few zip ties first.

All in all, it's a very good seat, easy to install, easy to travel with (if quite heavy), and suitable for a long time.

Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL Convertible Car Seat, Eclipse
Review by W's Mama : Great seat

My daughter is 16 months old. She is already 32 pounds and 34 inches tall. I really want to keep her rear-facing as long as possible, so I was in the market to buy a new car seat when I came across this one. I am very impressed with it so far. She previously rode in a Evenflo Triumph Advance, which was extremely wide and took up most of the back seat, even when it was placed in the middle. This seat is very narrow and provides her with much more leg room when rear-facing. It has a nice low profile, which makes it much easier for me to get her in and out of the back middle seat in my civic. She seems very comfortable in it. I haven't been able to use the "superlatch" feature because my car was manufactured prior to September 2005, so I installed the seat with the seatbelt and it honestly couldn't have been easier. It is in VERY securely too. I am confident that this seat is as safe as any seat could possibly be in my car. I know that people have reviewed other Radians in the past and seen it as a "negative" that the seat is so heavy, but I don't have a problem with it...of course it is heavy, it's a steel frame! Besides, the fact that it weighs 23 pounds is not hidden in the description of the product, so no one should be taken by surprise. It is a very big seat. My only "con" really, is that I had to move my front seats up to fit it in the back of the civic. I can still fit in the driver's seat with no problem, but I'm closer to the steering wheel than I'd like to be. The trade-off, though, is that my daughter has so much more leg room in the back, so it is worth it to me. I'm glad I made the purchase.

Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL Convertible Car Seat, Eclipse
Review by Corinne Hutchinson : Great seat, great company

I don't normally write reviews, but I felt like I had to write something for this product. This car seat is awesome, and dealing with Sunshine Kids is even better!

I ordered the car seat from Amazon, and it arrived quickly and in great shape. Unfortunately, while I was unpacking it I did not realize that energy-absorbing (EPS/EPP) foam is basically Styrofoam, and I tried to pull out a piece of it that was underneath the seat base. When it snapped and I saw that the rest was glued on, I realized that it was structural to the seat.

I emailed Sunshine Kids to ask what I should do, and even though it was completely my mistake they sent me a new piece of foam with instructions on how to install it. It should be delivered later on this week! If you're going to drop several hundred dollars on a car seat that you plan to use for 5-6 years, it's very nice to know that you're dealing with a company who will stand by their product and provide excellent customer support.

Great customer service aside, this seat is very nice. The cover is soft and comfortable, and I love how narrow the base is. We have it installed in the center back seat, and an adult can comfortably sit on either side of the carseat, which would definitely not be the case with most of the other convertible seats out there. Best of all, our daughter loves sitting in it. Every time we strapped her into her infant bucket seat (Chicco Keyfit 30) she would cry and try to get out after a few minutes, but she doesn't mind sitting in this seat at all, and we're actually able to drive for more than a few minutes in the car without tears.

As some of the other reviewers have pointed out, this seat is very long, and you may have to push your front seats up quite a bit to get it installed correctly rearfacing. We've installed it in the center back seat of a Honda CRV, and while the driver has plenty of room (because the center backseat is slightly off from center, the carseat actually isn't behind the driver's seat at all), the front passenger seat doesn't have a whole lot of legroom. However, it's not terrible by any means, and my 6'2" husband is completely able to sit up there, although for long road trips it probably wouldn't be that comfortable. For smaller cars, this probably wouldn't be a good choice, maybe something like the Cocorro would be a better seat for extended rear-facing installation. We haven't installed the Radian front-facing, but I imagine if it were installed front-facing there would be no problem with the length in any sized car.

We did not find installation (with a seatbelt, our vehicle doesn't have LATCH in the center) to be difficult. At first, all the straps on the back were a little overwhelming, but after we'd done it once it's been very easy to take it in and out of several different vehicles. So far we've installed it without difficulty in a Honda CRV, a Subaru Legacy, and a Dodge Grand Caravan. If you're having difficulty with the installation, I'd recommend taking it in to a CPS technician (professional car seat tech), who can give some tips on getting a solid install even with just a lap or lap/shoulder belt. It really is very easy to do once you know how!

The one real downside to the seat is that it really is very heavy. We bought it largely because we wanted it for air travel, and even bought the extra strap so we could carry it like a backpack, but after one plane trip with it we've vowed to never carry it through an airport again. It's a beast! That's great when it's installed and is protecting your kid, but as far as hauling it through an airport, no thanks. We picked up a cheap ($35) & lightweight (8 lbs) Cosco Scenera and we'll be using that as our travel seat and keeping the Radian for use at home.

Overall, I am very happy with this seat and with Sunshine Kids. I highly recommend their seats to anyone who's got the lengthwise space in their back seat, and who doesn't want to use the seat for air travel.

Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL Convertible Car Seat, Eclipse
Review by Saffy : Perfect - safe, stylish and easy to install

I've been looking forward to buying one of these for our daughter. I'd read reviews that said they were fabulous for safety, but not so amazing for parents to install. Truth is, not only does the seat look 'cool' (we bought it in 'Petal'), it was a DODDLE to install - we have a regular sedan (a Mazda 6) so had been a tad worried about how much space it would take up. The fact is that it's more compact than the infant capsule that we'd had prior. We did refer to Sunshine Kid's helpful install guides on youtube, but could've done it without the extra help and just with the manual. The hardest bit was reading all the material that comes with the seat, and getting the right bits of head rest/padding in the right spots. All in all it was done in less than an hour - because we were pedantic about reading all the info - and it took about 3 actual minutes to install it into the car itself. Go buy one - you won't regret it!

Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL Convertible Car Seat, Eclipse
Review by P. Narendorf : Awesome

It was not easy to install the first time, but it will be from now on if it needs to be moved. It is narrow enough to fit in my Jetta and still allow room for two adults to sit comfortably in the back seat. It is tight on leg space for the front passenger when rear-facing, but not impossible. Baby loves being able to see out of the window better. She sleeps much better in the car now, as I suspect she is far more comfortable. I would recommend it to anyone.

Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL Convertible Car Seat, Eclipse
Review by Summer : Very sturdy and comfortable but won't fit in some vehicles

I chose this car seat after much review. This company does independent auto crash studies and from what I have researched this is one of the safest. My 5 month old daughter loves it and falls asleep quickly when we buckle her in. The only bad part is that the rear facing installation won't fit a lot of vehicles. We had ours installed by a car seat certified officer from a nearby police dept. In order to be safe in a rear end collision, the top of the car seat needs to have enough room to safely flex down and pop back up in the event of an accident. I have a Volkswagen Passat (a decent sized 4 door sedan) and because the car seat is so tall I have to put my front passenger seat all the way forward otherwise it would be jammed between the two front seats and not be able to move properly in an accident. I was told this by the police officer that went to the training course for car seat installation and collision.

Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL Convertible Car Seat, Eclipse
Review by Bigun's Mommy : Heavy & secure

We bought this after doing MUCH research on carseats, like most parents. We've had it for a month. We decided on this one over any Britax b/c of the steel frame, weight limits, leg room, size of carseat & height limits. Our daughter is now 6 months, 22 pounds & 28 inches, so we wanted a seat that would last w/ her. She HATED her infant seat, but seems to enjoy this one. The infant head support isn't quite right w/ her (she's a little too tall for it), but it's necessary right now. Her head falls a little forward when she naps in it. This seat is HEAVY, but you know your little one is secure. Putting the seat together was tricky & took both of us. I would have been very frustrated having to do it by myself. I bought the extra strap (it comes w/ one) for travel purposes, but it's not as heavy duty as the original & it doesn't fit onto the seat like a symmetrical backpack. The extra strap fits onto the seat @ an angle, but it's still worn fine. I highly recommend the extra strap, if you must travel, b/c it's HEAVY! The seat is plush & the straps are nicely padded on the shoulders & crotch. The crotch strap is tricky to adjust b/c you have to reach your hand b/t the bottom plastic & the seat (not pictured in the manual!). I don't have floor hooks in my car & I chose to use the seatbelt for strapping & feel she's secure. There's still plenty of room in the front seat, while she's rear-facing behind the passenger seat. She's high enough to enjoy the views in our car (Pacifica). I bought the Nitro, so stains won't show from future juice spills b/c the fabric in NOT machine washable! Good luck in your choosing!