Hellobee Boards

Space-wise, rear-facing, it depends. With the angle adjuster, it's not too bad. We needed one of those for the passenger in front (usually me, I'm 5 foot 8) not to be cramped in our Honda CR-V, but our Hyundai Sonata still had plenty of room. Width-wise it's a very narrow seat, actually.

I haven't noticed LO getting really hot. The seat has memory foam but it's not super fuzzy. We had a Marathon and he seemed hotter in that.

It's easier to get LO in and out of because the seat isn't as deep, which I like. And I love that he can still be rear-facing (he's a tall 2-year-old) for awhile longer. Also, the seat can grow with him and become a booster.

My only complaints -- the harness is not as easy to adjust as a Britax because it ratchets instead of using a fluid motion. Not a big deal but sometimes I feel like it was easier to keep the harness snug on the Britax. Oh, and it's HEAVY. NBD though unless you're thinking of moving it from car to car (don't recommend)!

We bought ours and installed it two weeks ago, so it's relatively new to us. So far, DS seems perfectly content in it. It's roomier, and I love how narrow it is. We have a Toyota Corolla, so I was afraid it would be too tall, but....it's not taller than the infant car seat we used before. I *THINK* it comes with the angle adjuster, only because we were able to install it without buying anything else. We have it installed in the middle seat so we don't have to worry about leg room in the front seats. Gosh, I hope we installed it correctly.....well, actually, DH did all the installing. =P

@cranberryapple: As long as it's not touching the front seats should be good as long as it doesn't move along the belt path (Toyota doesn't allow for bracing at all).

@runsyellowlites: how do you know what cars allow for bracing?

We have 2 diono radian GTX seats and we love them (we had one in my car, then liked it so much we bought an identical one for DH's SUV).

They take up a touch more space than my Chicco keyfit did when RF without the angle adjuster, and less space when we added it in (just beware that they don't recommend the angle adjuster until the baby would be able to FF, basically).

I have a hot sweaty baby, and he is still as warm in the GTX as he was in the chicco (but the GTX fabric is plusher than the RXT fabric). It is cooler when you remove all the "extra padding" (it comes with a body support cushion, head support and strap pads, we removed all but the strap pads).

I find it easy enough to secure and tighten the harness, it is easier without the extra padding of course though.

It seems comfortable enough, and we have done tons of road trips with them so far!

@runsyellowlites: Omg, I'm sooo carseat stooopid! I did read DH your comments, and he seems to know what you mean at least!

@tororojo: Mine is older - 2006!

I know you said you couldn't afford the Clek, but I'm not sure what your upper limit price-wise is. We got ours way below the regular MSRP - We paid $350 for ours, only $83 more than what you listed for the Radian. We got it from buybuybaby, which beat the Amazon price.

@bunnylove08: rear facing. Her son is only 10months. She's really short too and just said there was no way

@bunnylove08: I will ask!

@bunnylove08: she said they are using a britax roundabout 55 but it only fits in the middle. She said she heard the combi would work (the one runsyellowlights mentioned above) from another mama as well

We've had our Radian RXT for almost 10 months and I really love it! I like that the seat isn't deep with high sides like the Britax - makes it easier to get DD in/out of the seat and now she climbs in all by herself. I don't think it takes up much more space than my Britax Chaperone infant car seat (we drive a Lexus RX350). I agree with @Mrs. Yoyo about the ratchet harness strap adjuster being a bit of a pain but its easy to get accustomed too.