According to the law of the Russian Federation, children can be transported in a car only in special restraints, the level of safety of which is influenced not only by their quality, but also by the reliability of the fixation. Usually the device is attached using a seat belt, but there is a chance that parents will install it incorrectly. In the event of a collision or sudden braking, this threatens the health and life of the child. This is why Isofix was developed and has been used worldwide since 1997. What are the advantages of such a system and are all car seats equipped with it?
What is Isofix, why is it needed and what are the misconceptions about it?
When young parents are faced with the problem of choosing a child car seat, they read a lot of strange and “scary” words, the meaning of which they know nothing about, but they begin to believe that it is very necessary. I'm talking about terms such as Isofix (in various interpretations and with various additions such as Plus and others), anchor fastening, “leg” and others. Without understanding the need, they begin their selection with a strict decision that the name of the chair should contain the word “Isofix”. Therefore, I decided that I need to understand in more detail what it is and tell you.
Adjusting the backrest position
- BiCare Fix has 3 backrest tilt positions: For group 0 + only the maximum horizontal position can be used
- Pull the position adjustment control, it is located on the front part under the seat (Fig. 07), and set the chair to the desired position by pushing BiCare Fix forward or backward
Once it is in the desired position, release the backrest adjustment control. If the chair is installed correctly, a click will be heard.
Note: Make sure the seat is locked in one of the three positions correctly.
Note: As a group 0+ car seat, BiCare Fix can only be used in the maximum horizontal position 3
What is Isofix?
This is a method (system) of rigidly attaching a child car seat to a car. Isofix is considered an international standard for manufacturers of cars and car seats. The main advantage of this system is that it reduces the likelihood of incorrect installation of the seat, and also increases the degree of protection for the child. Without Isofix, about 70% of incorrect seat installations occur. With the Isofix system, you just need to correctly direct and click the locks on the brackets that are in the car.
This system has two so-called brackets, which are located at the base of the child seat. They cling to the car's brackets, which are located between the back and seat of the car seat. Most often these are the seats in the back of the car and are located on the right and left of the sofa.
Crash test results
Repeated crash tests have confirmed that in a number of vehicle modifications, the ISOFIX fastening system helps to achieve the maximum level of safety for a small passenger in the event of a collision between the vehicle and an obstacle or another vehicle.
Simplicity and convenience of fastening reduces the risk of incorrect fastening to a minimum level.
Child car seats are simply attached using latches to pre-prepared parts. It's hard to go wrong.
It is worth noting that a properly secured child seat largely ensures the safety of the child while the car is moving and in the event of an emergency.
Which child car seats can be found with Isofix?
This system is used for car seats of groups 0+ and 1. Also, universal seats suitable for use by these age groups are also equipped with Isofix. This includes transporting a child up to approximately 3-3.5 years old and weighing up to 18 kg. And most importantly, such a chair should have its own built-in internal seat belts. This is all taken into account by strict standards and there cannot be any other variations.
In these groups of car seats, you can find real Isofix, which absorbs the full force of the impact in an accident and holds the seat and child in place. It offers great benefits in security and installation.
Product overview drawing
- Headrest
- Back
- Soft belt pads
- Seat belt buckle
- Crotch strap
- Position adjuster
- Car seat fixation indicator based on isofix
- Isofix mount adjuster
- Thrust stand
- Button for adjusting the height of the thrust stand
- Isofix seat release button
- Car seat fixation button based on isofix
- Seat belt length adjustment strap
- Seat belt length adjustment button (central adjuster)
- Soft insert for Group 0+
- Seat belts
- Isofix release button
- Isofix indicator
- Isofix connector
- Isofix base
- Isofix guides
- Color indicator of correct installation of the thrust stand
Let's look at Isofix for each individual group.
– group 0+ (from 0 to 13 kg). Basically, Isofix is not located in the cradle-car seat itself, but in the base on which this seat is placed. With this, manufacturers try to achieve maximum convenience for parents and baby, because... you don’t have to take your sleeping child out of the chair; they simply remove it from the base and carry the child home in the cradle-car seat. This gives a great advantage over fastening the chair with belts; you don’t have to deal with installing the chair again and again every time, you just put it on the base and also remove it using a handle or button.
The only drawback and inconvenience of this variation is that the base is purchased separately and, as a rule, it costs the same as the chair, or even more. After the child has grown up and there is a need to buy a car seat of the next group, the base for the new seat is no longer suitable (there is, of course, an exception, Maxi Cosi Pebble for example).
-group 1 (from 9 to 18 kg). In this group, Isofix is built into the base of the chair itself (with the exception of the example written above).
– universal chairs 0+/1. There are more options here. Isofix is also located in the base of the chair. But due to the fact that such a car seat must be installed in the direction and vice versa, there are nuances. Isofix can only be used for group 0+, or the chair can be rotated to change the direction of installation, or the chair can generally be rotated a full 180 degrees, which also makes it possible to conveniently get the child in and out (for example, this Romer Dualfix chair).
There are also several additional fastenings that increase safety. But many do not understand what they are and why they are needed and whether they are needed at all. Let's figure out what a “leg” and Top Tether are.
Due to the fact that Isofix is a fastening at two points along one axis, in some cases of an accident there is a need for a third point of support so that the seat does not move forward. To do this, we came up with two types of additional support:
- "Leg". This is a retractable floor support (telescopic “leg”), which is located in the front of the chair. It reduces the load on the isofix and prevents the seat from moving when the car rotates.
- Top Tether anchorage. It looks like an additional original belt that comes out from the back of the car seat. It has a carabiner at the end, which is attached to a bracket in the car (it is either in the trunk floor or behind the second row of seats in the car). Nowadays new cars are produced with a special place for this mount.
By the way, I have a review of the Nania I-Max SP chair, which uses the Top Tether “leg”.
Since Isofix takes on heavy loads, it is not allowed to be used if the child weighs more than 18 kg. Also, the chair itself with this system should not weigh more than 15 kg.
There are car seats that can be installed with Isofix without a third support point, but only with specific cars (the list is usually included with the child seat and is quite large).
Let's summarize:
– Isofix is a wonderful invention that provides a greater degree of protection for the baby;
– this system greatly reduces the likelihood of incorrect installation, which again significantly increases safety;
– Isofix affects safety only in groups 0+ and 1; in other groups it provides ease of installation and operation;
– not all Isofix car seats are equally safe, so be sure to watch crash tests;
– there is no full isofix for “universal” car seats (group 1-2-3);
– for many models of groups 0+ and 1 a third support point is required.
I hope this article helped you understand such a necessary system as Isofix and dispelled many misconceptions. The right choice for you, friends!
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What is Isofix?
Which car seats use Isofix?
It is in these groups that we meet normal, real, power isofix, which holds both the chair and the child secured in it with internal straps. It is in car seats of groups 1 and 0+ that it takes on all the impact energy in the event of an accident. This is where it gives all its advantages in ease of installation and safety.
What is this “leg” or support on the floor on a part of the car seat that prevents a child from placing a bag of potatoes at the feet? And what is some kind of Top Tether anchor strap? Maybe it's better without him?
Due to the fact that the Isofix fastening system takes on enormous loads in the event of an accident, ECE R44/04 strictly regulates its use. For this reason, seats with the Isofix system cannot weigh more than 15 kg, and it can only be used up to a child’s weight of 18 kg.
There are some models that can be mounted on Isofix without 3 points of support. For example, Romer Versafix. This is achieved due to the special movable design of the Isofix guides, which allows you to redirect the load downwards. But this method of fastening is not universal and you can install the seat in this way only after making sure that your car is on the compatibility list included with the car seat. To be fair, probably 95% of all cars are there.
I wrote the word “isofix” in quotation marks, because the real isofix system, as I wrote above, has nothing to do with a child’s weight at all. This is where all sorts of designations “kidfix”, “sitfix”, “isophyte”, etc. appear. etc., with which manufacturers emphasize that this is not Isofix, but a compatible method of fastening! In groups 2-3 (car seats 15-36 kg), the child is already fastened with a standard seat belt, guided through special guides in the car seat. Accordingly, the entire load in an accident falls on the standard belt. At the same time, the seat must be able to move forward, accompanying the child until the standard seat belt is activated, providing lateral protection and correct routing of the belt during the entire braking. Those. if we attached a group 2-3 chair to a full-fledged isofix, it would only do harm. And of course, there should be no Top-tether or floor stops here!
But what about child car seats from 9 to 36 kg?
What about the so-called “transformers”, or as they are often called “universal” chairs of groups 1-2-3?
The most typical buyer request is “I want a car seat from 9 to 36 kg with the Isofix system.”
Now the first classic models of transformers 9-36 kg (gr. 1-2-3) with internal straps and the Isofix system are appearing, which seems to be supposed to work in all groups. For the most part, from not very well-known manufacturers. I am sure that this problem is technologically solvable , but I would refrain from being particularly enthusiastic about such models until the appearance of at least some official tests confirming the safety of these structures. Isofix for the sake of isofix, to be honest, I don’t understand!
But with group 1 it’s more difficult, because seats with this system are not particularly sold in Europe (I believe there is a problem with the homologation of the system itself according to European standards, where everything is strictly regulated), which means that we are unlikely to see independent European crash tests on such seats. And in the USA, tests with requirements higher than standards are carried out only by the manufacturers themselves. Therefore, it remains to believe or not to believe the test results of the manufacturers themselves. On the other hand, there are very serious manufacturers like Evenflo. But the peculiarity of American chairs is their immense universalism and the shifting of mistakes onto the consciousness of the consumer. I would say that these chairs are for very attentive and meticulous people.
And finally, a couple of common myths about Isofix:
MYTH 1. “A car seat with Isofix is always safer than without it.” This is not always the case. Firstly, as is already clear from this article, this statement can only apply to car seats 0+ (0-13 kg) and 1 (9-18 kg). In groups and 3 (15-36 kg) this is not real isofix and has almost no effect on safety. In transformer chairs, so far it is either from group 2-3, or a design that has not been tested by time and tests.
MYTH 2. Strictly opposite. “Isofix chairs are more dangerous because Due to the rigid fastening, a sharper jerk occurs and a greater load on the child. And when fastened with a belt, braking occurs more gradually because The belt does not work immediately and may also stretch a little.”
This is completely false. Firstly, many tests show the opposite. Well, secondly, for those who are interested, let's figure out why this is not so. In the event of a collision, there is a sharp drop in speed from the original to zero in a short period of time. This process is very fast, but not instantaneous, because... The car body deforms for some time. And this is good, because... overload from an impact does not occur instantly, in one sharp peak, which we might not survive, but gradually. Same with the car seat inside. If it is not rigidly attached to the body, then its braking, and therefore the braking of the child fastened with internal straps, does not begin immediately. It turns out that the child extinguishes his kinetic energy in a shorter time interval than the body of a car, and receives a much larger peak load, which is precisely what poses a danger.
For the same reason, the best safety results among seats with belt fastening are those that have a good belt tensioner.
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"Isofix" and group 2-3 (for children from 3 years old, 15-36 kg)
In this age group, this is not the “Isofix” that I described above. Due to the fact that real Isofix cannot be used after reaching a certain weight, the child is fastened with a group 2-3 car seat using standard belts, and the so-called “isofix” is called other derivative words - “isophyte”, “kidfix”, etc. .
It is considered a compatible mounting method, since the main safety function is performed by a standard belt. Therefore, the seat must be able to move forward under heavy braking in order for the belt to engage and keep the child in place. But Isofix would not have given such an opportunity, so they came up with other special designs that allow the chair to move forward. And it is for this same reason that the “leg” and the Top-tether belt are not found in this group.
What's the point of this then? Yes, this system does not bear a special security burden in groups 2-3. But there are also positive aspects: it limits the displacement of the seat in a side collision; it is more convenient to seat the child, as the chair is more stable; There is no need to fasten the seat belts if you are eating without a child.
Analogs
The most popular analogue is the Latch system, which is similar to isofix. The difference lies in the clamps themselves. With isofix they are rigid and, accordingly, the seat is connected as rigidly as possible to the car body, while with the Latch system the clamps are located on the belts.
This is supposedly done with the aim of reducing the weight of the seat and increasing the ease of use (when installing or removing the car seat, the clamps can be attached/detached separately). Yes, indeed, these chairs are 1-2 lighter, but the second advantage is extremely dubious.
Chairs with the Latch system are somewhat cheaper, and I myself wanted to buy one for my child, since I watched a lot of videos on the Internet, filmed by manufacturers, about how cool this fastening system is. I will give one of them below...
I went to a specialized store for children's car seats, where they have a car seat and can evaluate the reliability of the fastening of one or another option. I experimented with different models for more than an hour, pushing chairs in different directions. And you know what conclusion I came to:
If you are considering a chair with the Latch system because it is 1-3 thousand cheaper than a similar model with ISOfix, then this saving is not worth it, the seat is fixed less reliably, and has a fairly large “free movement”, naturally it does not will unfasten from the fastenings, but in a collision it will move significantly to the side and it is not known what the consequences may be. If you, like me, were prompted to buy a chair with this restraint system by beautiful videos on the Internet, then just try fixing this chair on a car seat, and I think you will refuse to buy it.
By the way, if your car is equipped with an ISOfix system, then you can also use a Latch system seat.
It makes no sense to consider the remaining systems, since in our country and throughout the CIS, the number of cars prepared for other restraint systems is negligible.
How does Isofix work for universal group 1-2-3 car seats?
Many people want to buy a super-universal option that will last a long time, be economical and convenient, and must be equipped with Isofix. But there is a “catch” in this group with such a system. Isofix cannot work on all groups at once, for the same reason as described above. There were attempts to create such a universal chair at Romer, but, alas, it did not work out. For group 1, in such a chair, isofix performs its function, but for groups 2 and 3 it has an exclusively decorative function.
There is a chair in this group with safety tables and isofix. In this case, for group 1, Isofix fixes the seat in the car, but the main safety is provided by the table, and for groups 2-3, the safety is provided by regular seat belts, which fasten the child and the seat, and here Isofix again does not bear the active load.
Options for universal car seats with built-in seat belts and Isofix are starting to appear, which are suitable for all groups at once. But for the most part, test drives have not been carried out on these models.
There is, of course, also an option from America, the so-called LATCH. It differs from Isofix in that instead of metal car seat brackets, the seat is attached with straps with latches. But the necessary tests have not been carried out on them, so you can only rely on the tests of the manufacturers themselves at your own peril and risk.
Adjusting the headrest
- The headrest has 8 positions that can be adjusted to suit the child's height.
- Lift the upholstery (Fig. 1), pull the red handle and at the same time adjust the height of the headrest. The height of the belt is also adjustable along with the headrest
Warning: Make sure that the headrest is in the correct position and that the seat belt is at the correct height on the child's shoulders (Fig. 2)
Adjusting the length of the thrust post
- Press the support post adjustment button and adjust its length until it touches the floor of the vehicle (Fig. 3)
- If it is installed correctly, a green indicator will appear on the support leg panel
- Make sure the support post is secured correctly and that it does not move up or down
Note: Make sure the post length adjustment lock is not in the intermediate position and that the post is touching the floor.
Let's dispel some misconceptions about Isofix:
- The first and most common misconception is “Isofix car seats are safer.”
I think many people already understand from the article that for groups 0+ and 1 this is true, but for other groups it is not so. For them, Isofix does not bear any safety burden.
Of course, group 0+ and 1 seats with Isofix show high results in crash tests, although there are exceptions. And we must not forget that the quality of safety depends not only on the use of this system, but also on a number of other qualities inherent in the car seat, which can provide additional protection.
- The second misconception is that some believe that Isofix is more dangerous due to its rigid fastening than fastening a car with a seat belt, since the belt does not operate abruptly and can stretch a little, therefore, there is less load on the child.
Many tests have been carried out on this matter and they show absolutely the opposite result. Therefore this is a big misconception.
Here I also want to add that if the seat has a good belt tensioner, then the seat shows better results in tests, since there is less load on the child.
conclusions
Isofix is a special system for attaching a child car seat to the car body. It allows you to fasten it with your own hands quickly, and avoid possible mistakes when using existing seat belts for these purposes. This type of fastening is available not only on the back seat, but also on the front seat too. Thanks to the high efficiency of Isofix, many cars are equipped with a similar system. Its inherent limitation is its use for children weighing no more than eighteen kilograms.
Cars that have an isofix child seat mounting system:
Finally, a post not about repairs and troubles, but about useful improvements! Tomorrow is my daughter’s 2nd birthday. My wife and I decided to give our child a gift - a good car seat. The choice of car seat was made primarily for safety reasons. And of course, they didn’t forget about all sorts of amenities/utilities. After looking at the ADAC Tests, we chose the Recaro monza nova is seat:
The chair pleases with the build quality, material, and pillow for small children. There is also an interesting “lotion” that pleased me: there are built-in speakers in the headrest for listening to music. You just need to connect your mp3 player. Now on the road I won’t have to listen to children’s music for 3 hours))) Also, this chair has an isofix mount. That’s what we’ll talk about... After searching the Internet, I found isofix mounts on ebay. They are different for each car model. Naturally, there is not a word about Lada. Therefore, it was decided to make them ourselves. So, we will need: 2 VAZ muffler mounting clamps, a piece of 20×40 profile pipe, seat belt mounting bolts (like from a Lanos, they are long there). Take the clamps and cut the threads:
Putting on/removing the car seat cover
- Place the BiCare Fix backrest in position 3 and remove it from the base
- Pass the plate that secures the seat belt buckle to the seat through the slots in the frame and upholstery (Fig. 17)
- Unfasten the Velcro from the back and remove the upholstery from the seat
- Then unfasten the two zippers on the headrest and remove the upholstery from it
- Repeat all the above steps in reverse order to put on the upholstery
Warning: Make sure the seat belts are not twisted and that the seat belt buckle is securely attached to the seat.
Adjusting the seat belts
- To adjust the belt, you first need to make sure that the belt is at the correct height on the child's shoulders (Fig. 2). To correctly adjust the height of the harness, adjust the height of the BiCare Fix headrest
- Loosen the straps by pressing the strap length adjustment button and pull the strap around your chest (Fig. 11)
- To open the seat belt buckle, press the red button located in the middle of the buckle. Then separate the two metal parts that are secured in the lock
- After your child puts on the belt, connect the two metal parts together and insert them into the buckle. If everything is done correctly, you will hear a click (Fig. 12)
Adjust the straps so that they fit the child's body by pulling the adjustment strap (Fig. 13). The straps should not be too tight or loose
Important: Make sure the seat belts are not twisted.
