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I've mentioned in a few other threads, room for a rear-facing car seat is a sticking point for me. My wife has a Santa Fe that does most of the family hauling, but if I'm going to buy a new car I want it to be able to comfortably haul all of us around. My kiddo is only 4 months old, so I've got at least a year left in rear-facing mode and then what will seem like forever in front facing / booster seat mode.
Local dealer had a SEL w/ Activity show up, so I ran up to see how it would fit....
I'm 5'10" and it was just passable for someone my size I think. Anyone taller would likely feel a little cramped. It looks like a decent amount of space, but as pictured is definitely closer than I would normally sit. My wife is only 5'4", so hopefully she'll have a little more breathing room.
Note that I didn't install the base, just sat the seat on the cushion -- it's possible you'd gain another inch or so with the base (or lose a some), I'm just not sure and didn't have time today to mess with it.
Other impressions were....
- I thought the SEL w/ Activity basically got all the options the SEL Premium did, just not the drivetrain. But, this still had unpainted door handles and plastic steering wheel which surprised me.
- Very smooth riding, and very smooth powertrain with the NA motor and torque converted automatic tranny.
- A little pokey (for me). I'm sure it has plenty of giddy up when you really get into it and for normal driving, but I didn't want to abuse someone else's future ride with so few miles. Getting up to speed on the highway feeder road without revving the thing too hard felt awfully lethargic. I'm definitely a turbo buyer, as I suspected.
- Rear visibility is not good, at all... good thing there's a backup camera for parking 😕
- Cloth seat material seems good. For some reason the photos I've seen almost made the fabric look a little thin/cheap -- but in person it's a nice, heavy duty cloth. I like the material in my Frontier better, but not bad.
- Black paint had a nice metallic pearl sparkle to it. Of all the colors offered, Black is hands down my least favorite... wish it had been a Sage Gray or Blue Stone!
Hopefully that helps someone else out there. I wish it had a couple more inches of room w/ the car seat, but not bad -- it's not a deal breaker I don't think. I need to do more research about mounting the seat in the middle... I'd have to use the seat belts, the LATCH anchors are only on the outboard seats. I'm not sure if there's a safety penalty using the belts, or just less convenient. That would definitely make more room.
Local dealer had a SEL w/ Activity show up, so I ran up to see how it would fit....
I'm 5'10" and it was just passable for someone my size I think. Anyone taller would likely feel a little cramped. It looks like a decent amount of space, but as pictured is definitely closer than I would normally sit. My wife is only 5'4", so hopefully she'll have a little more breathing room.
Note that I didn't install the base, just sat the seat on the cushion -- it's possible you'd gain another inch or so with the base (or lose a some), I'm just not sure and didn't have time today to mess with it.
Other impressions were....
- I thought the SEL w/ Activity basically got all the options the SEL Premium did, just not the drivetrain. But, this still had unpainted door handles and plastic steering wheel which surprised me.
- Very smooth riding, and very smooth powertrain with the NA motor and torque converted automatic tranny.
- A little pokey (for me). I'm sure it has plenty of giddy up when you really get into it and for normal driving, but I didn't want to abuse someone else's future ride with so few miles. Getting up to speed on the highway feeder road without revving the thing too hard felt awfully lethargic. I'm definitely a turbo buyer, as I suspected.
- Rear visibility is not good, at all... good thing there's a backup camera for parking 😕
- Cloth seat material seems good. For some reason the photos I've seen almost made the fabric look a little thin/cheap -- but in person it's a nice, heavy duty cloth. I like the material in my Frontier better, but not bad.
- Black paint had a nice metallic pearl sparkle to it. Of all the colors offered, Black is hands down my least favorite... wish it had been a Sage Gray or Blue Stone!
Hopefully that helps someone else out there. I wish it had a couple more inches of room w/ the car seat, but not bad -- it's not a deal breaker I don't think. I need to do more research about mounting the seat in the middle... I'd have to use the seat belts, the LATCH anchors are only on the outboard seats. I'm not sure if there's a safety penalty using the belts, or just less convenient. That would definitely make more room.