Car Seats

Best Car Seats

Overall Score

Safety 1st UltraMax Air 360

Harnessed Car Seats / All-In-One Car Seats

One of multiple All-In-One seats offered by Safety 1st, a brand of Dorel Juvenile Group.

CR Expert Take

How did it perform in our expert lab testing?

Overall Score

The Overall Score for this model is derived from our expert lab test results.

Current Range of Tested Harnessed Car Seats

What goes into the Overall Score?

EXPERT LAB TESTS

Ease of use

4 / 5

Forward facing fit-to-vehicle

N / A

Rear facing fit-to-vehicle

N / A

Booster fit

1 / 5

Rear LATCH

3 / 5

Rear belt

3 / 5

Forward LATCH

5 / 5

Forward belt

4 / 5

Color

N / A

Harnessed crash protection

Better

Good small car fit

N / A

Pros

Easy harness-height adjustment from front of seat without re-threading or removing seat
Dual range recline indicator

Cons

Difficult to determine when the recline indicator is level to ground
Installation for infants may limit front passenger space
Harness can be difficult to tighten and release
Booster seat shoulder belt guide is difficult to use
Booster belt fit is poor
Heavy seat

CR's Take

Although rear-facing installation for older children (22-40lbs) is good, when used rear-facing for children less than 22 lbs, this seat takes up enough room to make the front seats of a vehicle cramped or unusable. Forward-facing installation is much better. We like the dual recline lines, but on this seat it is difficult to determine if the seat is properly reclined due to the recline lines being on a curved surface. The Safety 1st UltraMax Air 360 performs well in our forward-facing fit to vehicle tests using LATCH.

Detailed Test Results

Consumer Reports has developed a new crash test that offers consumers comparative performance information on which car seats could provide an additional margin of safety when compared with other models within the same ratings group that have been subjected to the same test protocol. Our Crash Protection Ratings are based on injury criteria measured on standardized child-size dummies, contact of the dummy’s head with the back of a simulated front seat and a car seat’s ability to remain intact during the course of testing. Consumer Reports’ new crash tests are not designed to check whether a seat complies with current federal car seat safety standards;. Rather, the purpose of our new tests is to differentiate the seats’ performance on a scale that ranks the performance of tested seats ranging from “basic” to “best.” Our focus on providing an “extra margin” of safety, rather than on determining whether a seat is safe or not, is based on the fact that any car seat sold in the U.S. already must provide an essential level of safety under the government standards. The new test conditions were carefully designed to simulate the interior environment and forces encountered during a crash in contemporary vehicles. Changes from the way that convertible seats were rated previously include using a test bench that better simulates the vehicle seat design from a contemporary vehicle, with more representative cushion stiffness and seat geometry and incorporation of a “blocker” to simulate a front seatback. The new test also runs at a higher 35mph speed, with other representative dynamic characteristics that better simulate the behavior of contemporary vehicles during a crash.

About

The Safety 1st UltraMax Air 360 is part of the Car Seats test program at Consumer Reports. In our lab tests, Harnessed Car Seats models like the UltraMax Air 360 are rated on multiple criteria, such as those listed below.

Ease of use: Our judgment of how easy each seat is to use including the clarity of labels and instructions, adjustments of clips and buckles, the transition of the seat between modes and installation features such as LATCH connections, belt paths, top tethers and booster guides.

Forward facing fit-to-vehicle: A rating of how compatible, easy and secure a child car seat can be correctly installed in the forward-facing direction. This rating is a combination of the LATCH system and belt ratings that are available individually on the model page.

Rear facing fit-to-vehicle: A rating of how compatible, easy and secure a child car seat can be correctly installed in the rear-facing direction. This rating is a combination of LATCH system and belt ratings that are available individually on the model page.

Features & Specs

Features

LATCH connectors

Hook

Harness adjustment

External

Recline level indicator type

Dual Lines

Recline level indicator position

Both sides

Spanish language instructions

None

Multiple recline positions

Yes

Load leg

Rotating seat

Cup holder

Specs

Seat weight (lbs.)

Rear facing weight range (lbs.)

4-50

Forward facing weight range (lbs.)

22-65

Booster weight range (lbs.)

40-120

Rear facing height range (in.)

49" or less

Forward facing height range (in.)

29-49

Height range booster

Overall height (in.)

Base width (in.)

Shell height (in.)

Booster height range total (in.)

43-57

Overall width (in.)

Price & Shop

Safety 1st UltraMax Air 360

Price

Description

CR Expert Take

Overall Score

What goes into the Overall Score?

EXPERT LAB TESTS

CR's Take

Detailed Test Results

About

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