It also tucks nicely into a backpack or other smallish bags that a booster rider might carry. At about 1 pound, it’s light enough that most carpoolers can carry it in such a bag or backpack without issue. This Graco has one of the worst sensor results for the head sensor in the review with recorded G-forces more than twice the next lowest-performing competitors. The chest clip results are somewhat better and manage to prevent this booster from earning the lowest analysis score in the group, but they are still below the average for the group. The HIC result is enough to give us pause, and we would not use this booster with our children.
This was followed closely by the Chicco KidFit Zip Air Plus 2-in-1, Chicco KidFit, and the BubbleBum. All of these options offer features that are easy for parents and kids to use and installation methods that are straightforward. The hardest-to-use boosters are the Clek Oobr, Evenflo Maestro Sport 2-in-1, and the Safety 1st Grand 2-in-1.
Given the challenges we encountered with the vehicle seat belt fit in my vehicle, I asked my model to try the fit with the attached shoulder belt guide. This piece of equipment is attached to the seat and stores in a handy compartment on the back of the booster. Adding the shoulder belt guide placed the vehicle seat belt right over the center of her shoulder so in this case, the belt fit was good with the guide in use. If your vehicle doesn’t have lower anchors or you’d rather buckle the empty booster when it’s not in use, the already fairly painless setup takes one fewer step. Just set the TurboBooster Grow on the vehicle seat, then thread the vehicle seat belt through the shoulder belt guide if it’s in high back mode.
The Clek Oobr, Chicco KidFit Zip Air Plus 2-in-1, Diono Monterey 4DXT, Diono Cambria 2 also performed well and earned higher scores. We believe that the crash test details indicate that these higher-scoring options potentially offer an additional margin of protection over the average seat. For the crash tests, they buckle a crash test dummy into the booster graco convertible car seat secured to a sled to simulate the forces experienced in an actual crash. This dummy has sensors in the head and chest that record the force exerted on those areas during testing. NHTSA crash studies show that the risk of injury is higher for forward-facing children. Head Injury Criteria (HIC) score is the factor used in the federal safety standards.
If it’s in backless mode, pull the vehicle seat belt out just a bit, then set it in front of the lap belt guide. The Turbo Booster Youth Car Seat was one of the single best things we bought for our kids safety. The weight and height instructions are clearly printed on the outside of the seat and it is easy to see where the seat belt straps are fed into. They elevate the kids graco turbobooster to a higher level and support their backs and heads fantasticly. For taller kids, you can heighten the head rest to a suitable position and the head rest itself is rounded for when the children fall asleep and their heads bob to the left or right. But the best thing I like about these Turbo Boosters is the fact that the seat covers and arm rests are totally washable.