Our comprehensive review of the Britax Boulevard ClickTight is now posted here: https://carseatblog.com/30080/britax-boulevard-clighttight-convertible-review-sometimes-things-just-click/
With the announcement of the ClickTight Installation System in the 2015 models of the Marathon, Boulevard, and Advocate convertible carseats, Britax has indeed introduced a Game Changer into the convertible carseat market. Gone are the days of huffing and puffing and yanking on seat belts and LATCH straps to get carseats installed tightly. As technicians in the field, we know a loose install is one of the top 2 mistakes we’re going to see in a vehicle when it comes to a checkup event. ClickTight was a big deal with the Frontier 90 and is just as big of a deal for any carseat rated above 40 pounds or so, due to new federal standards limiting the use of the LATCH system.
Do these convertibles hold the cure for all possible misuse? Of course not. There may be some incompatibilities and the price may put it out of reach for many families but we can’t make advances in child passenger safety without advances in technology and those advances often come with a hefty price tag – at least initially. For that price tag, you also get increased height limits and a 10-year expiration date, so there is some value added!
Kecia, our lucky reporter in the field, got to touch and feel and see these cool new seats. We will have a full review coming in September.
*UPDATE – our comprehensive Britax Boulevard CT Review is now posted here.
For now, she took a ton of pictures for us and a video and reports that baby Jack fits beautifully in the new Marathon without the lower body insert (see pics). With the lower body insert, the bottom harness slot measures about 6.5″.
These pics below show the preemie doll using the lower body insert. The Britax convertibles are rated from 5 lbs. to 40 lbs. rear-facing, so our 4 lb. Huggable Images preemie doll is too small to fit in any of them, but Kecia wanted to get an idea of harness slot fit.
Installation:
Comparisons
The Marathon CT is going to be a smaller seat for Britax while the Boulevard CT and Advocate CT have a growth spurt (see photos below). The difference between the Boulevard CT and Advocate CT are the side impact cushions, now called MAX. You can see the height difference between the MACT and BVCT below. To recap the big news from our earlier article, the Boulevard and Advocate ClickTight models have considerably taller height limits. At the maximum height setting, the usable rear-facing height limit will be about 28″ (Editor’s note: This is 1″ below the top of the reference point on the head restraint “shell” just below the red adjustment lever that is 29″ tall based on a representative production model we measured later) because the head restraint is now structurally reinforced. The top forward-facing seated shoulder height increases to almost 19″. The Marathon ClickTight has more modest increases over the G4 version. It also has a reionforced head restraint, but it doesn’t adjust as high. Please keep in mind that all of these measurements are estimates from a late prototype and may vary slightly for production models!
Canadians will enjoy the arrival of their ClickTight convertibles sometime around mid-to-late November. Canadian models will ship with an anti-rebound bar to satisfy the Canadian anti-rebound standards.
An anti-rebound bar for the U.S. convertibles with ClickTight will be available as an accessory (for purchase separately) sometime in early 2015. Anti-rebound bars for the current U.S. G4 convertible models will be available for purchase (again, being sold as an “accessory”) even sooner – probably by mid November. This is GREAT news and we’re very excited that Britax has decided to make the anti-rebound bar available to American consumers
New Fashions
We have some pics of new fashions being offered on the seats. We’ll follow up with more comparisons from KIM coming up in a week and a half and at the ABC Show as well.
Advocate in “Limelight”
Frontier 90 in “Kaleidoscope”
Miscellaneous Pictures
Kecia says, “Overall, the new Britax CT convertibles exceeded all expectations I had. The attention that was clearly paid to even the smallest details is really impressive. There is a lot to love in this new CT lineup and I think consumers are going to be very, very happy.”
Order Britax ClickTight convertibles at Amazon.com
Order Britax ClickTight convertibles at Albee Baby
Hi Elizabeth, it is really a matter of personal preference and what fits your vehicle and child given your situation. The 4Ever gives you the great option of using it as a high back and backless booster later. On the downside, the 4Ever is not nearly as flexible for seatbelt installs due to the lack of a lockoff device. That can be a big deal for center seating positions and for older cars as well. As for rear-facing, both will get most kids way beyond 2 years old so no issues there! If you are comfortable installing and using both of them, it’s hard to go wrong with either one!
How would you compare the BV CT to the Graco 4Ever? Also, I don’t have latch in my car, so the CT seems to be an amazing feature, but I don’t know if the extra $100 will be worth it since I plan to leave the seat installed for the most part. Any advice on that?
@Becca, either would be a good choice. Choose based on cover?
Would you recommend the Advocate or Boulevard for an Acura RDX (2011)?
Thanks.
You can find our full Britax Boulevard ClickTight review here: https://carseatblog.com/30080/
@Jennifer, the CT seats have more recline options than the G4 seats do. Britax has designed ClickTight to make it very easy to use the seat belt and to get away from LATCH. Because of the new LATCH rules that make weight limits on LATCH so low anyway (see https://carseatblog.com/26565/new-federal-regulations-regarding-latch-weight-limits-what-parents-need-to-know/), it’s become necessary for parents to switch to seat belt use anyway on most higher weight harness seats during their rear-facing life.
What the comparison on boulevard g4 and boulevard CT as far as howit reclines. I wanted the CT because it looked like reclined like the chicco next fit. But I prefer to use the latch. So now I’m questioning about getting CT. Does the G4 recline like the CT?
@Yoonjin Kim, yes, so far, it’s the tallest seat. As far as bracing, I didn’t see anything in the manual when I skimmed through it, but bracing is often a vehicle issue that will be mentioned in the vehicle owner’s manual in the section about child safety seats or airbags.
Seat belts should remain unaffected if instructions are followed. The seat really installs itself and that’s hard for people who’ve installed carseats before to understand. The seat belt should be kept straight and only the slack removed.
The carseat is pretty compact. Kecia is working on adding them to her comparison chart: https://carseatblog.com/22818/the-ultimate-rear-facing-convertible-space-comparison-review-size-matters/ . Here’s how they compare to current Britax seats: https://carseatblog.com/29451/rear-facing-space-comparison-britax-g4-convertibles-vs-new-britax-clicktight-convertibles/
So, would the Boulevard CT have a higher height limit than the Radian RXT, the Graco 4ever, and Nextfit? And does Britax allow bracing against the front seat? What is this mangled seat belt problem that I am hearing about? How compact is this seat front to back?
Thank you so much – looks like that is what we will be buying this week 🙂
@Kayla, the BV CT would last longer. The top harness slot on the BV is 1.5″ taller than the Rainier, so overall it’s a much taller seat meaning she will last longer rf as well.
Which would last longer – diono rainier, or the Britax Boulevard ClickTight? Now that they have increased the height on the Britax, I’m wondering which would keep DD RF longest? (15mos 26#, 33in) Thanks!
@Amanda, you would use LATCH or the seat belt, not both. Using both could alter the performance of the seat in a crash. I think you’ll find that it installs very securely with the seat belt. Click Tight is the panel that locks both the seat belt and the LATCH belt down (the LATCH belt is stored under the panel). I’d skip LATCH altogether.
Can you use the latch and click tight for extra protection and security? Or just one? I have an 8 month old who is 1lb from outgrowing her infant seat. She is 21 lbs. should I use the latch until she is 40lbs or start off with the click tight?
@Heather, sorry I missed your post! The Frontier 90s should be the same, but I would give Britax a call to double-check.
Jacqueline, it’s about the same width as the NextFit.
Thanks! That’s great news. Is it much wider than the NextFit? Our 10 month old needs a convertible and I want to keep him rf’ing as long as possible. I am also considering the Clek Foonf. But with the new latch limitations, I feel like click tight is the way to go. (We have the frontier 90 for big brother and love it.)
@Jacqueline, the Boulevard CT and Advocate CT are taller than the NextFit, so they should allow rf longer.
How does this compare to the Chicco NextFit in terms of rear facing? I want to keep my son rear facing as long as possible.
@Diana, they should be in stores soon. They began shipping not long ago, so you should be able to get one soon.
I still cannot find any of these new britax seats in the stores or online….how much longer before they are available?
Would the new covers (cowmoo) fit the frontiers that are out now or did the frame of the carseAt change some?
Awesome! The only one I’ve been able to find the cowmooflage in of the CT is the marathon…
@Nicole, Britax is showing cowmooflage as a fabric option for the Boulevard CT.
Will cowmooflage be available in the Boulevard CT?
@Heather, the release date for the convertible seats is in the next week or two, so I would imagine the Frontier fabrics would follow those dates as well. Cowmooflage is coming in December.