When I found out that I was going to have a fleeting visit from our BeSafe rep, and that she would have a Beyond System with her, I asked the community on Car Seat Advice UK if they had any questions they’d like me to answer on the product. I’ve listed the questions that I received, below, along with the answers. We did this on camera too, so we have a video to help you with visuals.
Q: I don’t suppose you could find a big kid to put in it Rear Facing? Only seen photos of a big kid in it sideways. Wonder how much space there is to get a kid into it because it’s higher than a non-spin.
A: We did this in the video with a 105cm child – hopefully, these images help.
Q: I would like to see the second stage seat and the spin function.
A: This will be best to see on the video, but the spin function is enabled by the central trigger between the childs feet. The infant carrier can be placed onto the isofix base facing the door, and spun into the rear facing position. The Beyond / Beyond 360 would rotate to the side, when required to aid with the child being fitted into the seat, and then rotated to its travelling position.
Q: Would like to know how thick the base is.
A: Again, it’ll be easier to see this on the video as there’s not an exact answer. The height (thickness) of the base will graduate from the front to the back of the base. It’s 9cm thick in the centre and it lessens towards the front and thickens at the back. However, I’m thinking that this question is really asking what the height of the top of the base would be from the cars seat – this will very much vary depending on the angle of the cars seats. The flatter the cars seat, the greater that distance would be, and that ‘height’ would reduce in a car with more sloped seats. Regardless of the angle of the cars seat, the base will always run at the same angle from the cars isofix points.
Q: Are the belts easily pulled?
A: The model that I had for the video was a prototype but it was using most of the final production parts. The harness on this felt as fluid as I felt it could be, and didn’t have any negative impression towards its feel.
Q: Would like to know the size, front to back so I know how much space it takes up in the car?
A: This can vary from car to car (depending on the angle of the back of the seat it’s attaching to) and also, our demo rig has more recessed isofix points than most cars would have, which can also have a bearing on this. With the Beyond seat on in rear facing mode, the variance I measured was 60-65cm depth. This will marginally vary from car to car.
Q: Is the seat comparable to ‘other competitors seats’ – do you stock it and what price?
A: The Beyond is quite different to most other products on the market. It’s the only rotating seat that has a 125cm capacity at this time, but also has a 22kg weight limit. The Beyond version that rear faces is also Swedish Plus Tested in addition to being approved to the latest R129 regulation. There is also a 360 rotating version of the Beyond, called the Beyond 360. The isofix base has a unique ‘universal level technology’ built into it to ensure that the base, and ultimately the seats are in the optimum position, regardless of the car. The infant car seat, the Go Beyond has a built-in recline mechanism that will return to a non-reclined position immediately upon a crash scenario. There are definitely many unique features that are exclusive the Beyond system.
Q: Can the infant carrier be used belted without isofix? And if so, does that still allow the active lay flat feature?
A: Yes, this can be fitted with a cars seatbelt, although lay flat feature can only be used on the isofix base.
Q: What’s the back length for the highest harness setting?
A: I assumed that this was for the 125cm seat and the measurement of the maximum back length was 43cm
Q: I believe the base is an advanced polystyrene – is it easily scratched?
A: The outer construction of the base is predominantly EPP; which, as you say appears similar to a form of polystyrene. It’s a much denser and stronger material though, but still offers the ability to significantly reduce the weight of the base versus traditional materials. I did try to scratch it in the video, but didn’t leave a mark.
Q: It seems to depend on the support leg to raise the seat and create the right recline (universal level technology). Does this take up a huge amount of space height-wise in cars with flatter seats and/or lower roofs?
A: I don’t think this will have as much of an effect as you’d initially imagine – the base narrows at the leg end and therefore that cancels the effect of it being raised somewhat. Additionally, the infant seat does meet iSize criteria, so I can only take from that that it still falls within the range of any other iSize infant seat.
Thank you again for the questions and we look forward to the BeSafe Beyond arriving in store in early Summer 2024.
