Most car seats use the LATCH system, which has two metal hooks that... erm... latch to designated points in the passenger seats so that the car seat is more securely connected to the car chasis/body. LATCH only works up to a certain child weight, though, which I don't think most parents are aware of.

One of the biggest struggles with installing a car seat is getting the retention (whether it be LATCH or seat belt) tight enough so that there's < 1" play in the car seat. I'm sure there are tons of YouTube videos of parents slamming a knee into the car seat trying to press it as far back into the passenger seat as possible while somehow tightening the LATCH straps.

The ratchet idea uses some mechanical advantage to make this all easier so that parents can get a secure, tight, and snug fit of the LATCH system without having to lever their backs and knees between the car's ceiling and the carseat.

 

Hahaha, congratulations my brotha! You're correct, I am not using the seatbelts to attach the car seats. The car seats use a LATCH system to connect instead. You'll see some loops near the seat bottoms/back and that is what I'm using for the rear facing car seats. You can see this video to see how the ratchet system works on the evenflo model. It's way better than putting a knee into the car seat and pulling on the strap as hard as possible. The ratchet method gets it way tighter:
There's probably more if you want to eke it out but I'm getting good enough while still maintaining tire life.

 

TY! we're excited, I cant wait to teach her how to change oil / hyper mile / and how to open up beer bottles using lighters

looking at the "dock" a little closer... it would appear the latch is a sweet quick release design... once deployed, I simply attach to the car and I'm set. and there's even a gauge that reads "green" if correctly tightened ... handy feature for dumb dads (to be dad at least) like myself






dock / car seat we went with:

https://uppababy.com/mesa/overview/
Upload

 

Yup, we have something similar for our 1 year old. It's a dock that stays in the car and we can take the whole seat out/in at a time. Then it attaches to a stroller without taking the kid out of the car seat. We don't use that feature much anymore now that she's older, but it did come in handy when she was younger.

Here's another helpful video:
I've been able to put 2 car seats in the back of the GK at the same time.

 

Woohoo! Congrats bud! I foresee an Odyssey in your future.

 

Haha yes and I am an example of that!!!!!!

Resistance is futile!

 

We could start a mini-van mini-club subforum.

 

I have not ruled out a van tho .... Id totally rock something like this

 

More info can be found here: 2013 Honda Odyssey EX-L

So far the Odyssey has been kept stock, but have added Husky liners in the front and smartliners for the 2nd/3rd rows.

 

We are also a Fit / Odyssey family

 

Last tank I traveled 340.2 miles, filled up 7.110 gallons. That is 47.848 MPG! The cooler fall weather is really helping. Not sure when they switch over to "winter gas" around here.

Where is the Fit/Odyssey owner sub-forum? lol

 

on your next tank, share with us how many miles driven and then how many gallons of fuel

I had a strange scenario once where, the gas pump (not my usual location) was on a slight hill. I think that caused the car to think it was "full" sooner than normal. instead of the usual 9-10 gal that I pump, it stopped me at around 8 gal. next tank, I drove way less and the fuel light came on much sooner. the 2 pumps. cancelled each other out in terms of 1st fuel up = GOOD mpg, 2nd fuel up = horrible mpg


(I am def rooting for ya, 47.8 mpg sounds awesome)

 

These were my last two fill-ups 6 days apart from the same gas station. 10/4 and 10/10 fill-ups. I'm not sure which pumps I used as I just use whatever is available. I'm halfway through this tank so far. I'm not sure it'll get as good mileage as the mornings have been much colder than last week.

 

Last fill up was not as high, but still pretty good MPG considering the dropping temperatures and trips to visit with contractors at the new house:

348.9 miles traveled, 7.736 gallons with a cost to fill up of $17.17.

That's 45.101 MPG

 

Dang. Those are some great numbers. I am pretty stoked when I get 37mpg (normally 33-35 because #leadfoot). Do you have to travel over any steep hills/inclines?

 

I'm pretty much running on ECON mode all the time since the Fit is my commuter car. In the summer I take it off when I'm in traffic as it gets sluggish in stop/go traffic, but put it back on when I'm moving again.

Here is the elevation change on my route from home to work according to Google maps using the bicycle as the vehicle.



Here is the elevation change on my route from work to home according to Google maps using the bicycle as the vehicle. I use a slightly different route as I avoid a few lights having to wait to make left turns and for traffic bottle necks.

 

My one-way commute is 30 miles, but just over 2600' of elevation gain. Going home is 2300' of gain (up a mountain, down a mountain). A different route chops off almost 1000' of gain, but delivers slower overall speed (and more traffic). On the plus side, there are very few stoplights so I never have to worry about red-light, drag-strip battles.

 

Is that hard on brake pads?

My current commute is about 85 miles a day from a rural area. In a few months, my house will be renovated and I can move back into it. That'll cut my commute in half. The drawback is that'll be more in the city and my MPG will probably drop. Since I won't be going as far, I'm guessing I'll be saving on gas fill ups even though gas will be more expensive.

 

how are you guys pulling data on elevation change? I'm curious to see what my commute beholds

 

I plugged in the route in Google maps and selected the bicycle as the vehicle.