For the benefit of others that may be reading this.. the "ratings" come from this file here:
http://testfakta.se/img/2007/5/28/13864.pdfAt the top of the page under the pictures of the car seats where it says 3 199, 2 895, 3 990, etc etc, that's actually the price in kronors, swedish currency (SEK).
Under that, it says Fram, Och or Baksäte. Fram means FRONT, Och means AND and Baksäte means BACK SEAT. I think in that file only the Britax Fixway can be installed in the back seat, all those others can be both.
Under the title "Krocksäkerhet (påfrestningar på barnet vid kollision)" which is obviousy the "crash test" ratings there are some comments at the bottom of that section for each seat. The comments are:
Besafe Izikid - Seat intact on all essential part after collision. Protected/secured child excellently.
Brio Zento - Chair split between seat and back.
Britax Fixway - Seat intact on all essential part after collision. High strain on childs neck and back of neck.
Volvo barnstol - Seat intact on all essential part after collision. High strain on childs head and back of neck.
Britax Nordic Secura 02 - Seat intact on all essential part after collision. High strain on childs chest.
Akta Cosmic XTP - Footing released and the car seat hurled/flinged out of the vehicle seat.
Akta Duo XTP - Footing broke and the car seat hurled/flinged out of the vehicle seat. Support leg pushed into chair with risk of direct contact with.. (translation hard, assumed meant direct contact with child)
So as you can see, the Brio Zento actually faired pretty well compared to every other seat except for the Besafe Izikid which did particularly well. And although it broke, it doesn't really matter, the main thing was that it did the job, and it did the job effectively without any danger to the child (note high strains on head/neck/chests for other seats).
As for the crash test ratings. The Akta seats have been "disqualified" from the ratings list because they were viewed as being so terrible that they didn't include them.
* The Brio Zento rated 2nd best (first being the Besafe) for protection of the head
* 3 seats got a rating of 2.0 (the highest score) and two seats got a rating of 1.0 for protection of the back of the neck/neck. The Brio Zento got a 2.0 so that's pretty good.
* For chest ratings. 1 seat got a 5.0, 2 seats got a 4.0 1 seat got a 3.0 and 1 seat got a 2.0. The Brio Zento got a 3.0 so out of the five seats we have ratings for, it was #4 out of 5 seats.
* I think the last rating is an overall crash rating. For which the Brio Zento came 2nd, after the Besafe.
A little more info on the seats..
Besafe Izikid - Only RF to 18kg
Brio Zento - RF to 25kg
Britax Fixway - Only RF to 18kg.
Volvo barnstol - Only RF to 18kg.
Britax Nordic Secura 02 - RF to 25kg
Akta Cosmic XTP - 0 - 25 kg. HOWEVER it is only approved up till 18 kg in the backseat. If you want to use it to 25 kg, then you must use it in the front seat rested against the dash. And of course, if you have airbags, then this is impossible.
Akta Duo XTP - Only RF to 18kg.So obviously the only two that RF to 25kg and are really worth getting (that were listed on the pdf file) are the Brio Zento and the Britax Nordic Secura. As you know, the Brio Zento you can go pick up (and be shown how to install it) for $549. You also wont have any problems getting parts like an extra set of the lower tethers (which sucks because I really need an extra set for the seat I imported, but I'm too cheap to part with $100+++ to buy them and have them shipped over! where as they're only $30-$40 for a set for the Brio). Now the Nordic Secura, you're probably looking at about $600 NZD for the seat itself and then on top of that, easily another couple of hundred dollars just to get it here, maybe even more (it's a heavy seat).
That all said, the funny thing is these "tests" were apparently commissioned by BeSafe (whom you will see, have the highest safety rating in that article). In any case though, the Brio is still 2nd. Another thing, the majority of these seat were installed incorrectly in the first place. If they were installed correctly, I bet ALL of them which faired pretty appallingly in the article, would have done much better.
I'd kind of akin this "testing" to the Consumer reports in the US, who have come under HUGE scrutiny (especially last year) for failing almost every single seat they tested, they soon had to retract their "findings" as they'd made great errors when testing.
The following is a quote from Robert Bell. Robert has 30 years of experience in child restraint safety in the Swedish, European and American markets. Robert has also helped develop many of the car seats that are sold in Sweden such as the Akta Graco, Britax, Maxi-Cosi and Brio. He's also a member of the Swedish Safety Standards committee who discuss and develop standards.
"But which carseat is the safest" is of course a question we often get asked. We've put this question to "Statens Vag och Transportforsknings institut" (ie the Swedish Road and Crash Institute) VTI, which is the body in Sweden who performs the crash tests of child restraints. VTI says that there are no particular differences between the safety of the different brands, even if manufacturers sometimes states that their particular product is superior to others. A child restraint that has passed the ECE certification for rear-facing has been tested through a very comprehensive and demanding program. The different brands certainly have different strengths, however all in all from a safety perspective they are considered equal.
We meet parents on a daily basis that have heard from a sales person that a certain brand or model is "best in test" or the "only one to choose from a safety perspective". We have to time and time again explain that the standards are incredibly tough to pass.
(and then referring to the "tests")
This was an extreme type of test, testing it at 50% higher Gs (ie 38G instead of the 25G required to pass the standard) (15kg dummy).
Apart from extreme Gs all seats were installed freestanding, ie no support against dashboard or front seat. This freestanding test is used in the standard just because it does expose the carseats for extreme loads. However most parents do not even install seats freestanding, but resting against the interior of the car which gives support and increases the strength of the carseat.
Conclusion; freestanding extreme G tests may be of some interest, however lacks relevance for children's safety in Swedish rear-facing carseats.
Our view is clear and is shared by all carseat experts in Sweden that correctly installed rear-facing seats are by far superior from a safety perspective both in frontal and side impacts. No authorities have criticized the child restraints that "performed unfavourably in the consumer tests" nor have they revoked any certifications as a result.
The Director of the Swedish Road Administration emphasizes that carseats that had cracks during the extreme test are not dangerous.
Besides, this test is a few years old now.
