Distance between the front seat back and the rest seat back?

[jomo25]

Title should read: "Distance between the front seat back and the REAR seat back?" Darn auto-correct!

Considering a Volt for our next car. We have an infant and would need to fit our rear facing car seat in the back seat. Can someone tell me what the distance between the front seat back and the rear seat back is? (I think this is sometimes called "pitch"). I'm looking for this measurement taken at the top of the front seat back (below the head rest), from the back of the front seat back to the front of the back seat. And I guess it would be a range since the front seat can move forward and backwards.

We have a Chicco Keyfit 30 and we've noticed that its larger than average and doesn't always fit in some cars. It barely fits in our Infiniti. We have to put it behind the passenger, fortunately, my wife is not too tall, so we can move the passenger seat up some and she doesn't lack for leg room.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can measure and report back, or point me to a spec sheet where this is listed, or has direct experience with putting a Keyfit 30 back there!

[pavers123]

Someone else will need to get into the specific measurements in your question, but I'll give you my 2 cents as we have 2 year old twins (and a third on the way). One of our twins is forward facing, the other is rear facing (due to a disability that causes low muscle tone) with Graco seats and they both fare well in the back.

The forward facing twin does great and has room. With my driver seat pushed all the way back his feet do bump up against the back of the seat if he kicks, but he does just fine over all with plenty of space. The rear facing twin also has plenty of room, BUT in her rear facing seat she turns out to sit up a bit more vertical than we would prefer. On a recent road trip, my wife decided to tuck a medium size phone book under the rear facing car seat enabling our daughter to not be so upright. This worked out well.

It's not as spacy as my wife's CRV, but overall we are happy with the rear seat space, and I'm sure the rear seats will do well for us for at least the 6 or so years that I plan to keep the car. As far as the third baby on the way, that's another story, but we do have a second car (the CRV) and I'm hoping the Voltec MPV5 will be coming out in the next couple years so we can replace it with that!

[Arkansas_Volt]

Considering a Volt for our next car. We have an infant and would need to fit our rear facing car seat in the back seat.

I have a graco snugride for our infant. it fits fine even with a tall (over 6') person in the front seat. Not sure if that helps.

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

@ jomo25,

There really is no specification for that because it can vary so much depending on the seat's adjustment. Because you can move the passenger seat up a little, you may be all right. The best way to find out is to adjust the seat in a comfortable position then take your own measurement. Have you had the opportunity to test drive one or live in a Volt selling state?

[jomo25]

Thanks for the reply...I'm in AZ, so no I haven't driven one or been able to go try it myself. Actually, I haven't actually even seen one up close in person. I only saw one on driving down the street when I was in LA earlier this year. The rest has been just in pictures

I realize it will be a range. This is why I was wondering what the max (front passenger seat all the way up) and the min (front passenger seat all the way back) were.

I posted my purchase/lease situation in a thread in the Buying/Leasing sub-forum. Officially, our current car lease runs through next March. I might be able/willing to get it earlier, and maybe even much earlier. But I do need to see one before deciding of course. But knowing this will at least let us know if its something we should even consider.

(And yes, I know we could get another car seat, but it would be less hassle if we didn't.)

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

@ jomo25,

Not a problem. Where in AZ are you located? I do know of a dealer (Thorobred Chevrolet in Chandler, AZ) in AZ that has a Volt already. They purchased a 2011 Volt from a CA dealer to have on display at their dealership. Maybe if you are close enough or have some time and can make a trip over there you can take a look at it. I can also do some searching and see where the closest demo vehicles are in CA, if you are willing to make a trip there to take a look and test drive.

[Frank F]

@ jomo25,

Seems like an easy enough thing to measure...

From the back of the front seat (fattest part, about 2" below the head rest) to the front of the back seat (same horizontal distance below the head rest).

Driver:

Normal seating positon - 27"
Seat all the way forward - 34"
Seat all the way back - 24"

Passenger:
Normal seating positon - 29"
Seat all the way forward - 36"
Seat all the way back - 26"


Note* My wife (passenger) likes to have her seat slightly less reclined than mine (driver) so that accounts for the different measurements.

[jomo25]

@ Chevy Cust Svc: Thanks for the info. I'm in Tempe, pretty much center of the PHX metro area. Chandler wouldn't be too far. I recall them having one for sale. But I think it was like $3-5K over MSRP at the time. For that reason I wasn't sure if they would let people touch it, much less test drive it. We weren't that serious about it then, but now that we are, I'll give them a call. But if there are others around, we'd love to get a first hand look and a test drive.

@ Frank F: Thanks alot! That's exactly the info I was looking for. Will need to compare that to our current vehicle to see if it would fit. We'd still want a real confirmation, but at least it gives me an idea of if its even a possibility. Yes, I realize that the recline position makes a difference too, so we'll have to account for that also. I think based on those, its a go. I really appreciate you taking the time and effort to do that for me!