GTC4Lusso Child/Baby Seat - US Market

Well, I have to say I feel like putting in the child seat in the back of the Lusso involved as much cursing and beers as some of you have had the pleasure of dishing out when replacing the Lusso battery! Boy was a little [fun] adventure.

Disclaimer: I have a toddler, not an infant, so I didn't try to place any infant car seats.

Here's the quick stats on my setup

· US Market (LHD) GTC4Lusso with Leather standard rear seats
· Munchkin Brica Elite Seat Guardian Car Seat Protector - we used this extensively on previous cars including our current SUV and it's been great
· Forward Facing Nuna Exec Child Seat (2019/2020 model) - just got this as it is a little slimmer than the Nuna Rava which I test fitted as well. Good news: both fit and my wife and toddler really both love the design of the Nuna seats.
​

Learnings:

1. PASSENGER SIDE PLACEMENT FEELS RIGHT: On US market cars, the 60 side of the 60/40 split folding is on the passenger side. I wanted to at least be able to retain some utility without taking the seat out regularly. I tried the seat on the drivers side but the even the Nuna Exec is too wide for the center arm rest to comfortably fold down. Solution: Passenger side placement at least allows the 40 side of the rear seat to fold. If your seat is narrow enough that the center arm rest can fold, you can still manually fold down the center arm rest if you want to go 60 split to work, you just have to deal with a little protrusion of the latch.
2. REAR SEAT SHAPE SUCKS FOR CHILD SEATS: The shape of the rear seat [almost like it's shaped for a big arse] and the lack of vertical space from floor to roof makes maneuvering inside the car to place the seat a little more challenging. Solution: just deal with it by cursing periodically and drinking beer.
3. SEAT SHAPE + BELT BUCKLE POSITION MAKE TIGHTENING DIFFICULT: The position of each end of the lap belt make the angle of attack of the belt into the seat's belt passthrough more vertical than it is in other cars. The result is that cinching down the belt is much harder as you are trying to pull *up* to cinch versus leaning back and pulling forward to cinch the child seat into the backrest. Solution: Most who've dealt with child seats recently know this, but I totally forgot and had to do it over several times until I remembered this trick. After passing the belt through the child seat and buckling it in, avoid using the seat belt lockout until you've pulled all the slack out. Pull on the center of lap belt first to take out slack from the bolted end. Then place one knee on the child seat and lean your big adult weight onto the seat and slide the slack through the buckle and pull again on the shoulder section. While keeping your weight on the child seat, activate the seat belt lock and let out all the slack so it locks up tight. Then close the lid on the pass through and seat should not wiggle.
4. REAR HEADREST IN THE WAY: The rear headrests have no hole where it meets the backrest, so you gotta pick which side the safety clip belt is going to go over. Solution: I chose the side closer to the window as it seemed to counteract and correct the slight lean in the seat toward the buckle when I tightened down the seat
5. DON'T FORGET THE SAFETY CLIP BELT + PROTECT LEATHER Before cinching the seat down, it's important to remember to toss the child safety clip over to the trunk. There's zero chance you'll pull it through after if you've installed the seat properly. Solution: don't forget! To protect the leather on the side of the head rest, throw in a little 6"x 6" glass microfiber or something to reduce the risk of creasing in the leather as you tightening it down

For anyone out there still contemplating whether to pull the trigger on the GTC4Lusso as a daily/weekend family car, this car is by far one of the coolest cars I've owned! As you parents out there know, and as many have said before me, having a kid changes your perspective whether you want it to or not. I am so happy that Ferrari made this car. It's given our family a way to experience the magic of Ferrari together all at once.

Hope this helps someone out there make the jump!

 

Here's the passenger seat set for a smaller passenger, my wife, sitting reasonably comfortably.

Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
​

Here's the seat set so I can sit very comfortably. Your kid will kick you! I have Ferrari seat covers on the way for this that we'll just throw on if our toddler is riding with us.. The typical Weathertech seat back cover/organizer doesn't work well as the headrest/backrest doesn't really have a transition where the cover can hang from like most regular vehicles.

Image Unavailable, Please Login ​

 

Thanks to you I had to crack open the buttoned up child seat install one more time to have a look at all the fuss about lumbar removal.

It makes a huge difference in space!!

One thing I also noticed is getting that lumbar backrest reinstalled is a bit of a challenge! I had to nearly remove the seat bottom to get it installed!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

By the post from @gilly6993 above, it sounds like I actually reinstalled it backwards by trying to engage the top of the section to the backrest first. I honestly only reinstalled it once, and swore to myself never to do it again until I decided to sell the car!

 

So the Taycan GTS ST that I ordered back in Nov. 2021 still hasn't even been picked up by an allocation in Jul. 2023, and I'm back here again to see if anyone has tried installing Diono Monterey booster seats in the back of the Lusso? In just 2 short years, the kiddo is much bigger now. While the Nuna Exec works fine, we ended up repurposing it for our 2nd kid after graduating them out of the infant seat. The Lusso currently has no car seats in the back again, but I am considering the Diono Monterey 5iST for a few reasons:

• Narrow base may work well with the Lusso seat
• Portable -- we are considering it for travel so we can avoid hauling to big Nuna Exec seats. I'm also hoping the install is easy enough that I can just keep it in my trunk most of the time
• Seems comfortable and adjustable based on reviews I've read

Any feedback on preferred boosters would be awesome.