I did not have a previous gen I can compare to, but I can vouch that my ‘22 is small. I can just fit a baby seat for my toddler nephew behind the seat position for a 5’5 passenger. No way I could behind myself in the drivers seat at 6’1.

 

Just a heads up, there's less room in the back in the new gen than the first. In the first gen I was able to use the backseats in a pinch for a short drive for two passengers. Tried to do it in my 22 BRZ a while back with the same two passengers and there was absolutely no room for them to fit. I will say though, I was able to fit two shorter people on the passenger side (both around 5'0), but definitely wouldnt do it often as the person in front was really close to the glovebox.

I'm not too sure about baby seat compatibility though, maybe others can chime in about that.

 

^damn, that’s a shame!

 

I think it would depend on the size of your baby seat. There are anchor points in the back seat for a baby seat

 

(Driving a '17 while waiting for my '22. I haul a 6 year old and a 10 year old.)

Nothing inside has changed except the rake of the rear glass - above-average-tall adults now touch the glass with the back of their head. So if the last car was a 2+1, the new car is more like a 2+1/2

That said, this has no impact on kid-hauling ability. I had a baby seat permanently anchored in the passenger rear seat for two years. Worked very well. Will work just as well in the new car. But you need to find a baby seat that has the right shape to fit in the deep cavity of the rear seat. (If you look through old forums you will find recommendations.) You also have to be a limber dad with a strong back to hunch in and get the baby strapped in.

As your kid gets older and especially when he transitions to a booster, you will find that his legs dangle over the edge of the seat. This means that the front seat will need to be pushed forward almost as much as for an adult that has his feet resting on the floor and under the front seat. So no 6-footer in the passenger seat. However, a second kid in the front works fine. You will also find that the back of the seat will always be dirty.

Note that the rear seat has no padding on the side wall. My kids occasionally bump their head if I make an unexpected maneouver. Also note that when using a booster in the front seat, the front airbag will be automatically turned off. (My 10 year old still likes a booster in order to see over the dash, but I would like for the airbag to be active now.)

Don't sweat it. It works for cool dads.

Cheers.

 

I think my seat was a run-of-the-mill Harmony Defender from Walmart. The base was nicely contoured.

 

It just dawned on me that the OP is talking about a newborn. That complicates things because they need to be rear-facing for a while. I don't think that would work well in the rear seat of a BRZ/86. If you really needed to haul an infant rear-facing, you would need to buck North American recommendations and carry it in the front. As I already said, the airbag will be automatically disabled. Indeed, the front-deploying airbag is the real worry for a small child. After that, the front passenger seat is actually the safest place in the car and that is where infants are placed in many European countries like Sweden. But be prepared to catch some flack for it in America.

 

The passenger seat in the US is known as the “death seat.” If a car is “t-boned” on that side it would be bad for the passenger. Also, the front seats don’t have anchor points for a car seat, like the back seats do.

 

Just to play devil's advocate: the outgoing BRZ got great marks for IIHS crash worthiness (except front partial overlap); the new ones have a significantly stronger cage; there is a side curtain airbag; a baby seat adds a whole other layer of defense; baby seats can be secured by a seatbelt; rear facing seats don't use an overhead tether; a correct rear-seat rear-facing installation in our cars is going to prove challenging.

If it were me, I would wait until baby is two years old in order to rock the dad-mobile.

 

All great points, gentlemen... that's why I come here, it's a meeting of the minds. So the video that I put there shows that although TIGHT... it is possible to get a Rear-Facing seat in the back and that's why I was wondering what the dimensions were because if it's similar, then I'll be able to manage if I choose the right seat. At the end of the day, I'll just have to wait and see I suppose.

 

Just throwing my two cents in. I've got a 3 year old and a 1 year old, and I agree that with the 1 year old there isn't much issue but with the 3 year old the seat in front of her has to be pushed up a bit, and a bit in this car is a lot to anyone in the passenger seat.

A rear facing seat will definitely not fit behind the driver if you want to drive with any semblance of comfort, but with a thinner seat it wouldn't be a problem on the passenger side. Just some added context, I got the car in mid December and I just learned last week that an unexpected 3rd kid is on the way, so yeah.. been doing some research myself. I think I have a rear facing seat around somewhere, and if I can find it I'd be happy to get it in the car and take pictures for you.

 

Great info, thanks.
In about a month's time, the GR86 will finally be released in Europe.
I'm seriously considering trading in my 1 series for one, but the only condition is I can fit a child seat for a 1.5 year old and a rear-facing seat for a baby that's currently still in production.
Could I set up the rear-facing seat in the front passenger seat (to save my back), and fit a normal child seat in the back seat? Or worst case, the other way around?

The wife has an SUV so I'll only need to use my car once or twice a week to pick up the kids from daycare.

Am I wrong to assume that it'll get easier when they get older? Just trying to convince myself this is not a dumb purchase

Thanks

 

SAME interior XY dimensions.

 

Only benefit to 2022 is now the rear seats fold down.

 

Always folded down!

 

I have had both, they are the same.

 

Well, I am short at 5 6 1/2. I am guessing if I moved the driver's seat up so there was about 6 inches between the back of the front seat and the rear seat, I assume I could squeeze back into the rear seat. The question is could I then squeeze into the front seat to drive. I will have to try that experiment at one point. However, if you don't hear from me for a while you can just assume I'm still stuck some where inside my car.

 

There is no "squeezing" through the gap. The only way back there is with the front seat slid and folded exactly as far forward as it can go.

 

I've been reading up in the Europe topic, looks like even getting one will be harder than anticipated.
Order books in Germany are open for 10 days and filled up until 2023.
Don't even want to know the wait time when we can finally order in Belgium..

 

In the manual it states the following:
"Your vehicle is equipped with a front passenger occupant classification system. This system detects the conditions of the front passenger seat and activates or deactivates the front passenger airbag.
Never install a rearward facing child seat in the front passenger’s seat even if the front passenger’s SRS frontal airbag is deactivated. Be sure to install it in the rear seat in a correct manner."

I know in the US it's not advised (or legal?) to put a seat in the front passenger seat, but in Europe it's not considered that unsafe, as long as the airbag is turned off.

From a technical standpoint, would it be unsafe to trust that "occupant classification system"?
Why doesn't Toyota simply provide an "airbag off" switch like any other car I know...

 

In the manual it states the following:
"Your vehicle is equipped with a front passenger occupant classification system. This system detects the conditions of the front passenger seat and activates or deactivates the front passenger airbag.
Never install a rearward facing child seat in the front passenger’s seat even if the front passenger’s SRS frontal airbag is deactivated. Be sure to install it in the rear seat in a correct manner."

I know in the US it's not advised (or legal?) to put a seat in the front passenger seat, but in Europe it's not considered that unsafe, as long as the airbag is turned off.

From a technical standpoint, would it be unsafe to trust that "occupant classification system"?
Why doesn't Toyota simply provide an "airbag off" switch like any other car I know...

The Subaru occupant detection system works flawlessly. It uses capacitance, not weight. So a child in a seat or a booster seat will not activate it. Sometimes a bag of groceries does activate it though. I was saying that I would like the ability to override it for my 8 year old who still likes a booster to see over the dash - I feel that he would benefit from an airbag deployment in a severe crash. Perhaps the system should evaluate both capacitance and weight.

 

Dumb question, are there ISOFIX mounts to position a child seat in the CENTRE of the rear seat, despite it not being an adult seat?

 

 

I am assuming that images means no?

 

I mean you can straddle one on each side but the driveshaft tunnel is several inches higher than the seats so you would really have to find a way to accommodate it.

 

My grain of sand: I recently saw an info in internet about this.

The guy had a previous gen car (GT86) and swapped to a GR86. He has a child about 6 o 7 years old. He zaid that in the previous car the child goes OK, even with an adult passenger seated in the passenger seat.
But in the new car, GR86, he says the child is more cramped, and he is in doubts about him fitting in two yeats from now. And the reason seems to be... the glovebox.

GR86 glovebox is stragely designed, and is protruding about 10 cm more than the one in the GT86. That males 10 cm less margin to move the front seat to create more romm in the rear begore passenger knees touching the glovebox, so in the end, this new car may have 10 cm less legroom available than previous one.

This point has made be having to abandon this car these days (I have a 6 year old daughter who is well above average height). As here in Spain you will not be able to see the car in the flesh before buying it (very very limited numbers), I think there is too much risk in this

 

My grain of sand: I recently saw an info in internet about this.

The guy had a previous gen car (GT86) and swapped to a GR86. He has a child about 6 o 7 years old. He zaid that in the previous car the child goes OK, even with an adult passenger seated in the passenger seat.
But in the new car, GR86, he says the child is more cramped, and he is in doubts about him fitting in two yeats from now. And the reason seems to be... the glovebox.

GR86 glovebox is stragely designed, and is protruding about 10 cm more than the one in the GT86. That males 10 cm less margin to move the front seat to create more romm in the rear begore passenger knees touching the glovebox, so in the end, this new car may have 10 cm less legroom available than previous one.

This point has made be having to abandon this car these days (I have a 6 year old daughter who is well above average height). As here in Spain you will not be able to see the car in the flesh before buying it (very very limited numbers), I think there is too much risk in this

There should be plenty of members on here with both first and second gen experience who could confirm whether the glovebox has that much affect?

Sadly I'm not one of those members, but I'm very interested in the answers.

 

I again found in tbe internet another comment on the same topic, having GR86 less usable rear seats than GT86, and again on the same thing, tbe glovebox (and the more raked rearrglass).

About tbe glovebox, it can be seen in these pictures (one of them bad quality):

 

I've got some info to add to this thread now - I just took my kids (7 and 9 years old) down to a local dealership that had both a GR86 and a first gen 86 side by side on the lot. The GR86 was over priced by $15k, but that didn't matter for this test.

What I found was that the protruding glovebox on the GR86 does make a difference, but not 10cm worth. With me sitting in the front passenger seat (5'-11") and my knees touching the dash lightly, there was about 6" gap between the front and rear seats on the GR86. When I sat in the first gen the same way (knees touching) there was about an extra inch of room behind the front seat.

I'm happy that I could make either one work for the three of us considering the limited distances I'd be traveling with more than one passenger.

One other thing - if you were desperate for more temporary knee room in the front of the GR86 it looks like unclipping and removing the glovebox would give a bit more space. Is a glovebox delete a recognized mod?

 

I forgot to say, I also sat in the back of both cars myself. The GR86 had perhaps slightly less headroom than the first gen but I didn't think the difference was significant. Neither had quite enough for me, but I could have travelled in the back of either if necessary.

 

Having just picked up my car, and seeing the rear seats for the first time i was pretty worried my kids wouldn't fit in the back - a tall 6 year old and 2 year old. We did a test fitting yesterday, and I'm surprised that everyone fit ok. Both seats went in ok - a booster and a toddler seat. It took me a moment to figure out that the top tether attachment are under a plastic cover on the rear parcel shelf, rather then on the back of the rear seats like other cars.

The 2 year old has to sit behind me as there is no leg room when I'm sitting there, but its comfortable enough. The 6 year old behind my wife, and there is about 15cm leg room in the back, whilst her knees are just toughing the front of the glove box. Its a squeeze, but comfortable enough for medium length journeys.

The front edge of the glove box surround is really the restriction for leg room on the passenger side. Its a strange design, because the glove box is actually pretty big inside. A smaller glove box and more leg room would have been a better trade off.

But anyway, we all fit . Which I'm really happy about, as that was the idea behind getting this car.

 

Having just picked up my car, and seeing the rear seats for the first time i was pretty worried my kids wouldn't fit in the back - a tall 6 year old and 2 year old. We did a test fitting yesterday, and I'm surprised that everyone fit ok. Both seats went in ok - a booster and a toddler seat. It took me a moment to figure out that the top tether attachment are under a plastic cover on the rear parcel shelf, rather then on the back of the rear seats like other cars.

The 2 year old has to sit behind me as there is no leg room when I'm sitting there, but its comfortable enough. The 6 year old behind my wife, and there is about 15cm leg room in the back, whilst her knees are just toughing the front of the glove box. Its a squeeze, but comfortable enough for medium length journeys.

The front edge of the glove box surround is really the restriction for leg room on the passenger side. Its a strange design, because the glove box is actually pretty big inside. A smaller glove box and more leg room would have been a better trade off.

But anyway, we all fit . Which I'm really happy about, as that was the idea behind getting this car.

That was my fear... I have a 6 year old daughter (yesterday was her 6th birthday ) which is already 1.30 m tall and 30 kg weight, and I have alteady read of cases in which childs did not fit well in the new car but fit good in the old one.

And this is anotjer confirmation, and why sadly I have to pass on this car

Btw, the it seems that maybe in two years from now you may be in trouble

 

What exactly changed to the 1st gen? Is the roof lower or the seat narrower?

 

I didn’t have a 1st gen, so can’t give a direct comparison. From the photos, it looks like the glovebox is the biggest change. The seats are wide enough to fit the booster seats though.

 

Rear Facing seat = for small infant, they take up a good chunk of space. Our was convertible, you get more life out of them that way but may result in being larger size.

Best bet it to try it, place 10lb bag of flour in seat so you can simulate what it's like to move through door / seat opening and if you have enough clearance to click into the base - assuming convertible.

My problems are bigger now, fighting for chair position "my knees are too close to the dash" yet they dont want to walk?