Summary – Maxi Cosi Aura Carseat
NOT RECOMMENDED – The Maxi Cosi Aura cannot be recommended due to a number of issues, relating to potential misuse and the fact that it is a booster seat after 4 year of age; there are better seats out there such as the Britax Maxi Guard or the Infa Evolve.
Replacement of the Maxi Cosi Goliath
The Aura is a B/E child restraint and is a replacement for the Maxi Cosi Goliath. The Maxi Cosi Goliath is a B/E type child restraint however the harness needs to be manually adjusted and re-threaded. An easy harness adjustment on the Aura means you do not need to re-thread the internal harness each time the child grows.
Shoulder Pads
Parents will notice the harness shoulder pads are attached to the back of the fabric just like they were in the Maxi Cosi Euro.
Most parents disconnected the Velcro of the harness shoulder pads from the back of the cover on the Euro as it made it easier to loosen and tighten the harness.
extended harnessing or booster mode
This is a B/E type seat which means that you need to change over to booster mode when the child has reached the appropriate height marker.
The Maxi Cosi Aura allows you to still use the internal harness past the markers for when a child should in a Booster mode. This is confusing and is dangerous for parents who do not take into account the height limitation of the harness and migrate to a booster mode child restraint.
WHY is this NOT a G type Seat, The maxi cosi aura has missed the mark and seems like a step backward when Britax and Infa have released a G type seat.
Active wear type fabric ?
The Hera covers were re-designed to incorporate the wicking fabric, similarly the Aura has had the same treatment and includes wicking fabric. This is a nice plus given that the children will get very hot in many other type of child restraint covers that are made of velour. However many manufacturers no longer make child restraint covers from velour so this is a non issue.
Harness Adjustment Maxi Cosi Aura
There is no visible means to adjust the harness height. On the Maxi Cosi Hera and Euro there are harness adjustment levers at the top of the headrest. With the Aura; these levers are not visible. The Infa Evolve there is a large fabric label to indicate to lift this flap then twist and lift the head rest, making it very obvious as to what needs to be done to adjust the harness.
Maxi Cosi Aura has a flap which needs to be lifted; but has no label to indicate that the flap needs to be lifted. When your hand is directly above the harness adjuster, it is relatively easy to adjust the harness height, however when your arm and hand is level with the lever it is very difficult to adjust the harness height.
Summary – Maxi Cosi Aura Review
I cannot recommend this seat based on the number of safety concerns I have, some parents may not read the instructions fully. As a consequence parents may mis-use the child restraint endangering their child.
Rather than consider the Maxi Cosi Aura; consider one of the extended forward facing car seats which keep you child harnessed until that are approximately 8 years of age. The only extended forward facing seats which can be recommended are the Infa Evolve, britax maxi guard and possibly the infa grandeur.