i don't think the car is safe for a child. the car has a 2/5 star safety rating. that means that on a side impact, passengers are almost guaranteed to be hospitalized.

 

I don't think your assessment of the star rating is completely correct.

5 Star: 5% or less chance of serious injury
4 Star: 6% to 10% chance of serious injury
3 Star: 11% to 20% chance of serious injury
2 Star: 21% to 25% chance of serious injury
1 Star: 26% or greater chance of serious injury

Additionally, the test is conducted under the following conditions:

For testing side impact collisions, crash-test dummies are placed in driver and (driver's side) rear passenger seats, on the side of vehicle struck, and secured with the vehicle's seat belts. This test represents an intersection-type collision with a 3,015 pound barrier moving at 38.5 mph into a standing vehicle. The barrier is covered with material that has "give" to replicate the front of a vehicle. Since all tested vehicles are impacted by the same size barrier, it is possible to compare all vehicles with each other when looking at side crash protection ratings.

This test is used to simulate full speed side impact that does, but not often, occur at intersections. Not many small vehicles do well of side impacts due to the simple fact there just isn't very much distance separating a passinger from the impact object in a small vehicle.

Side impact injuries are most often on the head and body extremities as they swing toward the point of impact. The mechanics are somewhat different for infants protected by properly installed child safety seats as the child will maintain better separation with the door and a good high back safety seat will act as an additional barrier to protect the child from the side impact.

But if this worries you, just place the child safety seat in the center position. BTW, this is also the safest position for children in pretty much all vehicles.

 

I picked up a couple of Graco CarGo seats a year ago, and they match perfectly and work well. I am not sure if the current schemes work as well, but may be worth checking out.
http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/pro...EL&subCatId=17

 

A clarification, according to NHTSA, the Lancer has the following Star impact ratings: 4/5 frontal, 2/5 side for front occupants and 4/5 side for rear occupants.

For a small car, the Lancer is pretty good in terms of safety for small children (seating in the rear).

 

back seats = big

 

AGREE!

 

We haven't purchased our Evo yet, but have test driven all the different models. My 15 month old absolutely loved every second of being in the car. Every time I stepped on the gas she would start screaming "weeeeeeee" and laugh insanely. She actually prefers to ride in my husband's 91 Galant VR4 over our "child friendly" 04 CRV. I know that every child is different with likes and dislikes but our Mitsu dealer said that almost all their customers with children come back telling them how much their children love riding in the car.

LB

 

My kids (2.5 and 6) always want to ride in it! Way more room then our G500, there is more room between the kids seat and the front seats, this meens less kicking of your seat. In fact, after going to Disney Land my oldest girl said "your car makes my stomac feel funny, even more then Space Mountain". Also, I always leave the kids seats in when making 11 second passes at the dragstrip, really pisses the rednecks off