ADAC Car Seat Test

What does ADAC mean?

ADAC comes from Germany and is actually the largest car club in the world. ADAC stands for Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club, which could be translated as “general German automobile club”. ADAC does much more than test car seats, such as doing crash tests on cars and offering insurance.

In Finland, the Autolieto publishes the results of tests conducted by ADAC in Finnish. You can read the car seat test results here.

The seats that performed well in the Spring 2024 test can be found in our online store here.

‍

“The ADAC test also measures a child's travel comfort, which may be overlooked when following crash tests.”

‍

Psst! In Finland, the results of the PLUS test are also monitored a lot. Read more about the PLUS test from here.

‍

ADAC Test Metrics

The ADAC test measures 4 different areas: Safety, comfort of use, seat comfort, and harmful chemicals. The joint rating of these different areas constitutes the final grade of the car seat.

Different areas have different weight in the test, however safety is the most important metric and the grade obtained from it weighs half in the result. Harmful chemicals occupy the lowest position by weight -- even car seats that receive a satisfactory rating in this section can still receive an excellent overall rating.

• Safety 50%
• User comfort 40%
• Seat comfort 10%
• Harmful chemicals only lower the overall rating

The ADAC test measures seat belts, car seats, and seat belts. If the safety device can be used with an ISOFIX dock and with a seat belt attachment, both different mounting methods are tested.

The car seat tests commissioned by ADAC are multidimensional. Operating and seat comfort are not properly tested in other car seat tests, which are important metrics for many when buying a car seat. At the same time, the ADAC test is a bit complicated to understand, as many areas overlap and you have to spend time interpreting grades. If you need interpretation assistance with your test results, send us a message in the chat on our website or send us an email and we will ask our car seat experts to review the results.

1) Security

The safety of a car seat is measured by a frontal and side impact test. The routing of the belts and the stability of the seat also affect the grade.
The internal percentage distribution of the safety rating goes like this:

• Front Collision Protection: 40% of the rating
• Side impact: 40% weight
• Belt routing: weight 10%
• Seat stability: weight 10%

The Safety section has the biggest impact on the overall rating: 50%.

2) Convenience of use

The comfort of use includes, among other things, the attachment of the child and the risk of misfitting the seat. These aspects also affect safety, as an improperly installed seat will not protect your child as intended. Therefore, comfort is the second most important aspect of the ADAC test.
In terms of comfort of use, we measure:

• Risk of misalignment (40% weight)
• Attaching the child to the seat harness (weight 20%)
• Installing the seat in the car (weight 20%)
• Changing the seat to another car/Adjusting the seat according to the size of the child (weight 10%)
• Instructions for use (weight 8%)
• Cleaning and finishing of the car seat (weight 2%)

In total, the Comfort of Use section is 40% of the overall rating.

3) Seat comfortIn the comfort section, the most important role is played by the comfort of the child. In the seat comfort section, these are measured:

• Seat volume or tightness for a child (weight 40%)
• A lot of seat takes up space in the car (weight 20%)
• Child's sitting position in the seat (weight 20%)
• Seat comfort (weight 20%)

Overall seat comfort is 10% of the overall rating.

P.S. Did you know that you can match a car seat with your child in our stores, right? This way you can be sure if the car seat is suitable for your little one. See the address of your nearest store from here and come visit.

4) Harmful chemicals

The car seat is checked for its chemical load and searched for harmful chemicals. These chemicals include naphthalene, DPHP phthalate, and flame retardants.
The percentage weight of this section is 0%. If the concentration of harmful chemicals is too high, it lowers the rating.

5) How to read the ADAC test results?

An easy rule of thumb is that the smaller the number, the better the result. ADAC also has a traffic light system to facilitate understanding of test results:

Tables of test results are published on the website of the Automobile Federation. From these tables you can see what rating each safety device received in different areas. In the test score tables, pay attention to the +, -, and 0 characters and see the grade of the character in the figure.

“The car seat test published by the Automobile Federation puts the seats under higher stress than the legal requirements, so any seat with a rating of at least satisfactory is a viable option when choosing a seat.” Auto union

We would recommend that attention be paid specifically to grades in different areas. Any car seat may have received an excellent rating for safety, but good or satisfactory for use and seat comfort. The last two areas are a bit more complicated.

First of all, seat comfort is individual. We always recommend that you come and fit the car seat for your own car as well as for your child. This allows you to find out how the car seat fits in your car, whether there is enough space for the car seat, and whether the child will be comfortable in the car seat.

Secondly, Central Europe and the Nordic countries have slightly different standards for the use of car seats. In Central Europe, more children are transported face to face, which is perceived as the most comfortable way. In the Nordic countries, more attention is paid to travel safety and therefore rear-facing car seats are more of a norm — this is also the case in Finland. The ADAC test is carried out in Germany, where it is common to carry children face to face. Thus, the ADAC test classifies face-facing seats as more comfortable than backward-facing seats.

This also means that the rear-facing car seat may have received an excellent rating in the safety section, but it has a lower rating in the comfort section, as it cannot be fitted face to face. In this case, the overall grade drops.

‍

In Finland, according to the recommendations of the Finnish Transport Safety Authority, a child should be transported in the supine direction until at least 4 years of age. This is also Recommendation of the Finnish Automobile Association. Walking in the back direction is 5x safer for the child.

Sources:
https://www.autoliitto.fi/tietoa-tienkayttajalle/turvaistuintestit
https://www.autoliitto.fi/tiedote/vaarin-asennettu-turvaistuin-ei-suojaa-lasta-kunnolla
https://www.autoliitto.fi/tiedote/valtaosa-istuimista-sai-hyvan-arvosanan-turvaistuintestissa
https://www.adac.de/

‍

‍

‍

‍