ADAC car seat test results 2026: autumn round

ADAC, the German motoring club, crash-tests new child car seats twice a year with other European motoring clubs and consumer organisations. Its frontal crash test puts far more force on a seat than the R129 approval test every seat has to pass, so a good ADAC grade tells you more than the label alone. The autumn 2026 round, published on 20 October, tested 16 seats: seven were good, five satisfactory, two sufficient and two failed.

ADAC grades work like German school marks, so lower is better: 1.6 to 2.5 is good and anything from 4.6 is a fail. The best result went to the Maxi-Cosi Coral Slide Pro infant carrier on its FamilyFix Slide Pro base (2.1). The two seats that failed, the Britax Römer Baby-Safe Pro on the Vario Base 5Z and the Axkid Minikid Core, have led their makers to start recalls that include UK owners.

The best car seats in the autumn 2026 ADAC test

ADAC grades each seat in the way it was fitted, so a carrier tested on its Isofix base and the same carrier fitted with the car's seat belt get separate results. That is why some carriers appear twice among the 16. The best result in each stage:

All 16 autumn 2026 results by stage. Lower is better; the two red results failed and led to recalls, and amber notes flag recalls of older bases or batches.

Every 2026 result, spring included, is in our ADAC results catalogue, where you can filter by stage, brand and test year.

Infant carriers

Four of the eight infant-carrier results were rated good. The Coral Slide Pro on the FamilyFix Slide Pro base was the best seat in the whole test. Its inner carrying part lifts out and weighs only 3 kg, which makes carrying your baby easier, and for bigger babies you can leave the carrier on the base, swivel it and pull it towards the door to lift your baby in. The base itself weighs 12.4 kg, which matters if you move it between cars. If you buy one, check the base: older FamilyFix Slide Pro bases are part of a recall, explained below.

Close behind at 2.2 were the Cybex Cloud G3 + Base G3 and the Joie i-Gemm 3 + i-Base Encore. Both bases can stay in the car and let you swivel the carrier towards the door, and the Cybex base also takes the Sirona G3 toddler seat later. If you will mostly fit the carrier with a seat belt, the Cloud G3 on the belt (2.3) was the best belt-fitted carrier of the round. The i-Gemm 3 scored 2.6 without its base, and ADAC found its lap-belt guides hard to spot, which makes fitting mistakes more likely.

Toddler seats and swivel seats from birth

The Recaro Toron 1 (2.3) is approved from birth to 105 cm, roughly four years, and gave good protection in ADAC's frontal crash test with the child facing backwards. It stays in the car, so you cannot carry a sleeping baby indoors in it, but the shell swivels towards the door for lifting in and out.

For children who have outgrown a carrier, the Cybex Sirona G3 + Base G3 and the Maxi-Cosi MobiFix Pro both scored 2.5. The Sirona G3 covers 61 to 105 cm, rear-facing up to about four or forward-facing from 15 months at the earliest, and uses the same base as the Cloud G3 carrier. The MobiFix Pro faces backwards only, up to 125 cm or about six years, and gave very good protection in the frontal crash. Its big shell needs a lot of room, so ADAC advises trying it in your car before you buy, and taller children have limited legroom.

The Toron 1, Sirona G3 and MobiFix Pro cannot be fitted with a seat belt. They need Isofix and fit only i-Size seating positions or cars on the maker's vehicle list, so check that list first.

High-back boosters

Only two boosters were tested this time and neither was rated good. The Lionelo Neal i-Size (3.5) gave average protection in the front and side crash tests and weighs about 7 kg, which helps if it moves between cars, but ADAC found raised levels of harmful substances in its cover. The Joie i-Provo (3.6), the cheapest seat in the round and very light at about 3 kg, only managed sufficient because its side-impact protection was weak. Which? also lists it as a Don't Buy.

Across both 2026 rounds, none of the five high-back boosters for children from 100 to 150 cm scored good for safety. The best overall was the Kinderkraft Junior Fix 2 i-Size (2.5) from spring, which is one of our high-back booster picks. ADAC suggests waiting until about four before moving to a booster, because younger children tend to slump forward when they fall asleep.

Where harmful substances cost marks

ADAC checks the covers your child touches for harmful substances and, since 2025, for PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals. Anything worse than good pulls the overall grade down. The Avionaut Aerofix Smart + IQ Orbit was satisfactory for safety but finished at 3.8 because of raised PFAS levels in its cover. The Avova Alera X1 was safe and easy to use but slipped to 2.8, held back by the substances found in its cover. The Axkid Minikid Core's cover contained flame retardants suspected of promoting cancer, on top of its crash failure.

Failed or recalled: is your seat affected?

Two seats failed this autumn and one failed in spring, and the base used by this round's best carrier is being recalled. All four have been sold in the UK. Britax, Axkid and Maxi-Cosi are replacing or updating affected products, and ADAC reports that Kinderkraft offers an exchange or return. Check the label and follow the steps for your seat.

Britax Römer Baby-Safe Pro on the Vario Base 5Z

In ADAC's frontal crash, with the carrier in its flattest recline on the Vario Base 5Z, the harness buckle opened and the dummy was thrown out (5.5). Fitted with the seat belt and no base, the same carrier scored 3.1. Which? has also made the pair a Don't Buy.

Britax is recalling a limited number of Baby-Safe Pro carriers made between 26 December 2025 and 30 September 2026 whose buckles came from one production batch, whether they were sold alone or with the base. The model name is on the label under the carrier, and the manufacturing date (DOM or Y/M/D) is on the white label. Enter the serial number, printed under the barcode or on the white label, in Britax's Baby-Safe Pro check. Affected owners can get a replacement or a free update.

Until you know, use the carrier only upright on the Vario Base 5Z, or fit it without the base using the car's seat belt, which is the option ADAC prefers.

Axkid Minikid Core

In ADAC's frontal crash, with the seat reclined and a dummy weighing 23 kg, the support leg released and retracted fully, and the buckle of the five-point harness broke out of the seat shell. Together with the flame retardants in its cover, that gave it 5.5. Axkid has stopped selling it and is recalling it, and the recall is listed by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). Which? lists it as a Don't Buy.

To register, find the Car Seat ID on the label underneath the seat. It starts with E9, so do not use the sales number. Send it with a photo of the label through Axkid's product safety page. The United Kingdom is in the form's country list, and the replacement applies even if you bought from a shop. Axkid says the seat can be used until the replacement arrives.

You can choose a Minikid 4 Pro now or wait for an updated Minikid 4 Core, which has no launch date yet. Before you pick the 4 Pro, check that your car is on Axkid's approved list. It fits with the seat belt, extra lower straps and a support leg, and ADAC rated it 3.6 (sufficient) in spring because fitting it and strapping your child in are fiddly enough to raise the risk of mistakes. Which? also lists the Minikid 4 Pro as a Don't Buy.

Kinderkraft Mink Pro 2 on the Mink FX 2 base (spring round)

In ADAC's spring frontal crash, the carrier came off its Isofix base and was thrown through the car (5.5). Fitted with the car's seat belt instead, it gave good crash protection, although narrow, hard-to-see belt guides make fitting mistakes more likely (3.3 overall). Which? lists the pair as a Don't Buy.

ADAC reports that Kinderkraft offers customers an exchange or a return of the carrier and base, so contact Kinderkraft UK if you use them together. Until then, fit the carrier with the seat belt and follow the belt route in the manual closely: that is the setup ADAC found protective.

Maxi-Cosi FamilyFix Slide Pro base

This is a recall rather than a test failure, but it affects the base used by this autumn's best carrier. Maxi-Cosi is recalling FamilyFix Slide Pro bases (reference 8065057110) made between August 2025 and 24 March 2026. If the carrier is taken off the wrong way, the indicator can show green at the next fitting even when the carrier is not fully locked on. Bases made after 24 March 2026 are not affected, and older bases with Maxi-Cosi's green sticker have already been reworked.

Enter the reference number and manufacturing date from the label under the base in Maxi-Cosi's product checker. Affected owners get a free replacement base, which Maxi-Cosi says arrives within three to five working days. The UK product safety alert tells owners of affected bases to stop using them, so fit your Coral Slide Pro or Pebble Slide Pro with the car's seat belt until the new base arrives.

Spring 2026 recap: 26 seats

The spring round, tested in May 2026, rated six of its 26 results good, 16 satisfactory, three sufficient and one a fail. What stood out:

• The best grade of 2026 so far went to the Foppapedretti Disk Infant i-Size on its Tech i-Size base (1.9), or 2.2 fitted with the seat belt.
• The Silver Cross Glide Plus 360 scored 2.4 fitted with the seat belt but only 3.1 on its Base Plus 360, so a base does not always improve the result.
• The Cybex Sirona Ti (2.5) is a swivel seat from birth to about four (40 to 105 cm). It is very heavy and fits with Isofix only.
• The Cybex Pallas G3 (2.5) faces forward only, with an impact shield up to 105 cm, so it is approved from 15 months at the earliest. Not every child accepts a shield, so try it before you buy.
• The Kinderkraft Junior Fix 2 i-Size (2.5) was the best-rated high-back booster of the year.
• The Kinderkraft Mink Pro 2 on the Mink FX 2 base failed, as described above.
• Three seats were rated sufficient: the Axkid Minikid 4 Pro (3.6), the Jané Concord Kombikid + Kombibase (3.8, pulled down by harmful substances in the cover) and the Lionelo Lavender i-Size (3.9, weak safety; Lionelo says the seat has since been changed).

How to use these results when buying in the UK

Match the exact seat, base and fitting

An ADAC grade belongs to the exact combination that was tested. In 2026 the same carrier scored very differently depending on how it was fitted:

• Britax Römer Baby-Safe Pro: 3.1 on the seat belt, 5.5 on the Vario Base 5Z
• Kinderkraft Mink Pro 2: 3.3 on the seat belt, 5.5 on the Mink FX 2 base
• Maxi-Cosi Coral Slide Pro: 3.0 on the seat belt, 2.1 on the FamilyFix Slide Pro base
• Silver Cross Glide Plus 360: 2.4 on the seat belt, 3.1 on the Base Plus 360

So compare the full name, including the base, and plan to fit the seat the way it was tested. ADAC also warns that not every Isofix base fits every seat from the same brand, so buy the seat and base together.

Check the label and your car

In the UK, children must normally use a child car seat until they are 12 years old or 135 cm tall. Only approved seats can be used: look for a capital E in a circle with R129 (height-based seats) or ECE R44 (weight-based seats) on the label. Height-based seats must face backwards until your child is over 15 months old.

Then check the seat fits your car. Isofix-only seats such as the Toron 1, Sirona G3 and MobiFix Pro need an i-Size seating position or a car on the maker's vehicle list. ADAC suggests taking your child and your car to a shop to try the seat before buying: it should sit tightly and firmly, should not hit the car's interior when you swivel it or raise the headrest, and should leave enough room between it and the front seat.

For the full checklist, including second-hand seats, see how to check a car seat is really safe. If you are still choosing a first seat, our best baby car seats from birth cover light carriers, swivel bases and a fixed seat.

Be wary of very cheap seats from overseas websites

For the first time, ADAC also crash-tested three seats bought from online platforms outside Europe, and none met its requirements. Seats from the Verodie and Wecro webshops came without instructions or an approval label, so they cannot legally be used, and in the frontal crash their harness buckles gave way and the dummy was barely held back. An infant carrier bought on AliExpress did carry R129 approval, but in the side crash the dummy's head hit the door.

A seat without the E mark and an R129 or R44 label cannot be used in the UK, whatever it costs. Even with a label, ADAC recommends buying from a shop where you can try the seat in your car rather than relying on price or online reviews.

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