Midwest Passage 144 lounge vs dinette

[Ilovegoogoo]

I need some advice on picking the seating on the Passage 144 lounge vs dinette. Lounge is 3 seats in the back with one seater bench on each side sitting 5 people while the dinette is four seater bench on each side sitting 8 people. I would love to sit more people but there will be no forward facing seats. Is that a big deal if I do not need to use car seat? Are those side facing seats comfortable? The 3 seats in the back seems to have only 1 good seat as the 2 side seats seems to have no leg room, any people with experience on either seating plan? Thanks.

[BBQ]

[Ilovegoogoo]

My concern is the 2 corner seats in the back, are they comfortable? Seem like no leg room. Any feedback from people with this layout? Thanks.

[Phoebe3]

If you are actually planning on carrying people and you want them to be as safe as possible, I think you need the front-facing sofa. If you are in a side-facing seat and the van comes to an abrupt halt, I would be concerned about serious injuries.