The Britax Advocate 70 Car Seat - Is It Really an Improvement?

When you think of sequels, you are usually thinking about movies. But even a car seat can have a sequel. The Britax Advocate 70 is the new replacement for the now discontinued Advocate 65, which was a well-engineered child seat that came with many desirable features. The question is, is this new version any real improvement over its predecessor? The answer is a resounding yes! Here are just a few of the ways Britax has managed to improve on this already fantastic design.One of the features that really impressed me about the Advocate was the use of side impact cushions. While these did have the drawback of making the car seat slightly wider than normal, they were intended to provide an extra level of protection in the event of a side impact. The latest version of the Advocate improves upon this feature, and Britax reports that this new Side Impact Cushion Technology reduces the side-impact force by 45%. This means that more of the energy is diverted away from your child upon impact, as the new cushions compress and redirect the force better. These cushions also serve double duty as a way of protecting other passengers, including adults who may be shoved against the car seat's exterior during a collision.The capacity of the seat as also been upgraded with the version 70. The older model 65 could only hold children in its rear facing configuration up to 35 pounds and only to 65 pounds when facing forward. The Advocate 70 has raised the capacity by five pounds in both configurations: 40 pounds rear-facing and 70 pounds forward-facing.The new model also features low gravity control that will minimize felt impact and any whiplash during an accident. Amazingly, this actually gives the new Advocate 70 the ability to pass the tether test without actually having to use its built-in tether!Many other improvements were added as well, including smoothing out the belt system and adding a color coded locking mechanism on the buckles so that you can see at a glance if your child is fully secure.All these features add up to be a fantastic improvement on an already tried and true design. Britax has really done great job with the Advocate 70 by making it one of the safest, most robust car seats on the market today. If you are looking for a top-quality child seat, you would be hard pressed to find a better choice than the Advocate 70.