Britax Advocate 70 CS

The Advocate 70 CS (*Est. $ 380) is the biggest and most expensive seat in the Britax line. It has the highest level of safety features of any car seat on the market, including a new, controversial, harness tension alert. The cost, beyond the higher price, is a big, bulky seat that may not fit in all cars.

Extra safety features

The Britax Advocate has head stabilizing wings on its deep, protective sides, a seat base with cells that compress in a crash to reduce forward thrust and integrated steel bars to reduce forward flexing in the seat for greater stability. The side impact cushions add another layer of air-filled padding to the top of the seat around the head area. This makes the hard walls of the seat softer for other rear seat passengers and acts like a shock absorber for the seat. Based on Britax's own research this technology diverts side impact energy away from the child, reducing impact by 45 percent  - but this hasn't been verified by outside testing.

 The Advocate 70 CS has a harness that clicks audibly when it has reached the correct level of tension to safely secure the child. This controversial feature is described by Britax as secondary to parental oversight, but experts say that the indicator might give parents a false sense of security; they urge parents to always check harness security themselves. One user review stated that the click indicator activates before the seat belt is tensioned enough.

Easy to install and use

The Advocate 70 CS has a rolling adjustment knob that sets the harness at a custom height for an exact fit. The lower LATCH attachments click on easily, the harness won't tangle and built-in seatbelt lock-offs allow you to install the seat confidently without LATCH connectors. The front harness adjuster clicks when the harness is secure. The cover is easy to remove and clean.

Comfortable, but large and bulky

The Advocate is plush, roomy and generously padded, and it reclines in the forward and rear-facing positions. But the Advocate's size and weight are important considerations too. With  additional side wings, the Advocate has the potential to make loading and unloading rear-facing kids hard and the side wings may feel restrictive to children. The side cushions on the Advocate increase the seat's intrusion into the back seat. And, while other rear seat passengers may like the seat's soft padding, they may not appreciate the extra space it commands. IF you have the room, the Advocate has an impressive weight rating -- 40 pounds rear-facing and 70 pounds forward-facing, making it a car seat that you can keep your child in for the long haul.

High end products with service to match

No complaints about Britax service were found in our research of the Advocate 70 CS. The Britax website offers comprehensive installation instructions for all car seat models. All Britax car seats carry a one year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship with proof of purchase. Like most car seats, the seat expires and should not be used after seven years. You must have the date of manufacture to download a product manual.

The bottom line

The Britax Advocate 70 CS receives mainly glowing reviews from the parents who use it. The drawbacks to  the Advocate remain its size and its price. Experts' are also concerned that the clicking harness is a potentially harmful gimmick, not a safety feature as it is billed. However, for conscientious parents who adjust the harness carefully, the Advocate 70 CS will carry your child in maximum security into their early school age years.