What You Don’t See is the Most Important in Car Buying

This post is sponsored by the Steel Market Development Institute. All opinions expressed in this piece are my own. 

Hey there! The 109th Chicago Auto Show is set to open today, and if this is part of your tradition, you are in for a treat! If it’s your first year going, then may I suggest comfortable clothes, shoes, and the ability to be floored by so much that you see. I’m warning you. This year, I was invited to a media preview to see everything before they opened to the public, and to share with you what I’ve seen. I’m sure that it’s also to invoke a little bit of a desire to get your tush down to McCormick place before the cars zoom out until next year. Something a little different about this year was an invitation that I received from SMDI {Steel Market Development Institute} to come and check out the steel quality on the cars at the show. 

Believe it or not, as light and streamlined as most cars are, you’re probably sitting on a steel frame somewhere. Now, not all of the cars that you see on the road have complete steel frames, BUT you can quickly find out whether or not they do, by asking the dealer if advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) is in that frame. Not only does it help you to get to know what you’re riding around in, but it let’s you know just how safe your car is. Advanced high-strength steel helps improve the safety, performance, value and sustainability of today’s vehicles. You’ll notice that this year’s winners for North American Car, Truck and Utility Vehicle of the Year are the Chevrolet Bolt, Honda Ridgeline and Chrysler Pacifica. All of them have advanced high-strength steel bodies, AND the Pacifica was also named the Family Vehicle of the Year by the Midwest Automotive Media Association. It seems that the Midwest knows a little bit about the importance about what’s safe for families. 

Normally, Mr. Houseful gets to attend the media preview with me, since he’s a writer here too. Unfortunately, with the start of a new {awesome} job, he wasn’t able to attend, and I had to do a little bit of work on his behalf. I started with the beautiful Cadillac CT6 as my first payment of respect to him, and let me tell you, I now understand his love affair with all things Cadillac. We’re already huge lovers of cars in general, but Mr. Houseful loves a larger car. His first purchases were a Mercury Grand Marquis and a Cadillac Brougham that I called the White Cloud. Here I am sitting in the new Cadillac CT6 which has a high-strength steel intensive. 

I was able to take this for a spin in the Concept & Technology Garage as well as the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Yes, it’s as sweet as you imagine. 

Here is the new Kia Stinger, which is just, so sexy. I told you that I appreciate a great car. Looks on the outside, as well as what’s inside is what totally pushes me over the edge. The chassis {base frame of the vehicle} uses 55 percent high-strength steel too! 

I’m going to take a moment to ask you right now if you’re following me on Instagram? If you aren’t, you should be. I share pretty awesome stuff. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQVxdMnBuxS/?taken-by=natashanicholes

A couple of things you should know about steel for cars: 

~ Steel is two to three times less expensive than aluminum. 

~ Steel has the lowest production phase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to alternative materials. 

~ Safety is a function of design. Steel is the most efficient material to achieve high energy and it has higher strength than alternative materials. 

You can always tune in to the blog to see reviews, and we’ll make sure to let you know those cars are steel framed, and how they impact you. 

Remember if you’re in Chicago, to check out the Auto Show. It starts today, and runs through February 20th!