Buick blends form and function into Cascada safety

The 2016 Buick Cascada convertible set to launch early next year will blend safety, style and space thanks to a reinforced structure designed to maximize versatility.

Instead of a fixed or pop-up hoop-style roll bar, the Cascada features spring-loaded, pyrotechnically activated roll bars that match the height of the windshield when deployed.

Less obtrusive than a traditional roll bar, the pop-up roll bars, as well as the top and its folding mechanism, are stowed below the Cascada's belt line and under a hard tonneau cover.

This provides not just a more streamlined look with the top down, but allows for a 570-mm wide pass-through from the trunk to the passenger compartment.

The Cascada also features press-hardened steel in the inner A-pillar structures, as well as high-strength, hot-rolled and cold-bent tubes within the pillars, reinforced rocker panels, and underbody reinforcements like X- and V-braces.

"That stiffness is at the core of the Cascada's precise, refined driving experience, Cascada structural engineer Bernd Pohl said in a GM statement. "It is exceptionally responsive, with great driver feedback."

The Cascada is set to go on sale in early 2016.