Road Test: 2009 Buick Enclave

Buick Enclave

I was not prepared to be impressed with the Buick Enclave. A pal of mine who experienced some of GM's poor quality a few years back thinks I'm crazy to like this SUV so much.

But here it is, knocking my socks off with an elegant, tight-fitting interior as good - dare I say it - as any Lexus I've tested. The controls, instruments, buttons and overall layout genuinely took me by surprise the second I climbed inside my $43,785, as-tested 2009 model.

Panel gaps were tight. Visibility was good and the cloth seats were very comfy. The wood and leather steering wheel felt wonderful to hold. There was not one squeak or rattle the whole week I drove it. And quiet? Close your eyes and you'd swear you were being chauffeured in a Mercedes S-Class, much of that silence thanks to GM's QuietTuning that reduces noise at source (such as tires) and employs sound-deadening material, from special carpet to laminated glass.

It's not much of a stretch to say the Enclave is proof General Motors deserved to be bailed out with billions of taxpayer dollars, that GM can build really good cars and trucks when it tries hard enough.

Sure, there were a couple of things that disappointed, such as the tiny, hard-to-see backup camera image in the rear-view mirror, and a six-speed transmission that balked at being driven aggressively - almost as if it preferred to be driven like I was collecting a pension.

At that pace, or any other day-to-day driving style in adult fashion, however, the Enclave was difficult to fault. No question, there is a feeling of bulk and mass that revealed my two-wheel-drive vehicle's 2,168 kilograms; but the power-assisted steering felt ultra-light and it was able to point the vehicle with ease. Parking was by no means a breeze, but manoevring through city traffic was never a burden.

The pull from the 3.6-litre, 288-horsepower V6 was satisfactory under most conditions, though a boost in torque from the factory-rated 270 pound-feet would not go unappreciated, especially when passing on the highway - though this Enclave can tow 2,045 kilograms.

Braking was solid, firm and properly weighted, with slightly more than average dive under hard stops. Fuel consumption, in part due to the engine's

direct injection, averaged an impressive eight to nine litres per 100 kilometres on the highway and 13.1 under my impatient foot in the city. The official rating is 10.8 combined. Not bad for such a big beast.

Equally impressive is the cargo room when all the seats are folded, creating a cave inside similar to a minivan, able to accept eight-foot-long lumber. There's an easily accessible third row of seats, too - as standard equipment - so families with three children can allow each child to invite a friend to the cottage. With all the seats up, luggage space falls to a meagre 232 cubic feet behind the last row, but that's still as good, or better, than most of the Enclave's competitors, which include the Acura MDX, Audi Q7, Volvo XC90 and Lexus RX 350, to name a few.

All of these vehicles boast a distinctive design - the Q7 and MDX wearing, perhaps, the sexiest lingerie of the bunch. But the Enclave is elegant, quietly good-looking, with graceful lines that reveal a focused attention to design, all of which help make the Enclave look smaller than it really is.

The front is especially appealing, despite the faux engine vents in the hood, and the standard 18-inch wheels look OK, though the 19-inch, seven-spoke chrome rims seem better suited for such a large vehicle. For the truly chic, 20-inch wheels are available as a dealer option.

Standard features on the Enclave include fog lamps, power liftgate, tri-zone climate control, OnStar, Bluetooth and XM satellite radio (free for three months only). The standard five-year, 160,000-km powertrain warranty is a bonus.

All of this makes the Enclave more than a contender in the luxury SUV marketplace. I have to admit the Enclave was one of the more satisfying SUVs I've driven. It's great-looking, great to drive and good value, too, attributes I never expected to laud upon a Buick.

Buick LaCrosse

Buick LaCrosse 2010

Buick LaCrosse 2010

Buick LaCrosse 2010

For 2010, the Buick Allure is renamed the Buick LaCrosse, a name that was always used for the model in the U.S.

Completely redesigned, the 2010 LaCrosse becomes a luxury sedan, with numerous new safety and technology features, available all-wheel drive, and a choice of two V6 engines. Designed collaboratively between designers in the U.S. and China, and with chassis and body engineers in Europe, it is the first General Motors vehicle to be created on three continents. Production moves from Ontario to Kansas.

The LaCrosse uses a new 3.0-litre direct injection V6 engine in the CX and CXL trim lines, and a 3.6-litre direct injection V6 in the CXS model. Both use a six-speed automatic transmission.

Features on the CX include 17-inch wheels and premium cloth seats.

The CXL adds dual-zone automatic climate control, fog lamps, and mirrors with integrated turn signals and puddle lamps. The available all-wheel drive system uses an electronic limited-slip differential, which splits torque across the axle to whichever wheel has more traction for enhanced control on slippery roads.

The CXS adds 18-inch alloy wheels, real-time active damping system, and perforated leather heated and ventilated seats. An optional Touring Package adds 19-inch alloy wheels.

Available options include navigation system, Bluetooth connectivity, auxiliary audio input and USB port, power rear window sunshade, DVD entertainment system with twin seatback-mounted display screens, head-up display, adaptive xenon headlamps, and Blind Zone Alert technology to identify vehicles travelling in the driver's blind spot.

2010 Buick LaCrosse CXS

The LaCrosse comes with a navigation system, heated leather seats, a satellite radio (standard equipment on the LaCrosse) and a backup camera along with all the usual high-end options. -photo © General Motors

It's been awhile since we've seen dealers of American cars excited about their products, and back in the day they were usually excited over the newer, larger cars and engines, though around 1969 they got pumped up a bit on what would become known as "muscle cars" and "pony cars." These were essentially just a mix of large engines in smaller cars, or they were everyone's version of the Mustang, hence, "pony" cars.

There is a bit of that going on now, and the automakers are putting pressure on NASCAR to race what the automakers are building and selling, with hopes of bringing back the concept of "win on Sunday, sell on Monday." The NASCAR Nationwide series will go to pony cars for them that has them, that is, Ford with the Mustang and Dodge with the really neat Challenger. Chevy is balking at running the Camaro in the group, and Toyota will probably go with a version of the Solara.

But the domestic dealers are high on all of their new stuff, and they should be. Chevy's Malibu is a terrific car, maybe the best thing Chevy has ever done, and the new Equinox is a great reinvention of the classic American four-door sedan, particularly as it doesn't look anything like a four-door sedan. And Buick is over the moon about the new Buick LaCrosse, another version of a four-door sedan that really doesn't look like a four-door sedan although it is.

The domestic automakers and a good bit of the rest of the world have also discovered the joys of both direct fuel injection and many-speed transmissions. Previous fuel injection has mostly been "port" fuel injection, meaning the fuel was injected as a spray into the intake ports. Better and more fuel-efficient than carburetion, but not nearly as good (or as complex or expensive) as direct injection.

One of the first shocks was the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, with a 3.6-liter V6 engine, direct injection and a six-speed automatic that cranked out 304 horsepower and got over 27 mpg on the highway. This new Buick LaCrosse has a version of all that but in a different package. In addition, there are smaller engines available, still with direct injection and General Motors six-speed automatic.

In the car provided by Buick for evaluation, the new for 2010 Buick LaCrosse CXS was equipped with the larger V6 and is rated at 280 horsepower with EPA economy ratings of 17 miles per gallon in the city and 27 mpg on the highway. While we didn't get the chance to check highway fuel economy (and the LaCrosse was brand new, with less than 2,000 miles on it when we returned it), we did average 17.9 mpg for the entire week of basically in-town driving.

And, yes, one person did mistake the new Buick LaCrosse for a Lexus, so their ads aren't too far off the mark. What's even more important is that GM and the rest of the American auto world are learning the value of classier interior design and appointments, though the Equinox we tested had rather a downscale and very plastic hood over the instrument pod. No such problem with the LaCrosse; everything is top notch all the way.

Buick Names New Mid-Size Sedan

In their infinite wisdom (cue sarcasm), General Motors decided to kill of Pontiac, and dump the newfound capital into Buick; a dying brand best known for their land barges and nearly dead clientele.

Having found a huge market in China, the once-great brand needs some serious reinvention in North America. While the seven-passenger Enclave debuted to rave reviews, it simply hasn’t been able to achieve the popularity it needs to with the younger market that has no need for such a vast vehicle. Which brings us to this: the currently Chinese market mid-size Buick sedan. Based on the Opel Insignia, the car has been incredibly popular in China, and will be exported to North America shortly under a new name. And that name will apparently be Regal. Having taken a six-year hiatus, the Regal nameplate last appeared on a behemoth of a sedan known for being almost as good as a Cadillac. And one can’t help but wonder why GM would once again choose to resurrect such a reputation, to say nothing of aligning that reputation with what definitely appears to be the most youthful and attractive Buick in recent memory.

A Regal return for Buick sedan

General Motors Co. announced Wednesday that Buick's next midsize sports sedan will be the Regal.

Dealers were told the news during a Buick-GMC dealer meeting in Detroit, which included a pep talk by new Chairman Ed Whitacre, according to Dayna Hart, a GM spokeswoman.

"The transformation of Buick began with our luxury crossover, the Buick Enclave, and continued this year with the launch of the 2010 LaCrosse premium sedan," Susan Docherty, GM's incoming U.S. sales vice president, said in a statement.

The vehicle is to be in showrooms in six months. The last Regal ended production in 2004.

Buick Regal Spotted, Posted On Facebook; GS Sport Model Rumored

Just this week, we got the official word that the Buick Regal nameplate would return to the U.S. in the form of a GM Epsilon-platform based car that's essentially a re-badged Opel/Vauxhall Insignia. Today, we get a peek at what it should look like thanks to Facebook. What appears to be the U.S.-spec Regal has been spotted and posted on the car's Facebook page. The user who uploaded the image claims he saw the car being photographed at Grand Rapids Art Museum in Michigan.

The Regal name, which was discontinued in the U.S. 2004, has soldiered on in China. An Epsilon-based Regal has been available in Chinese-spec trim for some time (click here for our First Drive), and we've been curious as to what changes the U.S. model would receive. Not surprisingly, our Regal looks to have borrowed heavily from the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia version, showing similar fog lights and grille opening. Predictably, the U.S. Regal's grille retains the "waterfall" vertical chrome lines as opposed to the Insignia's horizontal slices, although it looks to have dispensed with the Chinese version's chrome faux fender vents. While there are probably a few more changes in store for the U.S. model, this looks to be pretty close to what we'll see in Buick showrooms.

Buick Allure Details and pictures

When Buick introduced the new LaCrosse, dubbed Allure in here Canada due to some Quebecois teenage slang associated with “la crosse” that didn’t sit well with GM’s executive staff (something about a specific self-gratifying behaviour and/or swindling), I was there at the automaker’s Oshawa, Ontario headquarters.

While a few of us looked at one another in disbelief as GM staffers introduced it as a totally new look for Buick, wondering what it must be like to live in a uniquely sheltered society where even the slightest modification appeared dramatic, none of us cared that the car had a different name than its US counterpart; although I shared my concern that it wouldn’t benefit as much from the marketing bleed of the brand’s US division as it could if it carried the same name. C’est la vie dans Canada, eh?

In my review of the car I compared it directly with the Camry, the segment sales leader of the day. The Allure won in every category, including expected reliability, and while I found and still find the styling a bit derivative, it’s proven to have become a very good car. I was impressed with the car, said so, and still think so.

It was a great car, and probably the most significant GM model of its era in that it ushered in a new level of quality, especially inside where its materials, fit and finish and general ambiance was a cut above almost everything the automaker had made up to that point, well, in recent years anyway, and gave me hope that the new direction that GM execs had bantered about for years leading up to its launch, was actually starting to take shape. The rest is history, with the Saturn Aura that came after winning North American Car of the Year, and the more recent Malibu following suit last year.

Now we have the 2010 LaCrosse... er... Allure. Of course, it won’t matter all that much what it’s called in either country, because GM has started to refigure something they once knew better than almost any other automaker, styling sells. Where some of us were left feeling a bit flat at the original Allure, this upcoming 2010 model, designed via a collaboration between GM’s US and Chinese operations at its new Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), should lay such criticisms to rest. Its Invicta Concept-inspired styling, a car introduced at the 2008 Beijing Auto Show, squarely targets the traditional North American Buick buyer, who remains older than average despite inroads to younger buyers that the brand has enjoyed with its highly successful Enclave crossover while, like that Enclave it should appeal to the forty- to fifty-something crowd too.