As we noted, roominess and ease of entry were top design priorities and the Park Avenue is a bullseye on both counts. Interior space is just this side of vast, a word that also applies to the trunk. And getting in and out is devoid of the simultaneous duck-and-bend movement required in some swoopier designs, even though the door sill is a trifle higher.
Like the exterior, the interior styling rates as more contemporary than the previous Park Avenue. Over resistance from longtime Buick owners, interior design chief Paul Tatseos managed to break out of the old horizontal dashboard theme that afflicted the '96 Park Avenue by installing a modestly curved cowl over the main instruments. Besides offering a more modern appearance, this allowed a bigger speedometer and tachometer, which makes them easier to scan.
Another welcome change is the general appearance of the dashboard, which shows a strong Riviera influence with its sharp color contrasts between secondary controls (sound and climate control systems, for example) and the interior color schemes. You'll find more woodgrain than in the Riviera, but the overall look is clean and tasteful, and the wood is the real article. Beyond that, the sound system buttons and climate controls are bigger, better located and far easier to operate when the car is in motion.
As you'd expect, the Ultra includes a full array of luxury goodies--premium sound system, automatic climate control, leather, power everything--that make the going more pleasant. A display allows the driver to calculate fuel economy, miles to empty and monitor tire pressure, oil level, coolant level; two trip odometers can be useful on long trips. An electronic display can display cellular telephone status.
Anti-lock brakes come standard. Next Generation (reduced force) dual front airbags are also standard. The Park Avenue offers a strong safety cage construction and the doors are designed to automatically unlock within 15 seconds of an airbag deployment. However, even though side airbags are becoming common in this price class, they have yet to find their way into the Buick lineup.
The Park Avenue offers low insurance costs when compared with other cars. It also offers good fuel efficiency: an EPA-estimated 19 miles per gallon city, 28 mpg highway for Park Avenue and 18/27 for the supercharged Ultra.
A new Concert Sound III stereo system, which comes standard on the Ultra and is available as an option on the Park Avenue, come with nine speakers, an amplifier and an integrated antenna system.
The Park Avenue uses one of the stiffest chassis in the entire GM warehouse. And that's a big plus. A stiff chassis helps the suspension engineers create ride and handling traits appropriate to a particular car's target market. It also makes it easier to keep noise out of the car, and pays long-term durability benefits.
Given this trait, it was interesting to see the handling distinctions between the basic Park Avenue and the flagship Ultra. The ride and handling traits of the standard Park Avenue are all but indistinguishable from its predecessors, traits that have earned big Buick sedans a stodgy image over the years--floaty ride quality, pronounced body roll, and vague power steering.
Thanks to its optional Gran Touring suspension, the responses of our Park Avenue Ultra tester felt much more closely related to the Riviera. The $200 package includes a stiffer suspension, dealer-programmable magnetic variable-effort steering, special 16-inch aluminum wheels and 225/60R16 Goodyear Eagle LS Touring tires and a leather wrapped steering wheel. The steering system, which is different from the basic Park Avenue, varies the amount of power assist as vehicle speed and/or steering wheel angle increases, providing a significantly better sense of where the front wheels are pointed.
More important, the stiffer suspension package--which also reduces ride height slightly--yielded much sharper responses in quick maneuvers. It's not quite as firm as the Riviera, but it's far from flabby and the tradeoff in ride quality from the standard Park Avenue is minuscule.
All in all, the Ultra's enhanced control and firmer ride lends a contemporary feel that's a pleasant step forward for Buick.
Quiet operation has always been a top priority for Buick sedans, and here too the Park Avenues represent a step forward. Wind noise has been reduced to a mere whisper, and the new unitbody does a superior job of keeping road noise out of the cabin. The supercharged engine is audible at full throttle, but we think it's worth a little extra noise to have its superior thrust.
Add roomy seats with real move-around comfort, and the going becomes positively serene, particularly in freeway cruising. The Park Avenue isn't quite as quiet as the Lexus LS 400, but the distinctions are academic in most operating situations--unlike the distinction in price.