Buick Enclave Interior Review
The cabin is what sets the Buick Enclave from other seven- and eight-passenger crossovers. Starting with the double-wave dashboard and instrument panel and going all the way back to the rear cargo floor, it's as modern as tomorrow and as functional as a Swiss Army knife.
The chrome-ringed white-on-black instruments and analog clock are highly styled, with a soft blue-green illumination (which is repeated around the perimeter of the headlamp), and halo lighting at night. The graphics are large and clear, and the wood is real. On the CXL version, the steering wheel is leather and mahogany, with 10 switches and controls mounted on it for easy use. Layout is typically GM, with a large, bright navigation screen low enough to be shaded, high enough to be seen without distraction. The dead pedal on the far left of the floor is the first one we know of to be specially designed for use by women wearing high-heeled shoes.
Because it's rigged for seven or eight passengers, buyers have a couple of options: The standard seven-passenger, 2-2-3 seating scheme uses second-row captain's chairs with a feature called Smart Slide that allows easy entry into the third row by flopping the seats forward and sliding them fore and aft; this can also be ordered with a second floor console for storage and 12-volt power. Or, there's a second-row bench seat that makes for a 2-3-3 seating scheme for a total of eight passengers.
Either way, the driver gets an eight-way power bucket seat and the front passenger gets a four-way power bucket seat. All the seats we sat in were comfortable and supportive.
Storage space and flexibility gets high marks. There's 19 cubic feet of cargo room just inside the power tailgate behind the third row, 66 cubic feet with the third row seats down, and 115 cubic feet with both rows folded. And if you need to, you can flop the passenger seat over as well for extra-long cargoes. There's storage on top of the dash for sunglasses, iPods, and cellphones. There's another 4 cubic feet of storage space under the rear cargo floor. Buick says the Enclave has 24 storage areas, counting door pockets, under-seat areas, and built-in storage. The Buick Enclave has more cargo volume than the Acura MDX, the Lexus RX, Volvo XC90, and Audi Q7.
Buick Enclave Road Test
The Buick Enclave offers brisk acceleration performance. Buick claims a 0–60 time of 8.2 seconds, not bad for 5000 pounds. Its 3.6-liter V6 engine features a special intake system for increased power. Its six-speed automatic transmission benefits from special gearing that gives a 14.2 overall ratio in first gear for rapid acceleration and a 2.33:1 ratio in sixth gear overdrive that lets the engine run at very relaxed rpm at Interstate cruising speeds. So you get quick acceleration performance for jumping on the freeway, but long-legged relaxed cruising at high speeds.
Equipped with GM's new high-feature 3.6-liter V6, the Enclave offers good acceleration performance while scoring an EPA-estimated 16/22 City/Highway mpg. By comparison, the Cadillac Escalade is rated 13/20 mpg. The Enclave is 800 pounds lighter than the Escalade and its V6 is more fuel-efficient than the Escalade's V8.
For some years now, Buicks have been all about living your driving life in splendid isolation, and that's true is spades with this big empty box called Enclave, the toughest kind of vehicle to quiet down. The Buick folks have taken dozens of time-consuming and expensive steps to quiet down the engine, transmission, all-wheel-drive system, and tires, isolate the front and rear suspension and steering from the cabin, and wrap the entire package in sound-deadening materials in the floor, pillars and doors, all under the rubric of Quiet Ride. In lab tests, the Buick Enclave is quieter than the Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and Acura competition, and in our road-driving experience in Missouri, was extremely quiet. Conversations between first-row and third-row occupants at 70-plus mph were heard and understood in normal speaking voices, and the XM satellite music played through loud and clear at reasonable volumes.
The suspension underneath the Lambda platform, at least on the Buick version, is far more sophisticated, far sharper in handling and far more compliant and comfortable than what we've come to expect from this class of vehicles. The rear suspension is especially complex and expensive, designed to work well with or without the rear-drive portion of the all-wheel-drive system, and using elaborate aluminum H-arms to put the wheels out as far as possible to the corners and allow for a wide, flat load floor up above.
Flying around on Ozark Mountain two-lane roads or humming down the Interstate 44 and 64 network in and around St. Louis, the Enclave showed us accurate steering, although a bit numb. It provided a quiet, compliant ride, and very, very quiet road behavior.
The all-wheel-drive system operates automatically, full-time all the time, adjusting to road speed, throttle position and the relative speeds of each of the four tires, wet or dry. We think the all-wheel drive is well worth the extra money. Normally, it is biased 90/10 front/rear torque split, normally operates between 40/60 and 60/40 in most driving, and can divert 100 percent of available torque to the rear wheels if necessary. No buttons, no ranges, no fuss, just traction.
Buick Enclave Lineup
At introduction, there will be two models, the Buick Enclave CX and the CXL. Both come with the high-feature 3.6-liter 24-valve V6 with variable valve timing. The standard CX comes with front-wheel drive ($32,790), while the CX AWD ($34,790) features all-wheel drive. The CXL also comes with a choice of front-drive ($34,990) or AWD ($36,990). At this stage, no hybrid or diesel version is on the horizon.
Options are many, including a range of three entertainment packages: Package 1 ($980) includes a 6CD changer, MP3 player, rear seat audio, and Bose speakers; Package 3 ($3025) adds a DVD touch-screen navigation and backup camera in addition to the other elements. The Luxury package ($925) includes heated outside power folding mirrors with turn-signal repeaters, steerable headlamps, tilt and telescope steering, and a 110-volt power outlet; the Driver Confidence package ($520) includes remote engine start, ultrasonic rear parking assist, and heated washer fluid. Freestanding options include chromed aluminum 19-inch wheels ($1495), metallic clearcoat paint ($170), a power sunroof with a second-row skylight ($1300). Other options include the Panasonic DVD rear-entertainment system, trailer towing ($350), power sunroof ($800), fog lamps ($115), cargo cover ($50), cargo divider, chrome trim package, and a 6CD upgrade ($295).
Safety features that come standard include OnStar emergency communications (with turn-by-turn navigation), anti-lock brakes, traction control, and StabiliTrak electronic stability control. Enclave is rated as a five-star front-crash, five-star side-crash and four-star rollover safety vehicle by the federal government.