2013 Buick Encore Premium review

Between China (for which I'm sure this trucklet was designed), retirees with a place up north, and some hoped-for young people coming into the Buick fold, I predict a bright Encore future. I think the thing will be a great seller for Buick. 'Course, I've been wrong before…

I don't think I am this time, though. For starters I think the design fits the vehicle's size. It looks good and well-proportioned to my eye.

Next, a small Chevrolet Sonic-based ute could be a great idea, especially as gas prices rise. Viewed in that light, as a semi luxurious small SUV, there is literally no competition, or none that I can think of anyway. And the higher those gas prices go, the more customers this baby SUV will potentially attract. If those people who are new to the fold are younger, all the better for Buick.

I was surprised how well the Encore drove. Maybe my expectations were low but this is a thoroughly likeable little truck and that is good news for Buick. It's not a rocket by any means, but it sips gas, feels solid and of high quality (especially for such a small package), and like other Buicks, is nice and quiet going about its business with double-laminated glass and more sound-deadening material. It's relaxing where other small cars and trucks can be a bit frenetic.

There is a ton of room inside in terms of front-seat room and cargo space. The back seat is a wee bit tight. Fit and finish is good and there are high-quality, soft-touch materials throughout.

I really didn't know what to expect when handed the Encore keys. After driving it I believe Buick found a space in the market where few if any competitors exist. Thus I think, as I said before, the Encore will be a hit.

ASSOCIATE EDITOR JAKE LINGEMAN: I took the 2013 Buick Encore home for the weekend and though I was initially disappointed -- we have a Porsche 911, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Aston Martin Vanquish in the fleet -- the small SUV turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

I'm still not a fan of the look of the vehicle. It looks a bit too busy for the Buick name and a bit too futuristic. I dig the headlights but I don't like the blue-tinted bulbs, it definitely throws off a weird accent with the brown exterior. If the car was blue or white, it might look kind of cool. I also continue to abhor any sort of black body cladding, wherever it may be, I understand it protects the paint at its more perilous spots, but Porsche does the same protecting with a clear film. I'm sure this is cheaper.

That being said, the interior of the Encore is great, in both fashion and function. I enjoyed the baseball-mitt brown leather with dark brown accents. The seats were comfortable, I had no trouble adjusting them where I wanted, and it was easy to get in and out. I do wish more manufacturers had height adjustment for the front and back of the seat bottom. I like to be coddled.

The infotainment was mediocre in execution. It connected to my Apple iPhone quickly but some of the buttons are ambiguous, and I couldn't find the enter/go forward button on the center stack, just a jog dial and joystick.

The 1.4-liter turbo four is surprisingly potent in the Encore. It wasn't fast, by any means, but I never had a hard time getting up to or keeping expressway speed. There were a few downshifts though when passing on the highway. The six-speed automatic is a great piece.

The price is right for a small luxury SUV at around $30k. Give me a one-color option with no body cladding and I'd seriously consider it.

DIGITAL EDITOR ANDREW STOY: Buick has put together a delightful little commuter here, and I hope they do well with it. The Encore does more than I would have thought possible with its Chevrolet Sonic underpinnings, creating a “right-sized” runabout with decent room for a family of four and a little bit of luggage. Ironically, a similarly sized sedan would probably offer more cargo room than this crossover, but folks like their soft-roaders these days, so Buick is simply answering the market.

Folks also like their amenities, and our little Encore was full of 'em. Remote starter, heated seats and, yes, heated steering wheel…one of my new favorite features. The leather was good quality, and I found the aforementioned baseball-glove interior motif attractive, even if the surfaces weren't exactly Mercedes-Benz S-class to the touch.

Somehow Buick made the Encore feel light on its feet despite the fact that, at 3,300 lbs, it's not, and it's only got 1.4-liters to pull it around. Far from fast, the gearing maximizes the engine's low-end torque to keep things moving along at any speed. I suppose the takeaway for folks who fret about such things as displacement is that the Encore scoots along just fine.

Since I'm still licking my wounds from the last time I called something a chick car, I'll refer to the Encore as “styled with an eye toward female customers.” The combination of steep hood drop-off and an utter lack of overhangs maximize interior space but it neuters the design. It's not unattractive, mind you -- just a bit frumpy.

But if you're digging it, go drive one -- the Encore is a pretty strong statement in favor of Buick's affordable luxury credo.

2013 Buick Encore Premium

Base Price: $30,440

As-Tested Price: $32,230

Drivetrain: 1.4-liter turbocharged I4; AWD, six-speed automatic

Output: 138 hp @ 4,900 rpm, 148 lb-ft @ 1,850 rpm

Curb Weight: 3,309 lb

Fuel Economy (EPA City/Highway/Combined): 23/30/26 mpg

AW Observed Fuel Economy: 24.5 mpg

Options: Eighteen-inch chromed aluminum wheels ($995); audio system including navigation including AM/FM/SiriusXM stereo with 7-inch screen, USB port, input jack, Buick Intellilink ($795)

2014 Buick LaCrosse drive

"This is probably the nicest car you've ever driven," promised Jeff Yanssens, Buick's chief engineer, during the introduction of the car he worked on: the 2014 Buick LaCrosse. "I feel comfortable saying that."


Whoa, Yanssens -- we here at Autoweek have driven some pretty terrific cars in our illustrious history, just sayin'. But Yanssens is basing this on the LaCrosse's utter serenity and comfort -- and judging by that merit, the LaCrosse becomes a car with priorities that are set in stone.


For 2014 everything behind the firewall is brand new, claims GM. (Even the hood-mounted portholes, which now resemble teardrops or falling leaves -- how poetic.) This refresh's theme is tech: adaptive cruise control makes its first appearance on the LaCrosse, and the vibrating seat alert system from the Cadillac ATS worms its way in as well. In the $2,125 "Driver Confidence I" package, forward collision alert, side blind zone warning, lane change alert, lane departure warning, and rear cross traffic alert ensure that the car will beep and honk noisily at you no matter from what direction obstacles come at you.


Lastly, the interior is restyled, and rather handsomely: the button cornucopia has been eschewed for clean touch panels for the dual-zone climate control. Rear headroom is excellent, the seats softer and better contoured than before. And how does an Ultra Luxury package sound with Tamo Ash wood -- real wood, in fact; what a novel idea -- and dark red Semi-Aniline leather seats in "sangria"?


The engines are the least-new part of this new LaCrosse. Carryover units from last year, one can opt his LaCrosse with a 2.4-liter inline-four with eAssist mild electrification. It's now standard on four-cylinder models. Or, one can procure the 3.6-liter V6 engine, with a stout 304 horsepower and direct injection. Both get 6-speed manual transmissions and the option of FWD or AWD.


Yanssens boasted of the 2014 LaCrosse: "This rides better than any Cadillac I know." Yes, even the XTS. He would know. He also worked on the XTS. Which, of course, shares the Epsilon II platform with the LaCrosse and Impala, but not the onanism-referencing Canadian slang in its nameplate. If you're wondering, Buick has long since stopped caring about that.


What's it Like to Drive?


We drove both front-drive and all-wheel-equipped LaCrosses, both with the 3.6-liter V6 -- a test of the 4-cylinder model will be coming soon. The first car was equipped with HiPerStrut, the trick new front suspension setup from Europe that promises to alleviate torque steer and add crisper steering.


Turns out, it only does one of those. The steering in our front-drive model was dead on arrival: flimsy, slow turn-in, no semblance of an actual connection with the front wheels. Acceleration from 304 hp was lusty, with no twitching up the steering column -- but the 6-speed automatic transmission was flustered even in traffic, and especially on the hilly roads north of Malibu, venturing into Thousand Oaks. The sloppy transmission programming threatens to undermine the smoothness that Buick wants to achieve with the LaCrosse. This engine likes to hang onto its revs after the throttle is lifted, reluctant to downshift and slow to react. The AWD system was a stronger handler around twistier roads, and its steering was tighter -- but it was also aggressively heavier, presumably to impart a semblance of sporty weight. The Buick also rode well in both front and back seats.


New for 2014, the adaptive cruise control works well but is still confused by cars in the parallel lane. It will lower and increase speeds until below 25 mph, whereupon it sets off more warnings and Klaxons than the 173rd Airborne scrambling for a sniper attack.


It is quiet, though. At 70 mph the loudest noise in comes from the ticking of my extravagant manual-wind wristwatch and perhaps the uncomfortable grunts of the Buick public-relations officer in the back seat. Like Mazda's SkyActiv, Buick's QuietTune -- which imparts double-pane windows and additional firewall insulation -- isn't so much an identifiable option on a window sticker as it is a company-wide philosophy…which makes it harder to integrate into consumer minds beyond a catchphrase. But it works.


Do I Want One?


Problem is, there's a lot more to a car than supreme quietness. And that problem resides neatly in the Toyota dealership across town: the Avalon gives up a few points on quietness but adds much better steering, more capable brakes, and a semblance of acceleration immediately discernible by human senses. A Toyota Avalon, being given the sporting nod? It's a brave new world we live in.


Buick has bragged about its recent sales successes: how its median age has lowered by seven years from 64 to 57, how sales in trendy coastal regions have increased as much as 42 percent, and how most of these sales are conquests from other companies -- including, we'd wager, Toyota.


And these are all fine and dandy. But the LaCrosse is nothing if not Buick's core product, literally and philosophically: a quiet, milquetoast, smooth-riding, conservatively styled (even if that grille is larger than before, a nod to the psychological theorem that correlates shininess with implications of wealth. Another example: Las Vegas), with core competencies that reside so far away from its lackluster drivetrain that it serves to select its own customers. In that sense, it's simply Buick being Buick. If the Avalon is a little too rorty for your tastes, may we suggest the 2014 LaCrosse?


2014 Buick LaCrosse


On Sale: Fall


Base Price: $34,060


Drivetrain: 2.4-liter I4 with eAssist or 3.6-liter V6; FWD or AWD, six-speed automatic transmission


Curb weight: 3,765 lb (I4); 3,906 lb (V6)


0-60 mph: 6.4 sec (mfr)


Fuel economy (EPA City/Hwy): 25/36 (I4); 18/28 (V6 FWD), 17/26 (V6 AWD)