2014 Buick Enclave Leather on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Opel Cascada is Europe's Buick convertible [w/video]

As we reported earlier, there has been much speculation regarding a Buick convertible of sorts. The most ringing endorsement of this conjecture comes today from General Motors Europe, as the new Opel Cascada has debuted on the interwebs. Opel calls the four-passenger Cascada an "athletic, glamorous midsize convertible." With a length of 4,697mm (185 in.), the Cascada is as long as an Audi A5, to which GM has said it would be slightly larger.
The Cascada, which is Spanish for waterfall, features a cloth convertible top that retracts in 17 seconds and at speeds up to 50 km/h (31 mph). The Cascada features a 1.4-liter turbo gas engine, 2.0-liter turbodiesel with 165 horsepower and a range-topping 1.6-liter turbocharged Ecotec engine that puts out 170 horsepower and 280 Nm (207 lb-ft). Power is sent through either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.
According to GM, the Cascada will also come rife with luxury and tech features. In addition to adaptive forward lighting and ergonomic heated front seats, the convertible will feature Opel Eye, which is a front camera that can recognize traffic signs and incorporates lane departure warning and forward collision alert.

2018 Buick Enclave: How engineers made it larger, lighter, more sophisticated

Buick used the unveiling of the 2018 Enclave at the New York Auto Show to introduce its new range-topping Avenir sub-brand to the world. With fancier interior finishes and exterior details, it's Buick's latest effort to make itself a proper luxury brand (or perhaps re-establish itself as such). However, lost in the Avenir song and dance is the fact that the 2018 Buick Enclave is a (very) long-awaited all-new model regardless of the trim level one selects. Like the Chevrolet Traverse upon which it is based, the new Enclave is bigger than the vehicle it replaces but considerably lighter, by about 400 pounds. "We told every engineer, 'get your job done, but then take the weight out,'" said engineer Rick Spina as we hovered next to his larger yet lighter creation. His team therefore set about taking a little bit of weight out from just about everywhere, from using additional aluminum in the suspension to varying the thickness of the frame (thicker in places that needed to be stronger, thinner and therefore lighter in places that didn't). Only about 100 pounds came out of the body with the rest coming from elsewhere. Not only will the reduced weight improve fuel economy (Buick-estimated at 19 mpg combined with FWD versus 18 for the 2017 model) and presumably the old Enclave's rather ponderous handling, but it should only make things easier for the new powertrain: General Motors' now-familiar 3.6-liter V6 and its latest nine-speed automatic. With 302 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, Buick says the new engine will need 7.2 seconds to reach 60 mph with FWD or 7.5 seconds with AWD. That's a second quicker than before. Besides acceleration, towing is also bumped up by 500 pounds to 5,000. For those models with all-wheel drive, the Enclave has the same basic system featured on range-topping versions of the Buick LaCrosse. Besides power being sent front and rear, it can also differ from right to left in the back, although Spina is quick to point out that capability is for traction-enhancing purposes rather than sporty, handling-enhancing torque-vectoring ones. Buick owners already appreciated the Enclave for its quietness so the engineers decided to take it that much further. This included altering the exhaust, improving body sealing (there are triple door seals), including active sound deadening and utilizing advanced materials that absorb sound as opposed to simply being thick, dense and heavy enough to keep it out.

Jeep Wrangler EcoDiesel, Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid and Tesla Cybertruck | Autoblog Podcast #606

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Associate Editor, Joel Stocksdale. With their powers combined, they create a great episode full of driving impressions from the Jeep Wrangler EcoDiesel, Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid and BMW X6 40i. They return to the topic of the Ford Mustang Mach-E before diving into the Tesla Cybertruck and a future without Buick sedans. Finally, they help a listener choose a new, sporty sedan in the "Spend My Money" segment. Autoblog Podcast #606 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving: 2020 Jeep Wrangler EcoDiesel 2019 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid 2020 BMW X6 40i Ford Mustang Mach-E (Watch the ride-along here) Tesla Cybertruck Bye to Buick sedans Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: