2014 Buick Encore Premium on 2040-cars

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2020 Buick Enclave adds Sport Touring trim, tweaks tech

With its redesign for 2018, the Buick Enclave added the fancy Avenir trim level. Now the 2020 Enclave moves a bit in the other direction with a new Sport Touring model. The Sport Touring package is based on the Essence trim level, and consists of a body-color grille surround in place of chrome, and special 20-inch wheels that combine a bright finish with darker insets. The package doesn't touch the 310-horsepower V6 or the Enclave's suspension, so this development is hardly one to threaten the Ford Explorer ST or the Dodge Durango SRT8. Instead, it is perhaps a baby step toward an Enclave Gran Sport, although we might rather see the Regal TourX wagon move in that direction. Other Enclave news falls into the more traditional Buick wheelhouse. There's a new message function and power lumbar adjustment for the Premium and Avenir models. GM's HD rear vision camera — in which the rear-view mirror can switch to show a wide-angle camera feed — is newly available, as is an HD surround-view feature. In other tech developments, the standard 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system gains new capabilities, now supporting connected navigation and Sirius XM's higher-level 360L service, both of which require a subscription. The 2020 Buick Enclave rolls quietly into dealerships this summer, with an asking price of $41,195.

2017 Buick LaCrosse an evolution of sharp Avenir concept

After years as a bloated, uninspiring, but comfortable near-premium sedan, Buick has taken the wraps off a leaner, lither, far more stylish LaCrosse. The third-generation model has just made its debut at the 2015 Los Angeles Motor Show. While there's a lot to talk about, let's first address the new, Avenir-inspired sheetmetal. The fascia is basically the concept car smoothed over into production form, featuring the same winged trishield. In place of the chrome-trimmed waterfall, the LaCrosse gets a blacked-out, recessed grille with a chrome surround. It looks good in photos but it's better in person, adding a real sense of complexity and depth to the front end. The headlights and lower fascia, meanwhile, adhere closely to the concept. The same cannot be said of the LaCrosse's tail. While the taillight lighting pattern is similar, the overall shape of the lighting element is radically different, refining the design featured on the back of the Regal. Also gone, sadly, is the Avenir's boattail rear deck. Instead, the LaCrosse gets a small rear deck that curves up into a pleasant duckbill spoiler. The rest of the tail is pleasantly restrained. Perhaps the weakest point is the profile, where Buick has instituted a "split-spear" design, featuring a strong shoulder line above the rear wheel well, which sits below an even stronger character line that curves down and towards the front of the car. It strikes us as just a little too much, like the Impala. Underneath that sheetmetal, Buick has managed to trim nearly 300 pounds of body fat, nearly half of which came from the vehicle's actual structure. That 300 lbs, according to Buick's engineers, is equivalent to a Kenmore side-by-side refrigerator, in case you needed a helpful comparison. Despite the weight savings, Buick has upped the torsional rigidity for this new model by 15 percent. The LaCrosse's cabin features a strong, cockpit-like design, with a high, floating-bridge center console. This is possible due to Buick's adaption of the Electronic Precision Shift system, introduced earlier this month on the new Cadillac XT5. Despite the new-fangled console design, Buick's retained the wraparound cabin style introduced on the second-gen model. Based on a quick crawl around the interior, space is great in front, although ingress in back is somewhat difficult due to the roofline. You're probably wondering why we haven't said anything about the mechanicals just yet.

Buick shows US dealers 2016 Cascada convertible

The affordable four-seat convertible has become a largely forgotten genre in the States, especially with the death of the Chrysler 200 Convertible. Of course, there are still premium options from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz - not to mention more overtly performance-oriented droptop pony cars from Chevrolet and Ford - but if you want an affordable cruiser, you're kind of out of luck. That may be about to change, however, with renewed rumors of the Opel Cascada (pictured above) making it across the Atlantic wearing a Buick badge.
According to GM Inside News, Buick showed off the Cascada to US dealers last week, with renewed word that the company plans to bring it over from Europe for the 2016 model year. The US version will reportedly be practically identical to its German cousin in terms of styling, but the powertrain underneath is less certain. According to GMI, it may use the 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that is available in Europe with either 168 horsepower or 197 hp.
The Cascada rides on GM's Delta II platform, which also underpins the Verano, and the latest rumor certainly provides even more evidence that the convertible is probably on the way. Speculation about the droptop started when GM CEO Dan Akerson said last year that the car was on his wish list to bring over. Then, the US trademark on the name was reserved earlier this year, and the release was speculated for sometime in early 2016.