1996 Buick Roadmaster Hearst With Great Miles In Virginia on 2040-cars

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Buick Envista Luggage Test: How much cargo space?

First, I am well aware that there is an inflatable hearse on my lawn, which is also haunted. Just go ahead and get used to that background for a few weeks.  Second, the 2024 Buick Envista is a great car! Easily the most surprising thing I've driven this year, and although I'll go into everything else in a full review coming soon, the cargo area contributes to that general sense of pleasant surprise. The specs say it has 20.7 cubic-feet of space, which would be consistent with the subcompact SUV segment it competes with on price (even if it's more comparable to a compact in terms of length). Let's see how that amount translates into actual stuff. At first look, I was not expecting good things. Yes, its ample length is pretty indicative of a compact SUV, but the height is nowhere close. With the rigid cargo cover in place, it basically looks like a trunk -- but more on that cover in a moment.  Unlike most subcompact and compact SUVs, the Envista does not offer a dual level cargo floor that adds extra cargo space while still making a fold-flat back seat possible. In other words, Buick is clearly leaving some cubic-feet on the table here. This cover would be of the gigantic, rigid, nowhere-to-keep-it-in-the-car, hatchback variety. I am not a fan, especially for the Envista. You're about to see why. Bring on the bags. As with every Luggage Test, I use two midsize roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife's fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D). That would be the three biggest bags, but that's all you're fitting. I tried to dislodge the cover and let it rest on top, but nope, liftgate wouldn't close. At least the middle bit of the cargo cover has that raised middle bit that perfectly wrapped around my big blue bag. Without that, this result would've been even worse.  So, if you were picking up someone from the airport, they had more bags than this and you forgot to remove the cargo cover, you'd be in trouble. If, however, you remember to chuck the cargo cover ... Holy cow, all the bags fit!  I was genuinely surprised by this result. The Tetris formation is a little weird, but it wasn't hard to fit everything in here.

Buick and Bar Refaeli teach in-car yoga

We're not sure which make or model you'd most readily associate with yoga. You'd probably see a fair few Mercedes convertibles, VW Beetles, and assorted minivans and crossovers outside your typical American yoga studio. But not to be left out of the contorting action, Buick is out to link itself to the age-old practice with these latest videos. They feature, as you can see, the ever lithe and supple Bar Rafaeli, clad in spandex, stretching and contorting herself inside and out of a Buick Verano. Which is really all you should need to know, but there's a little more to the clip above (and the behind-the-scenes video below) than eye candy. Choreographed by yoga guru Chad Dennis, the idea behind the video – cleverly entitled The Body Shop – is to show drivers, in as artful and visually pleasing a way as possible, how to limber up their body, mind, and soul in preparation for (or recovery from) a long drive. It also serves to promote the brand's new 24 Hours of Happiness test drive program that lets prospective buyers take a Buick home and try it out for a day before buying. And if nothing else, it aptly demonstrates that Buick has excellent taste – or at least as good as Sports Illustrated that gave the Israeli model her first big break, Leonardo DiCaprio whom she dates for several years, and the dozens of fashion labels, jewelry brands, and magazines for which she's posed in recent years.

2016 Buick Envision might be your first Chinese-built crossover

At the Detroit Auto Show, the new Envision crossover flips the traditional Buick paridigm on its head. We've been hearing for years about strong sales of the Buick brand in China, but now we'll see if North America is ready for a Chinese-built (but, as GM is very quick to point out, American-engineered) CUV. The Envision rides on the latest version of the Delta 2 platform that underpins many GM vehicles. It'll slot between the tiny Encore and the cavernous Enclave, which is a nice sweet spot for volume sales in the hot crossover market. Gas is cheap, and Americans are eating these vehicles up – in a market like this, does it really matter where the Envision was actually screwed together? The powertrain package is surprisingly compelling – perhaps there will be some life to the driving experience. Motivation is provided by a 252-horsepower turbo inline-four and a six-speed auto, and in a first for a Buick crossover, it'll feature the torque-steer fighting HiPer suspension, which splits up steering and suspension duties in a way that'll tidy up the front axle's manners under power. A few other neat tricks make it into the Envision, like active grille shutters to squeeze some extra efficiency out of the CUV, and available park assist. The 2016 Buick Envision goes on sale later this year. Buick Introduces Envision Luxury Crossover DETROIT – The 2016 Envision is an all-new luxury compact crossover with segment-challenging driving dynamics, advanced technology, connectivity and Buick's trademark interior acoustics. It is a global vehicle, designed from the ground up as a Buick luxury compact crossover. It goes on sale in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2016. "The all-new Buick Envision is a modern, confident and responsive luxury compact crossover that combines the brand's core characteristics with great performance features like our HiPer strut suspension," said Duncan Aldred, vice president of Buick.