Buick's Privileged Enclave

Subscribe to BusinessWeek

Up Front

Being one of the best sport-utility vehicles on the market today is like being the most advanced species of woolly mammoth as the Ice Age looms -- which sums up the position in which General Motors (GM) finds itself with its terrific new '08 Buick Enclave.



Of course, GM doesn't describe the Enclave as an SUV because that would be the kiss of death in marketing terms. SUVs are so unpopular with consumers these days that Buick is dropping two of them [the Rendezvous and Rainier] from its lineup and replacing them with the Enclave, which the company is marketing as a "luxury crossover vehicle." But as one of my editors used to say, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck .



From the outside, the Enclave looks like a stylish SUV, and on the inside its cavernous cabin has more cargo space than such behemoth gas-guzzlers as the Chevy Tahoe and Ford Expedition. The Enclave is smaller than the Tahoe and Expedition but more than eight inches longer and more than five inches wider than a Ford Explorer. It's also almost exactly the same height and weight as the Explorer [both weigh nearly 5,000 lbs.] and has about the same ground clearance.



The big difference is that the Enclave is based on GM's Lambda platform [which it shares with the Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia], and it has a more car-like ride and upscale interior than traditional SUVs. Buick says it is intended to compete with imports such as the Acura MDX, the Lexus RX 350 from Toyota Motor (TM) and the Volvo XC90 from Ford Motor (F).



That's a stretch in my opinion, especially when it comes to the MDX [my favorite among those three competitors]. But if you're looking for a wonderfully designed, American-style, family vehicle and don't want to drive a minivan, the Enclave is right up there with the Volvo XC90.



Exterior styling harkens back to earlier Buick designs. It's a bit garish for my taste -- I definitely wouldn't spend extra for the expensive, over-the-top, 19-in. chrome wheels you can get on high-end versions. But the curvy contours, the chrome, and the bold grille-work perfectly reflect the Enclave's overall tone. This is an unabashedly American vehicle that seeks to be as tasteful and well-made as its European and Japanese competition.



The Enclave holds up to seven passengers if you go with the roomy captain's chair seats in the second row, or eight if you go with the optional [at no extra cost] bench-style second row. The third-row seats are roomy and accessible enough for a full-size adult to get into and out of. There's even enough legroom that an adult doesn't have to risk deep-vein thrombosis by sitting in them during long rides. Headroom is tight, and shoulder room is too limited for three adults to be comfortable, but these third-row seats may be the most practical I've tested.



The Enclave comes in two trim levels: the CX, which starts at $32,790, and the CXL, which starts at $34,990. Add $2,000 for all-wheel drive.



The CX comes with standard gear that includes a telescoping leather- and wood-trimmed steering wheel, xenon headlamps, satellite radio, OnStar, a CD/MP3 player, full power accessories, and a power liftgate and driver's seat. The CLX adds leather upholstery, heated front seats, a power passenger seat, and bigger wheels.



The only available engine on the Enclave is the same one that's in the Acadia and Outlook: a 275-horsepower, 3.6-liter V6 coupled with a six-speed automatic transmission.







The limited list of stand-alone options includes 19-in. chrome wheels [$1,495] and a $1,300 dual sunroof [power operated in the front and a fixed glass panel in the back]. Most of the options are packaged together. For instance, the basic entertainment package includes an upgraded Bose sound system with a six-CD changer for $980. But there are also three other progressively fancier entertainment packages. The most expensive one costs $4,320 and includes the upgraded sound system plus a navigation system, rear seat DVD player with wireless headphones, and a rear backup camera.



GM describes the Enclave's fuel efficiency as "segment leading," but it's about what you'd expect from an SUV [er, I mean crossover vehicle]. The Enclave is rated to get 16 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway with front-wheel drive, and 16/22 mpg with all-wheel drive. In 383 miles of mainly highway driving with an all-wheel drive CXL, I got 15.6 mpg, which is less than I get in my 1996 Ford Explorer.



The Enclave's safety ratings are high. It earned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's top five-star rating for both driver and passenger safety in front-end collisions, as well as for front- and rear-side-impact crashes. Its rollover rating is four stars. Standard safety gear includes antilock brakes, traction and stability control, and front, side, and head air bags.



GM has a lot riding on the Enclave, which must take up the slack for three Buick models that are being dropped: the Rendezvous, the Rainier, and the Terraza minivan, a trio that had combined sales of 70,593 in 2006. It's too early to say how well the Enclave will do, but sales so far are decent. GM sold 8,605 Enclaves in June and July, its first two full months on the market.



Behind the Wheel

If you're a driving enthusiast who really likes the Acura MDX and the BMW X5, you'll probably be disappointed by the Enclave. The Buick's ride, handling, and speed aren't in the same league with those models -- or with the Mercedes M-Class and the Lexus RX 350, for that matter. Not surprisingly, the Enclave is more Buick-like, which is to say geared more for comfort and day-to-day livability than hard driving.



The Enclave is a lot slower than the Japanese and German rivals, too. GM says it will accelerate from 0 to 60 in 8.2 seconds. But I tried a number of times and didn't come close to matching that time. The Enclave felt heavy to me, and labored from a dead stop to 60 mph in around 9.6 seconds.



The Enclave's automatic transmission has a manual shifting function, but it's much clunkier than the ones on an Acura or BMW (BMWG). You have to put the transmission in "low" and change gears by pushing a button on the side of the shift lever. It seems like an afterthought, especially when economy cars such as the Honda Fit can now be had with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters.



Where the Enclave really shines is in its practicality, comfort, and good looks. The plush interior in the CLX is gorgeous, easily as nice, or nicer, as the interiors of the Lexus RX 350, the Acura MDX, and the Volvo XC90. The leather and light-toned wood trim blend beautifully with the tasteful aqua-colored lights of the instrument panel. Like the exterior styling, the curvy contours of the dashboard recall classic Buicks while still managing to be tasteful and good-looking.



Seat design is one of the Enclave's strong points. Both the front seats and second-row captain's seats are exceptionally comfortable. The captain's seats have a feature Buick calls "smart slide," which allows them to fold forward, making room for an adult to step into the third-row seats even more easily than in the Volvo XC90.







The Enclave also offers an unusual amount of luggage and hauling capacity. Available space expands to 115 cu. ft. with both rows of rear seats folded down. But even with both rows of seats up, the Enclave has 19 cu. ft. of luggage room in back, 5 more than the trunk of a Honda Accord. The Enclave also has a towing capacity of up to 4,500 lbs., less than a large SUV but plenty to accommodate many boats and trailers.



One of the few flaws in the design is that visibility is poor out the Enclave's narrow, oddly shaped rear window. I would consider paying extra for the optional backup camera, which has excellent resolution and makes the vehicle far easier to park. It's available as part of a $520 "driver confidence" package that also includes heated windshield washer fluid and a remote starting system.



Buy It or Bag It?

Buicks, like Cadillacs, are much better than many consumers give them credit for being -- just consider the excellent new STS or the DTS. Quality is now excellent. The Buick brand tied with Lexus for the top spot in J.D. Power's latest vehicle dependability study, which came out on Aug. 9.



The Enclave also typically costs less than its competitors. The Power Information Network [PIN] calculates that Buick dealers are already offering an average rebate of $1,141 on Enclaves, cutting its average selling price to $37,884. That's well below the Acura MDX [$42,615] and Volvo XC90, which is being discounted these days by nearly $2,000 and sells for an average of $40,173. [Like BusinessWeek, PIN and J.D. Power are owned by The McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP).]



Before buying, I'd test-drive the Enclave against the XC90, which is its toughest rival in terms of safety and family-friendliness. If you want a sporty ride, go with the Acura MDX, which is much more of a driving enthusiast's vehicle. But the Enclave is an excellent choice, especially if you prefer to buy from a domestic manufacturer.



See BusinessWeek's slide show for more of the 2008 Buick Enclave.