Jump to content
News
Reviews
Discussons
Activity
Create New...
Close
  • Drew Dowdell
    Drew Dowdell

    By Drew Dowdell •

    Buick Week: 2013 Buick Enclave First Drive

    December 4th, 2012

    Drew Dowdell

    Managing Editor - CheersandGears.com

    Day two of Buick Week. Yesterday we gave you a review of the 2013 Buick Verano, up today is a First Drive of the 2013 Buick Enclave.

    Buick first introduced their jumbo-sized Enclave crossover in 2007 for the 2008 model year. The Enclave quickly made a name for itself as a true luxury ride and also brought down Buick’s average buyer age dramatically. Though that body generation of Enclave just completed its fifth year on the market, sales remained very strong, reporting around 50k units sold as of the end of November 2012. Enclave’s conquest rate is just about 45% with most trades coming from Lexus, Ford, and Honda. Enclave is able to boast the highest sales in the 3-row Luxury Crossover market. With such good sale results, Buick is understandably reluctant to make huge changes to the Enclave’s formula for the 2013 model year.

    Buick invited me to Louisville, KY to sample the 2013 Buick Enclave and report back to you on my thoughts.

    Less cushion, more pushin…

    sml_gallery_51_516_44923.png
    We sampled a 2010 Buick Enclave 2 years ago and looking back at my notes, one phrase stood out: “Feels like riding on a cloud, but don’t push it around a corner”. That feeling no longer applies to the 2013 Enclave. While the suspension is still quite supple, it no longer has that vintage Buick floaty feel that the previous Enclave had. Buick fitted the new Enclave with new dual-flow damper front struts. These new struts receive most of the credit for the more athletic moves the Enclave is capable of now. There is no mistaking the Enclave for a CTS-V, but you can take an off-ramp with some authority and not feel like you’ll end up in the weeds.

    The 3.6 liter V6 carries over, but the 6-speed transmission is heavily revised to address complaints of busy shifting. During my drive, I found the setup to be just about perfect, though I did wish for a little more torque at the low end.

    Refined style, now with more refinement

    sml_gallery_51_516_1612566.png
    The Enclave styling complaints response department was likely a lonely place. In this author’s opinion, the previous Enclave was one of the most handsome of luxury crossovers available. While most others try to be edgy and sporty, Buick goes for curvy and classic. In the updated Enclave, all of the main styling themes remain. The all new front clip is capped with a grille that is now more upright and toothier. Those of us who like vintage Buicks might see a hint of the 1949 model in the grille. Gone are the two-tone bodies with a monochrome palette taking their place.

    The tail lights now use LED and light pipe technology. Difficult to capture with the camera, the tail lights give off an eye catching and haunting glow rather than the harsh LED light you are used to from other models with just LEDs out back. The rear accent lights mimic the eyebrow look we see on the 2013 Buick Verano tail lights. LED accent lighting has been installed up front as well.

    Inside, designers moved away from wood-look trim and instead incorporated more stitched leather into the design. Layout of the controls is largely the same, but the controls themselves have been updated. The dials of the HVAC controls remind me of the high end NEST home thermostats that are becoming popular. One missed opportunity is the lack of update to the gauge cluster and the monochrome driver information center, the second, which will likely get the most noise in the reviews is the lack, even as an option, of keyless ignition.

    Aft of the driver, the interior is largely carry over for the second two rows.

    Pricing for the 2013 Enclave starts at $39,270 including destination charge.

    The Long and Short

    Buick realizes they have a market leader in the Enclave and for 2013 sought to simply take what was successful and make it better. From this first drive, they've largely succeeded in that regard.

    Tomorrow, we take a first drive with both the manual and automatic versions of the Buick Verano Turbo.

    Disclaimer: Buick provided transportation from Pittsburgh, PA to Louisville, KY and one night of accommodations for this review.

    Go to articles

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    David

    How was the fit and finish of these models? Did everything feel solid to you? I wonder how this will sale in comparison to the Acadia when they are side by side. Comparing this to the Acadia Pics I uploaded from the Seattle Auto Show leaves this car with some glaring omisions. My gut tells me GMC will win between these two, but this comparison while a solid review does not seem to deliver a the goods.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites


    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

    ×

  • google-news-icon.png



  • google-news-icon.png

  • Subscribe to Cheers & Gears

    Cheers and Gears Logo

    Since 2001 we've brought you real content and honest opinions, not AI-generated stuff with no feeling or opinions influenced by the manufacturers.

    Please consider subscribing. Subscriptions can be as little as $1.75 a month, and a paid subscription drops most ads.*
     

    You can view subscription options here.

    *a very limited number of ads contain special coupon deals for our members and will show

  • Community Hive Community Hive

    Community Hive allows you to follow your favorite communities all in one place.

    Follow on Community Hive

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • David
      Random Thoughts Thread

      By David · Posted

      I am not aware of travel cases for internal drives. Usually you have the drive and once you have made sure you own static electricity is discharged on your body, open the computer and unplug the power cable and data cable to the HD. Then you unscrew the screws holding the drive in. Put the drive into an Anti-Static bag and then usually into a box that has foam padding on all sides to protect the drive and then tape it up to close it.  With both drives in their proper storage bags, you can then have both drives in between foam insulation for handling any dropping of the box, etc. Pack them in a box and tape shut, should then easily handle going through your carry on or checked in luggage. To ship a hard drive, you need to: Secure the hard drive in its original packaging or anti-static bag. If you don't have an anti-static bag, place the drive into a zipped freezer bag to prevent any moisture getting into the drive during transit. Sandwich the drive between foam or wrap it in bubble wrap to absorb any minor shocks. Put the hard drive in a padded shipping box. Close and seal the box. Label your package. Amazon.com : hard drive shipping box This is pretty much all you need.
    • David
      Airplanes

      By David · Posted

      Either a co-pilot first time landing or something truly went wrong on the plane.
    • trinacriabob
      Random Thoughts Thread

      By trinacriabob · Posted

      The incoming rectangular lamps on many GM cars in that era made them much more attractive.  They made a big difference. Now, as far the powerplant went, the notion of 500 cubic inches was mindboggling even during the malaise era.  If you want to see someone's jaw drop, tell a European that their engines have 8200 cc or 8.2 liters.  For those who aren't driving the occasional Mustang or Camaro you see, they freak out at anything over 2,500 or 3,000 cc.
    • trinacriabob
      Random Thoughts Thread

      By trinacriabob · Posted

      Thank you for the response. I want to reinstall them into the computers, especially the "newer" one.  The old one has been a real champ.   The reason for not leaving them in the desktop is that the basic tower might have to be transported ... and not by me.  That means it will be out of my possession for a while.  Since the HDs would be traveling with me, they'll have to get scanned through airport security a time or two.  I'm guessing that shouldn't mess with the data.   I've already backed up the C drive on several large 1 TB portable hard drives.  I don't want to touch the basic functions and files on the computers since I don't know how that all works.  I stay away from the drives and files I am not familiar with. I tend to donate other things to charity.   I did give the Regal I once owned to charity.   A good friend told me that, about a month or two later, he saw it being driven around the city by its new owner and we had a good laugh. This is what I want to do.  I'm just trying to figure out if the guy or gal at Office Depot can size a case based on looking up the unit and the HD in it.  Any ideas on that part?  Or should I do that and approximate the size and weight of the part to get the cases?
    • trinacriabob
      Airplanes

      By trinacriabob · Posted

      I'm wondering about a lot of things related to this.  I am sure that, sadly, the passengers inside were jolted.  This is way different from a rough landing. Why was it even necessary to do it?  What was going on at the airport property at that time?  How does one even pull this off?  I've seen some vids of where they barely touch and then go off again, but this one looks way more complicated.

  • Who's Online (See full list)

  • My Clubs

×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

I've whitelisted
Continue without support

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search

Change privacy settings