Car Review Buick Encore 1.4L Turbo FWD

Car Review Buick Encore 1.4L Turbo FWD In practically each and every certainly one of our evaluations of Buick’s tiny Encore since the subcompact crossover went on sale in 2013, we’ve called out its impressive resemblance to a shiny potato. There, we did it once more, but now the Encore has become refreshed for 2017, dare we rename it a sweet potato? That is because the cumulative effects from the adjustments increase the appeal which has already made the Encore Buick’s best-selling model.

Car Review Buick Encore 1.4L Turbo FWD


If you are acquiring trouble grasping how Buick sold far more than 67,000 Encores last year-more than its three fast subcompact luxury-crossover competitors combined, the larger BMW X1, Audi Q3, and Mercedes-Benz GLA-class-it’s not that tricky. The Buick has an desirable, $23,915 base rate; it’s undeniably cute; the seating place is higher; and the see out of the windshield panoramic. While the Encore’s dimension and rate probable disqualify it as being a real competitor to a Mercedes or BMW, the interior-particularly in its refreshed state-is of high high-quality, as well as general execution is a step over run-of-the-mill subcompact crossovers.

Buick has additional a handful of creases and edges on the Encore’s rotund physique for 2017, squaring up the front finish with blockier headlights and its new corporate waterfall grille. Subtle updates to the rear amount to small much more than revised taillights. That’s all conventional refresh things, however. What genuinely does the heavy lifting in elevating the Encore’s luxury pretensions is surely an all-new dashboard with soft-touch supplies and a a lot more sweeping design. It seems vastly better than the outdated, upright dash. The prior clutter of buttons plus the fiddly, knob-operated central display is gone, also, replaced by a high-resolution 8.0-inch touchscreen. Embedding this infotainment display during the dash itself as an alternative of within a pod on leading also clears the way in which for an all the more expansive view through the windshield.

Car Review Buick Encore 1.4L Turbo FWD - Features:

Essentially the most notable change for 2017 is definitely the expanded availability of the higher-output, 153-hp one.4-liter turbo four-cylinder engine introduced last year for the mid-level Sport Touring trim. The a lot more powerful engine boasts direct fuel injection and is now an $895 selection around the Sport Touring, along with the Preferred II, Essence, and Premium trims. A 138-hp turbo 4 (also displacing 1.four liters but of an older, port-injected style and design) remains standard throughout the board. Shooting past the $23,915 Encore 1SV as well as Encore Preferred on the Sport Touring trim using the optional powerplant prices $27,395, or $1275 much less than final year’s Encore Sport Touring.

The Preferred II instance examined right here starts at $27,760. The much more highly effective engine and 1 other solution, $395 Quicksilver Metallic paint, brought its MSRP to $29,080. We’ve been skeptical of Buick’s ambitious pricing for that Encore since it initial went on sale in 2013, and nearly $30,000 for any crossover this little lacking a prestigious badge around the hood is nothing at all if not ambitious. Balanced product sales paint a distinct actuality, and in this alternate purchase, supplied you’re presently taking a look at a higher-spec Encore to begin with, the improve engine looks really worth each bit of its $895 expense.

Advancing the 153-hp engine’s situation is simple for individuals who really don't dawdle within the left lane, as this Encore is the quickest we’ve ever tested. It reached 60 mph in 7.8 seconds, in contrast with 9.two seconds for that all-wheel-drive ’16 Sport Touring and 9.3 seconds for a front-drive 2013 Encore with all the (now) base engine. Acceleration across the board, from the quarter-mile to 30-to-50-mph and 50-to-70-mph passing occasions, was notably zippier. Using the burlier engine, the Encore feels peppy and not almost as underpowered as it does with the base 1.4-liter four. Portion in the deal, as well, is often a fuel-saving stop/start feature that can’t be turned off. It is a great point the engine smoothly and quietly restarts just after going dark at stoplights and when stopped in hefty site visitors.

Car Review Buick Encore 1.4L Turbo FWD - Interior:

For individuals who really don't want all-wheel drive, the Encore tends to make a strong case for sticking with all the regular front-drive configuration. Our 2017 test car weighed 130 lbs much less than that all-wheel-drive 2016 Encore Sport Touring and posted stronger check success for skidpad grip (0.81 g versus 0.78 g) and braking (172 feet from 70 mph in contrast with 177). The EPA estimates that-regardless of drive configuration-the new engine will return two mpg far better fuel economic system inside the city than its lower-output substitute (and an extra 1 mpg about the highway with all-wheel drive); we recorded 19 mpg due to a heavy schedule of lead-footed driving. The AWD 2016 Sport Touring posted a far thriftier 25 mpg, and pre-refresh front- and all-wheel-drive Encores with precisely what is now the base engine each posted 24 mpg in our hands. As constantly, your mileage will vary, but clearly the Encore with both engine is capable of effective motoring.

The new engine’s only sin is Buick did not only make it typical across the Encore lineup. Offered that the hotter four-cylinder is shared together with the less-expensive, latest-generation Chevrolet Cruze, how really hard could that determination truly have already been? There otherwise remains small to fault in the Encore. The rear seat ably holds two adults in the outboard positions-there is a third seatbelt, but you may fit only a smaller bag of potatoes there-and the lower cushion includes a great chairlike height, plus there's plenty of headroom and legroom. A surprising 19 cubic feet of things can fit from the cargo area. And although the suspension keeps physique roll plus the stubby body’s fore/aft rocking above velocity bumps very well enough in check out, the dynamic trait of better consequence to customers in this area is quietness, a thing the Encore has in spades.

Provided that consumers continue to keep hankering for Lilliputian luxury potatoes (we essential to sneak in one more spud plug), the Encore’s updated appears, interior, and available power need to hold Buick’s dealers active for any few years to come.

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