mmarshall

..........and, on that subject, notice the significant difference in size and drivetrain between Cadillac's smallest SUV (the SRX), and the diminutive Encore. That's why I said earlier that, even with the Encore's nice interior and Buick's Quiet Tuning, it's too short and the engine is too small.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

This is meant to be more of a city dweller than a kid hauler

LexFather

smh....I start the sentence with "I had hoped"...:The point is when the Enclave and Lacrosse launched they seemed to be on a possible route to move up but with the Regal, Verano, Encore they clearly thought otherwise.

I stopped reading there.....

mmarshall

Several years ago, you didn't believe Hyundai or Kia could build a decent vehicle either, until you went out and saw for yourself. Sometimes driving is believing, not reading.

If you drive a Verano (The new turbo model will also be debuting) and still disagree, Well, then, I will just respect the fact that you and I can (and sometimes do) have differences of opinion.

LexBob2

I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder in these discussions, but CR gave the Verano 73 points in their Road Test (the Acura ILX got 77). By comparision the new ES350 and 300h got 80 and 82 points. The previous gen ES350 got 91 points!

mmarshall

I read that article (I am a CR subscriber). I agree with most of it....not all.

CR, IMO, is not biased in the sense that most people would use the word (if they were, I wouldn't read them), but they have always been very supportive of Honda/Acura products, though they did comment on the ILX's significant road-noise and lumpy ride-quality (as I did in my own ILX review last summer). It was an interesting comparison of both cars...and a generally good write-up.


The 4-Gen ES, I thought, was even better than the previous 5Gen.....though, back then, I don't think CR was using a numerical road-test scale. Looking back, I almost wish I had bought a 4Gen model when new ones were available...but, at the time, I wanted AWD.

CR generally (still) gave the new 6Gen ES good marks, but, closely paralleling the opinions I myself had with my recent 5Gen ES review, remarked (correctly) that the ride quality and general level of refinement had fallen slightly. Their remarks on the Verano also closely approximated my own experience with it, stating that the car's tomb-quietness was its chief asset. The Verano's ride over bumps, though, while not necessarily harsh, was not as supple as the ES, with its higher-profile tires. But they did criticize the ride of the upmarket ES package with its 45-series tires. Of course, the ES has a long-established record of better-then-average reliability, where recent Buicks are either average or a little below. And I agree that the Verano, being smaller than the ES, is tighter inside. The one thing that I thought CR missed on the Verano, though, was its durable-feeling interior and hardware.....it didn't show the same plastickiness and lightweight-feel of its sister Enclave and Lacrosse, probably because the Verano is not American-designed. It is strongly derived from the European Opel Astra (the dash/doors are almost identical), and gets its tomb-quietness from many Buick-added pounds of sound-insulaton.....that is why I made my earlier comment about (IMO) it being as good as the new ES in some areas. It also, IMO, handles as well or better than the ES. Of course, people are free to disagree. But also, please understand that I'm not trying to pump up or brag about the Verano simply because I own one. I bought a Verano because I personally was very impressed with what it offered for the price. I don't have to try and sell it to others.....I myself am impressed wth it. But I do think that those who criticize it should at least sample it first.

This refers, of course, to the 5Gen model. Using that rating-scale (which I don't think CR had back then) the 4Gen model would have (probably) have gotten around 94 or 95). The 4Gen's only real fault seemed to be some electronic quirks in the drive-by-wire throttle and transmission ECU....and those only affected some samples, and didn't really subtract from its overall road-test.

mmarshall

Back to the Encore. Apparantly, it is already on sale in China.

http://wardsauto.com/auto-makers/gm-...core-cuv-china

By American-SUV standards (and by my own taste), the Encore may be too short and stubby. But, given China's enormous population and tightly-packed cities, that small size could be an asset.....as Hoovey pointed out earlier, it seems to be a city-dweller.

Lil4X

Well, for a little perspective, remember that 10-12 years ago the RX 300 barely managed to duck under the 9 second barrier. Thirty and forty years ago, very few cars were capable of this - thus the rise of the purpose-built muscle cars that rose out of Detroit's parts bins.

You can't expect ANY car to be simultaneously quick, powerful, luxurious, stylish, affordable, lightweight, capable of hauling a family of five and all their luggage. In addition to being economical to operate, both on the highway and in urban traffic, while reasonable looking; it's difficult to fit all of this wish list in under a $28K price cap. Somewhere we have to make compromises, and it looks like Buick's made a good one - hitting several, if not all of the marks while leaving a market for both Chevy and Cadillac below and above its price class.

Aron9000

What really irritated me about that review is they didn't mention anything about back seat space or luggage space. You'd think they had gone into good detail about that since the Encore is significantly smaller than its competition.

spwolf

indeed... i think it will sell poorly in the USA because of that.

oldcajun

This is basically a Honda Fit competitor! It may have lots of sound proofing and a lot of fake wood trim, but it is still very small. GM has managed to sell a number of Veranos which is a Chevy Cruze with a fancy interior and sound proofing, so maybe they can sell this thing too. The Chevy Sonic that this is based on got a very poor score at Consumer Reports, let's see how much they value the luxe add-ons. They did not like the Verano, so my bet is that they won't like the Encore either.

Honda is bringing a mini-SUV to Detroit. Most believe it is a 4WD Fit so we may see some competition in this class.
Steve

Aron9000

Oh boy, I wonder if we'll see a return to the 80's Retro "high top shoe" styling that came with 4wd compact wagons.

IS350jet

Wow, the rear door handle almost reaches the tail light!

LexFather

Lol...good point

mmarshall

Wrong. The Verano is NOT a rebadged Cruze. It has a completely different engine, a more refined 6-speed transmission, more plush interior, better-quality trim/hardware, a different suspension, and vastly better soundproofing. If it WAS a rebadged Cruze, I would not have bought one....or even considered one. It is actually closer to an Americanized Opel Astra sedan than a Cruise...but has notable differences from the Astra, too.


It took GM a long time to learn this lesson, but they have learned, since the bankrupcy/restructuring, that their old practices just won't work any more.

A far as selling the Encore, I don't think it will do particularly well in America. The platform and engine are both too small for the Buick nameplate. The platform is actually smaller than the Verano's. In China, though, anything with a Buick nameplate on it goes like free beer.