- 2014 BUICK ENCORE PREMIUM AWD DRIVERS
- 2014 BUICK ENCORE PREMIUM AWD BLUETOOTH
- 2014 BUICK ENCORE PREMIUM AWD PLUS
The Encore’s 18.8 cubic feet behind the rear seats is decent, beating the German competition, but small non-luxury SUVs like the Escape, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 all have well more than 30 cubic feet.
2014 BUICK ENCORE PREMIUM AWD PLUS
The backseat has a high seating position with surprising legroom and headroom, plus consistent-quality cabin materials - an area where the Verano fails.
2014 BUICK ENCORE PREMIUM AWD DRIVERS
Drivers get a flip-down one passengers get to complain. (Caveat: Our test car lacked an optional moonroof, which can knock off an inch or two.) The only deprivation comes in the miniscule center console, which sits too low to accommodate an armrest. Maximum seat-height elevation, however, affords a high driving position with headroom to spare. The front seats track far enough back for tall drivers, though one editor said the center console encroached a bit much on passenger space. With 1 cubic foot less passenger volume than a Hyundai Elantra GT, the Encore seems an unlikely candidate for ample interior space, but cabin packaging is excellent. Too many buttons crowd the center controls, and IntelliLink’s dashboard screen uses an unintuitive control knob and several flanking buttons, all with tiny labels.
2014 BUICK ENCORE PREMIUM AWD BLUETOOTH
In Leather and Premium editions, high-grade leather wraps the chairs, which include six-way power adjusters for both seats - not just the driver’s.īuick’s standard IntelliLink system packages Bluetooth phone and audio streaming with USB/iPod integration and a few apps, like Pandora internet radio, which stream off an enabled smartphone. Handsome graining along the dashboard and doors meets plenty of upscale touches: fabric-wrapped A-pillars, real metal gearshift trim, bits of chrome and decent-looking faux wood. The rear, by contrast, is forgettable.Ī key battle among entry-level premium cars is cabin quality, and the Encore delivers. (Unfortunately, that two-tone treatment requires Buick’s $745 White Pearl Tricoat option.) Standard chrome door handles, silver roof rails and 18-inch alloy wheels add a premium touch, and Buick’s waterfall grille and blue-ringed light bezels evoke the larger Enclave. This time around, our test car’s two-tone paint masked a lot of the busy lower cladding. The 36.7-foot turning circle also makes it more like an SUV than a small car.Īs reported in our first drive of the Encore (read it here), its styling polarized onlookers. One editor found it a little too SUV-like, noting other cars sit more below you than around you. Unlike the Countryman, the Encore combines city-friendly length and width with an SUV-like driving position its overall height, in fact, is just 1.1 inches short of the Escape. The Encore bears no relation to the Chevrolet Equinox or GMC Terrain from its GM parent in fact, it’s closer to a Mini Countryman - which is about 7 inches shorter still - than either one. The X1 and Q3 are longer and wider heck, the Escape is nearly 10 inches longer. That’s more than a foot shorter than Buick’s compact Verano sedan. We drove an all-wheel-drive Encore Premium whose window sticker you can view here.Įven in its undersized field, the Encore is the runt of the litter, with an overall length less than 169 inches. Base, Convenience, Leather and Premium trim levels are available with front- or all-wheel drive compare them here.
That brings us back to the Encore - a premium little trucklet with bona fide luxury options. The exact parameters for this class are blurry: Base prices and features overlap with everyman crossovers like the larger Ford Escape and Volkswagen Tiguan, while well-equipped models encroach on Audi Q5 and Acura RDX territory. The new segment includes the likes of a BMW X1 and the forthcoming Audi Q3 and Lincoln MKC. If the 2013 Buick Encore is a sign of more bite-sized premium crossovers to come, car shoppers have plenty to look forward to. To see what’s new for 2014, click here, or check out a side-by-side comparison of the two model years. Little of substance has changed with this year’s model. Editor’s note: This review was written in April 2013 about the 2013 Buick Encore.
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