Jon Wong/Roadshow

There is a plethora of midsize, 3-row crossovers on the market now. Choices run the comprehensive gamut, from tedious to attractive, cost-effective to lavish, comfortable to sporty. For those people searching for a crossover that’s safe, inoffensive and higher than all else, cozy, Buick has you protected with the 2021 Enclave.

Don’t Like

  • Ho-hum push character
  • Some driver-help tech optional
  • Avenir trim is just not a big stage up in luxurious.

Cleanse appears to be

On the outside, the Enclave’s styling is mildly attractive. By no means is it a showstopper, but it’s not manila-folder bland, either. Delicate character traces in the hood and on the sides give it some flavor, alongside with front quarter portholes and a fair amount of chrome specifics. On my assortment-topping Avenir take a look at car, exclusive grilles with mesh inserts and twenty-inch nickel-complete wheels liven issues up a smidge additional.

Within, you happen to be greeted by basically laid out controls, panels built from high quality resources and a standard style and design that’s not half-terrible to search at. It really is here wherever the Avenir extras make the largest impact, with a awesome contrasting chestnut-and-black colour scheme. Actual wooden steering wheel trim and embroidered logos in the head rests and ground mats full the Avenir cure, and a dual-pane moonroof provides a gentle and airy atmosphere.

Almost everything in the Enclave’s cabin feels solid, from the wrapped and stitched sprint topper and doorway panels to the nicely grained tough plastics used on the decreased portions. The cabin is also cozy, with people riding in front having fun with comfortable heated and cooled seats with therapeutic massage functions, though larger aspect bolsters are on my wish listing. In the second-row, heated captain’s chairs hold travellers pleased for extensive hauls.

At the force of a button in the trunk, the Enclave’s electric power third-row seats flip up out of the ground and offer plenty of area to carry 3 little ones or a couple of shorter older people without having too a lot of problems. Legroom for the outboard seats is tight, but it’s much from a torture chamber and will perform for brief commutes.

When it will come to going cargo, this Buick is completely ready to swallow 23.6 cubic feet of goods with the third row deployed. Folding the rearmost seats into the ground raises area to fifty eight cubic feet, and if you have to have additional than that, flipping the second row of seats down opens an impressive ninety seven.6 cubic feet. That ought to be plenty of to maintain all the things from even the largest procuring bonanzas. 

The Enclave’s electric power third-row seats are reasonably roomy.


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Examining the tech

Housed in the Enclave’s heart stack is the basically named Buick Infotainment Procedure, showcasing an 8-inch touchscreen that’s really responsive to inputs. Its menu format is a cinch to perform as a result of and controls a terrific-sounding 10-speaker Bose audio set up, 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot and Bluetooth. There is also a conventional onboard navigation method that performs lickity-break up place searches and route calculations. And for everyone who’d somewhat hand infotainment controls about to their phones, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capabilities are packaged in as very well.

To juice up any intelligent gadgets onboard, you will find a smattering of electric power sources through the Enclave. Folks in front can pick amongst a wireless cost pad, USB ports or a twelve-volt outlet, although second-row travellers have USB ports and a 3-prong outlet on the again of the heart console. Any individual in the way-again would not be remaining out in the cold with a couple of USBs in just arm’s size on the aspect walls.

On the basic safety front, the Avenir will come conventional with a wholesome listing of driver aids which include forward-collision warning with automatic crisis braking, blind-location monitoring, lane-departure warning with lane-hold help, rear-cross visitors warn, front and rear parking sensors and a crystal-apparent 360-diploma backup camera. Oddly, adaptive cruise handle is not a conventional-concern aspect, requiring customers to equip a $two,095 solution offer to get the piece of tech, which is disappointing on a assortment-topping trim level.

If you want adaptive cruise handle in the Enclave, it’s an optional aspect, even in the Avenir trim.


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Easy operator

Powering the Enclave is a three.6-liter V6 making 310 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque, routed to all four wheels on my take a look at car as a result of a 9-velocity automatic transmission. Collectively they return an EPA-estimated 17 mpg in the town and twenty five mpg on the highway. Through a 7 days of mainly area street driving of the Enclave, I observed 17.two mpg.

The drivetrain provides enough grunt to get the significant Buick away from stoplights and up to velocity when entering expressways. Some wide-open up-throttle action might be demanded through rush hour merging, which does not audio notably sophisticated, but the motor receives issues carried out with the gearbox whipping off very well-timed cog swaps. There are paddle shifters, too, which are a contact sluggish to respond to upshift instructions, but incredibly swift to change downward. How a lot of Enclave proprietors will use them? My guess is not a lot of.

Currently being a Buick, trip ease and comfort trumps all the things else in the dynamics division. With my tester’s optional adaptive damping suspension, the trip is super-smooth, absorbing street imperfections with simplicity for comfortable driving. Thankfully, the tuning is just not overly smooth, but you will find recognizable overall body roll rounding corners and the twenty-inch Continental CrossContact LX tires on the front immediately begin pushing in protest if you check out flogging it a little bit harder.

The V6 in the Enclave presents a respectable 310 horsepower.


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The Enclave’s steering is just not sharp or quickly responsive to inputs, but it’s immediate plenty of and not overly loosey-goosey. The brakes do not aspect a tenacious first bite, enabling for smooth braking, but offer stout halting electric power when you dig further into the pedal stroke. 

How I would spec it

When constructing my suitable Enclave, I would begin with the Essence trim that begins at $43,495, which include $1,195 for place, with conventional front-wheel push. That would net me leather-based seats and will have to-haves like blind-location monitoring and rear-cross visitors warn. For four-period traction, I would spring for all-wheel-push that tacks on $two,000, a $495 Darkish Slate Metallic paint work and $1,555 Sound and Websites Offer for navigation and Bose audio method. All in, my suitable Buick rings up at $forty seven,545.

In comparison, the high-zoot Enclave Avenir with all-wheel push pictured here carries a substantially steeper $59,590 bottom line. To be fair, it’s received a ton additional attributes like the adaptive suspension, electric power-folding third-row seats, dual-pane roof, massaging seats and adaptive cruise, but is yet another example of possessing to spend the piper handsomely if you want additional stuff.

This Enclave Avenir carries a $59,590 selling price tag.


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The comfortable preference

The 2021 Buick Enclave begins at $forty one,495 for the base Favored trim that’s only available with front-wheel push. If all-wheel push is a will have to, then the Enclave Essence is the cheapest point of entry at $forty five,495. From there issues can insert up immediately with any paint colour besides Summit White tallying an additional cost, and specific tech niceties only becoming available on additional-high-priced higher trim ranges.

For the shopper searching for a 3-row crossover with a supremely cozy trip and a roomy cabin with entry-level luxurious finishes, the Enclave may just be the ticket. For everyone valuing qualities like bang-for-your-buck, a tighter driving character and styling, but ready to are living with some thing that is just not pretty as comfortable inside, alternatives like the Kia Telluride, Mazda CX-9 and Toyota Highlander are value examining out on the decreased conclude of the Buick’s selling price spectrum. For Avenir funds, though, look at the new Acura MDX or Lincoln Aviator, both of those of which are typically nicer SUVs.