Buick LaCrosse: Uncompromised compromise

[the Teuton]

Here's my take on the new Buick LaCrosse. Enjoy.

Two years ago when I rented a 2008 LaCrosse through the University's fleet service, my sole intention was to be able to carry five people from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia with a relatively large amount of space and decent overall comfort. I knew it was based on the W-body that had been around in some form or another since 1989, so I didn't have my hopes too high. I would have settled for adequate transportation.

But after 900 miles behind the wheel of the car, I overlooked its inadequacies that came with a dated design. I didn't have to sit in the back seat for any part of the trip, I didn't have to worry about its low seat, either. And the three guys back there -- weighing less than 400 pounds total -- didn't seem to mind, either. The cheap dash panels looked and felt decent without too much dash stroking to make me think otherwise, and the car was more than quiet enough, even with its torquey but dated 3800 Series III V6 that lay underneath the hood. The car was a dandy, a great highway cruiser, and yet it was nimble enough on its feet that I didn't mind driving it on curvy back roads, either.

Coming into the new LaCrosse, my expectations were slightly different. GM's new offerings were becoming competitive in spite of the bankruptcy, and with an all-new design, I expected this car to blow me away. It didn't. In fact, I'm pretty disappointed in the car as a whole.

Unlike the guppy-looking outgoing model, this one looks expensive. It has presence with its bold chrome grille and angular headlights. The interior's build quality also knocks the old model's away, from the soft materials to the stitched dash, to the digital graphics IP that replaces the old Delco panel that looked as though it came from the 1980s. The back seat is so spacious that I had a hard time touching the seats in front of me when I sat back there, and its the car is possibly the quietest I've ever driven.

But in fixing all of the niggles that came with the outgoing model to make it a car that could truly replace both the old LaCrosse and the Lucerne next year, GM introduced a few new ones. The car is built like a vault -- including the amount of materials used. All of the panels are thick, and thus much of the room in the trunk has been compromised in terms of usable space. Where I hauled around four people and their luggage for a weekend in the old model, I would hate to tell them all to keep their gym bags with them on their laps in this car.

Also, the front pillars suffer from the same issues that plague some other new GM products like the Equinox and SRX -- they're thick to the point where the car feels much wider than it is, obstructing outward visibility. Combined with the large, sweeping center console that rakes upward into the dash, and the car has a way of making you feel tiny, almost feeble as a driver. While everything in the car is laid out in a very straight forward manner, the stereo preset controls sit high on the dash right beneath the information screen in the middle, and they're not that ergonomically intuitive when you're trying to keep your eyes on the road.

It rides more smoothly than the outgoing model, but it doesn't feel as sporty, perhaps because it was set up to be a larger, heavier car. With the three passengers I had in back, the outgoing model I drove still wouldn't be as heavy as the 2010 model. Further, when having an Avalon on the lot right next to it, comparisons are inevitable. The Avalon's more upright greenhouse feels airier, more spacious. It has manual reclining rear seats like a poor man's Lexus, and while the materials aren't as nice, the car feels solid, like something I could load up for a weekend and take anywhere without compromise.

GM did a lot of things right with the new LaCrosse, but they didn't do enough. It feels like a borderline luxury car -- but it isn't. It feels like it should have effortless power -- but at two tons, it doesn't. It feels like I should really, really like it. But with all of the compromises GM had to make to give this car an edge in the NVH and safety departments, with making sure it surpassed all of its competitors' objective measures, saddling it with 400 pounds more weight than the Avalon, much less its forbearer, I just can't.

Note: I just wrote this. Grammar/spelling mistakes may have occurred. My bad.

[ifcar]

Fair writeup. And they are dumping the 3.0-liter V6 for 2011, last I heard.

[MX793]

Fair writeup. And they are dumping the 3.0-liter V6 for 2011, last I heard.

Going to the 3.6 across the board (excluding the 4-cylinder base model) or are they going to drop a turbo Ecotec in there as a midlevel engine?

[ifcar]

Going to the 3.6 across the board (excluding the 4-cylinder base model) or are they going to drop a turbo Ecotec in there as a midlevel engine?

As I recall it, the 4-cylinder would replace the 3.0-liter in base models and the 3.6-liter would take over in the rest of the lineup. But I'm not entirely sure.

[2o6]

I prefer to feel swaddled in comfort in my luxury vehicle.

[the Teuton]

I prefer to feel swaddled in comfort in my luxury vehicle.

Buy a Lucerne then. It's a much better lux car, imo.

[2o6]

Buy a Lucerne then. It's a much better lux car, imo.

With that ancient N-body chassis, geriatric styling and generally dull design? I think not.

[the Teuton]

Also, quit making up words.

[2o6]

Also, quit making up words.

???



The Lacrosse and Enclave are successful because they finally look like something someone would want to drive.

[93JC]

With that ancient N-body chassis, geriatric styling and generally dull design?

G-body. N-body was Malibu, Grand Am, Alero, Achieva, Skylark, Somerset, Cutlass Calais, etc.

[the Teuton]

G-body. N-body was Malibu, Grand Am, Alero, Achieva, Skylark, Somerset, Cutlass Calais, etc.

That's what I thought...

[2o6]

G-body. N-body was Malibu, Grand Am, Alero, Achieva, Skylark, Somerset, Cutlass Calais, etc.

I always forget what is what.

[omicron]

So the thick pillars aren't just a Commodore thing, then. They've always annoyed me whenever I've been in post-'06 models.