2018 Buick Enclave Avenir REVIEW
Channel: Premium Cars
Date: 2018-01-12

he Buick Avenir is finally here, but it’s not the slick, Columbia-blue concept sedan we saw at the Detroit auto show a few years back. Instead, it’s the top trim/sub-brand in the second-generation seven-passenger Buick Enclave crossover SUV. Think of Avenir as Buick’s version of GMC's Denali trim level.

Changes to Buick’s biggest SUV start with looks. Designers snagged most of the cues from the Detroit concept for the new Avenir including the scoopy, five-sided grille and multilens headlights. The Avenir SUV ditches the chrome vertical bars for a black crosshatch mesh. New fog lamps sit underneath with a character line in between. The previous Enclave was already a handsome machine; this new front end keeps that handsomeness but adds a little edge.

In back, it’s the same thing: sleeker, more modern, sharper cuts and a chrome piece running the width between the super complicated taillights. Everything about this car looks upscale and current, even if there’s one thing I personally cannot get behind: the floating roof. Designers would probably say it makes the car look longer or lower or something, but it just dirties up the side and rear three-quarter look. Everyone is doing it now, from Aston Martin to Nissan and Chevy; still, it just doesn’t look right to me. I can’t be alone in this. Am I?

The 2018 Buick Enclave Avenir comes with a chestnut and ebony interior.

Thankfully the styling trick doesn’t ruin the profile, which is a little bit lower than the outgoing model. The new Enclave has a longer wheelbase, too, plus more space for cargo and people’s heads, especially in the third row. Buick claims 90 percent of previous Enclave buyers opted for seven-passenger seating, so that’s the only way the new model comes. The second row has a step through in the middle, as well as a right seat that flips forward for better access, even with a car seat installed. Buick made sure we spent a little bit of time in the way back, and there’s enough headroom for a helmet on an average man. Not sure why you’d need one, but there’s room. If you don't need that third row, the second-row captain's chairs slide fore and aft.

The only engine choice is a 310-hp, 266-lb-ft 3.6-liter V6 with GM’s much-maligned (by me) nine-speed automatic transmission. Buick uses a different shifting program than Chevy’s Traverse, and it feels much better, but we’ll get back to that. Towing is up to 5,000 pounds, from 4,500.

The Enclave is also offered with the company’s first switchable all-wheel-drive system. It uses a twin-clutch rear differential for distributing power and a button on the dash to activate. That’s good for a city mileage rating of 17 mpg and a highway rating of 25, in a three-row V6 crossover. Front-wheel drive is the only option on the base model; the rest can go either way, with AWD setting you back an additional $2,300 on the Avenir, $2,000 on the Essence model.

The Execution

Buick is the second best-selling brand worldwide in GM’s portfolio and the fourth most sold brand in China, says Buick marketing director Sam Russell. That gives the company a little more freedom to move and design -- and a decent amount of cash flow, to boot. It points at Acura, Lincoln and Infiniti as its main, mid-luxe competitors.

All Avenirs get a library-like chestnut and ebony interior with seats that are probably second to Lexus in terms of comfort. Among the cool touches are accent pieces in the dash that begin in piano black in the center and fade to woodgrain at the outside. Otherwise, the center stack is simple, with Buick even admitting that its drivers are maybe not as technologically savvy as some younger folks might be -- hence there are three big buttons on each side of the central screen. That’s where Buick keeps the AWD, traction control, parking sensor and lane departure and hazard buttons. It’s also where the trailer/tow mode button is located, which will eventually become a sport or drive mode button in the coming years. The Enclave does have charge ports and USBs at seating positions all the way back. Take that, you whippersnappers!

The Enclave is quiet -- like noise-canceling quiet -- which makes sense because it has just such a system. But even before the V6 fires up -- and with it the electrical and noise-canceling system -- the SUV is an oversize cocoon wrapped with wool blankets and that sound-deadening eggcrate stuff. It makes you feel like your ears are clogged.