Introduction

The 2009 Buick Enclave is a luxury crossover sport utility vehicle that seats seven or eight, offers big cargo space, and gets good fuel economy and performance from a modern V6 engine. As a large midsize crossover, it offers the space of a truck-based SUV yet it is built using car-like unibody construction. Buick Enclave shares its basic platform with the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia, and Chevy Traverse, but it's as different from each of them as chalk is from cheese. Enclave is aimed at the upper end of the crossover segment, with competitors like the Acura MDX, Lexus RX 350 and Mercedes-Benz R 350. Enclave's styling is completely different from its siblings. But what really sets the Enclave apart is its modern cabin, with stylish illumination, crisp graphics, genuine wood trim and nice leather. The seats are comfortable, and it can be ordered with a second-row bench seat or luxurious captain's chairs, depending on whether seven- or eight-passenger capacity is needed. There's lots of convenient cubby storage and the Enclave offers 115 cubic feet of cargo space with all the seats folded down. Equipped with GM's high-feature 3.6-liter V6, the Enclave offers good acceleration performance while earning an EPA-estimated 16/22 City/Highway mpg (with all-wheel drive) under the more stringent new test procedures. Enclave is rated to tow up to 4500 pounds. Smooth and practical, we think it may be the best vehicle Buick has ever built, though there are some fine vintage models we certainly wouldn't mind having. The Enclave was introduced for the 2008 model year. For 2009, Enclave gets a more powerful engine and various equipment upgrades. The 3.6-liter V6 engine adds direct-injection, upping horsepower from 275 to 288 and torque from 251 to 270 pound-feet. New features for 2009 include a standard Bluetooth wireless cell phone link, real-time traffic information for the available navigation system, available heated and cooled front seats, and a 110-volt power outlet that comes with all entertainment packages. A rear-view camera that projects its image on the rearview mirror is also new.

Walkaround

The exterior design of the Buick Enclave is more elegant and refined than that of the GMC Acadia, which is deliberately truck-like, and the Saturn Outlook, which carries the new Saturn front end and grille design and is well downmarket from the Enclave. The Enclave carries the latest Buick design language. The protruding vertical bar grille and vestigial portholes on the hood make sure you know it's a Buick. The evolving design of that grille and the sculpted sides are reflected in the upcoming 2010 Buick LaCrosse. The long body shell is anything but boxy, with curvy, swoopy, and sexy shapes from every angle. All of the front lighting elements use clear lenses, with lots of different elements to please the eye and light the road. Everything under the bumper is kept simple and clean to draw the eye to that massive grille. The standard tires are big, fat 18-inchers on seven-spoke alloy wheels, with 19-inchers optional and 20-inchers available from your dealer, and they certainly add to the visual punch of the Enclave. The roof and the side windows are done in a gracefully decreasing sweep from front to rear, accented by bright-metal roof bars that follow the roof's curvature perfectly front to back. Out back, the top-hinged tailgate with standard power opening and closing is a work of art, with the rear glass extending beyond the sheetmetal into the rear opening. The rear glass is quite large, and is convex-shaped, coming to a point just above the Buick tri-shield logo and above the wide-screen taillamps. Under the rear bumper is a diffuser panel and dual exhausts with bright tips, making for one of the tastiest rear-end treatments in the crossover segment.

Interior Features

The cabin is what sets the Buick Enclave from other seven- and eight-passenger crossovers. Starting with the double-wave dashboard and instrument panel and going all the way back to the rear cargo floor, it's as modern as tomorrow and as functional as a Swiss Army knife. The chrome-ringed white-on-black instruments and analog clock are highly styled, with a soft blue-green illumination (which is repeated around the perimeter of the headlamp), and halo lighting at night. The graphics are large and clear, and the wood is real. On the CXL version, the steering wheel is leather and mahogany, with 10 switches and controls mounted on it for easy use. The layout is familiar GM, with a large, bright navigation screen low enough to be shaded, high enough to be seen without distraction. The dead pedal on the far left of the floor is the first one we know of to be specially designed for use by women wearing high-heeled shoes. New for 2009 is a rearview camera that projects on the rearview mirror when buyers opt for the camera without a navigation system. In a messy Chicago winter, the camera lens became speckled with dirt and salt, making the image hard to see in the rearview mirror. A larger image on the navigation screen would have been easier to see and more helpful. Our recommendation is to spring for the navigation system with the full-size display. Seven- and eight-passenger seating is available: The standard seven-passenger, 2-2-3 seating scheme uses second-row captain's chairs with a feature called Smart Slide that allows easy entry into the third row by flopping the seats forward and sliding them fore and aft; this can also be ordered with a second floor console for storage and 12-volt power. Or, there's a second-row bench seat that makes for a 2-3-3 seating scheme for a total of eight passengers. Either way, the driver and front-seat passenger get power bucket seats. The third row is usable for more than just kids. The third row has enough head-room for adults, and leg room is good for kids and fair for adults. Three kids will fit across, but three adults will find it tight. Only small kids will find the third row comfortable for long trips, though, because the seat bottoms sit too low to provide thigh support. The Enclave gets high marks for storage space and flexibility. There's 23.2 cubic feet of cargo room just inside the power tailgate behind the third row, 67.5 cubic feet with the third row seats down, and 115.3 cubic feet with both rows folded. Another 4 cubic feet of storage space is found under the rear cargo floor. And if you need to, you can flop the passenger seat over as well for extra-long cargo. Up front, the Enclave has storage on top of the dash for sunglasses, iPods, and cell phones. Buick says the Enclave has 24 storage areas, counting door pockets, under-seat areas, and built-in storage. The Buick Enclave has more cargo volume than the Acura MDX, the Lexus RX, Volvo XC90, and Audi Q7 do.