Fore! Tiger Woods And Rick Wagoner Reveal Buick Enclave In L.A.

Buick has just rolled out its pivotal new crossover, the Enclave in Los Angeles. Golfer Tiger Woods shared the stage with General Motors bigwig Rick Wagoner to introduce the vehicle at an off-site event last night.

WINDING ROAD actually got our mitts on the new GM offering at a background event about a month ago, although driving impressions were sadly not part of the program. That said, we did get to crawl in-and-around the vehicle at that time, as well as talk to the engineers and “hear” the Enclave at speed in GM’s sound rooms. If GM was trying to ram home one message about its new offering, it would be “quiet.” We took part in double-blind sound sample tests captured from various seating positions within the Enclave and its competitors. With near universality, we (and select other automotive journalists) chose the Buick as producing the better interior sound as compared to competitors like the Lexus RX and Acura’s new MDX. We lost count of how many “Quiet Tuned,” Quiet Steel” and “hushed tones” references that were bandied about by the automakers engineers and public-relations flacks.

The interior struck us as attractive and easy-to-use, though we were puzzled by the omission of keyless entry and start, as well as a lack of rear grab handles to ease entry and exit to the Enclave’s third row. The way back row was a bit of a chore to get back to (and the seat slide motion of the third row struck us as a bit uncultivated), but even taller journalists had enough leg room for shorter journeys.

Set to arrive in both CX and CXL trim next summer, both models will brandish the company’s DOHC 3.6-liter V-6 (generating 275 horsepower and 251 pound-feet of torque), routed through a six-speed automatic. All-wheel drive will be optional, and the Enclave can town up to 4,500 pounds when properly equipped.