2016 Buick Enclave

The Enclave is a bit more upscale than its competitors with one of the larger cabins in this particular segment of crossover SUVs. The 2016 Buick Enclave is offered in three trims Convenience, Leather, and top-of-the-line Premium. The base convenience starts at $39,065 and comes only in a front-wheel-drive configuration. The more pricey Leather and premium trim can be configured with all-wheel drive with a premium of $2,000.

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The Buick Enclave is already a pricey vehicle, so we suggest sticking to the base Convenience trim that offers a boatload of features like power-adjustable seats, tri-zone climate control, automatic xenon headlights, and 19-inch wheels as standard. All at a price that is below forty grands.

The 2016 Buick Enclave packs in a 3.6L naturally aspirated V6 engine under the hood that produces an output of 288 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque. All the power is channeled through a six-speed automatic transmission to the front wheels as standard while the AWD configuration is available on all but the base trim. 

The power delivery from the motor is smooth with linear acceleration which further enhances the land-yacht-like ride quality of the Enclave. Although the Enclave is a slouch and takes a lousy 7.9 seconds to go from 0-60 mph and another 8.4 seconds to cover the quarter-mile. In terms of braking, the performance of the Enclave is astonishing as it takes just 118 feet to brake from 60-0 mph.

All the crossovers in this comparison come with a V6 engine and a 6-speed automatic gearbox with the Ford Explorer producing the highest 290 hp of power and Enclave churning out the highest torque of 270 lb-ft. The Honda Pilot clocks the fastest 0-60 mph in 6.2 seconds while the Ford Explorer covers the quickest quarter-mile in 14.6 seconds. 

The fuel efficiency of the Buick Enclave is not the best in the business but considering its curb weight we can cut some slack to the Enclave here. The EPA has rated the 2016 Enclave to return a fuel economy of 15 mpg in the city, 22 on the highway, and 18 mpg combined. The AWD Enclave sees a drop of 2 mpg on the highway. The fuel tank capacity of the Enclave is 22 gallons, which is adequate to go on long drives without worrying about running out of gas.

As compared to its rivals the Enclave doesn't impress as much in the mileage department. Among them, the Honda Pilot manages a stellar 18 mpg in the city, 26 mpg on the highway, and 21 mpg combined. Even though the Pilot comes with a smaller fuel tank of 19.5-gallon but since it returns 3 mpg more in the city and 4 mpg more on the highway compared to the Enclave, the Pilot offers a longer range from a full tank of gas.

Step inside the 2016 Buick Enclave and you will behold the sight of a well-sculpted dash that nicely amalgamates the infotainment and the AC vents in the center. The material used is nice to touch and feel with rarely any hard touch plastic around the prominent places. Ingress and egress from the Enclave is a breeze courtesy of the wide opening doors and lower the seating height. 

The Enclave can seat up to eight people with a second-row bench seat and seven people with the captain's chair in the second row. The Enclave has one of the most spacious and comfortable cabins in the segment with the premium build quality. The seats are well-bolstered and offer good support. While being a crossover the cabin offers loads of practicality and flexibility to suit your needs.

In terms of cabin space, the Buick Enclave and the GMC Acadia are similar to the umpteenth level although the GMC Acadia offers a higher 24.1 cubic feet of cargo space over the Buick Enclave’s 23.3 cubic feet of cargo space. As for the other two rivals, there is no clear-cut winner here as the Ford Explorer offers the best legroom space in all three rows while the best headroom and shoulder room is offered inside the Honda Pilot in all three rows. The Buick Enclave slots right in between the two in terms of head, shoulder, and legroom in all three rows. Key interior features include:

• Tri-zone automatic climate control
• Eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat
• Two-way power-adjustable passenger’s seat
• Auto-dimming rearview mirror
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Tilt and telescoping steering wheel column

How intuitive is the Buick Enclave’s infotainment system?

The standard infotainment on the 2016 Buick Enclave is the company’s IntelliLink interface that runs on a 6.5-inch touchscreen display. Also bundled with this is the OnStar Telematics that adds 4G LTE, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth audio, and phone connectivity, etc. Other standard features include satellite radio, a six-speaker sound system, a CD player, an auxiliary audio jack, etc. Key infotainment features include:

• 6.5-inch touchscreen
• Six-speaker sound system
• Bluetooth
• Satellite radio
• OnStar Telematics
• Buick’s IntelliLink infotainment interface
• Available navigation
• Available 10-speaker Bose sound system

The Buick Enclave is one of the most uniquely designed crossover SUVs in terms of exterior looks. The whole body of the Enclave is full of smooth flowing lines that have aged quite well since it was last updated in 2013. The whole vehicle looks curvaceous and elegant from the front fascia with the waterfall grille to the clean rear fascia with rounded tail lamps that have chrome outlines. As standard, the Enclave rides on 19-inch rims that can be upsized to 20-inch rims. 

In terms of dimension, the 2016 Buick Enclave is the longest, widest, and has the longest wheelbase. The GMC Acadia with 72.6-inches of height takes away the tallest crossover SUV badge from the Enclave while the Ford Explorer with 7.8-inches of ground clearance has the highest ground clearance that is 0.2-inches more than the Enclave’s ground clearance. Key exterior features include:

• 19-inch alloy wheels
• Heated mirrors
• Rear parking sensor
• Power liftgate
• Rear privacy glass
• Automatic xenon headlights
• Sunroof

The Buick Enclave passed the crash test of both the agencies with flying colors. The NHTSA gave the Enclave a score of five out of five stars in the overall, front, and side crash test while the rollover test rating stood at four out of five stars. The IIHS on the other hand gave the 2016 Enclave the highest rating of ‘Good’ in all its parameters while the ease of use of LATCH was rated as the second-best ‘Acceptable’. Key safety features include:

• Rear Vision Camera
• Child security rear door locks
• Passenger Sensing System
• Rear seat reminder
• Blindspot warning w/ rear cross-traffic alert
• Tire Pressure Monitoring System

If you can live with the sluggish acceleration and power delivery of the Buick Enclave then this is a perfect crossover SUV. It has a spacious cabin, a luxurious and well-appointed interior, acceptable fuel economy, and generous cargo capacity. As a family hauler and mile-muncher, the Buick Enclave makes for a perfect steed while if you are someone who can’t compromise on the performance then the Honda Pilot would entice you more over the Enclave.