A nice choice for young families or empty nesters looking for affordability with some panache, the Buick Encore offers a luxurious feel, pleasant road manners, and above average reliability and safety.
J.D. Powers gave the Encore its second highest reliability rating and it earned the highest possible rating of five stars in government safety ratings, earning five stars in both frontal and side protection and four stars in rollover risk.
On top of that, it's a nice little vehicle-pleasantly maneuverable around town and smooth and comfortable traversing the countryside. It is a stout competitor in a class that includes the Honda HR-V, Mazda C-3, Jeep Renegade, Mini Cooper Countryman, Mitsubishi Outlander Sport.
For my money, it's a tough choice between the Buick and Honda for head of this class. Both offer the visibility of an SUV, without the gas-guzzling mass.
The really tough choice, for those cruising the lots with the intent of buying soon, is that for a few thousand more you could step up to a Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Ford Escape or GMC Terrain, and get more passenger and cargo room, more power and more versatility.
On the other hand, if keeping the costs down and the carbon footprint small, the Encore is a great buy. With the base, 1.4L, turbocharged four-cylinder engine, it gets an EPA estimated 26 mpg city, 32 highway, which is very good for the class.
Heritage styling
Blue-accented halogen composite projector-beam headlamps and detailed tail lamps add a a crisp look; and 18-inch, five-spoke painted aluminum wheels are standard. Seven-spoke Ultra-Bright aluminum wheels are available.
Sitting still, the car looks like quality.
Precise platform
The Encore shares platform and mechanicals with Chevy's affordable Sonic, and that's actually a very good thing. The global, small-crossover platform is engineered with a "one-tire" philosophy, a single, 18-inch tire specification, designed for a quieter interior, precise suspension tuning and refined driving feel.
And that's exactly what you get. One of the my chief complaints about small crossovers is that they are wonderfully maneuverable, but their short wheelbases make for a bouncy, truck-like ride. Buick seems to have tuned that out of the Encore.
A 100.6-inch wheelbase and wide stance60.6-inch front and rear trackscontribute to confident-feeling handling, while Encore's strong structure enables greater suspension precision and a quieter ride. Two hydraulic engine mounts are tailored to the engine's inherent torque axis to disrupt the transmission of vibration and noise.
Up front, McPherson strut front suspension is used with coil springs, a large stabilizer bar, hydraulic ride bushings and side-load-compensated front strut modules. The hydraulic ride bushings in the front control arms provide a smoother ride, better noise isolation and wheel control.
The rear suspension incorporates a compound crank (torsion beam) design, with a double-wall, tubular V-shape beam profile with gas-charged twin-tube shocks.
A column-mounted, variable-effort electric power steering system contributes to a 36.7-foot turning diameter-a tighter turning