Enclave steps up the luxury ladder

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2007 | by James R. Healey

Buick Enclave is supposed to be the luxury version of the full-size crossover SUVs that General Motors also sells as the Saturn Outlook and the GMC Acadia.

The Buick hit the market about four months later than the others, tagged as a 2008 model, while the others were launched as '07s.

The good news: GM has effectively used sheet metal and interior components to distinguish Enclave from Outlook (Test Drive, May 4) and Acadia (Test Drive, Dec. 22).

Enclave has a quieter cabin and smoother, if slightly numb, ride. Thus it comes off as a truly different vehicle, even though the engine, transmission and suspension hardware are the same and it's built by the same workers on the same assembly line as the Saturn and GMC models. It retains most of the...