Buick Enclave

The redesigned Enclave follows on the heels of the mechanically similar Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia, which we’ve also tested. General Motors positions the Buick above the Chevrolet and GMC because of its upscale touches. The Enclave gains new styling and tech features, including a large 30-inch curved display that spans half of the dashboard, which houses both the driver’s instrument screen and the infotainment system. But it loses the smooth V6 engine from the previous generation, which has been replaced with a 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder.

Although the Enclave remains a well-rounded three-row midsized family SUV, thanks to its comfortable ride and roomy cabin, it falls short of the refinement we expect in this price bracket, in large part due to its boisterous new engine, which it shares with the Acadia and Traverse. The 328 horsepower that the turbo-four produces is an increase over the 310-hp V6, but it’s raspy and noisy—too loud for the Chevrolet and GMC SUVs, and wholly out of place in the more premium Buick.

The Enclave also uses GM’s latest infotainment system, which could benefit from some improvements. From the too-small on-screen buttons to basic tasks that take too many steps to complete, this otherwise capable system presents a number of frustrations to the driver. After all factors were added up, the new Enclave actually earned a lower road-test score than the previous iteration.

“It’s hard to see the added value over the Acadia and Traverse, or for that matter, just about any other three-row SUV,” said one of our testers. “Super Cruise is the main draw here for me. But I really liked the previous generation Enclave, so I can’t help feeling disappointed, in large part due to the new engine.”

“That’s strike three on engine noise!” said another tester, referencing the Acadia and Traverse. “But the Enclave actually sounds the worst of the bunch.” (More on that later.)

We bought a 2025 Buick Enclave Sport Touring AWD for $58,385—anonymously from an area dealer, as we do with every vehicle we test—for the purpose of this road test review. The Enclave is assembled in Lansing, Michigan.

The new 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine produces an energetic 328 horsepower, which is 18 more horsepower than the previous 3.6-liter V6. In terms of power delivery, the engine works well. It isn’t marred with any delays or abruptness off the line, instead providing strong and linear acceleration. The eight-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly most of the time, barring the occasional bumpy downshift. But having already tested the Acadia and Traverse, we knew what to expect from the engine that all three SUVs share: Noise, and plenty of it. It somehow seems even more obnoxious in the Buick, thanks to an odd, trumpet-like resonance at around 4,000 rpm.

One tester said a passenger remarked that it sounded “like the engine is hurting,” while another likened it to “screaming.” That’s a shame, because otherwise the Enclave is pretty quiet, with good isolation from wind and road noise.

It managed to run from 0 to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds, which is okay, but a little on the slow side for the segment, and about a half-second slower than the similar Acadia and nearly one-second behind the Traverse and the previous Enclave with its V6. Of note, the Enclave is the heaviest of the three test vehicles. Fuel economy isn’t stellar, either, at a mediocre 20 mpg overall. But, at least that’s a two-mpg improvement over the previous model, and it matches the Acadia and Traverse. Unfortunately for the Enclave, some rival SUVs with smoother and quieter six-cylinder engines get better fuel economy.

Ride comfort is a high point for the Enclave. Its suspension does a good job absorbing most bumps and ruts, and it feels smoother than the Acadia and Traverse. The trade-off is rather soft handling. The Enclave doesn’t feel eager to go through corners with any gusto, although it ultimately proved safe and secure when pushed to its limits around our track.

Like its GM brethren, the Enclave comes in front- or all-wheel-drive configurations. Oddly, even though we bought an AWD version, our vehicle was delivered in FWD mode. The owner may have to press an “AWD” button on the driver’s left dash area to engage all-wheel drive, which stays on indefinitely once engaged.

Stopping distances proved competitive with other midsized three-row SUVs, and our drivers found the brake pedal pretty easy to modulate for smooth stops out on the road, beyond a bit of an abrupt initial response when you first step on the pedal, particularly at very low speeds.

In spite of its up-level pretensions, we didn’t find the Enclave’s cabin to be much more inviting than the Acadia’s, beyond some additional chrome, neat stitching, and contrasting piping on the seats. There are too many hard plastic trim panels along with a few rough edges, and in most ways, it feels more like a mainstream SUV than a luxury model.

There’s generous headroom up front, and both the door- and center armrests are well-placed. As with the Acadia and Traverse, we found the Enclave’s left footrest to be too close and upright for optimal comfort, causing a few drivers to move the seat rearward so as not to feel cramped. Some of our drivers struggled to find good comfort with the front seats. The main issue is the seat’s flat shape, which makes it feel more like you’re sitting “on” it than “in” it. Plus, some drivers felt that there was too much built-in lumbar support poking into their lower back. On the other hand, those who like generous lumbar support were happy to find four-way adjustment for both front seats.

All Enclaves come standard with second-row captain’s chairs, limiting seating to seven passengers. There is no eight-passenger version, which the Acadia and Traverse both offer. This means a fifth passenger will always be relegated to the third-row seat. The second row is easy to get into and out of, and the captain’s chairs are pretty comfortable and have plenty of headroom and legroom. The third row is roomy enough for smaller adults, though it's not as spacious as the Toyota Grand Highlander or Volkswagen Atlas.

Outward visibility is aided by large windows most of the way around the vehicle, but it’s hampered by thick windshield pillars, which force the driver to move their upper body to see around them through sharper turns. The side windows are nice and large, and the Enclave benefits from a more useful third side window than the one in the Traverse.

One feature that separates the Buick from the Chevrolet and GMC versions is the 30-inch, “Ultrawide” display screen that spans the entire left half of the dashboard, effectively connecting the driver’s instrument screen with the infotainment touchscreen. It looks cool, and the unified background is pleasing to the eye, but it’s also the source of some problems.

Despite the infotainment screen’s massive real estate, many of the Cheerio-sized “buttons” are squished together, and some basic tasks take too many steps to complete. Oddly, the Android Auto and Apple CarPlay phone-projection displays fill only a small portion of the screen. Similarly, the image for the backup camera display is unreasonably tiny, considering its importance and the available space.

Thankfully, much of the climate system can easily be adjusted with physical buttons and toggle switches located beneath the infotainment screen. Unfortunately, some climate controls can only be accessed via the touchscreen. For example, the “sync” function is stuck in a climate submenu, and activating it also turns on the rear climate system. Assuming the driver wanted it off, this adds more steps to the process.

Then there’s the left steering wheel stalk, which has a complicated secondary function for the windshield- and rear-window wipers that can lead to accidental activations. We also don’t like that the emergency flashers button is hidden high up on the overhead console, out of the driver’s view or quick reach.

As expected in a vehicle well-suited to road trips, small-item storage in the cabin is quite good. The front door pockets are deep and fairly wide, and each has a well-defined bottle holder that doesn’t compromise the rest of the pocket. There’s an open bin underneath the center console that is a little tricky to access, but it could come in handy for the right-sized items. Opening the rear liftgate reveals a significant amount of space behind the upright third-row seat, plus there is a deep underfloor storage cubby.

Standard active safety and driver assistance features include automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, automatic emergency braking that operates at highway speeds, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic warning, reverse automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane keeping assistance, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high beams. Some of the Enclave’s safety warnings are communicated via vibrations to the driver’s seat (called the “Safety Alert Seat”), a feature we’ve appreciated in numerous other General Motors products.

GM’s excellent Super Cruise active driving assistance system is available on the Enclave and was equipped on our tested model. It allows the driver to simultaneously use adaptive cruise control and lane centering assistance, and allows for hands-free driving on specific pre-mapped highways. We think it’s a good stress reliever, particularly in congested traffic. The system is also capable of changing lanes on its own to get around slower vehicles on the highway.

We’re happy to see that both a rear occupant alert system and a belt minder come standard. The former is designed to remind the driver—based on rear-door logic—to check the rear seat when they turn the Enclave off to help prevent children and pets from suffering heatstroke or hypothermia if unintentionally left behind in the vehicle. The rear belt minder alerts the driver if a rear passenger unbuckles their seat belt during the trip. There’s also a standard Side Bicyclist Alert that will warn you not to open your door when parked on the street if the system detects a cyclist approaching from behind.