By Peter Perrotta
If legendary song writer and Nobel laureate Bob Dylan were setting out to write the songs for his critically acclaimed “Highway 61 Revisited” album today, he might be a bit stumped when it comes to one of the songs on that album.
“From a Buick 6” a raucous blues tune included on that disc was – I am assuming – written while Mr. Dylan was riding in a six cylinder Buick sedan. In 1965, this was entirely possible.
If you fast forward to today, not so much.
For one, there aren’t as many Buicks on the road today as there were back then. Secondly, most of the Buicks are powered by four cylinder turbo engines these days. And last, but not least, about 90% of Buick’s model lineup are comprised of SUV models now.
“From a Buick 4 turbo” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
However, knowing Dylan’s penchant for creative genius, I am sure he would have figured something out if he was embarking down that road today.
This all comes to mind because I recently just finished a one week journey behind the wheel of a 2020 Buick Encore GX – an all new model in the Buick lineup.
The Encore GX represents the fourth Buick offering in the SUV segment and is slotted as its sub-compact offering.
“As we look to the future of Buick, the Encore GX positions us strongly as a consideration for those who want to purchase small or subcompact SUV’s,” says Duncan Aldred, vice president of Global Buick and GMC.
Buick offers the Encore GX in three trim levels: the base Preferred ($25,095); the Select ($26,695) and the top of the line Essence ($29,495).
The model I tested for one week was the front wheel drive GX Essence. There is an all wheel drive version available.
My overall impression of the Encore GX was that, while it’s a bit small and cramped on the inside, it affords itself a much bigger feel once you start driving it.
It is of average looks on the exterior – sporting the typical compact crossover SUV look that is popular these days – but inside if affords itself a rather luxurious feel, giving it a richer vibe than the window sticker suggests.
While you won’t win many races – if any – with the Ecotec 1.3 liter, 3 cylinder engine (155 horsepower), the Encore GX does have a very smooth ride to it and handles well enough to make it exciting to drive.
The folks over at Car and Driver gave the Encore GX high marks for its “upscale appearance, thoughtfully designed interior.” They also said it was a “good value proposition.”
On the negative side Car and Driver says the Encore GX has “pokey acceleration times, blasé handling and the fit and finish doesn’t match luxury rivals.”
To be honest, I didn’t find this three cylinder Encore GX to be all that slow. As far as handling goes, while it doesn’t handle like a BMW or Mercedes, it does have a smooth edge to its handling athleticism.
The Encore GX I tested had $5,470 of optional equipment added to its base of standard features.
Included in the options were: $1,790 for a technology package; $1,500 for a moonroof and upgraded 18-inch wheels; $770 for a convenience package; $520 for a liftgate package; $495 for the Chili Red Metallic paint and $395 for the upgraded three cylinder engine.
The technology package includes: an HD surround vision camera; heads up display; adaptive cruise control and navigation.
The optional convenience package includes: automatic parking assist with braking; wireless charging; rear camera mirror with washing and rain sensing windshield wipers.
With the options added in and the destination and delivery charge included, the MSRP sticker price of this Encore GX Essence model comes in at $34,965.
The Department of Transportation EPA fuel ratings for this model are 31 miles per gallon as an overall average – 30 mpg in around town mileage and 32 mpg for highway driving.
The EPA estimates that the average annual fuel cost for this model to be $1,300 as it uses about 3.2 gallons of fuel for every 100 miles driven.
This model of the Encore GX has not been tested for the government’s five star crash test ratings yet.
Buick’s 8-inch infotainment touch screen system is one of the better and more responsive to use that is generally available on the market.
I found this system very easy to sync my phone and music to and the navigation system was a pleasure to use as well. While this might seem like an easy task, it isn’t as easy as it looks.
The bumper to bumper limited warranty on this Buick model is 4 years, 50,000 miles. The powertrain carries a 6 year, or 70,000 mile warranty. The first scheduled maintenance visit on this Buick is complimentary.
While this Encore GX enters the segment of the compact crossover SUV at a very competitive time, I would say that its hat should be tossed into the ring when it comes time to consider an SUV from this category.
Peter Perrotta’s On the Road column appears weekly. Comments and suggestions are welcome. He can be contacted at [email protected].