2013 Buick Enclave

The big Enclave crossover was at the leading edge of a new design direction for Buick, which is perhaps why even though it's been on sale for five years, its cleanly styled, curvy Coke-bottle exterior still looks contemporary. Yet the interior of the current model, with its conservative (and dated) look, now lags behind those of other large crossovers, like that of the Ford Explorer or Dodge Durango.
Now for 2013—and introduced at the New York Auto Show—Buick has rolled out a refreshed version of the Enclave. And it appears to have changed exactly what we thought needed help—the interior—without significantly changing the Enclave's passenger-carrying goodness.

Jumping straight to the driver's seat, the Enclave's cabin gets a full-on facelift, with new trims, materials, and overarching themes that help it fit right in with Buick's other models, like the big LaCrosse sedan. A backlit ridge arcs all the way over the instrument panel, wrapping smoothly around from front door to front door. And the entire center portion of the dash was redesigned, with Buick's touch-screen IntelliLink interface taking the upper position. Below that is an all-new control interface for the tri-zone climate system, with new at-a-glance temperature readouts and larger controls that can be operated with gloves. The steering wheel is accented in real Mahogany, while there's plenty of faux woodgrain elsewhere around the cabin. Most notably, that drab, finely grained hard plastic that was plentiful in the former version has been mostly phased out, in favor of more soft-touch surfaces and 'live stitching.'

The exterior isn't completely carry-over. Buick has also given the front end of the 2013 Enclave a slight refresh, with a new front fascia, a new headlamp design, and a redesigned hood and black-chrome version of the Buick waterfall grille. Headlamps now include standard xenon HID beams, while running lamps and taillamps have gone LED. Wheel designs are new; exhaust outlets are now integrated into the rear fascia, and exterior trims have been changed slightly to represent a 'monochromatic' look, with chrome accents. Otherwise, very little else changes on the outside.

Specs remain the same for the Enclave's powertrain. All models have a 3.6-liter V-6, making 288 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque, and it's paired with a six-speed automatic transmission and a choice of either front- or all-wheel drive. An updated six-speed automatic transmission, with new calibration, could prove a key upgrade, but we'll have to update this with driving impressions as soon as we can get into a 2013. In previous model years, we've found the powertrain to be adequate, even with a full load, but a bit obstinate in the transmission's response.

Ride and handling should also be improved, thanks to new low-velocity control shocks in back, to help reduce road shocks, plus a direct-acting stabilizer bar for the MacPherson strut front suspension to help aid responsiveness. The steering remains a variable-effort hydraulic unit—one that we've been happy with in the current model. And we do hope that the changes make the Enclave feel a little more nimble, as it does currently “drive big.”

Expect the interior layout of the 2013 Buick Enclave to remain mostly the same, and that's just fine. As we say in our 2012 review of the Enclave, seating and flexibility are strengths, and there's room for up to eight, although the third row is a little cramped. There's over 23 cubic feet of space behind the third row, and if you fold the second and third rows there's over 115 cubic feet of cargo space. It all folds down neatly and flat and is just begging for outings to big-box stores.

There's also a safety industry-first in the 2013 Enclave: a new front center airbag, which helps protect front occupants in a side impact. Also, for the first time, a side blind zone alert system and a rear cross traffic alert system are offered in the Enclave, which in its 2012 edition already earned a top score of 10 in safety from us because of its excellent five-star overall NCAP rating plus its IIHS Top Safety Pick status.
IntelliLink is the big news for some shoppers, as it brings the Enclave's interior up to the leading edge in connectivity, with a relatively easy interface (as we've found in other models), well-integrated Bluetooth hands-free calling and audio streaming functionality, and apps for Pandora and Stitcher audio. A rearview camera system, a USB port, HD Radio, satellite radio, and voice recognition are also part of the standard kit, while navigation is optional, as is a ten-speaker Bose sound upgrade.