SUV Review: 2022 Buick Enclave Avenir

For those who’ve spent the majority of their lives in the bustling concrete jungles of Toronto or Montreal or Plate Cove East, driving along the southern shore of Nova Scotia must feel like something ripped straight from a Daniel Defoe novel. Aptly called the Lighthouse Route in the province’s incessant tourist marketing campaigns, the byways and rural routes of this area live up to the name, winding 339 kilometres past nearly two dozen lighthouses along the Atlantic coast between Halifax and Yarmouth.

Winter was refusing to release its grip on the morning we pointed this 2022 Buick Enclave towards the briny shore, a statement which should be understandable since it was, well, early in the month of March. As a young lad, your author could never fathom the old children’s rhyme that ‘April showers bring May flowers’ since ample amounts of the white stuff routinely stick around into those months with faint flakes not out of the question even on your author’s mid-June birthday if gale-force winds were blowing from the right direction.

It didn’t take the Buick brand long to ditch their lineup of sedans in favour of SUVs and crossovers. Once top brass saw the direction in which the North American market was travelling, quick decisions were made to focus their efforts on creating machines capable of standing out in crowded segments filled with strong competitors.

2022 Buick Enclave Avenir Photo by Matthew Guy

Atop the food chain is this Enclave, a three-row flagship designed to carry its passengers in quiet – some may say traditional – comfort. There isn’t anything revolutionary under the hood, with Buick choosing to stick with a naturally aspirated V6 engine rather than chase fuel economy numbers with a small displacement turbocharged high-strung four banger. The Enclave is better off for it, since the easy power delivery of this 310-horse mill suits the relaxed personality of this car (and most of its target market) to a tee. Handling shift duties is a 9-speed automatic which goes about its business like a discreet butler and behaves better than any miserable CVT.

It’s a bridge too far to describe the Enclave’s cabin as a sensory deprivation chamber but there’s no arguing the smoothness of this Buick. Bumps on rural Nova Scotia roads were swallowed with the same zeal and rapidity as pizza slices after hockey practice, a product of what the brand calls QuietTuning. This is the culmination of suspension and body tweaks meant to make the interior of this Buick hushed as a library. It’s an engineering process exclusive within GM to the Buick brand, tested via both virtual and physical measures such as simulations and real-world drives.

These efforts worked a treat as we toured the area of Port Moulton and Liverpool, an area known for its natural beauty as much as its old-world architecture. There are not one but two high-zoot resorts in this neck of the woods, including the Quarterdeck which is perched right on the spectacular Summerville Beach, the latter of which is beautifully crescent-shaped and filled with the type of fine sand one expects to find in California. Naturally, it was all frozen solid at this time of the year, but the point remains. And the surprise of finding a German café tucked into an old historic home offering the type of cuisine generally reserved for expensive restaurants has put this place on our annual staycation list for the next few years.

2022 Buick Enclave Avenir Photo by Matthew Guy

Ongoing supply chain challenges continue to thwart GM’s (and all the auto industry’s) attempts at building a vehicle with every single one of its features present and accounted for; our tester’s middle row seats were denuded of their capability to produce heat, for example. This is a clear example of the pecking order within General Motors, since the Chevy Traverse — a machine with which this Buick shares many bits and pieces – we tested a week prior had no heated seats at all and engine start/stop fuel savers were AWOL.

What was present, as your author wound his way through the small towns and villages of Nova Scotia’s southern shore, was the Enclave’s massaging function in its front seats. It would be too first-world of us to complain there’s only one speed setting or massage style (compared to at Lincoln where numerous selections are available) but there’s no denying the ability of these thrones to ease the fatiguing nature of a long drive. It’s a feature which pairs with Buick’s QuietTuning very well.

The 2022 Enclave Avenir consumed 93 litres over the span of 730 kilometres, working out to an average economy of 12.7L/100km or 18.5 mpg. That’s pretty close to the NRCan official rating of 11.8L/100km on a combined cycle, though it is worth noting approximately three-quarters of this driving was undertaken at highway speeds. Lousy Smarch weather surely didn’t help, nor did the chunky — but grippy — winter tires. At least the Enclave is happy swilling regular fuel. We averaged 13.1 L/100 km the week prior in a Chevy Traverse, the Enclave’s corporate cousin which deploys the same drivetrain, albeit with much more morning idling, suggesting this economy is on par with what customers can expect in the long run – no matter what the eternally optimistic on-board computer says.

2022 Buick Enclave Avenir Photo by Matthew Guy

As with some other GM crossover-type vehicles of this ilk, Enclave’s value play is strongest at its entry-level trims. This Avenir, loaded to the gunwales with features like a panoramic roof and leather seats with a massage function, rang the bell at a skiff under $65,000 including destination and delivery. An all-wheel drive Essence trim with the Sport Touring and Technology packages has the same powertrain, equal interior space, and subjectively more attractive colour-keyed exterior bits, while retaining kit like adaptive cruise control and that excellent HD surround monitor. If you can suffer the indignity of using your smartphone as a navigation tool and waiting until the massage therapist is free for an appointment, the Essence ST is a good way to save about $10,000 over the Avenir.

Prices like these put the Enclave in good company with other three-row machines from brands with luxury pretensions such as the Acura MDX and the newly refurbished Infiniti QX60. For customers seeking a comfortable crossover with ample feature count but prefer to have a traditional ‘domestic’ badge in their driveway, the 2022 Buick Enclave checks a slew of boxes.

Keyword: SUV Review: 2022 Buick Enclave Avenir

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