2010 Buick Lacrosse – Reviewed

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Everyone is downbeat about the worlds automotive underdog, naysayers have been saying for years that eventually GM will go bankrupt. In 2008 and 2009, it did for a time look like GM was facing a very bleak future even GM’s most ardent supporters were about ready to throw in the towel and admit that GM was basically done for. The story is well known; GM persuaded the American Government to bail them out, perhaps they did all the persuasion in the back of a 3.0L V6 Buick Lacrosse, otherwise known as the best wafter in the real world.

The Chinese premium car segment is dominated by Germanic offerings; Audi A6L, BMW 5 Series, Merc E-Class, and then you have a sprinkling of Japanese offerings in the form of Acura, and Lexus sedans. Until a few months ago, there was nothing that could compete with the Germans and the Japanese at this level in China, the Americans had brought nothing to the party. The redesigned Buick Lacrosse has come into the segment and shaken things up,although it would be a massive understatement to actually say ‘shaken things up‘, a more accurate metaphor would have been to say the Americans have gone to the gym, they’ve come back bigger, meatier, and actually plan on doing business.

The new Lacrosse measures in at exactly 5m long, this gives it a generous amount of rear leg space which is more than big enough to hold a board of directors conference, or persuade Obama to give you a bag of cash. The BMW 5 series on the other hand is 4981mm long, the Audi A6L is slightly longer at 5035mm and the Merc E Class is a meagre 4872mm long.

The seats of the Lacrosse are soft and supple, the drivers is enveloped in a beautifully designed oval shaped cockpit with controls at either side. The centre console being in similar design to the excellent Buick Regal, but the dashboard is clearly far more upmarket with it being a leather trim affair rather than hard plastic. The Lacrosse also gets the stop/start button, where as the Regal gets the traditional key. The top of the line 3.0L V6 Lacrosse has DVD screens in the rear seats which can be independently controlled from the center arm support, and the inlaid dashboard screen gives you the view from the rear thanks to a trunk mounted camera. Sitting in the rear of the Lacrosse is like being in your mothers womb, its warm, it feels safe with giant imposing doors and small rear windows that only give you a glimpse of the outside world.

Engine choices come in the choice of a 2.4L 4 cylinder and the 3.0L V6 range topper, the American market gets a larger 3.5L V6. In the Chinese market the cream interior is only on the 2.4L version, whilst the 3.0L version gets the choice of cream or black leather interiors, the black version is much nicer.

The test vehicle of choice for CCT was the 3.0L V6, the engine gives enough grunt to put a smile on anyone’s face, but its the actual drive that is unbelievable. For a car that costs nearly 50% less than its high brow Japanese and German rivals, you would expect it to be less than on par, the Buick is not on par with its rivals, its surpasses them. I found myself deliberately heading towards small pot holes and road imperfections to see just how good the suspension is, and the truth is it is fantastic, its silky smooth, it’s like riding on air. The gearbox is a 6 speed automatic offering which is decent enough, and fairly smooth with regards to gear changes.

Given that the 3.0L V6 Lacrosse is in the 300,000rmb marker, there must be something bad about it. Personally, I don’t like the lashings of chrome around the rear lights, its a little bulky and has poor vision for reversing (a reversing camera takes care of though), the trunk opening is very narrow yet the trunk is large so you could probably get a few if suitcases in there if you pushed hard enough.

So, the Lacrosse starts at just over 220,00rmb for the base 2.4L model, and rises to the top of the line 3.0L V6 which comes in at 310,999rmb. Is it a good car? Yes, yes it is. It offers all of the comforts of cars that are nearly twice its price, but for half the price. It’s a great highway wafter and will probably sit content at 110kph all day, there is enough room in the back to be chauffeured from place to place during the week but it handles well enough to be thrashed at the weekend.