Buick’s all-new 2025 Enclave Sport Touring makes a bold statement in the crowded SUV market with its refined design, cutting-edge technology, and versatile comfort. Over two days of driving, the Enclave turned heads with its commanding presence, signature grille, sleek black accents, LED lighting, and eye-catching two-tone wheels—a standout in a sea of SUVs.
Some relevant history to share: Buick vehicles found their way into China way back in the early 20th century. They were the preferred vehicles of revered Chinese leaders like Sun Yat Sen and China’s first premier, Zhou Enlai. The link between Buicks and powerful leaders built the brand’s prestige over the ensuing decades even during the nation’s humble times, and set the stage for the success Buick enjoys today in China, a connection strengthened through collaborations with Chinese businesses in recent years and producing vehicles that cater to the Chinese market.
Zhou Enlai’s Buick in Shanghai (Source: www.mofba.org)
Speaking of catering to markets, the Enclave’s comfortable, quiet, versatile and premium interior will cater to many growing Canadian families. Second-row passengers get adjustable captain’s chairs with climate controls, and the third row is adequately spacious with ample headroom and legroom, and even includes cupholders and USB-C ports. Cargo space is good with a large underfloor storage compartment.
The class-leading 30-inch diagonal screen makes the interior pop, displaying configurable driving information on the left half while the right half houses the infotainment apps. The graphics are crisp and modern, but when reversing, the back-up camera display was surprisingly small considering all the available screen space.
The infotainment screen also houses virtual buttons for the heated and ventilated front seats, headlight controls and some climate control settings, but thankfully they were easy to adapt to, and there are some nicely finished piano buttons with knurled surfaces for adjusting fan speed and interior temperature.
Performance-wise, the new 2.5L four-cylinder engine produces 328 horsepower and 326 lb-ft of torque thanks to turbocharging. It is paired to an excellent 8-speed automatic transmission, and all-wheel drive is standard. The engine is smooth and provides adequate power, but you have to rev it high to keep up with traffic, which creates excessive noise that overpowers the soundproofing. It’s not a dealbreaker, but most four-cylinder engines don’t sound pleasant when worked hard, and would be stressed if it had to haul seven passengers and their cargo on a road trip.
The Enclave offers additional high-tech driver assist and safety features that include:
- SuperCruise, a subscription-based hands-free cruise control system that was easy to engage and performed well, even in construction zones, and could even automatically change lanes for you. It made highway driving less tiring and we enjoyed using it
- Side Blind Zone Alert, which adds to the standard blind spot monitoring system by helping prevent lane change collisions
- Side Bicyclist Alert, which alerts you to a detected bicyclist that is approaching a side blind zone, and can even alert you right after parking if a detected bicyclist is approaching so you don’t open your door
Overall, the Buick Enclave is worthy of consideration if comfort, style and advanced in-vehicle technology are important to you. Moreover, if you happen to be frustrated by poor dealer service and arrogance from certain luxury vehicle brands lately, or no longer want to overpay for a European luxury SUV where you’re forced to buy multiple options packages to get the best features, we deem the Sport Touring trim to be the ideal Enclave, which is just under $63,000 and is a fair price relative to its near-luxury competitors.
