Say what you will about the 1990s two-tone look, this $995 White Frost paint looked very good in person, helping to propel the upmarket image Buick is chasing. Chintzy steering wheel controls and GM’s ubiquitous and disappointing signal stalk remains, but the Encore’s interior, at least in sixth-from-the-bottom Premium trim, is almost, well, premium. Up front, the updated layout minimizes buttons and maximizes touchscreen, and to good effect. Head and legroom are acceptable out back, perhaps at the expense of an 18.8-cubic-foot cargo area that’s notably lacking space for a four-person vacation’s worth of stuff. Viewed as a four seater, the Encore is also a roomy subcompact CUV. Quick steering and positive brake feel work with tidy exterior dimensions to make the Encore an agreeable downtown companion. The short, 100.6-inch wheelbase keeps the Encore’s suspension busy at work, but harsh impacts are kept at bay, and the Encore does a surprisingly decent job of traversing rough pavement like a much larger Buick. That refinement carries forward to exceptional ride quality.
In a segment littered with relatively unrefined competitors, the Encore’s knack for keeping the outside world outside is more than welcome. Wind noise around the A-pillars is made known only because of the silence elsewhere. The noise you do manage to hear from the 138-horsepower 1.4-liter turbocharged inline-four is sufficiently refined.
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