The new seven-passenger crossover from Buick gets the automaker’s signature QuietTuning, and I have to say this is the best inception of the sound muting system I’ve seen thus far.
Before I even got behind the wheel of the Enclave at a recent media drive program in St. Louis, Mo., the folks at Buick made the journalists take a little test. They played a series of 12 audio tracks filled with road noise. The journalists were asked to compare track one to two, three to four, five to six, etc., and mark on a sheet of paper which track sounded better, quieter. Each track either represented the Enclave or one of three Enclave competitors — the Acura MDX, the Mercedes-Benz R350 and the Lexus RX 350. But we weren’t told until all the tracks played which track went with which vehicle.
When I took the test, in every single instance, I picked the Enclave as sounding better.
But that’s easy to do in a Buick-controlled situation in the ballroom of a hotel. Who knows if we were snookered or not? But I think that was also the point of the exercise. They were daring us to test the QuietTuning on our own. And I inadvertently did the next day.
We were leaving one of our driver changes at a forest reserve, and one of the groundskeepers was mowing the lawn. We were right next to the mower with the window down to give our names to the people who were checking on us. When I prepared to drive away, I put the window up, and poof. Instant quiet. I was actually stunned at how muted the sound of the mower had become.
Buick implemented a three-prong system with the Enclave to get this vehicle so quiet: reduce, block and absorb. The idea is to reduce the sound of the noise at the source, to utilize materials while building the vehicle that absorb outside noise and to introduce materials such as acoustic foam that absorb the noise that can’t be reduced or filtered.
After the lengthy intro I’ve already given it, all I have to say is: It really works.
While the Enclave is built on the same platform as the new GMC Acadia and the Saturn Outlook, it looks completely different. It’s sleek and it’s attractive and it’s downright elegant. The lines of the car speak of athletic action and smooth grace. The tail end is curvy, and the taillights are distinct and swathed in chrome. I thought the rear profile actually looked more Mazda CX-7 than Acadia or Outlook.
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