LaCrosse is the largest sedan produced by Buick, and it is currently on sale as a third-generation model, which has been sold since 2016, and Buick also announced that after the 2019 model, LaCrosse will be discontinued in the U.S. market, and will continue to be sold in the Chinese market, because LaCrosse's sales in the Chinese market are better. According to GM's sales strategy, LaCrosse also has a very large margin of discount in the market terminal.
Previously, LaCrosse also had several powertrains, including 1.5T, 2.0T and hybrid, and after the mid-term facelift, the powertrain changed greatly, canceling the 1.5T engine and hybrid, the engine was changed from LTG to LSY, with variable cylinder technology, and the gearbox continued to use Hydra-matic 9AT, and there will be a set of 1.3T plus CVT combination in the future, which is the same as the one on the Chevrolet Malibu XL.
From the previous LTG to the current LSY, the output characteristics of the entire engine have changed, the peak torque of the engine has been advanced to 1500 rpm, the feeling of turbo lag in daily driving is not obvious, the front output will be more sensitive, and the throttle response is also fast, but if you continue to step on the throttle deeply, the rear output will be slightly weaker, and there is no acceleration that is very confident before. If this is a mid-size car that is one level lower, this tuning is suitable, but as a mid-to-large car positioned in the mid-to-high-end, the more lively output in the front section will not be stable enough.
The performance of the 9AT gearbox is generally praised, the shift speed is fast enough, and the logic is clear, but the locking rate of this set of gearboxes has been improved, and the gear ratio of low-speed gears is also relatively dense.
The 2.0T model is equipped with CDC active suspension from the middle configuration, which is slightly lower than Cadillac's MRC active suspension, but it has been significantly improved on the LaCrosse for driving quality, even if the 19-inch wheels are used, the suspension absorbs road vibration very fully, and there is a slight sense of floating, but this kind of biased and comfortable adjustment is difficult to avoid the body roll in the bend.
LaCrosse's steering feel is soft, the directivity is not clear, the steering feedback is not as good as that of Lexus ES, and the damping is only greater when tuned to sport mode, which is not too directly related to the word control. Driving the LaCrosse, you can have a very comfortable driving experience, but you can't have too high expectations for handling.
The workmanship materials of the interior meet the requirements of Buick's mid-to-high-end sedans, a large amount of leather and meticulous stitching, and the style is very restrained, and it will not be full of strong American tyrant style like Lincoln, but a little Japanese refinement. The steering wheel is more conservative in style, a four-spoke steering wheel, which doesn't quite fit the mainstream aesthetic by today's standards.
LaCrosse used a set of electronic gear levers,Dig out a storage space under the gear lever,But the gear arrangement of this gear lever is not intuitive,Switch between D gear and R gear,To go through P gear and N gear,There will be a lot of redundant action when parking the berth。
The central touchscreen is equipped with IntellLink touch system, the font size is moderate, and the logic is simple, but the touchscreen is not suitable for driving operation, and it will be more convenient to use Apple CarPlay or CarLife.
The rear seat space is at a medium level, with plenty of knee room, but the headroom is a little cramped, because the panoramic sunroof occupies a part of the headroom in the rear, even if the backrest is adjusted to the most reclined, the hair of tall passengers will still rub against the ceiling, so you can only adjust the sitting position to avoid it, and exchange the knee room for the headroom.
The reliability of the Buick family has always been less stable. At present, the first-generation LaCrosse is still driving on the road, and most of the failures of the third-generation LaCrosse are currently high, and the third-generation LaCrosse has reduced a lot of failures in the engine and gearbox, but it is still below average. More than five years of drive system and oil circuit failures have gradually increased the repair rate of LaCrosse.
Fortunately, LaCrosse has saved some face for Buick in passive safety performance. In 2018, the Buick LaCrosse participated in the frontal small-angle overlap collision, frontal moderate overlap collision, side impact, top impact, headrest and seat crash tests, all of which were "excellent", but did not participate in the co-pilot small-area crash test, and only received "Poor" in terms of lighting, so it did not get TSP.