The first generation of the GL8 was launched in 2000, and the prototype of the GL8 was Chevrolet's Venture, which was characterized by a typical American car, with rough quality but cheap and abundant prices. Due to the great popularity of the official car market in China, starting with the second generation GL8, the GL8 has gradually decoupled from cheap foreign models, and the third generation has been built specifically for the Chinese market, making it the best choice for business and commercial vehicles.
In 2016, Buick launched the fourth-generation GL8 and injected a lot of groundbreaking elements, in addition to the new generation GL8, SAIC-GM obviously did not want to give up the old model, and at the same time launched the new GL8, it launched an old GL8 that is closer to a minor facelift - GL8 Business Travel Edition.
The GL8 is available in both 2.5L naturally aspirated and 2.0T turbocharged power, and the new 2.0T engine is better and more powerful than the previous 2.4L and 3.0L in terms of fuel consumption. The 2.0T-powered GL8 can run into less than 9 seconds in acceleration time, which is almost 1 second faster than the Honda Odyssey, but the actual acceleration experience is far less than the latter. It is precisely because of the lack of grip at the front that the braking distance of this car far exceeds that of many mid-size SUVs of similar displacement, exposing the bulkiness of the larger car.
The GL8 Business Edition follows the exterior design of the previous generation GL8, and does not look like much has changed, and the main purpose of using the same 2.5L engine as the top model of Malibu XL is to avoid competition with its own 2.0T version of the GL8, and this 2.5L powertrain has no competitive advantage in an MPV. Fortunately, the 6AT equipped with the GL8 Business Edition is GM's third-generation gearbox, and the tacit understanding between the GL8 and the 2.5L engine is better than that of previous products, and the performance is relatively smooth.
For the first time, the length of the new-generation GL8 has dropped, but a huge body pressing against 17-inch wheels still looks heavy. Compared to other MPVs, the GL8 is still a behemoth. The body length of 5.2 meters is roughly the same as that of the lengthened Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and even if it is several times more expensive Toyota Alpha, the size is far from the opponent of GL8.
The GL8's seating space is close to that of the previous generation GL8, and the legroom in the third row has finally been improved, so that it is no longer a matter of having a large luggage space and aggravating the third-row passengers. The GL's headroom is the best in its class, but the seat cushion is slightly stiffer than the previous generation, and the manufacturer says that in order to make the seat more durable, but the level of comfort, adjustable angle, and seat perimeter configuration are far less decent than the competitor Elysian. However, thanks to the excellent soundproofing technology of the GM family, the ride on the highway is still very pleasant. Overall, the interior of the new GL8 is largely copied from the new LaCrosse, which is not as refined as the previous generation GL8.
The configuration of the new GL8 is very rich, and there is no shortage of commonly used functions, but the response of the touch screen is always half a beat slow, and during driving, the position of the gear lever just blocks the driver's sight, which is very inconvenient when controlling the touch screen.
There are more obvious traces of "old-fashioned" on the body of the GL8 business travel version, such as the overly old central control design, the complex button design has brought inconvenience to the operation, although the new upgrade of EPS electronic assistance, but the GL8 business travel version of the steering wheel is too large, bringing inconvenience in control.
The GM family rarely has a pretty track record of reliability. The previous generations of GL8 were all very poor quality cars, and they became the mainstream choice of official cars because they were "easy to repair" rather than good quality. Until there are reliable quality statistics, we can't be too optimistic about the reliability of the new GL8.
In terms of safety, the previous generation GL8 received a 5-star safety rating in the C-NCAP test, with an overall score of 47.7 points, but in fact, there have been many doubts about its body rigidity, especially its ability to protect the driver. In the 2019 C-IASI crash test, the fourth-generation GL8 using the SGM258 platform only received a P evaluation in the small-area crash test of the main driver, which is "poor", and the description mentioned that "the A-pillar was torn and the skin of the dummy's head was damaged", and the personal safety of the front seat passengers was not guaranteed at all.
Buick GL8 test report