Cars.com's Joe Wiesenfelder takes a look at the 2010 Buick LaCrosse CX. It competes with the Cadillac CTS and Chrysler 300.
Transcript
(upbeat music) <v Host>Cars.com auto reviews. Hi, I'm Joe Wiesenfelder with cars.com. Previously, we reviewed a CXS top of the line Buick Lacrosse Sedan. Now what we're doing is we're taking a look at the CX with a new four cylinder engine, a 2.4
liter, which saves you almost a thousand dollars versus a V6 version of the same trim level. It also saves you two miles per gallon city, four highway for a total of 19 city, 30 highway. Now we detailed the CXS trim level. I'm just gonna concentrate on what's different here about the CX and a couple other recent observations. One is the seat. The cloth seat is more comfortable to us than the leather seat was. Two of our reviewers said, "It was a deal breaker. How much lumbar support there was in the leather seat? Couldn't buy the car." This isn't the most comfortable seat in the world, but it's definitely better than that one. It's workable. Another interesting thing here, the way the handle is designed here, it's kinda hard to grab when you push the door, people don't realize this, but when you push a door open, usually you push and then you grab a handle to stop it. So you don't ding the car next to you. I bet you that's gonna be a problem with Lacrosse's. I'm not gonna park next to one. Now, the main difference here obviously is the four cylinder engine, better mileage of course. Now, in terms of acceleration, it's modest. It's actually quite modest for, you know what most people want. I think it's workable. It depends on where you live. One thing that's really impressive to me is that it is really quiet, even when you're accelerating hard and that's important, because it makes it sound like the car isn't straining. And I think that sound is what turns a lot of people off with an underpowered or modestly powered car. In general though, with 17 inch wheels, the car rides really nicely. It's quiet, it's comfortable. It's not trying to be a sporty car. The backseat is relatively roomy actually, pretty comfortable. The front seat is all the way back. My knees aren't even touching it. They're only raised a bit, but there's a point worth making here. And that is if you're shopping, this is currently considered kind of a mid-size, full-size car. The Lucerne is Buick's full-size sedan, but it is going to be discontinued next year, regardless that car is larger and just about every dimension, it's wider, more leg room, more headroom, more everything. When the Lucerne has gone, this Lacrosse is going to be the flagship. It's going to be the big one. So if this one isn't big enough, you might wanna act now. Another slight disadvantage. The trunk has 13.3 cubic feet in the Lacrosse. The Lucerne is 17.1. By the numbers alone that's actually not very big. It's more like a mid-sized car, maybe even some compacts, but actually seems bigger than the number of suggest. And you could fold the seats down, that always helps. The Lacrosse has been a big hit for Buick. Having the option of a four cylinder. In addition to the two sixes will definitely help. I don't fall prey to that on-ramp fallacy that if your car does 0 to 60 in 10 seconds, instead of nine, you will surely die. It's not like that. I've lived to tell having driven everything. Then again, if you fill the car with people, climb a lot of hills something like that, you might find this one does not have enough power for you. (upbeat music) <v Host>For more car related news, go to cars.com or our blog kickingtires.net.
