It’s been a minute since we heard any news on the upcoming Buick Encore, but today we have that privilege. The official EPA numbers are in for the first-ever 2013 Buick Encore, with numbers coming in at 25 mpg city, 33 mpg highway and a combined 28 mpg for the front-wheel-drive version. The engine achieving these numbers is the 1.4L turbocharged Ecotec engine with a preliminary 140 horsepower and 148 lb-ft of torque.
Those figures are higher than a comparable Volkswagen Tiguan’s numbers of 21 mpg city and 26 highway. Additionally, the Encore only requires regular 87 octane gasoline, while the Volkswagen recommends premium. It should be noted though that the Tiguan is a larger and more powerful vehicle than the new Encore that Buick compares it to. Lastly, EPA estimates on the all-wheel-drive variant of the Encore are pending, but we’ve still got until early next year before the little crossover begins its launch.
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FYI – Buick press release says __25__ city, 33 highway, 28 combined.
Perfect except for the armrests and black plastic in the headlight
And Ford was bragging about how their engine gives it 22/31/25 MPG. They even use an “active grille shutter system” to get there. Wonder where they got that? The one thing though is how the Escape looks so more expensive. I don’t like neither’s styling, but the Ford just looks quality compared to this plastic graveyard.
You said “plastic graveyard” nice…
GM cut the crap , why do you swoop the the rear side panels up so much that it obstructs the vision of rear passengers and makes the driver feel he is in a tunnel when scanning the back windows . Its all in the name of trendy fashion , isn’t it ? The Ford Escape was the best selling small SUV for years , reliable , excellent visibility from good sized windows and women drivers sit up higher , plus short turning radius , perfect for shoppers to the malls or street parking ….quit sacrificing function for cutesy fashion . Also see similar Traverse and Buick lines . Bets on that Ford Explorer will outsell them both together this year .
What does the Ford Escape (past and present) have to do with the Encore? Both of which are not even in the same segment.
I believe that the Chevy Equinox and its twin (GMC Terrain) sells more than Ford’s Escape. I bought my Equinox after testing the Escape, and the Equinox has more interior space. Besides, the price was better, has a better crash rating, and Ally’s zero percent interest was the “cherry” that closed the deal. After three years I have no complaints on the Equinox. Now I am waiting for the Voltec version.
Raymond — ironically, the Escape single-handedle outsold both the Equinox and Terrain:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2011/09/opinion-desk-why-is-ford-outselling-chevy-and-gmc-in-compact-midsize-crossover-space/
The stats in the article above do not take into account fleet vs. final consumer sales, but it give you an idea of the overall volume. Will be interesting to see how the new Escape does compared to the all-new Equinox in 2015 that will finally become a compact crossover.
This is about what I was expecting, but I was really hoping for a 35 MPG highway number. To go below that in a subcompact that will probably be well above 9 seconds 0-60 is a disappointment. It would have been very doable with an up-to-date trans and engine.
Given the numbers one has to ask why go for such a small vehicle if the fuel economy is close to that of the larger CUVs. The improved handling of a smaller vehicle isn’t the reason people by CUVs. The answer, of course, is that a GM customer can’t even buy something in that class, let alone something with the amenities of a Buick. I suppose this is the price of bankruptcy/restructuring — being behind a few years.
It would be nice if Buick offered the Encore with a manual transmission.
My wife and I were interested in the Encore, but didn’t want to wait until 2013. We ended up purchasing a Mazda CX-5. Now I don’t regret it. The AWD version of the Mazda gets 32 mpg highway and 28 mpg city (almost as good as the fwd Encore). It also has more cargo room than the current Equinox. Oh and the price was way lower than the Escape.
I hope the Encore does well. I’ve been hoping GM would bring something like this for years, but they need to get on the ball and start using direct injection across all model lines if they want to stay in the mpg race.
Jeremy, you might regret it when the CX-5 diesel comes out next year. The only reason that one would buy the Encore at that point would be for the luxury, but they blew it on the most basic of “luxury” items — a simple armrest. One would hope that Buick would not only fix that quickly but also realize that the 1.6T needs to go in it ASAP — not two years down the road. The car might sell in China where people tend to be a bit smaller but it will flop here in the U.S. without decent performance and comfort. It’s either that or the price needs to be down in the economy class, and we know that isn’t going to happen.
It’s such a shame, really, as there is a lot to like about the Encore. That folded front seat would make loading stuff from Home Depot so easy. Why others are not doing this for their C-class hatches and CUVs is beyond me. There is a reason the Honda Fit is so popular, and it isn’t that it’s a hot hatch. I’m also at a loss to understand why roof racks are not standard issue on all 5 door vehicles. At least some (Hyundai, Mazda, Subaru, and VW) seem to care about it.
Looking under the hood I noticed a large spot (on the CX-5) with heat shielding that looked ripe for a turbo-charger but I never considered that a diesel would be offered. Very cool. We also considered waiting for the Subaru Crosstrek, but my wife thought the interior of the Impreza was cheap looking/feeling.
I could have really used an Encore five years ago as my last car, but now with a growing family it looks like the timing just isn’t going to work out for me.
I think it could do well with late 20-30 somethings (before they have kids) and with empty nesters.
That’s me and many other millions of Baby Boomers — empty nesters. But I can’t see paying a luxury vehicle price for something that isn’t luxury, or a new car price for an engine that is anything but “new.” And where is that dry clutch transmission from GM?