2021 Buick Enclave Does Away Completely With Advanced Twin-Clutch AWD System
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The 2021 Buick Enclave no longer offers the twin-clutch all-wheel drive system previously available on the second-generation crossover three-row crossover.
Officially known as electronic twin-clutch positraction (RPO code G99), the advanced AWD system was standard on the Premium and Avenir trim levels of the 2018, 2019 and 2020 Enclaves that were equipped with all-wheel-drive. Lesser Essence trims with all-wheel-drive got a regular AWD system, while the base Preferred trim was available only with front-wheel-drive.
| Preferred | Essence | Premium | Avenir | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FWD | S | S | S | S |
| AWD:N/A | Regular AWD | Twin-Clutch AWD | Twin-Clutch AWD |
- S: Standard
- N/A: Not Available
The system features a self-locking rear axle which transferred power to whichever rear wheel was most able to make use of it. It is essentially an electronic version of the mechanical limited-slip differential, which was invented to improve traction.
On low-traction surfaces such as mud or snow, it’s common for one rear tire to have more grip than the other. This is reported to the vehicle’s ECU by the individual wheel sensors, and power is sent to the wheel which is turning more slowly. This results in improvements in overall grip, with the vehicle being less likely to become stuck.
There is a similar effect on tarmac, though it is less noticeable in a utility vehicle like the Buick Enclave. At high cornering speeds, weight is transferred to the outside wheel, which can therefore accept more power up to a certain point. The positraction system made this redistribution of power possible.
Without a system like this, power is sent to the wheel with less grip in every situation. Wheelspin is much more common, and the likelihood of the vehicle becoming stuck on mud or snow is correspondingly higher.
Now, all 2021 Enclave models that previously featured this twin-clutch positraction system will receive a “regular” all-wheel-drive system.
Chevy Traverse
This is the third time that the twin-clutch all-wheel-drive system has been deleted from a GM model in recent history. As GM Authority exclusively reported in August of 2020, it was dropped from the 2021 Chevy Traverse three years after it had been introduced. The Traverse shares the same long-wheelbase variant of the GM C1 platform as the Buick Enclave.
The system was also dropped from the 2021 Chevy Blazer Premier, leaving the Blazer RS as the only trim level to have the feature. The Blazer rides on a shorter variant of the GM C1 platform.
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What’s the point of being cheap like this?.
99.9% of GM customers don’t read sites like this, don’t know the difference, and don’t care.
People like Bob Lutz would have banged the table with their shoes. They were all shown the door by the feds and hedge funds.
Problem is they’ll keep de-contenting until joe blow notice “hey, how come my Buick doesn’t have what the Kia have”. Love of money is the pit of business mistakes and this is one of those.
Price reduced to compensate for downgrade?
Ha! funny man 🙂
These types of decisions is what differentiate GM from its competitors. I believe that GM’s management and product engineers are trying to retard this company. Seriously!
My question to the geniuses at GM. Why on God’s earth do you make such Jackass anti-competitive decisions on your bread and butter products?
Another dumbass decision by GM, is dropping the 2.0T engine from the Equinox and it’s stable mate from GMC.
“Excuse me salesperson, could you tell me exactly what kind of AWD system this vehicle is equipped with?” Said no one who’s entered a GM showroom ever. AWD is AWD to most people, and really, the only people who care are those annoying BMW and Audi drivers who retweet those roller ramp marketing videos.
-Signed, guy from Detroit who used to work for GM and owns a BMW
Exactly. Most cars have more advanced AWD systems than a Subaru (e.g. magnetic clutch, eLSD, Torsen), but people still buy Subaru AWD as the gold standard.
Ivan and Sam: Amen!! Well said.
I really think all of us on sites like this need to remember why Toyota sells so many vehicles. It’s because there are so many sheep out there buying them! For those commenting on this article and making the negative comments, it would be good to remember just how little the buying public (in general) knows about these things. All the majority of the buyers care about here is: Does it have AWD? Yes or no.
Lastly, the ignorance of AWD/4WD/front drive/rear drive is appalling to me. I will challenge anyone who attempts to claim that the AWD is needed for better performance/handling. Not true for 99.99% of the drivers on the road.
For those of us who know the difference, it’s a big deal, especially if you live/drive in the snow.
Jim: I understand. But the MAJORITY of the buyers have zero clue. I grew up in the very snowy parts of northern Illinois. I get it. But if the weather is that bad that the difference in the two types of AWD will make such a difference, I’d suggest staying off the roads.
When I was a police officer, it was nearly always the 4WD/AWD people in the ditch because of their false sense of security. Often we were going as far or farther in rear wheel drive Crown Vics with all the weight in the back and good snow tires than those in the AWD vehicles. In fact, the only real advantage they would normally have was greater ground clearance.
We live in the mountains and a better AWD system is a real boon. I agree many buyers do not care about the details of AWD. However, in heavy, wet, snowy, icy, weather a better AWD is safer.
Seems GM cares not for discerning buyers. Check out the IHS list of Safety + vehicles for GM vehicles. Do buyers care about safety….you bet.
Not every state is hilly and snowy so when your marketing plan isn’t “Subaru’s” then it’d be foolish to saddle your non-diserning customers with stuff they don’t need.
Gotta keep those margins up! Industry leader last year. Using margins as the sole metric of success is short sighted, to say the least. Decisions like this are why people mock me for admiring Envision, Blazer and Malibu. Truth is that Honda, Mazda and Jeep offer a better product.
I’m sure GM S Korea has great margins but tiny sales. It is due to decisions like this that, each year, Hyundai and Subaru gain steam while GM sits stagnant waiting for the EV revolution while offering sad, unattractive Bolt.
I’m loosing hope for GM and it’s EV strategy aside from selling to Honda. Stellantis is smart to offer a vehicle like Mokka as ICE or EV. This it’s what Chevrolet should have done with Trailblazer.
It is a bummer, I have a 2021 Blazer RS and compared with my wife’s 2016 Acadia there is a difference between the two. The RS just grips and goes in the snow where the other you can feel random tires slipping and gripping with the open diffs (both on the same snow tires). But I totally get it …. most will never know the difference and there is a cost savings to at least GM (probably minimal to the customer if at all).
Typical, spend money to engineer a system, barely market it but charge top dollar for it then drop it entirely to show how much money you are saving. Where have I seen this before, but you want us to believe you about your ev future.
This has been GM’s philosophy for decades. Each model year, the bean counters gather and nickel and dime the products to eke out every last drop of profit and shortchange the unwitting customer. They always hope nobody will notice and usually increase the prices to add insult to injury.
You can argue that the customer doesn’t notice or care, but that notion assumes they are all dumb. Regardless, GM comes across as disregarding the competition, the customers, and the automotive media just to shave precious pennies and maximize profit per unit.
This is particularly embarrassing on supposed luxury models like the Enclave.
This advanced dual clutch AWD system should be used on the new CT4 and CT5 Cadillacs. The current AWD system is a far cry from Acura’s Super Handling AWD.
They already have it. Look up eLSD.
Sadly, this is typical GM bean counter manna. No lessons learned from market share of around 50% in the 60’s to current about 17%. Lots of reasons but bean counters lead the way.
I switched from GM products to Tesla, Honda and Ram. I will never go back.
But hey! The 22″ black painted wheels are available again! Hooray!