Outwardly, the latest Buick has a sculpted appearance, with the same waterfall grille and side character lines as the Regal. The taillights wear chrome "eyebrows" which sounds weird, but actually finish the rear off nicely. Its long arched roofline helps to create the illusion of size. There's nothing truncated in the Verano's appearance; at first glance, it appears no smaller than the Regal or LaCrosse.
Buick claims it wanted to invoke the feeling of a den or family room in its comfortably appointed cabin. Soft-touch materials abound, with Ebony, Cashmere and Choccachino leathers, rich wood and aluminum accents as well as warm ambient lighting. Premium available features include push-button start, Bose audio, remote start as well as a heated steering wheel and seat heaters that are automatically activated by temperatures below 7 degrees C (45 F).
Speaking of seats, the engineers spent hundreds of hours researching and studying the "best seats in the business", and the result is these pillowy-plump chairs that cradle your backside like a favourite recliner. There's plenty of room up front and ample headroom for my 6'2" driving partner. The seatbacks are concave to increase rear legroom, and even my lanky partner found them sufficiently accommodating.
Our ruby red tester was finished in black leather – including the fat, wrapped steering wheel. I push the "start" button, and we simply move forward, minus any kind of accompanying roar or rumble. Indeed, it's hard to tell that the car is running at all, so complete is the insulation.
"Quiet tuning" are the buzzwords throughout our introductory presentation. We're invited to examine a cutaway that illustrates the myriad ways in which Buick has tried to create what they boast is the quietest car in the segment.
The body has been mig-welded and glued – purportedly resulting in a consistently rigid, vibration-preventing main structure. There's more than twice the amount of sound-deadening foam as in the Cruze – blown into the hollow pockets of the body, while liquid sound deadener has been applied (by robots no less) throughout the body and frame to absorb low frequency noise and mitigate pings. The headliner is five layers thick and the windshield and side windows are of laminated, acoustic glass.
Buick claims it wanted to invoke the feeling of a den or family room in its comfortably appointed cabin. Soft-touch materials abound, with Ebony, Cashmere and Choccachino leathers, rich wood and aluminum accents as well as warm ambient lighting. Premium available features include push-button start, Bose audio, remote start as well as a heated steering wheel and seat heaters that are automatically activated by temperatures below 7 degrees C (45 F).
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| Soft-touch materials abound, with Ebony, Cashmere and Choccachino leathers, rich wood and aluminum accents as well as warm ambient lighting. (Photo: Lesley Wimbush/Auto123.com) |
Speaking of seats, the engineers spent hundreds of hours researching and studying the "best seats in the business", and the result is these pillowy-plump chairs that cradle your backside like a favourite recliner. There's plenty of room up front and ample headroom for my 6'2" driving partner. The seatbacks are concave to increase rear legroom, and even my lanky partner found them sufficiently accommodating.
Our ruby red tester was finished in black leather – including the fat, wrapped steering wheel. I push the "start" button, and we simply move forward, minus any kind of accompanying roar or rumble. Indeed, it's hard to tell that the car is running at all, so complete is the insulation.
"Quiet tuning" are the buzzwords throughout our introductory presentation. We're invited to examine a cutaway that illustrates the myriad ways in which Buick has tried to create what they boast is the quietest car in the segment.
The body has been mig-welded and glued – purportedly resulting in a consistently rigid, vibration-preventing main structure. There's more than twice the amount of sound-deadening foam as in the Cruze – blown into the hollow pockets of the body, while liquid sound deadener has been applied (by robots no less) throughout the body and frame to absorb low frequency noise and mitigate pings. The headliner is five layers thick and the windshield and side windows are of laminated, acoustic glass.
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| There's more than twice the amount of sound-deadening foam as in the Cruze – blown into the hollow pockets of the body. (Photo: General Motors) |