- sedan
- Saucier, MS
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- autoshopper.com
2007 buick lacrosse review this car review is specific to this model, not the actual vehicle for sale. A more athletic mid-size from buick. introductionlacrosse is the buick of mid-size sedans. Its styling is sophisticated and modern, yet conservative. Inside is a rich, high-quality cabin with attractive woodgrain trim, nicely presented instruments and controls, and available leather seats with nice-looking gathered stitching. what owners of recent buicks might not expect is the way lacrosse drives. Its steering is more precise, and it turns into corners crisply, with little body lean. In short, it handles quite impressively on winding mountain roads where it's capable of keeping up with any of the imported mid-size cars. Its v6 engines offer good power, growling under acceleration, but motoring along smoothly and quietly on the freeway. Abs and side-curtain airbags come standard. for 2007, buick lacrosse benefits from revised trim and equipment upgrades, including a standard tire-pressure monitor and available turn-by-turn navigation from onstar. Otherwise, it's largely unchanged from 2006. lineupthe '07 buick lacrosse comes in three models. The base cx and the more luxurious cxl are powered by buick's veteran 3. 8-liter overhead-valve v6, rated at 200 horsepower. The performance-oriented cxs comes instead with a 3. 6-liter v6 with modern double overhead camshafts and variable valve timing; although slightly smaller in displacement, it develops 240 horsepower. cx 22,230) comes with cloth upholstery, manually operated air conditioning, tilt wheel, six-way power driver's seat, programmable power locks with remote keyless entry, power windows and mirrors, theater-style interior light dimming, leather-wrapped shift knob, and a six-speaker am/fm/cd sound system. All models also come standard with onstar hardware and a one-year subscription to onstar service. For '07, a tire-pressure monitor has been added to the standard-equipment list as well. cxl 24,645), features leather upholstery, dual-zone automatic climate control, a leather-wrapped tilt-and-telescope steering wheel, power lumbar adjustment for the driver's seat, a split-folding rear bench seat, driver information center, and content theft alarm. cxs 26,860) comes with thicker anti-roll bars front and rear, and 17-inch wheels and tires to go with the more powerful v6. Cxs also boasts additional touches like driving lights under the front bumper. five- or six-passenger seating is available. Optional safety features include park assist and stabilitrak electronic stability control. walkaroundthe '07 lacrosse is unmistakably a buick, with its trademark vertical-bar waterfall grille, long nose, long slopes and simple body curves. A tiny third side window behind the c-pillar adds some visual interest, while at the rear, a discernible dent in the decklid ties the taillamps together and recalls the more adventurous surface development that characterized buicks of the early 1960s. A single, slender chrome spear decorates the doors. Xm satellite radio shares a single antenna with the standard onstar system. cx models can be identified by a grained, graphite-color finish on the rocker panels underneath the doors, while this panel is body color on cxl and cxs. Otherwise, the base cx has almost no decoration at all, beyond the bolt-on faux alloy covers for its 16-inch steel wheels. construction quality looks good. Body, door, and fender gaps on the lacrosse are all noticeably smaller than on the previous regal and century models. And lacrosse's headlamps are said to be 35-percent brighter. to improve crash safety and reduce noise, buick used generous amounts of expensive, high-strength steel, including steel reinforcements in the rocker panels, high-strength steel door beams, and a double-thick quiet steel floor pan and firewall. There's also an interlocking door latch system, a magnesium cross beam behind the instrument panel, another cross beam behind the rear seats, and structural foam in the front fenders. interiorthe cabin is roomy and comfortable and exudes a general look of quality. The standard front bucket seats, clad in leather in the cxl and cxs, feature a new type of stitching, and newly developed silk-impregnated vinyl on the seat side panels emulates the look and feel of leather. a six-seat option trades the front bucket seats for a bench seat and column shifter. The seat has a flip-and-fold center back cushion that can be converted into a spacious center console/armrest with a large storage bin and dual cup holders. rear-seat legroom is generous, thanks to a relatively long wheelbase of 110. 5 inches. We found that a 6-foot, 4-inch passenger can sit behind a 6-foot, 4-inch driver with plenty of room to spare. interior quality and appearance are enhanced by reducing the number of individual trim pieces, which makes everything fit better and gives the cabin a richer, higher-grade look. Each of the three round instrument dials is wringed in chrome and set into a deeply tunneled instrument panel. Instrument graphics have been revised for '07, with red pointers and a more no-nonsense look; and the traditional buick tri-shield emblem has been added to the steering wheel center. It's all very nicely presented, and relatively sporty looking. the center stack is finished a mica-flecked flat black, with a trip computer and driver information system that's easy to put through its menu. However, the information panel is so glossy that it's hard to read in early morning or late afternoon light. Quiet tuning uses specially engineered parts and adds sound insulation in the engine, on the firewall, under the toeboard, inside the wheel wells and in the roof. Buick's quiet tuning has made lacrosse one of the quietest cars in the class. optional features upgrade this car to a cut above, making for a truly complete, safe, all-weather family car. Among them are a remote starting system that will work from up to 500 feet away; onstar; xm satellite radio; and stabilitrak. The chassis is nicely tuned and balanced. This is no mushmobile. Both of the available v6 engines have been tuned to give a nice, healthy growl on full throttle, but disappear into the background in high-gear cruising. the standard 3. 8-liter engine that comes on the cx and cxl is smooth and quiet and is rated 30 miles per gallon on the highway. This is an older cast-iron v6, but it's been thoroughly upgraded internally to reduce mechanical noise and features electronic throttle control. It's rated at 200 horsepower at 5200 rpm, and 230 pound-feet of torque at 4000. the newer 3. 6-liter v6 that comes on the cxs revs more freely and produces more power despite its smaller size: 240 horsepower at 6000 rpm. Its torque curve is also flatter, peaking with 225 pound-feet at 2000 rpm, but delivering 90 percent of that peak between 1500 and 6000 rpm. Mash the gas pedal and she goes.
Saucier, MSSaucier, MS at autoshopper.com