2006 Buick Lucerne
By Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 1/16/2006
|
GAVIOTA BEACH, Calif. -- Tucked on a narrow strip between cobalt waters of the
Santa Barbara Channel and sienna ramparts of the Santa Inez Range, the Pacific
Coast Highway runs westwardly beyond Santa Barbara before hooking a right at
Gaviota Beach and winding through Gaviota Pass to climb across the mountains.
Big trucks and commuter cars usually clot this artery and fog off the ocean often
obscures the view, but on our recent cruise up the PCH the traffic is sparse and an
azure sky clearly reveals the channel islands of San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa
Cruz.
This Technicolor seascape fills all windows on one side of the cushy large-scale sedan
employed for this test-drive scene, with jagged peaks capped by the vivid blue
ceiling covering opposing windows.
And within the expansive passenger compartment that's lined tastefully in leathers
and wood and chrome, sweet symphonic sounds waft through multiple speakers of a
deluxe Harman Kardon stereo system.
With superior power of a big V8 engine on tap and a sure-footed front-wheel-drive
(FWD) system exerting the engine's torque on the forward wheels which also steer
this machine, our vehicle appears well equipped for an extended pavement journey
like this PCH excursion, as luxurious trappings coddle the riders and diminish the
miles and time.
Our tester bears a new moniker for one of the oldest marques at General Motors:
It's called the Buick Lucerne.
As a new four-door and grand-size sedan oriented with FWD traction and outfitted
with premium equipment, the Lucerne in Buick's 2006 line replaces not one but two
aged Buick nameplates -- LeSabre and Park Avenue -- and offers two powertrain
options, seats for five or six passengers and a long list of equipment for safety and
security.
Trims begin with Lucerne CX stocking a V6 engine and continue with uplevel CXL
offering the powerful NorthStar V8 but culminate at deluxe CXS with the V8
standard.
Also there are high-tech mechanical components aboard top trim CXS, such as GM's
Magnetic Ride Control (MRC) variable suspension and StabiliTrak vehicle skid
controls.
External styling looks smooth like glass with ripe lines and a bold face focused on a
chrome-rimmed grille.
The slinky body features Buick's signature grille with vertical bars in chrome and
flanking pairs of shimmering multi-lens headlamps.
Below the grille a body-colored fascia contains split air intake ports and round
foglamps.
A canted hood incorporates striking curves from the headlamps and draws them in
taut lines rearward to the base of a raked windshield.
Sides reveal smoothly rolled shoulders and arched wheelwells with body-colored
molding streaking across the double doors.
Chrome-coated portholes on front fenders, hallmarks in Buick history, denote engine
size -- three portholes for the V6 and four for the V8.
And the line of the roof is a smooth arch that tapers to a rolled tail.
The unit-body structure for Lucerne has a wheelbase that runs to 115.6 inches -- 1.8
inches longer than the wheelbase of the Park Avenue, and those extra inches show
up in the passenger compartment with more backseat room to stretch (there's up to
41 inches of rear legroom).
And within the cabin, Lucerne the sedan reveals an impressive quality of quietness in
terms of reducing noise, vibration and harshness (NVH).
All external NVH seems to be locked outside, the result of wrapping the passenger
compartment liberally with sound-deadening material.
The effort to control NVH inside Lucerne is labeled by Buick marketeers as
QuietTuning. It represents a sense of refinement more akin to elite premium cars.
Buick's QuietTuning measures include thick layers of laminate applied to the
windshield and all four side windows, adding composite nylon baffles inside all
structural roof pillars and rocker panels and cross-car braces, multi-layer steel
laminate employed for the dashboard design, along with noise-paring exterior
rearview mirrors and low-profile windshield wiper blades.
Lucerne's cabin also contains fancy gear, either stock or optional, depending on trim
level.
The standard seat plan shows a pair of bucket seats in front of a bench for three,
although the base CX or uplevel CXL issues may be ordered with a three-person
front bench split 40/20/40 percent to boost total capacity to six.
Lucerne's powertrains begin with the GM 3800 Series III V6. It displaces 3.8 liters
and produces 197 hp at 5200 rpm plus torque of 227 lb-ft at 3800 rpm.
The pushrod V6 links to a smooth and responsive automatic transaxle, GM's 4T65-E
Hydra-Matic with electronic controls, four forward gears and the shifter lever
mounted on the steering column.
That premium NorthStar V8, an aluminum 4.6-liter plant fitted with 32-valve dual
overhead cam, romps with 275 hp at 5600 rpm and 290 lb-ft of torque at 4400 rpm.
The V8 also employs a four-speed automatic transmission with electronically-
controlled shift sequences for unobtrusive transitions. Dubbed 4T80-E, this Hydra-
Matic permits the application of more engine torque to accommodate the V8.
Lucerne has a responsive power-assisted rack and pinion steering system.
The V6 versions use hydraulic variable ratio power assistance for steering, while V8
versions borrow from Cadillac a magnetic variable-effort device which uses electronic
controls for magnetic torsion to increase or decrease the amount of effort required to
steer.
Regarding safety equipment, all trims surround the passenger compartment with air
bags -- there's a dual-stage frontal air bag for the driver and a dual-depth frontal air
bag for the front passenger, a pair of side-impact thorax air bags for the front seats,
and curtain-style air bags tucked in the ceiling above the side windows front and
rear.
Lucerne CX edition brings air conditioning and power controls for windows and door
locks, six-way power for the driver's seat, keyless entry, an audio system with CD
player and audio controls mounted on the steering wheel.
CXL raises gear with rain-sensing windshield wipers, heated exterior mirrors, leather
upholstery and twin-zone automatic climate system, while CXS upgrades with MRC
and StabiliTrak, the 245-watt Harman Kardon stereo audio with nine speakers and a
six-disc CD/MP3 player.
Buick casts the MSRP for Lucerne as low as $26,265.
|
| 2006 BUICK LUCERNE VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS |
| Description: |
Full-size 5/6-passenger sedan |
| Model Options: |
Full-size 5/6-passenger sedan |
| Wheelbase: |
115.6 inches |
| Overall Length: |
203.2 inches |
| Engine Size: |
OHV 3.8-L V6/L26, DOHC 4.6-L V8/LD8 |
| Transmission: |
V6: Auto/4/4T65-E, V8: Auto/4/4T80-E |
| Drive: |
Front |
| Braking: |
Power 4-disc/ABS/BA, CXL/V8: opt.StabiliTrak/MRC, CXS: StabiliTrak/MRC |
| Airbags: |
2 (front), 2 (side), 4 (side curtain) |
| Gas Mileage: |
V6:19/28 mpg, V8:17/26 mpg |
| MSRP Price: |
CX/V6: $ 26,265, CXL/V6: $ 28,265 , CXL/V8: $ 30,265 , CXS/V8: $ 35,265 |
|
|
|
The Big Lot! is dedicated to privacy, security, and service. Read our Privacy Policy.