Like its Chevrolet division mate, Buick plans to spend the 2020 model year filling white space in its lineup, hauling the tweener Encore GX from overseas to plug the gap between the existing subcompact Encore and the larger Envision. Beneath its hood, however, the Encore GX is anything but larger — at least when displacement is concerned.
Once the Encore GX arrives, the Ford EcoSport won’t be the only domestic crossover available with a three-cylinder engine. In fact, the Encore GX will be the only crossover offered in America with a choice of triples. No four-bangers invited to this party at all.
As chance would have it, your author was perusing a GM fleet order guide sent his way by a reader when a quick-on-its-feet GM Authority published the same details contained within. The info is something of a shock, though it really shouldn’t be. Automakers are getting very skilled in wringing more power out of less displacement.
The order guides point to two engine offerings for U.S.-bound Encore GX models: a turbocharged 1.2-liter three-cylinder and a 1.3-liter unit of the same configuration. Power for the smaller mill comes to 137 horsepower and 166 lb-ft of torque, a downgrade of 1 hp from the old 1.4L four-banger found in the Encore, but an upgrade of 18 lb-ft.
That engine carries a “standard turbo” designation in the order guide. The “premium turbo” option makes 155 hp and 174 lb-ft — a 2 hp improvement and 3 lb-ft downgrade from the newer 1.4L engine found in this writer’s 2018 Cruze (and, until recently, available in higher-spec versions of the Encore).
In Chinese-market models the 1.3L makes 162 hp and 177 lb-ft, so American buyers stand to see a slight power downgrade. However, keep in mind that these U.S. figures are manufacturer estimates.
Putting these respectable output figures to the drive wheels are a continuously variable automatic (the sole choice with the 1.2L) or a nine-speed conventional automatic found in all-wheel drive models equipped with the larger of the two engines.
As we’ve told you before, moving up to an Encore GX over its smaller stablemate will mean five additional cubic feet of rear cargo space, a slightly more stylish exterior, and as we’ve found out today, a greater measure of grunt. Production will take place in South Korea, with the vehicle arriving on these shores early next year as a 2020 model.
[Images: General Motors]
I thought it had been decided by powertrain engineers a couple of years ago that a displacement of .5 liters-per-cylinder would be most efficient. Now, they’re going even smaller (with turbos dialed-up to compensate). I understand automakers are being forced to produce even minute increases in EPA-rated fuel economy (not necessarily “real world”), and maybe it’s because of my age, but I will always prefer the choice of a larger, more relaxed and under-stressed engine.
@ Kenn
Audi went with that theory and I thought that it was perfect: a 2L four; a 3L six; and a 4L eight. Turbo- and supercharge as desired, add electrons as required. No more, I guess.
BMW was the company that went on a 500 cc per cylinder jag, in a typical load of BS German arrogance. That was when the dud N20 2.0l turbo was their main engine (2012 to 2016 showing that they still couldn’t design a trouble-free cam drive chain system if they tried — yet again). So the B48 was introduced, another 2.0l turbo, but with different bore and stroke. Anyone who keeps up with engine design knows that it’s the combustion chamber design plus inlet and exhaust that defines thermal efficiency. So changing the bore means the valves are changed, the CC is messed around with and so on. The cylinder might still be 500 cc displacement, but its operating parameters have changed. No way ANY reasonable cylinder size is somehow “correct”, unless your mind is fried from reality for PR reasons.
And BMW’s V8 is 4.4 liters or 550 cc per cylinder, so what’s up with that? Amazing that the thing even works because it’s not “perfect” sized! And they’ve even started to sell it to JLR – I wonder what their excuses and apologies were to that outfit for not sticking to perfect 500 cc true German perfection?
When anyone makes an absolutist proclamation on anything, I know I’m reading or hearing horse manure.
Wow, a 1.3! Real American muscle! I can hear Tim Taylor grunting now!
Some day, you’ll be able to stuff an LS motor in one of these.
Does everybody know what time it is?!
::: raises hand :::
So when are these going into Cadillacs?
I wonder how far we are from F-150 Harley Davidson Editions with actual Harley engines?
The first Buick car used a 2-cylinder boxer engine. Maybe they’ll bring that configuration back for old times sake.
Harley has a 120 cubic inch engine which is essentially 2.0L.
106 horsepower and 117 lb-ft torque naturally aspirated.
Looks like just the ticket for campus security detail.
Harley should release a Tim Horton’s edition.
F#CK ! JUST F#CK !
There’s still room for an XT1 unfortunately.
Please, oh please don’t give them any ideas!!! I think we’ve finally crashed through peak crossover when we start seeing 3-cylinder turbos in “luxury” crossovers. Let the thinning of the herd begin soon.
chuckles
I get Stelvio vibes from the rear of the Encore GX. That’s not a bad thing.
You won’t get any Alfa vibes from that exhaust note once the driver cranks it up
That’s bad news – I had one of these as a rental last summer, and the last thing it needs is a smaller engine.
And the Encore GX is actually larger and probably heavier than the current Encore
+1
I took one test drive in an Encore, and two things stood out:
1) Cheap, chintzy materials inside, unbefitting a Buick (all jokes aside)
2) WOEFULLY underpowered. The thing couldn’t get out of it’s own way
It was fine around town, but the lack of power really made itself felt on the Interstate.
I test drove one of these on my mom’s behalf when she said she wanted a smaller vehicle until she sat in one.
Agreed it’s fine around town. But if you think the Encore is chintzy, try sitting in one and then get into a Chevy Trax and see if you still feel that way.
My wife got one of the lower powered pretty base Encores as a service loaner and it made her 2.5 ltr Terrain seem like a rocket ship.
Also, I’m currently driving a 2004 Civic with crank windows, so clearly my benchmarks are low these days.
I guess you could make something of there being one cylinder for each segment of the tri-shield?
I can accept a Chevy feeling cheap because, after all, it’s a Chevrolet (I’ve driven Chevy’s most of my life FWIW). Buick is at least *supposed* to be more upscale.
This is much better looking than the regular Encore. Will be interesting to see if they can tame the typically, well, *assertive* noise of a triple to Buick standards.
@dal20402: Maybe they can benchmark it against the 83 1.8 Skyhawk?
I never thought I’d see the day where I’d long for a big ol’ American 4-banger
Yup, my old Chevy one ton with big block sometimes did bang out almost 4 mpg!
I’m sure this will make a Toyota 2.5 ltr seem like a small block V8 circa 1968.
Agreed. That 2.5 will favorably compare to our old SBC is most every category except sound and overall presence. Let’s face it, nothing really compares to the sound of a healthy cross-plane V8.
Well as someone a while back said, testing a 2.0T Accord against a 3.5V6 Camry would be like a magazine test in the late 60s testing 2 family sedans one with a high winding small block (2.0T) and one with a lazy big block (3.5V6).
Whats funny about that is the V6 is actually the one that needs to rev while the 2.0T has the (dare I say it) more big block like torque curve.
Yea, jack beat me to it. Naturally-aspirated engines are the “high-winding” offerings of today.
Outside of the STI and the Fiat 1.4T, modern turbo gasoline engines have a very diesel-y (or BB) power delivery. All the torque is there as soon as you begin moving, but they start wheezing as you move up through the rev range.
Wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?
Than THIS thing ? Yes !
Help me understand: the smaller Encore will still come with a four-banger?
We have met the enemy, and they is CAFE!
Thank you, President Dindu !
“Dindu – A derogatory contraction of the words ‘didn’t do,’ popularized as a slur against black people as a mockery of regional pronunciation.”
A reference to the previous president I assume. This seems to be a user in need of some moderation.
Jeez, there’s a sucker born every minute.
Those aren’t TRIPLES- they are GROUND OUTS !
P.S.- BUICK Deathwatch officially starts NOW !
The battery is bigger than the engine block — zoom zoom.
Can we get 1.5 VentiPorts per side?
And I’m sure the customer will see a corresponding price drop along with the bigger engine drop, right? Gm is absolutely disgraceful. Serious, sell Buick already and just makes SUVs. Thats seems to be about the only thing theyre decent at.
Best=Ever is right ! PUT BUICK OUT OF IT’S MISERY !
David Dunbar Buick is howling in pain right now.
And so am I.
I think Acura lack of a lineup will go first and be easy branded into Honda+
And is this also going to come with an “L” in the first character of the VIN??!!
Nope! Korea, per the GM Authority article.
The CVT is really the icing on this excrement flavored cake.
The CVT is really the icing on this excrement flavored cake.
^^^THIS^^^
Wait, it has three cylinders AND a CVT ? I can’t wait to drive one cross country. Route 80 here I come.
Don’t you find this Buick’s similarities with classic one http://www.flickr.com/photos/rexgray/8564258908 as a matter of fact? What a beauty! Three portholes – one for each cylinder.
One ‘porthole’ should be on one fender, and the other two on the opposite fender. We can’t have SIX portholes on a 3-cylinder, can we ?
You mean other fender also has portholes? Why?
Me, I’ll wait and see if I wanna lease another Buick Encore, our 2016 is fine for us 2 older seniors, a little more room wouldn’t hurt, not too excited about a CVT and a 3 banger, think GEO!
I give it one model year before they dump the 1.2 litre.
They should create new category – 3cyl luxury cars. And the winner is…
And the winner is…- Bu-go
Next comes the 3-2-1 cylinder engine with A-S-S !
F#CK !- Oh, I already said that.
Where are the guys that always start there comments with
“When gas price rise, the Detroit companies……..”
“… will sell 137hp 3-cylinder Buicks”. Apparently.
Too bad GM didn’t decide to offer this with some version of their 1.8L hybrid system instead of just giving us the emerging market engines.
Or maybe an EV offering. GM claimed they’d have 20 new BEVs by 2023. I’m sure that was sincere and not just corporate greenwashing.
gmauthority.com/blog/2017/10/gm-announces-plans-to-introduce-20-new-pure-electric-vehicles-by-2023/
Some get middle 30’s around town and some highway. Considering the distance traveled hybrids are overrated on a 3-year, 10,000 miles annual lease.
Next is Buick’s exclusive 1 cylinder Briggs and Stratton motor type motor with a belt drive made in China and 1 speed transmission, the new Dynaflow but even cheaper.
Jeff S- “Next is Buick’s exclusive 1 cylinder Briggs and Stratton motor type motor with a belt drive made in China and 1 speed transmission, the new Dynaflow but even cheaper.”- and the Premium model comes with a blade underneath it so you can mow your lawn.
Centrifugal Clutch optional at extra cost. Be sure to grab the grounding strap to shut the engine off from the front because catching the wrong side of the spark plug hurts.
There’s probably a bar on the steering wheel that you have to keep pushed in while driving, or the engine quits!
All of the Best and Brightest seem to forget that manufacturers do not care what enthusiasts think. We don’t buy enough cars for them to listen to us. In the last thirty years I have bought two new cars. An Acura Legend in 1990 and I kept it for sixteen years. Then a PT Cruiser in 2005 that is still driven by my grand daughter. My current ride was bought used and is sixteen years old. Manufacturers don’t listen to people like us. So it does not matter what we think of these vehicles GM is still going to do what they want and we simply do not matter to them at all.
I believe that in THIS case, the reactions of the B&B are just a PREVIEW of what the general buying public will be thinking about Buick, And GM.
I am not commenting here as an ENTHUSIAST, but as an American and a Buick aficianado.
Bring back the Nash Metropolitan ! At least it had 4 cylinders. 1500cc
I don’t think anyone expects GM to build an Encore GSX Stage1. But, I do question how competitive this will be within its class.
We’ll see what happens. Sometimes the commenters are right. Sometimes they are wrong.
Alja- The market has spoken.
2.0T is the new (grown-up) ‘standard’ with a 2.x N/A for the luddites and cheapskates amongst them.
Renegade and Compass are getting 3 cylinder engines. Ford’s been using one, too— now GM.
Junior cars is junior cars.
Why are you convinced this isn’t competitive with others in its class?
“Why are you convinced this isn’t competitive with others in its class?”
This is going to be larger than a true subcompact and likely cost several thousand more than an Ecosport or Renegade. So you’re getting an entry-level powertrain in a “tweener” CUV that is from a supposedly upscale brand.
It probably won’t matter much to the folks who buy this as an urban grocery-getter, which this car actually excels at.
The problem will present itself on the highway – my rental Encore had no problem doing 85 on I-70, but you had to keep it cranked up to 3500 rpm, which killed its’ fuel economy (I got 26 mpg, which is unbelievably low for a car this small), and passing power was nonexistent. Switching to a smaller engine will make that worse.
I’ve bought 4 new vehicles in the last 4 years and they don’t listen to me either.
FreedMike – so “no problem going 85” and “passing power was non existent” so your going 85 and still want to pass or your claiming your rental had no power to pass at any given speed? I don’t have any problem trying to pass anyone on the highway in my 2016 Encore the only thing holding me back is when the wife is with me “STOP! you’re going to fast, you’re going to kill us” “move over into the right hand (slow) lane” I also find it, for a small CUV, a joy to drive and park, with ample storage space and value wise ya can’t beat it!
People are buying fewer cars as Obama’s CAFE dictates the creation of disposable diapers like this Buick. That’s a feature for the Democratic Fascists, and it is a battle they’re winning in their effort to dismantle the middle class.
Therapy helps.
You just wrote above that the market has spoken to explain the replacement of cars people were buying with cars that they aren’t as a response to fascist control of the economy. You don’t even know what words mean, let alone what is going on in the world around you.
The ‘market’ isn’t a single object, idea or person. The ‘market’ is all of those things acting together.
Therapy can help you understand that I’m not invalidating your personhood or beliefs as I discuss a counterpoint.
You are ‘splitting’ to self-validate as a defense.
The market is not the government exerting force. You need to read “1984.” If you have already read it, read it again and this time keep in mind that Big Brother isn’t the protagonist in a how-to book.
I’ll see your Orwell and raise you a Kaysen.
NormSVarea51 is creaming his jeans at the prospect of selling blue hairs on the prospect of TrifectaTuning their ROAR SAS 2020 Encore GX Clownmobiles with their turbocharged 1.2-liter three-cylinders and 1.3-liter unit three-cylinders to produce 555hp/547 lbs-feet of torque, and 588hp/578 lbs-feet of torque, respectively, while getting 48-53 mpg city/62-68 mpg highway.
Just wait until the EnvisionSS straight out of Dong Yue Foundry, Yantai, Shandong, China, made of 100% Chicom components, assembled by workers that are an industrial-military unit of the PROC, hits Buick Dealer lots in the United States!!!
I’ve already got my deposit down!!!
I’m assuming the 1.2 is a Peugeot engine, and the 1.3 an Opel engine ?
Domestic crossover? Lol. Maybe in Seoul.
With 3 cylinders you get a powerstroke every 240 degrees of crankshaft rotation. That’s going to make an all-day Interstate haul unbearable, unless you only go 50 mph!
But if someone uses it just for around town, it’s fine, I guess. Kinda like an electric.
Far be it from me to defend this thing, but I do own a 3 cylinder Fiesta and it will cruise happily at 80-85 mph.
Happily? What RPM at 80 MPH?
Does it have a CVT?
No. It has a 5 speed, which is the only reason I can tolerate it. That and I paid probably 1/4 of what this will cost for it.
It’s somewhere between 2500-3000 RPM at 80. Can’t recall exactly where.
My point only being that the vibration issue can be managed.
@Joe Brick–Yes but that Buick has climate control so it makes yard work less sweaty, wireless so you can text while you mow, lane departure so you don’t end up in the flower beds, and automatic braking so you don’t hit a stray kid or dog.
Speaking of automated mowers and such, my wife has a co-worker who relates regular stories of mishaps that her Roomba gets itself into.
I always wondered how those things worked out! Don’t know anyone who owns one.
Somehow I ended up purchasing a Roomba tonight – true fact.
(Shouldn’t have spent my morning looking at Husqvarna robotic mowers.)
Maybe the market has spoken and maybe those of us on this website are not the target market but if new vehicles get much less desirable and more disposable our roads might start to look more like Havana with old cars, suvs, crossovers, and trucks. After a while it might be more desirable to spend the money to rebuild your older vehicle than buy a disposable one with a CVT and a 3 cylinder motor or maybe a 2 cylinder one. I might be wrong but that is how I feel. That 2k I spent to repair the body of my old truck does not seem that bad in comparison with buying a new vehicle which have become less desirable in my eyes.
Jeff S – I definitely think you’re onto something here.
Don’t forget the insane sticker prices out there today as well.
Factor in that used cars today last a really long time and you’re probably on to something.
Jeff S- Yes- that is an excellent point. We could rename the interstate system The New Havana Barak Obama Memorial Highway System and Auto Recycling Parkway.
@ToolGuy–A self driving lawn mower, maybe that is an Encore for Buick.
rumor is Buick is working on a turbo 1 cylinder for its sport models
Briggs and Stratton Edition?
The one thing I have noticed is that no Buick made today looks like it was sired by the same Daddy. Buick may be a very loose woman in its post bankruptcy days having chosen its mates for reasons not apparent. This particular offspring is Buick in name only. I lament when a Buick was a Buick and looked and rode like a Buick. Sadly, Heir Yutz and his gang took over and started defiling pure Buick until she’d shack up with anyone and the brood now produced “ain’t pretty”.
Three-pot engine architecture has yielded impressive results in the motorcycling world, most recently via Yamaha and Triumph.
My MT-09 is silky-smooth, fuel efficient, and has midrange torque that puts four-cylinder motorcycles to shame. And it does it all with fewer moving parts than a Toyota Corolla.
What’s not to like? It makes perfect sense in a cost-cutting, tree-hugging world.
I also like my 3-cylinder Yamaha motorcycle.
However, this is going into a vehicle nearly the size of a Sportage. Buick also isn’t where GM should be offering their entry-level “cost-cutting” wares that get outmuscled by everything in its price point.
It’s another Korean economy car w/ a Buick badge and fake luxury accoutrements
Wouldn’t you really rather have a (real) Buick?
The formula works for Buick who sold 40,000 more than Acura last year.
Buick will never use that advertising line again because they know the answer. A resounding H!!! No.
@JoeBrick–A better name yet is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tollway.
Acura wants to have word with you.
NOTE TO GM- You can make a profit with Buick !
Buick should convert to making ONLY All-Terrain-Vehicles, with 3-cylinder engines, 4WD, little monster mudders, mesh doors, no fenders and if they could be hosed out and stuff. Like a Kawasaki Mule or John Deere Gator or the similar Honda.
This is a TOY CAR. Not a real car. They could call it the Buick Isetta. Or the Buick Obama.
New advertising slogan – “We put the Ick in Buick !”.
Is that a Buick? Ick. Wouldn’t really rather have a Kia?
Rope pull starter is a standard option.
GM NEVER FAILS TO DISAPPOINT!!!
I own a loaded 2017 Encore AWD, which my wife uses for city driving. While she loves this vehicle, I was never a fan of the engine choices. 153HP is merely adequate. OK for city driving, but hardly adequate for passing. There were some early rumors about GM offering a higher HP engine for the Encore in the 180-200HP range, which would be welcomed. I was going to consider the new Encore GX, but after reading this, I will either move upscale or purchase another brand. For a loaded Encore GX, the list price will be over $35,000. A 3 cylinder engine is not acceptable, regardless of the turbocharging!