When all of my 63-year-old father's friends drive Buicks and the company chooses a golfer as a spokesperson, I would expect that Buick would tailor their flagship vehicle, the Lucerne, toward a certain gray-haired demographic. Upon climbing into the hefty sedan, I saw that my expectations were right on. The Lucerne isn't the sort of ride a hip, performance-driven thirtysomething would have on the top of his vehicular wish list. Instead, it's for someone who makes comfort, spaciousness and luxury priorities.
The Lucerne has room to spare, with large leather seats and swathes of premium carpet, perfect for stretching one's legs over. Seat-warmers soothe chilly buns, a variety of buttons (including one "eject" button-though numerous pushes did not propel the passenger or myself into the air) make adjustments easy, and window wipers turn on automatically during a shower. Despite the cushy features, the most impressive thing about the interior is the quiet ride. Even revving the V8 up as we gunned onto the freeway created nothing more than a hum. The low-decibel interior results from Buick's QuietTuning initiative. In addition to refining the engine with a QuietTuned engine cover, camshaft cover isolator mounts and Grafal polymer-coated pistons, Buick built the Lucerne with a stiff body structure and extensive wind-sealing system. Laminated steel and glass help block out road noise along with extensive damping, which includes wheel-housing liners.
The quieter-than-a-library interior made a perfect setting for the Harman Kardon setup. Smack in the center of the dash, a large, very OEM-looking receiver heads up the nine-speaker system. The big buttons are easy to see (no need to break out the reading glasses here) and a large knob helps you make selections. The test vehicle was loaded with XM Radio and the 6-disc CD changer (with MP3 capability and a handy aux-in on the face), but Buick also offers one with built-in navigation (pictured here). Navigation and audio information alike reads out on a single-color display. For navigation, the turn-by-turn directions seem a little lacking compared to larger, multi-colored mapping displays, but for XM, CDs and AM/FM, its big bright readout does the trick. Buick also backs up the head unit with steering wheel controls.
Although it's not meant to be a surround sound setup, the 280-watt Harman Kardon system consists of a center speaker, door speakers and two more speakers mounted to the rear deck. After breezing through FM, which had very good reception, and XM Radio, I popped in an assortment of CDs. The changer loaded and ejected the CDs rapidly, another bonus. The first thing I noticed, not surprisingly, was the very upfront presentation. Regardless of the genres played, the music seemed to come from the center speaker for a quite narrow soundstage and the overall tone was reedy.
On the upside, the dynamic range was impressive. With QuietTuning damping out road noise, the Harman Kardon system played well at low volumes and surged up admirably with the higher ones, which is great for classical music. The main downside to the system was its restricted frequency range. It left your ears feeling like they had missed out on the highest and the lowest. Adding a subwoofer would resolve the bottom half of that problem and would also relieve the overtaxed midbasses, which distorted at higher volumes. If only adding a sub would help out rear seat passengers. Most systems are geared towards the driver, so passengers usually can't expect a great listening experience. If you're in the rear seat of the Lucerne, don't expect much at all-sound seemed to come from everywhere, which extremely taxed the ears when I listened for an extended period of time.
Despite the audio deficiencies, it seems Buick has accomplished what it set out to do with its flagship. It provides comfortable transportation for those who want a lot of space and simple yet luxurious features. With all the options, the sticker price of the Lucerne CXS comes out to $38, 630. Sedan-lovers (my dad's envious friends included) would be hard-pressed to find a quieter ride for less.
Driving Impression
I was hoping that by driving Tiger Woods' tournament car, the Buick Lucerne CXS, some of his skill would rub off. Sadly, I'm still a duffer. The ride is as smooth as Tiger's swing thanks to Buick's Magnetic Ride Control system, which soaks up road divots with ease. The plush ride, along with the nearly silent cabin, thanks to the QuietTuning, makes for a very relaxing drive. After a tough day on the course or at work, turning on the heating/cooling elements built into the seats just melts away any stress. Since the Lucerne CXS doesn't offer Tiger's skills as an option, I'll put my bag back in the spacious trunk and head off to the driving range.