If it performs like a new car, smells like a new car, and possesses the classic style of a new car, then it must be the average new car. But when I drove the 2008 Lucerne, I realized that there was nothing average about this kind of newness.
The engine seems to have been made for Daytona, encompassing the Northstar 4.6L V8 engine. Yet hot highways and snowy mountain peaks are really Lucerne's standard passageways. The premium, aluminum, 32–valve, dual overhead cam, powerplant is recognized and applauded around the world for its technological precision and refinement. With 275 horsepower and 295 lb-ft torque, Lucerne goes from a complete stop to a smoothness of speed propelled by the powerful V8 engine.
And although Lucerne is fast, quick, and accommodating, I averaged only 10.2 L/ 100 km.
Buick engineers have developed an advanced, refined front-wheel drive system. Combine that with a stability control system that seems to sense the direction the driver is steering, allowing power to keep the vehicle on course regardless of the road conditions or outside temperature.
Buick is so proud of their quality that they offer a 5-year/160,000-km powertrain limited warranty and a 4-year/80,000-km bumper to bumper warranty.
Most cars today are of good quality and have many of the same features. So what do car writers look for in a vehicle that makes it exceptional or noteworthy?
Personal comfort and convenience are watchwords for me. With the Lucerne, the driver's seat is comfortable and the lips-of-my-hips don't hang over the side. It is not that I'm fat; it's just that my butt could be considered robust. Most car driver seats are too small for an average fat guy. The Lucerne didn't make me pucker like a large olive in a small jar.
A big problem for me is inadequate peripheral vision. Many automobiles make it difficult to spot vehicles approaching from the rear. Not being able to spot fast-moving vehicles closing from behind you on the side adds ingredients to a recipe called disaster. Lucerne is designed with an appealing style, yet enables the driver a "quick-look" without blockage at any potential blind spot.
In city transits, I was able to merge safely into fast moving traffic, and monitor fast approaching vehicles, like motorcycles and sports cars, before they passed by and left me in a fearful state.
I found the inside cabin well lighted with easy to read knobs and buttons that didn't demand reading glasses to see or tweezers to press or touch to command their service. The steering wheel housed: headlight indicator, cruise control, and wipers that didn't require a Harvard degree in engineering or study for a six-hour pop quiz on the vehicle manual.
Solar-ray light-tinted glass, structured wiper blades and beautiful 18-inch aluminum premium painted wheels add additional comfort and pleasure to the eye.
And the Lucerne is as quiet as a room full of children being instructed by a spinster schoolteacher with a paddle tucked under her arm. Now that is quiet. And I know that is quiet because I had a teacher like that once long years ago. If that teacher was teaching math she would say the 2008 Lucerne could be purchased for less than $47,690.
Durhl Caussey is a car writer who has a column read around the world. He may be reached at this paper or dcaussey@sbcblobal.net .
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