After years of covering the automotive industry, I am always amused by the huge gap between auto enthusiasts and "real people". (I speak you , B & B!) We get excited when Honda decided to offer a manual transmission in the V6 Accord, despite the dozens of buyers who will come running to it, or trust General Motors to sell the Chevrolet SS here at all. "Real people" like when there's a cheaper way to get into a BMW M product, and the ability to go into a showroom and out the same day with the same plate they know and trust.
A good example of this gulf / schism is the Buick Cascada. This is how we imagine the reaction of each affinity group:
Auto fans / press "Buick has decided to rebadge an aging Opel and try to do the go in the US as the New Thing in the segment dropped by the Volkswagen Eos and Chrysler 0 convertible "
real people "? There is a now Buick convertible "
in fact, the Cascada has been on sale in Europe since 2013 as an Opel / Vauxhall pair, but it feels significantly older than a vehicle ready for a refresh mid-cycle. This is partly because of the huge leap in quality and functionality of content on General Motors vehicles in the last two years.
relatively magnificent Maybe looks of the Cascada save an otherwise mediocre product?
Immediately after lifting the Cascada, I was scheduled to give a lecture to journalism students at my high school alma mater to have a life and a career as an automotive journalist. The takeaway? If you think millennials are not plugged into what's happening with cars today , just spend a few hours with high school students and ask them questions about the Volkswagen scandal, that Tesla could be up, and if the Mercedes-Maybach S0 worth considering. (According to one student, for is.)
When the conference was over, I asked the students who wish to join me outside to provide the first impressions of the Cascada. As a group, the children were impressed with remote engine start and smooth operation of the upper part. An automatic budding journo went as far as to compare the side profile of the Cascada to that of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe. Another admitted to some confusion on the badge of the American Cascada, German ancestry and Polish origins. A third liked the leather seats, but abhorred the height of the waistline.
With these impressions gleaned cleverly from a non-driving public away from the intended target of the automaker, it was time to get to work.
start with the good news. The Cascada is prettier than any recent Buick has the right to be. Parked at the beach with the top lowered, tinted chrome strip surrounds the cockpit of Cascada amplifies its long body and minimizes its bloated proportions. Compare Cascada to the deceased Chrysler 0 and Toyota Solara all you want, but none of these had the gravitas buxom convertible to raise a personality-spec car rental.
With hood, Cascada has a rounded shape, like hatchback roofline -. And it still looks good enough
the situation goes from "very good" to "really?" Dissecting the German bone Cascada.
Despite the good looks of Cascada, there are some significant drawbacks to actually lead. In some ways, the Cascada is German and feels he is American. Ride quality is stiffer than you might expect or want from a Buick convertible, a feeling amplified by 20-inch wheels larger than necessary. With every bump, a disturbing did we hit a pothole and bend a wheel or blow a tire? ka-thunk is likely to follow. There is a dummy set of lights located inside the trunk, so that the lights are visible even when the trunk lid is in place, according to regulations and the European sensibility. The cup holders are too small to accommodate all Venti, much less a bottle of water or a smartphone. Heated seats quickly enough heat to be prepared for a rise in the winter morning in the Alps -. But it is unlikely that all tenants happy Orlando will never take advantage of their strength
No heated seats are enough to make the experience imperfect driving a Cascada, however. There have been tremendous improvements in the turbo four-cylinder GM in recent years. La Cascada offers some of them. Its 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder offers little joy while harnessing the power of the engine. Curb weight is 3,979 pounds meat; with four Americans on board means, it is equivalent to a vacuum Enclave. The Volkswagen GTI has roughly the same power and feels quite agile and lively. Some of this has to do with the agreement of the standard six-speed automatic, which overlaps unevenly efficiency and energy performance. Recent small GM cars, the Trax Cruze proved fuel beyond their specifications. The turbocharged 1.6-liter should be capable of better than 20 mpg in the city - but according to the EPA (and our casual observations), it is not. On the highway, efforts to strike the bar 30 were thwarted mpg.
The interior quality is not up, GM impressive standards tight end, either. Cowl shake and rattle are obvious, such as a loud noise, even when the roof is in place. I do not like the passengers in both rows. It serves to turn the radio to try to offset the noise left in the poorly insulated hood, either. The Cascada is saddled with an outdated version of the Buick IntelliLink infotainment system and a touch screen information relatively small top of the dashboard. If you had grown accustomed to the rapid and brilliant MyLink in recent Chevrolets, you are in for a disappointment. Besides being difficult to reach, the touch screen system responds slowly, and you will never be able to memorize the location of dozens of buttons that control by touch. You'll want to make sure that your subscription to 4G LTE wi-fi flawless, probably the most characteristic update on Cascada, is active.
But here's the thing: there was a time, there is little time, you can always argue that, even for defects the Cascada, it was gutsy for GM to reinstate an almost dead segment and build a convertible err on the side of everyday life. Buick is now a victim of its own success. Look at the fit and finish of the new LaCrosse, or the quality of his last touch system graphical navigation.
Recurrence is a complex behavior. For the Cascada to succeed and attract new buyers (beyond Ellie Kemper) to the fold, Buick must sort refreshments and impress the American public purchasing convertible. All this adds to a driving experience that is a bit of a disappointment automotive conglomerate that was delivered victory after victory recently.
You should not have to settle for the middle of something, even the rental lot, and GM knows. View a convertible Chevrolet Camaro on widebody?
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