2012 Buick LaCrosse - CNET
It is not the first word that comes to mind when you think of Buick. But the 2012 LaCrosse may just be the car that earns Buick the disruptive accolade. The LaCrosse is a full-size luxury sedan with just as much comfort in the back seats as in the front. A little 2. 4-liter four-cylinder engine drives the 2012 LaCrosse's front wheels. Traditionally, cars of this stature use a V-8 driving the rear wheels. This four-cylinder engine happens to use direct injection, helping it achieve 182 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque. And added to that engine is Buick's eAssist mild hybrid system: an 11-kilowatt electric motor and a 15-kilowatt lithium ion battery pack. The electric motor never drives the wheels by itself, but adds boost for acceleration and enables an idle stop system. But it feels as fast as most economy cars, and did not present any issues when merging onto the freeway or taking off from a light. The EPA tests for the LaCrosse resulted in 25 mpg city and 36 mpg highway. Watching the trip computer during sustained freeway cruising, with speeds around 65 mph, the car was actually holding around 40 mpg. But in the city the limitations of the mild hybrid system made themselves apparent, as fuel economy rapidly dropped into the mid-20s. Source: www.cnet.com
