Entering its ninth year of production, the Buick Encore occupies a curious station. It is Buick’s best-seller and competes in the subcompact SUV segment, one of the hottest in the auto industry—but the aging, potato-shaped SUV is starting to feel a bit out of its depth by now, especially now with the larger, newer, and confusingly named Encore GX selling alongside it. Nevertheless, the Encore is gaining a few updates for 2022, but not a full redesign.
The U.S. market is yet to get the second-generation, non-GX Encore, currently only offered in China, which shows more personality and frankly is better looking. For the 2022 model year, the Buick Encore comes powered by a turbocharged 1.4-liter I-4 rated at 155 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. That’s 17 more horses and 29 extra lb-ft compared to last year’s model. It pairs with a six-speed automatic that propels the front wheels or all four if you choose the available all-wheel-drive option. This delivers quiet, deliberate performance and not many thrills.
New equipment includes an electric heater and map pockets for the driver and passenger seatbacks. The 2022 Encore features active noise cancellation technology that helps block out noise for a more enjoyable ride experience. A 7.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility and a rear vision camera are standard.
Buick has two available safety packages, the Safety II package includes forward collision warning, lane departure warning, front and rear parking assist, and rain-sensing wipers.
The front-wheel-drive 2022 Buick Encore has an EPA-estimated 24 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on the highway (and 27 mpg combined). Fuel economy is slightly worse for the all-wheel-drive Encore, with a rating of 23/30/26 mpg city/highway/combined.
