I could either use the eight-inch touchscreen to input an address into the onboard navigation system or use the standard wireless Apple CarPlay to pull up the maps function on my iPhone, pick the address of my destination, and get moving. I still didn't know my way around the city, but I didn't have to worry about that because my test car gave me two options for getting to where I needed to go. I just placed my phone on the wireless charging pad and hit the road. If I needed to charge my iPhone after the workday was over, I didn't have to worry about whether or not I had my charging cable with me. I could tell just how fast I was going without taking my eyes off of the road because the head-up display kept it in my field of vision. Adaptive cruise control took some of the stress out of my high-speed blasts up and down Loop 101 and Loop 303. I was stunned by how many Buick had packed into such an accessible vehicle. My press loaner's impressive amount of useful tech features certainly didn't go unnoticed. I appreciated the subtle parquet-like pattern to the Whisper Beige leather seats and the brightness the matching accent panel added to the otherwise dark dashboard. The Encore GX's cabin made the long treks more pleasant. Six weeks before I got the keys to the Encore GX, my daily commute went from the few feet it took to walk from my bedroom to my workspace to 47 miles each way. To keep it from looking too soft and car-like, they added black plastic lower-body cladding and wheel arch trim above the two-tone 18-inch wheels and all-season tires. It was easy to picture Buick designers spending hours carving and smoothing a massive clay model until they pared it down to the Encore GX's contoured and creased final form. ![]() That dynamic color covered body work fitting for a new-age SUV. It was easy to spot, thanks to its Rosewood Metallic finish, which could look like deep brown or maroon or even root beer depending on how the light hit it. The Encore GX didn't need a three-inch lift and 35s to stand out in my office parking lot. My week in a $33,845 front-wheel drive Essence model equipped with the Advanced Technology Package, Convenience Package, and a couple of other upgrades showed me that Buick could fit even more features into a compact vehicle and that I could squeeze even more mileage out of its equivalently sized engine. My experience with the baby Buick has changed, too. Changes for 2022 are purely cosmetic and include the addition of Cinnabar Metallic, Sapphire Metallic, Sunset Glow Metallic, and Rosewood Metallic to the Encore GX's palette of available exterior colors. The 2021 model came standard with SiriusXM satellite radio and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto across all trim levels. Since debuting in the 2020 model year as one of Buick's smallest SUV offerings, the Encore GX has changed in its own ways. Those kinds of adventurous rigs still exist, but they share the road with SUVs built for urban exploration and drivers who appreciate their blend of an elevated driving position, passenger and cargo space, car-like driving comfort, and relatively wallet-friendly fuel economy. ![]() It used to bring to mind images of a body-on-frame vehicle with four-wheel drive climbing over rugged terrain hundreds of miles away from civilization. The idea of an SUV has changed significantly over time.
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