The Encore GX is powered by a turbocharged 1.2-litre engine for the front-wheel-drive models, a turbo 1.3L for the three (Preferred, Select and Essence) all-wheel-drive versions. – Brian Harper/ Postmedia News - Contributedīut the biggest difference, and what turns out to be the elephant in the room is Buick’s choice of powertrain options for the new crossover. The fact the longer, lower and wider Encore GX is far more handsome than many others in its class gives it an edge. Other than that, though, what are the key differences between the two similarly named Buicks? Well, the GX suffix supposedly stands for ‘Grand Crossover,’ there’s a $1,500 boost in price base AWD model to base AWD model, and size-wise, the GX has a 40-millimetre longer wheelbase and is 77 millimetres longer overall. In its favour is the fact the longer, lower, and wider Encore GX is a far more handsome – if conservatively styled – rig than the Encore, which looks like someone had put the full-size Enclave in a vise and compacted it. Still, even without the novel coronavirus messing up things, it was never going to be a cakewalk, not with the amount of competition out there. “Just as we did with the Enclave in 2008 and the Encore in 2013, we identified a growing market niche and moved quickly to introduce a new vehicle to fill it,” noted Duncan Aldred, global vice president of Buick and GMC, earlier this year. Whether there is a need for such an addition is rather a moot point. Even a few months sooner would’ve allowed the smallish compact to take some advantage of the bonhomie crossovers, especially premium-priced ones, are engendering with consumers. So, the awareness level for the latest addition to Buick’s crossover lineup – the GX slotted between the truly subcompact Encore and the mid-sized Envision - is nowhere near where it should be. Its supposed release at the end of March perfectly coincided with the overdue realization that the COVID-19 pandemic was indeed becoming global in nature. There’s no polite way of saying it: GM’s timing for the debut of the Buick Encore GX just plain sucked.
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