8/22/2019 This week in 2003: Buick Rainier drive review

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12004W ICK RAINIER I INTRODUCTION

' 94 3 -"s*. AMORE MOUNTAIN THAN M O L ~ ~ RTHE PROLONGEDapplause you hear? Thatwould be th e nation's Buickdealers, brought to theircollective Florsheirns by theappearance of a Buick-badgedS W . umbered with an all-sedan lineup, Buick added th ecrossoverRendezvous in 2001,and in Septemberwill bringforth th e midsize Rainier.Using the same sturdy body-on-frame architecture that car.ries th e Chevrolet TrailBlazerand th e GM C Envoy onto th everge of the nation's soccerfields, th e 2M)4 Rainier addsmuscle-buildmg nourishmentto th e Buick menu.The Buick division ofGeneral Motors celebrates it scentennial year in UXU, andwhat better party favor than anew S W hat offers luxury, all-wheel drive and lots of powerat a competitive price. Buicksold 435,000 units-the nameDetroit gives to cars and18 A W O m I K JUNE 30,2003

t r u c k g l a s t year, a figure thatincluded 61,000 Rendezvoussales. GM C and Chevrolettogether sold more than 360,000Envoys and TrailBlazers, soth e dealer enthusiasm is morethan justified. In an ailing sedanmarket, a new S W hould bestrong medicine.We can saywith a stravghtface that th e Rainier is some-thingmore than badge engi-neering. Th e Buick productteam ha s done a good job inmalung their Rainier a realBuick that will no t only appealto the traditional Buick owner,who is somewhere berween 60and death, bu t also to youngerbuyers. Th e average age of theRendezvous buyer is 51, and41 percent are women.The Rainier will appear ina single trim level and offera choice between tw o enginesand tw o drive conhgurations,rear-wheel and all.whee1. Afour-speedautomatic is th eonly transmission available.The price, no t yet firm, will

range from $35,OW to $40,000depending on th e optionschosen.Knowing that you first wantto know whether the Rainiercan get ou t of its own way,we can answer with a strongaffirmative. There are twoGM Vonec engine choices, aninline-six displaung 4.2 litersand a 5.3-Liter V8. Horsepowerand torque, respectively, are2751275 and 2901325. Bothengines, with no* in tow,perform satisfactorily even ataltitude. [Guesswhere we droveth e Rainier?Lose 10 points ifyou guessed Monaco.)Obviously, the V8 has theedge with us lead-foots, bu tyou could be s q r i s i n g l y happywith th e six. Being Buick, alldrivetrain wmbinations havebeen tuned and tweaked toensure maximum smoothness,and we can repon no roughedges in this area.The base power source,Buick's Vonec 42W inline-six,is a 24-valve number with a

10:1 compression ratio, notice-ably lugher than most four-valves-persylinder engines.It uses regular unleaded fueland can deliver 90 percent ofits torque across the 1600-to-56W.rpm range. Our drivingimpressionscan be encapsulat-ed by saying t delivers suffi-cient power and more thansufficient smoothness.The all-aluminum Vonec5300 V8 gives funher testimo-ny that pushrod engines canbe civilized. Within that catego.ry, the delivery of it s 290 hpcould not be smoother or moreappropriate to the Rainier'sneeds. The V8 also uses regularunleaded fuel, and it qualifiesas an Ultra Low EmissionVehicle without th e complicn-tion of an exhau6 t .g~~ecircu-lating system.A bit of advance-productnews: By KO 7 Buick will havetwo VBs, a 4.6-liter and a 5.3-liter. "One will have overheadcams and one will be based onthe Northstar system," said a

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engineer, decliningtoapccific.Thepresentis of coursea not-relative of thewerhead-valveV8.V8 offersup a flatcurvethars desiiedoptimum towing capability.pounds. Theworm youdowith a Rainier is theinlinesix,and even that

to the outside ofRainier, youll find ititsGMby ah-talat thebeltline extendingheadlight to tail and byBuick vertical-barpriuedates to the 1938Y-Jobcar.Thesculptedwheelb are 10undedrather tbnn

nd he 17-inchd o ywheels areenoughto sellin theTheh e a w t slow-mountfog ampsarein chromeandhave abusinesslikelookonly faultwe foundwith=aim ~ppearanaangde , whichhad a slightlylook about it. That'swhat the designers hadofwurse, sinceChoroletGMC eedsdrwe hedesign at the outset.grille haa thenow-tradi-Buick "tri-Wd" emblemcenter, andaivia loverslike to know that this isvmion of

DavidDunbarBuick.made dowith only onehoweyer.the Rainier is com-andwell appointed,the ntaior lunamorewhat youwould expecta front-ranktruck than1 SUV.There'sa smttaingof burlwalnut,the+ted leather seatsgood andfeel better. Thest- wheeljust the right thickness andThe electronicadjust-are unwmplicatedand

permit anyonemth a left armlongenougb to reach the con-tmls o achieve anW e n tdrivingposition.The instruwentpanel isunremarkable, butd heconuola and switchesare easyenough ta find andm a t e .The individualair conditioningmatmls or fmnt-seatp e n -gm anmaintain a 25degree

as a baseballbat, and in therear is a five-linksolidaxlelayoutwith load-sensitive airs e o n . U amund youwhen you're under way is thequietatmosphere,uniquetotheRainier, that the engineerscall theQuiet'ILoing system.This actuallyworks, and itincludessuch tems as@ylaminatedwindow andwind

difkmce in tempaaNe. Wedidnot have the navigationsysarm onour est vehicles,but for thaa f uswhobelievein maps and judicious spendinkthatwasm,great&ace. TheoptionalX M SatelliteRadiofeature., on the otherhand, ratesafirmattaboy, as does theBosesound system,which can beequippedwith an in-dashCDchanga.OnStar is standard.TheIlliver Information Centercanspeak En&ll, SpanishorFrench,which ismore thanyoucansay formost of us.Driving the Rainia is justaspleasant as it oughr to be.Thevehicle has an independentdoubleA-arm fmnt suspensionwithanantiroUbarasthick

screen g h , ell-appliedsaunddeadeniugmaterialsthmughout, andeven thedumbing-downof the engineexhaust note tobe less inm-siveandmore "Bulck"We drove theRainiermostlyongood mads,whae it didjust fine.Better than just fine,actually. TheRainier can bedescribed Legitimately as agood-hank package onanytiungthat could be calledadecentroadHow the Rainierwould behave in genuineoff-road conditionswe can't say,but we did mvlage a lengthyexcursion ongravel roadsthrough the deepwoods.Evenwhen we went out of ourwayto hit thepotholes, the vehicle

remainedqllietandkqtdvibrationsatbay.But wbatwould you v t mmBuick,what potholeshavebeen a an-dition since the daysofHarleyEarl! Youmember. TheRoadmnster hadfnu f them.And speakiugofHarleyEul,the advertisingmpaignaeat-edbyMeCann-Elicksmlandfeaturingthe longdejmneddesignlumiaarywillretumnext year.This ensures that theworker beesweknmv out atGM DesignCenterwill contin.ue to g d heir teeth at thethought ofa d e e d esignertaking nedit for thdrwork.You may bewondering howBuick cameupwith theRainianame. As our pressmaterialquotesWilliamDavis,GM'sdesign director formidsizetrucks,"Mount lwxlierrrflectsmawtywithmggwhesnandin-ce The royalRainierfamdyo fMm s ym -b o b squahy, sophiaticotimand elegance." Onew o n hwhetherMr. Davis s awarethat themountainwasrlpmodfor RearAdm. PeterRainier,Adm id of heBlueand oncethe cPptain of HMSOstrichAnd asfor the eleganceof theroyal m e n e e of Monaco,suf&iceit to snyMr. Davis akesnone of his aeative inspirationfrom the supermprket&bloids.PlesidentThe&R d t , s long aswe're onthe subject, had this to sayaboutMount Rainier's nnming''Why shouldweAmericanaabandonthe splendidIndiannameTawma,inordertocallour noblest landmarkafter anobscure foreignerwhose onlyconnectionwith our history isthat he fought against uswhenwe werean infant nation?"Why indeed?BecauseTacomaisaToyotapickup truck, that'swhy. But who knew?Whatwa its name, theRainierwill addmarketingvitality to theDoctots CarDealershps, and its power, rideand quietness shouldmake itan effectivecompetitor in themidsize S WsegmentmJUNE 30,2003UllDWEU 19