Buick's largest car rides oh so smoothly

Don't worry that young people are almost universally unimpressed by the Buick Lucerne. Buick's largest sedan -- which is one of the few left on the market that can seat up to six passengers -- isn't for them, anyway.

Nicely styled in a mainstream sort of way, the 2008 Lucerne provides the kind of generous interior room and quiet, smooth ride that older buyers expect of a Buick.

Best of all, the Lucerne is a recommended buy of Consumer Reports magazine, where the car's reliability is rated "very good."

Starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination and delivery charge, is $27,520 for a 2008 Lucerne with 197-horsepower V-6 engine. The starting retail price with a V-8 is $33,850.

All 2008 Lucernes come with standard keyless entry, cruise control, OnStar emergency notification system, AM/FM radio with CD and MP3 players, satellite radio with three months of service for free, floor mats, audio controls on the steering wheel and power windows, door locks and outside mirrors.

Six air bags, traction control and antilock brakes are among the standard safety equipment on all models.

And while the 2008 Lucerne aced the frontal crash protection tests by the federal government and garnered five out of five stars, the car received only four out of five stars for side crash protection.

Some modern features, such as a navigation system and an automatic transmission with more than four gears, aren't available. Also, standard wheels and tires on the base Lucerne are 16-inchers, which are smaller and less attractive than the 17- and 18-inchers that are standard on the base Azera and Avalon, respectively.

The Lucerne doesn't look as big on the outside as it is, a tribute to exterior pleasant styling that doesn't emphasize the size of the car. But the fact is this four-door model stretches nearly 17 feet from bumper to bumper.

No wonder the Lucerne has a trunk with 17 cubic feet of room.

Lucerne's passengers get a lot of space, too. Total passenger volume in the car's cabin totals 108 cubic feet.

Certainly, no one complained about legroom while sitting in the back seat of the test Lucerne. There's a full 41 inches of legroom back there, enough to stretch out legs and more like the kind of space you find in the front seats of big sport utility vehicles.

And yes, some models still offer a front bench seat, so total passenger capacity can be six. Just be aware that there's no center head restraint.

The test model, a Lucerne CXL Special Edition with V-8, had the more conventional -- these days -- two-passenger front seat with center console. They weren't as supportive and firm as I liked, and they had meager shaping to hold me in place. But with a ride so smooth I felt like I was gliding over the pavement, I didn't need the seats to isolate me from road bumps. The suspension did that, providing a ride that's a bit of a throwback to big, domestic sedans of old.

Steering took some getting used to because it didn't seem to fit with the more casual, cushioned sense of the ride. And while the interior was quiet overall, the quiet was interrupted intermittently by a rattle somewhere in the dashboard.

Power from the 4.6-liter Northstar engine -- Northstar was first pioneered by Cadillac -- was confidence-inspiring and enjoyable. I never worried about merging onto highways or pulling into traffic because power came on readily and got the nearly 4,000-pound Lucerne up to speed expeditiously.

The V-8 in the test car was the "base" V-8 with 275-horsepower and 295 foot-pounds of torque at 4,400 rpm. Buick also offers a higher-powered version of the 4.6-liter engine that provides for 292 horsepower and 288 foot-pounds of torque at 4,500 rpm.

But the price for this top Lucerne Super model is high, at $39,395.

The only transmission for all Lucernes is a four-speed automatic, while many cars have shifted to more fuel-efficient and responsive trannies with five and more gears.

Best mileage rating for the Lucerne is 16/25 mpg with the 3.8-liter V-6. The V-8 tester was rated at 15/23 mpg and managed around 20 mpg in mixed city and highway travel.

At least Buick doesn't require premium gasoline for any of the engines, so at today's prices for regular, a fill-up for the Lucerne's 18.5-gallon tank should average around $75. 2008 Buick Lucerne