This Month's Letter From Europe Buick Enclave, Kia Soul, VW ID.4, Volvo S60 Recharge

By Andrew Frankl
European Bureau Chief
The Auto Channel

Before moving on to my latest test SUV Buick’s lavishly equipped Enclave, let me digress for a second.

Having recently visited Yellowstone Club adjacent to Big Sky in Montana I noticed something very interesting. These folks, some of the richest in the World all drive Chevy Suburbans. The reason: huge, reliable and there are dealers not too far away.

During my week’s stay I saw one Range Rover and one-badly driven-Porsche. Everything else was Suburban all the way. Truth be told I’ve never been in one, never mind driven one-so I was absolutely blown away by the carrying capacity and the grip. Five adults, two children plus skis and food for a large, hungry family...an amazing experience.

I would not be telling the truth if I raved about the Enclave which came to me for a short test in appalling weather. With three rows of seats it certainly looked good, in fact elegant is the word. My problems were more about the mechanics of the Enclave. The engine, a 310 horsepower 3.6 V6 has seen better days and is probably due for an update although it works well with the excellent 9 speed gearbox. It has a towing capacity of up to 5.000 lbs.

The Enclave comes in three versions - Essence, Premium and Avenir. Talking of Avenir I am afraid this really is a silly name and on top of it the typeface is such that you cannot even read it on the Enclave. Should be easy to fix.;

The problem this SUV has is the ferocious competition. Porsche Cayenne, BMW X5, Volvo XC90-we are talking about heavy hitters.

If you were to get one I would suggest the Essence version which is just as capable of giving you a nice, comfortable ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles on I-5. On a highway at a steady 70 miles per hour with 4 adults and two children it would be as pleasant as anything in this category. When it comes to rough roads and tight corners the suspension is far too soft.

One thing I always point out when it comes to GM products. There is a dealer round the corner whereas rivals such as BMW and Volvo would have problems if you happened to be in Montana. By all means test drive-it, the Buick is honest and reliable, just don’t look for too much excitement. Prices start at 44 thousand dollars but by the time you get to the high-spec Avenir-which Google quickly changed to Avenue..! you are talking 58 thousand dollars at which price the Enclave is not the best of the bunch.

Stick with the Essence at 46 thousand before haggling and you will get yourself a fine, predictable, reliable product.

The Kia Soul GT-Line is seriously quirky . You look at it and you smile. Is it the World’s greatest automobile? No. Would I like to have 4 grown ups in it all the way to Northstar in the Sierras? Definitely not. Being stuck behind all the trucks in the inside lane with147 horsepower? Certainly not my idea of going skiing. On the other hand at around 20 thousand dollars you would get a highly likable little car which would be perfect for school runs or trips to the office.

There are 61 of them for sale near where I would suggest that people buy them, enjoy them and then move up to something more powerful. Fuel consumption is between 24-31 mpg depending on whether you drive in town or commute on the highway.

As a first car for the upwardly mobile it would be perfect as a starter car and for people with relatively low incomes it would be a blessing. I am sure you could get a perfectly good second -hand one from well under 20 thousand dollars at which point it would make a great deal of sense.

Because of the wild colors and the cheeky looks it is impossible not to like it. And if you think the Soul is just a toy take a look at the video from Africa when a rhino tossed one around for about a hundred yards. Worth watching. One tough cookie.

As soon VW’s strangely named ID.4 AD Pro S landed in Belvedere I headed straight to Novato where Ross Periodicals publish FORZA, a magazine about Ferraris. I have been writing for the magazine since Issue One but this time the meeting wasn’t about the next issue or the next cover it was about the new VW EV. The reason-Editor Jenkins when he is not busy testing the 296 from Maranello drives a GTi. He loved the idea of jumping in and taking the EV on our secret test route in Marin County.

The verdict-he loved it! Took a few minutes to figure out all the various gizmos some of which he found somewhat funky but reckoned it was just a matter of getting used to them.

One thing is for certain. The VW EV captured people’s imagination to such an extent that there is a waiting list. Having spent a week driving around, mostly in atrocious weather, dodging fallen tree-limbs and huge potholes I think I know the reason. Build quality.

There are a lot of Tesla's near where I live and the owners I have been talking to all complain about build quality. There is no doubt in my mind that once real car companies get their act together and start making EVs in large numbers Tesla will be in trouble.

My first great surprise about the ID.4 was the place of manufacture- Chattanooga, USA! German manufacturers have always been very particular about where their products were assembled-especially outside Germany-but Chattanooga still came as a great surprise. Furthermore 66 percent of the components are made here in the USA. There wasn’t a rattle, there wasn’t a squeak-well done to all the folks doing the assembly.

I found the cabin friendly but I did struggle somewhat with the technology. Certainly the infotainment was somewhat complex but once I’ve got to 90.3 -the classical channel-the speakers were first class.

What blew my socks off were the various driving modes. In Eco all the instruments were in green and in sports mode bright red! Rightly so as the acceleration in sports mode got you into Ferrari country. I didn’t have a stopwatch but the AWD Pro S was astonishingly quick and totally unexpected. Truth be told I was perfectly happy in ECO mode.

On the comfort side the Pro S offers all sort of goodies such as heated car seats, a three-zone automatic climate control system, 20 inch wheels on Pirelli's and a premium stereo system which I’ve already mentioned. Because of there appalling weather conditions I did not brave the elements and did not stand at a charging station in the middle of the storm so I cannot confirm the ease of charging.

I understand that there is a fast-charging option, hopefully I will be able to test it next time when conditions improve,

One particular feature deserved ten out of ten, when someone is overtaking you three separate warning lights appear in the side of the holder in which the mirrors are placed. Impossible to miss and a huge well done.

Could I live with one?

Happily. Is it a well-thought out proper EV? One hundred percent. The prices? Well, the one I had for test was very lavishly equipped hence the price of 51 thousand dollars. If you don’t need two electric motors and you don’t need 4 wheel drive you can save yourself several thousand dollars.

Was I sorry to see it leave? Absolutely. Come back soon ID.4!

Equally welcome was Volvo’s S60 recharge AWD ultimate. How welcome? Well , after charging the electric motor to its maximum 39 miles I took off to Sonoma Raceway in total silence. So much so that I was able to enjoy Vincenzo Bellini’s opera NORMA, Live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York...thanks to KDFC, with Sonya Yoncheva in the title role -it was simply magnificent.

Thanks to Volvo fitting a first class Harman Kardon music system. I got to Sonoma and halfway home which was a huge improvement on most hybrids where the electric bit is more symbolic than real. If I had a job in San Francisco I could commute without using any gas whatsoever using the plug-in.

I have declared a bias.

In the UK we had one Volvo after the other. My wife had three wagons while I was happy with my chunky but much loved S70. Had it for something like 12 years and it never missed a beat. Took it to Europe, all the way to Austria and it didn’t occur to me that it would break down. To this day 30 years later I see them in the parking lot in Mill Valley. Judging by the gray-haired drivers I think many of them have had the S70 for all that time.

Turning to the current S60 black edition the color gives the game away. It looks menacing and with a 0-60 figure of 4.1 seconds the meanness is justified. In white it would be more fun as it would look really innocent which it most definitely is not!

Coming back to the recharge bit what is particularly clever is that when you are charging in a basement of an apartment block there is a flashing white light on the cable which helps to avoid neighbors tripping over it with law suits of massive proportions. Sounds like a detail but a very important one at that.

The other day I was testing a Ferrari hybrid in Tuscany and after a few minutes I said to my passenger-in this car you can listen to the birds instead of chasing them away! It is exactly the same in the S60 Recharge. While I love nature it is equally important not to wake up the neighbors when you come huge late from the theater or the night-shift or urgent care.

Having said that I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t confess that using all 455 horses on the side roads inside the Sonoma raceway complex was naught but nice!

The question I get from readers all the time is this-would I buy one? Well, the answer is almost!

As I am a member of the San Francisco Yacht club sailing or just helping to carry all the paraphernalia, the wagon is more practical just as it is a lot easier to throw skis in the back. Or golf clubs for that matter. And I would definitely pick a more neighborhood friendly color such as blue or grey, let them assume that you are the ideal guy or lady next door with three children and a golden retriever.

Until the whole of the United States is fully covered in charging stations having a hybrid -especially one with 38 miles-makes an awful lot of sense.

Living in California where we had storms of Biblical proportions this has to be the way to go. No range anxiety, no complaining neighbors. And it also gives you the option of bringing out the boy racer in you just once in a while.

Well that's it for this month, be well and I will see you next month in my Letter From Europe