The 2024 Buick Envision ST Conveys A Sportier Design With Big Tech Upgrades

The compact premium SUV space has always been a tough segment to play in and Buick has had an entry in this space for about 10 years. I'm here at a studio just outside of Detroit, Michigan and this right here is the fully revised 2024 Buick Envision. Let's take a first look. Now the Buick Envision was first introduced to the Buick portfolio back in 2014 and when this car came out it was a little bit of a controversy because this was the first Buick vehicle I believe that was actually assembled in China. Now despite that it's been a big sales success for Buick and we saw the company introduce an all-new second generation back in 2021. So for 2024 it's time for the company to give this car a pretty extensive revision. Again it adopts a lot of the new corporate styling that we saw in a lot of other modern Buick products. Now this particular one that I'm showing you is the mid-level trim. It's the ST trim. Now previously Buick used to offer the ST as a package on other trims of the Envision. However now it's its own standalone middle trim. You can see the front end adopts the new styling that we share from the Wildcat concept. So you have the separate LED daytime running light and turn signal here. You have the actual checkmark style full LED headlight where it's an LED low and high beam. You have the latest Buick grille. The ST again includes its own kind of different insert with the gloss black with the kind of mesh finish. It all again is providing some functional cooling for the engine. You have the new Tri-Shield Insignia logo here. And overall just like on other Buick products like the Invista of course and the Encore GX I think it actually works fairly nicely here. I actually was a big fan of the pre-refresh version but I think the new styling language here has grafted nicely onto the Envision's face. Again if you don't if you guys don't like the blackout look there's also an Avenir trim which gives you back the chrome and gives you more kind of a luxury appearance. Now underneath the hood I can't I can't pop the hood to show you guys what's underneath here but the powertrain specs are pretty much the same. You have a 2-liter turbocharged direct injection 4-cylinder making 228 horsepower 258 pound-feet of torque. It's paired up to a and the big news for 2024 is the fact that all-wheel drive is now standard. Buick used to offer a front-wheel drive version but now their twin clutch all-wheel drive system is going to be standard equipment which is definitely nice especially considering most people who buy an SUV like this prefer to have all-wheel drive. If you guys are looking for a hybrid electrified option sadly Buick does not offer a hybrid at least at this time. Now moving around the side profile you can see this is a mild or heavier refresh so the the silhouette is still pretty much the same. This is a nicely proportioned compact SUV and it actually shares a platform with something like the Cadillac XT4 so it has a 109 inch long wheelbase. It's around 182 and a half inches long about an inch and a half longer versus the Cadillac XT4 and you can see the wheels these are the wheels exclusive to the ST trim. They're a 20-inch kind of gloss black design riding on a 245 by 45 R20 continental all-season tire. You have all-wheel disc brakes independent suspension. I don't have the final ground clearance of this model yet but you can see the ST includes some gloss black along the wheel arch trim along the side sill and overall I think it still makes a nice impression. I especially like the color combination of this model with the glacier white exterior or the white exterior with the gloss black wheels. You have black accents here for the mirrors. You have integrated cameras here along the side and along the front of the vehicle. Some gloss black here. You also have some gloss black on the roof rails along with this panoramic sunroof which is included on this particular trim here and then moving over to the rear you can see this is where the refresh is kind of more mild but I think it's still effective. This is one of my favorite looking SUVs. It competes with vehicles like the Lexus NX or Acura RDX but you can also compare it to something like a Mazda CX-5. I love the new tri-shield logo back here along with the you know LED style for the tail lights back here. You can see there's still kind of like a dual exhaust system here although you can see it's just an actual piece of the bumper but I think it looks nice. It gives off a more premium more powerful stance to the Envision especially if you guys prefer that sportier look. In terms of the cargo area this is where the Envision's size also comes into play although if you're looking at the numbers its cargo figures are a little bit less versus some competitors but you still have a pretty usable amount of space around 25.2 cubic feet with the second row up. Obviously there's no third row on this vehicle. Buick will happily sell you an Enclave if you want that. You can see underneath here there's a little bit of storage along with a temporary spare tire and then if you fold down the second row seats Buick says that expands it out to around 52 cubic feet of space which you know some competitors offer around 10 more but this does offer more space versus one of its main rivals which is the new Lexus NX. Now moving on to the interior of this 2024 Envision. I have to say Buick has been doing a really great job with updating their interiors and this Envision here has a new color option for 2024. It's called Garnet with kind of an ebony two-tone look. This Garnet interior is exclusive to the ST version. I really love it. It's kind of like a dark burgundy purplish color red. It reminds me a lot of the 90s and I love the fact that you know some of the 90s design themes here are kind of coming back into style which is definitely a great thing as I get in and shut the door. The door has a nice solid sounding thunk. Remember this is built off the same platform as the Cadillac XT4. Now one of the biggest things you're going to notice right away is the all-new infotainment system. I mean how could you not notice this? The previous Envision, the pre-refresh, I criticized in my last review because it reminded me a little bit too much of like a Chevy interior. It had like a 10 inch or a 10.1 inch display here and then had like a analog with a 7 inch display combination screen. Now we have basically a big 30 inch display. There's like a 15 inch display here with another one over here. It forms almost one continuous screen although technically it's two screens. There's no kind of area here that's unusable space but I wish I could turn the screens on but Buick said this is an early pre-production model. I'll have to wait until I get one to actual test to show you the software behind it but it does of course have Google built in. It does have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which is great because GM has been you know criticized by some for removing them from some Chevy products but Buick is going to be keeping the wireless CarPlay and Android Auto which is a fantastic thing. You can see the garnet red color burgundy interior is kind of carried over onto the dash. We have this soft touch material with the real stitching. I love the kind of like patterns that you get here with the lines. There's beautiful LED ambient lighting here that I believe is also interchangeable. There's some more leather stitching over here with contrast stitching. This upper portion here is a soft touch injection molded plastic and then all Envisions actually come standard with a heads-up display. So having a heads-up display and all-wheel drive is standard that's kind of unheard of in this segment. Usually those features are part of an expensive option package so it's great to see Buick again throwing in the technology including things like their Adaptive Cruise Control, Automatic Emergency Braking. You can see there's a new steering wheel here. I actually love the way the steering wheel looks. It kind of reminds me a lot of a Mazda in terms of the design especially with the new Tri-Shield logo here. You have paddles on the wheel. The steering wheel itself offers a manual tilt and telescoping adjustment and the S-key trim also includes this flat bottom design with the kind of thick rim so it actually feels really sporty. It feels good in your hands. I'm looking forward to eventually driving one of these. I remember this vehicle when I first drove it. It's one of the better driving vehicles. You can see the transmission selector has been moved from over here which were buttons to over here on the stalk. So you can see it's a traditional kind of shifter that kind of reminds me a little bit of a Mercedes-Benz. You have the later you know versions of Buick's switchgear and a lot of their window controls. You have one touch up down for the driver and passenger window. The rear is just one touch down. You have two-person memory seats which is nice and then these seats also I believe adjust in like 12 different ways. They also have a heat function. If you guys go for the Avenir trim you also include a massaging and a ventilation seat. So the ST doesn't get that but the ST also gets you this really cool color combination which I think is going to be nice. You can see open this up over here there's a wireless phone charging pad with USB-A and USB-C connections. There's a lot of piano black plastic trim here which I don't love but I do appreciate how Buick is kind of keeping around the actual hard buttons. You have a big volume knob over here which is nice. You have kind of a floating center console design here which gives you a little bit more storage here underneath the console which is nice. There's also a little bit more storage here. Padded center console area here and if you open this up you can see it's a relatively deep amount of storage over there. No lighting or actual power outlets in here but again there's plenty of storage solutions in this vehicle. The glove compartment you can see opens up the traditional way. It's damped but not lined with felt. It offers a pretty good amount of storage of course and then above me here this panoramic sunroof lets in a lot of light. It goes into the second row. You kind of have like a woven material here with a power retractable shade. So again all those features are going to be you know really nice for a lot of people looking in this segment. But let's go ahead and hop into the back seat really quick. I want to show you guys what the space is like. Now one of the beauty or one of the good things about the Envision when this first came out is because it shares a platform with the XT4 this has one of the bigger back seats. So Buick says there's around 39 and a half inches of legroom back here as I get in and shut the door. You can see this is pretty much where I'd have the seat to drive and you can see at five foot seven I have plenty of legroom, space, plenty of foot space. There's not a flat floor over here so the middle passenger doesn't have quite as much space but you do have rear seat air vents. You have two USB charging ports. No heated rear seats although I'm not sure if the Avenir trim will have that feature. And you can see if you fold this down it gives you an armrest with two cup holders. And there's also a decent amount of headroom space as you can see for somebody my height if I sit back my head comes kind of close to the ceiling. So people over six feet might find the space a little bit tight. But overall if you're looking for a class-leading legroom in the compact premium space the Envision is definitely going to give you that. So the second generation Buick Envision was one of my favorite vehicles in terms of its design and in terms of the practicality with the second row. And I have to say after finally seeing the revised version in person I think Buick has done a good job here with addressing some of the criticism that I mentioned in my first review. I especially love the all-new interior with that 30-inch infotainment display. I love the fact that Buick has also included wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. I still love the you know big back seat of this vehicle. I love also love the styling details and the changes that they've made. I think that the you know latest design language for the Wildcat really works on this vehicle. And if you're also looking to basically put one of these in your driveway Buick says that the Envision will be going on sale. The revised version will be going on sale sometime this summer. And pricing has already been announced. So basically the preferred trim which is now the base trim. It comes very well equipped already. It's going to start at around $37,600. Now that is about three grand more expensive versus the 2023 model. However I argue that Buick has thrown in a lot more technology and they've also made all-wheel drive as standard. So keep in mind that the 2023 model that was for a front-wheel drive model that was around $33,000. So $37,000 to start with all-wheel drive and the additional tech is a pretty good amount a pretty good amount of standard content a lot of value for money. The ST trim here I believe is going to be around $2,500 more. If you guys want to go to the Avenir trim that's going to cost you a great deal more. But it does include a lot more features like the heated and ventilated seats with the massage function that I mentioned. I believe that model will be around the $50,000 mark. Which again this car is kind of priced in a little bit of a gray zone within the segment. Because if you're looking at something like a Lexus NX the Envision is going to undercut that vehicle by about $8,000. Especially at the top end the Lexus can be in the mid to mid $50,000 range. Especially if you're looking at the hybrid model where this is going to probably top out around $50,000. So again if a premium luxury badge doesn't matter to you but you expect again the best technology and a lot of premium features without the you know snobbery of the badge the Buick Envision may definitely be worth a look. For Redline Reviews here in Detroit at the studio I'm Sofian Bey.