Will A Four Cylinder Engine Work With The LaCrosse?

A 2.4L I4 engine will find its way into the Buick LaCrosse early 2010. But can this engine move all that metal and occupants too safely and efficiently?

Last week, General Motors announced that its 2.4L ECOTEC I4 engine would be finding its way into the Buick LaCrosse during the first quarter of the new year. That engine, smaller than the two six cylinder engines now offered, is being made available to help Buick raise its fuel economy numbers.

GM believes that customers will be attracted by the engine’s high fuel economy, estimated to be 30 miles to the gallon on the highway, three mpg boost over the smaller V6.

Not Enough Power?

But will the new engine be too small for drivers accustomed to having more power at the ready with their six cylinder motor? Right now, drivers can choose the 3.0L V6 offering 255 horsepower and 217 pound feet of torque or they can select GM’s popular 3.6L V6 which is found in the Chevy Camaro and Cadillac CTS among other models and produces 280 horsepower and 259 pound feet of torque.

That makes for two tons of car being moved which means even with a smaller, lighter engine, the still heavy Buick LaCrosse may be a bit slow off of the mark.

GM says that the smaller engine will produce 182 horsepower and 172 pound feet of torque. What’s more, the automaker’s research indicates that one-quarter of LaCrosse buyers will opt for that engine which is able to gain more power thanks to direct injection. Paired with its fuel saving six speed automatic transmission, the lighter LaCrosse will be equipped by an engine that GM says is not even offered by its competitors.

But maybe there is a reason for that.

Plodding Sedans of Old

Buick owners are generally much older than Chevy drivers, with many of them remembering the underpowered cars built by GM and others in the late 1970s through much of the 1980s. Those cars were heavy, had smaller engines, and they were slow off the mark.

You’d step on the gas and be underwhelmed by what was returned which wasn’t much. If had the misfortune of trying to enter an interstate, you prayed to God asking that a tractor trailer wouldn’t bear down on you as you sought to get up to speed.

Fully Occupied, But Slow?

Fuel injection, turbocharging, and other technology advancements have improved things since, but you’re still moving a lot of metal without taking into consideration as many as five adult occupants who could easily add as much as one thousand more pounds to the LaCrosse. That means that the four cylinder engine will have to work extra hard to move 4500 pounds under some conditions.

Honestly, I can’t see this engine being a viable option for anyone other than the solitary driver who occasionally has passengers. Certainly not for business people who take their clients to lunch and are accustomed to getting the power they want when they need it.

GM has set the four cylinder equipped LaCrosse’s price at $26,995.

Source: GM Corp.