With the arrival of the 2024 Buick Envista, the company marked a significant change from its classic lineup, adopting what we perceive as a new strategy that appeals to a more modern and classic SUV buyer.
The Envista is specifically designed to cater to those seeking a mix of affordability, sleek design and practicality. The SUV takes direct aim at the growing subcompact SUV market. After a week spent behind the wheel, driving through Utah’s diverse landscapes, we found that the Envista offered a compelling package for urban and suburban drivers alike.
The first thing we notice is that the 2024 Buick Envista stands out for its design language. Unlike some of the larger, more classic SUVs in Buick’s lineup, the Envista had a sleeker, sleeker appearance.
The Sport Touring edition accentuated this with its unique external elements, which included blacked-out trim, 18-inch machined alloy wheels, and a sportier grille design. The coupe silhouette, with a sloping roofline, gave the Envista what we perceived as a younger, more peppy appearance—something out of the ordinary for a Buick.
In terms of size, the Envista sits just below Buick’s Encore GX, making it a more compact offering. Despite its small footprint, it maintained the imposing presence on the road that is expected of an SUV.
A longer hood and higher waist line contribute to a muscular silhouette, while sharp pleats along the frame emphasize its modern style. As we drove the streets of our hometown of Springville and the region, the Envista turned heads and even our neighbors asked questions about this amazing SUV.
Getting under the hood of the 2024 Buick Envista Sport Touring, we found a 1.2-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine that delivered 136 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque. While those numbers may not sound impressive at first glance, the engine felt surprisingly peppy, especially in city driving conditions.
The combination of a lightweight frame and turbocharger gave the Envista enough low-end torque for immediate acceleration, making merging onto highways or city traffic a graceful experience.
In our week of testing, the Envista performed admirably. Its continuously variable transmission (CVT) was tuned for efficiency, and while some CVTs can feel sluggish, this one responded quite well to throttle input, providing a more linear and smooth driving experience. Though it would not win any races, it delivered enough power for most daily driving tasks, especially in an urban setting.
What we really liked most about the Envista’s performance was its fuel efficiency. Buick estimates that the Envista should achieve around 28 miles per gallon in the city and 32 mpg on the highway. Over the course of our week with the SUV, which included both city commutes and a couple of longer highway stints, we found these estimates to be fairly accurate, achieving a combined 30.5 mpg.
For us, the 2024 Buick Envista Sport Touring featured a clean, functional and well-designed interior. Buick has done a wonderful job of combining classic comfort with technology, providing a premium interior for the price.
Soft-touch materials, synthetic leather seats, and an intuitive dashboard layout all contributed to that premium feel. The contrast stitching and chrome details of the Sport Touring model provide an additional touch of sportiness to complement the external design.
We enjoyed the infotainment formula with an 11-inch touch screen located in the center of the dashboard and which was in fact the center of attention of the interior. It was easy to use, responsive and integrated seamlessly with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There was also a wireless charger which made it very convenient to keep our smartphones charged without bulky cables cluttering the console.
One domain in which the Envista excelled was the sending domain. Despite its compact size, the vehicle offers 20. 7 cubic feet of shipping dominance in the rear seats, which expands to 42 cubic feet once the seats fold. Deanne found it very useful on her weekly-friendly vacation to buy painting supplies at Costco, where she gets enough food for a week’s worth of lunches for 20 to 30 people.
Buick didn’t skimp on the technical or protective features of the 2024 Envista. The styling became popular with an impressive suite of safety features, adding automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist, and forward collision warning. During our week of driving, the protective features worked perfectly, adding peace of mind in traffic or when navigating narrow roads through Utah’s varied landscapes.
For even more complex features, the available Advanced Safety package includes adaptive cruise control, rear cross-traffic alert and a 360-degree camera system. These features were especially useful on busy trips and in crowded parking lots.
In fact, the 2024 Buick Envista was not designed to be a functional SUV, and the emphasis on comfort over speed is very evident in its driving dynamics. The suspension has been tuned to absorb road imperfections as much as possible, making it well suited for long-distance commuting and travel.
The steering proved to be light and easy, which was great for city driving, but it lacked the sharp feedback that driving enthusiasts might crave. However, for most regular folks shopping in the subcompact SUV market, this would not be a dealbreaker. The light steering made the Envista incredibly easy to maneuver in tight spaces.
The 2024 Buick Envista Sport Touring has proven to be an impressive entry point into the developing subcompact SUV market. With a unique, modern design, a comfortable interior, and an avant-garde approach, it’s very evident that Buick is targeting a younger, more urban demographic, but even us empty nesters enjoyed the ride!
Base price: 24,100
Destination fee: $1,095
Price as driven: $29,070