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What was your family's first car? In 2021, China's SUV sales reached 10.101 million units, accounting for 38.44% of total car sales. With the opening of the three-child policy, more and more families will choose to buy a medium and large SUV, and the market is becoming more and more involved. Consumers choose the standard of large and medium-sized SUVs at home, which is no longer limited to large space and affordable, and luxury comfort has also become an important standard in the eyes of consumers. Toyota Highlander and Buick Encore flag have always been benchmarks in the medium- and large-sized SUV market, so who is the real luxury choice?
In this article, we have selected two top-of-the-line models for comparison, namely the Highlander 2022 2.5L Dual-Engine 4WD Extreme Edition and the 2022 652T 4WD Avenir Avia of Encore Banner. The starting price is 348,800 yuan and 359,900 yuan, respectively.
Family god car - comfortable cockpit is the first priority
Looking back on my childhood, many good memories happened when my father drove with the family, and the warm and comfortable cockpit can bring us a lot of sweet memories. Therefore, as a family car, a comfortable cockpit is particularly important.
The interior of The Onco Flag adopts a large number of soft materials and leather coverings, and the feel is delicate and high-end. The entire range is equipped with a leather steering wheel and leather seats with heating, ventilation and memory functions. The soft and comfortable seat texture makes you relax all the time, and the entire cockpit is like your own utopia, bringing the ultimate enjoyment of the ride experience.
All encore banners are equipped with ANC active noise reduction technology and double-layer sound insulation glass as standard, which greatly reduces engine noise, tire noise, road noise and wind noise in the daily driving process. Paired with a 14-speaker Bose Centerpoint surround sound stereo, it creates a quiet ride space while enjoying a luxurious, three-dimensional sound experience.
As a family car, the green and healthy riding environment cannot be ignored. In order to combat the increasingly severe air pollution and protect the health of the whole family, The whole series of Encore Banner is equipped with a nano-level anti-PM2.5 air conditioning filter, which directly isolates the air pollutants from the outside of the car, and with the negative ion air purification system in the car, effectively adsorbs the floating dust in the air, makes the air inside the car fresh and pleasant, and intimately creates a comfortable and healthy cockpit.
The interior of the Highlander adheres to the style of Japanese cars, and the overall tone is simple and durable. Although many soft materials have been added to the older models, only the mid-to-high-end models are equipped with leather steering wheels, and the seats are also a mixture of imitation leather and leather. Only support seat heating, no seat memory and ventilation functions, will be slightly reduced in the riding experience, lack of some high-end feeling. Overall, highlander's interior design is neat but slightly mundane, and in terms of cabin comfort and luxury, the Encore flag seems to be superior.
Everything is available – a luxurious driving experience
An all-round home SUV is not enough to "sit comfortably", and a high-quality driving experience is also crucial.
On the power side, The Encore banner is equipped with GM's ace power combination - the eighth-generation Ecotec 2.0T variable cylinder turbo engine and the 9-speed HYDRO-MATIC intelligent transmission.
The 8th generation Ecotec 2.0T variable cylinder turbocharged engine can produce a maximum power of 174 kW, peak torque of 350 N·m, and is equipped with an advanced power technology - Tripower variable valve management technology. This technology will be freely switched between "four-cylinder high-performance mode", "four-cylinder economic mode" and "two-cylinder ultra-economic mode" according to the actual road conditions to achieve intelligent management of power. Coupled with the standard 48V light hybrid system throughout the series, the Encore Banner has excellent performance in both power output and fuel economy.
The 9-speed HYDRO-MATIC intelligent transmission is an upgraded version of the GM 6AT gearbox, and the gear ratio between gears will be more dense, so it can bring a fast and smooth gear shift effect, making the Unco Flag achieve a perfect balance between power response and flatness, bringing "go with the flow" power output and advanced smooth driving experience.
It is worth mentioning that the Onco Flag is also quite sophisticated in chassis technology, equipped with McPherson-style front suspension and five-link independent rear suspension, providing control from multiple directions to achieve a more comfortable and stable driving experience. The top-of-the-line Evia version is equipped with a new generation of CDC active hydraulic damping system, which can adjust the suspension damping in real time according to the driving state, and reduce the suspension damping when driving in the city, alleviating the vibration of the road surface, thereby ensuring the driving texture. When driving at high speeds, the suspension damping is strengthened to improve the stability of the body.
The Highlander is equipped with a combination of a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated engine and an electric motor, which can output a maximum power of 183 kW and a peak torque of 238 N·m. The drivetrain is equipped with an E-CVT continuously variable transmission, which has good fuel economy, but it is slightly moderate compared to the excellent and smooth driving control brought by the powertrain of the Encore Banner. This dual-engine system has a fast and smooth power response at low speed, but the engine speed is high when driving at high speed, so the noise coming into the cockpit will be a little more, and the Highlander does not work hard like the Encore flag at the NVH level, and the driving pleasure will be slightly reduced.
Truly luxurious – all in one step
The market competition in medium and large SUVs has always been fierce, more and more new players want to share a piece of the pie, coupled with many new car-making forces began to rely on stack configuration to attract purchases, consumers also have endless requirements for configuration, but Encore Banner can rely on its entry-level rich configuration in one step, in this rolled market to stabilize its foothold.
Encore Banner can be said to be fully configured from the start-up version, and until the top with the Evia version, there is not much gap in configuration. In contrast, the Highlander is slightly behind in the richness of the configuration of different versions of the model.
In terms of practical convenience configuration, the whole series of Encore Banner is equipped with electric trunk, trunk position memory, keyless entry of the whole car and other functions, which are essential practical configurations in daily use, which can help users save a lot of worry. And these configurations only appear on Highlander's mid-to-high-end models, so it seems that Encore Banner is indeed much more intimate.
In order to create a luxurious cabin, the Encore flag is equipped with a full range of openable, very large panoramic sunroof, in addition to the aforementioned standard leather seats and other configurations, the top of the Encore flag with Evia version in the comfort of a higher level, the front seats add waist adjustment, the rear seats also support heating ventilation massage function. Driving it with the family to travel by car, looking up at the moon in the comfortable and luxurious cockpit, and enjoying the warmth of getting along with the family with the light of the stars, is it not a beautiful thing?
Medium and large SUVs are relatively large, so a full range of driving assistance functions is essential, especially 360-degree panoramic images, which can help drivers remove many visual blind spots and reduce accidental bumps. The Encore Banner is equipped with 360-degree panoramic images and full-speed adaptive cruise, engine start-stop technology, etc., which can provide great help in daily and high-speed driving, and novices must not worry about difficult to control it.
However, these are not standard on the Highlander, and the 360-degree panoramic image only appears on the top model, which shows that in terms of driving assistance configuration, Highlander still has some room for optimization, but for old drivers, driving assistance is not an essential configuration.
In terms of technology configuration, the degree of intelligence of Encore Banner is also very high, using the latest generation of Equal interconnection technology and voice control, supporting car navigation, online music and other functions, providing users with a rich intelligent interactive experience. And the whole series comes standard with CarPlay and CarLife, providing users with multiple choices.
However, Highlander is a low-end model that only supports CarPlay, and a high-end model that only supports voice control, adhering to the concept of "fish and bear paws can not be both", although it can basically meet daily use, but it still needs to be improved in terms of intelligence.
To sum up, from low to top, Encore Banner has achieved true luxury from multiple dimensions with a rich configuration in one step.
Write at the end
Today's medium and large SUV market can be described as "random flowers and increasingly attractive eyes", and consumers have more choices and are more picky. Onco Flag and Highlander have always been benchmarks in the medium and large SUV market, and the two are inseparable. In summary, I think the Highlander is a reliable and error-free conservative choice, while the Buick Encore Flag is a surprise choice full of sincerity, it adheres to the concept of exquisite and luxurious design, from multiple dimensions, to provide users with a healthy and comfortable cockpit, a high-quality driving experience and a rich configuration full of sincerity, deservedly called luxury.