Let’s admit upfront that there are significant basic differences—the Buick LaCrosse’s 13 cubic feet of storage space, for instance, loses lopsidedly to the Wisconsin competitor’s estimated 34,000,000 cubic feet (not counting attics, cellars, or barns). Plus, the Badger-state candidate’s options extend to running water, Chinese takeout, and Swedish massage, while the far-from-spartan Buick can counter only with the usual extras like a sunroof and a rear-seat entertainment system. And the Wisconsin version offers an option unavailable to the Buick customer: You can call the movers and vamoose.
The proud product of Kansas City, Kansas, is big but is edged by its nomenclatural Wisconsin counterpart at 22.2 square miles. That’s big. Yet consider: Both are products of the same U.S. Midwestern ethic, both have plentiful doors and seating room, and no one on the coasts has ever heard of either of them. So LaCrosse versus La Crosse, here we come.
Performance is a clear Buick strong point in any meaningful comparison, hardly a shocking state of affairs when you glance at the specs: Even though the Buick LaCrosse is powered by a modest 2.4-liter, inline four-cylinder (with the mildest of hybrid systems) pumping out 182 horsepower (the 303-hp, 3.6-liter V-6 costs extra), its roughly two-ton mass makes for a power-to-weight ratio for either version that leaves La Crosse—tipping the scales at an estimated 3.45 billion tons (and that’s not even including suburbs)—at something of a disadvantage. Even the mayor candidly admits, “It’s hard to get this place moving forward.”
The Buick LaCrosse should yield respectable, though less than neck-snapping, 0-to-60 times of 6.4 to 8.9 seconds, depending on the engine; meanwhile, the Wisconsin entity, geologists report, moves about 0.00001 inch per millennium. Sounds glacially slow, sure, but that turns out in fact to be about average for every city and town in its geographical category. And no disgrace for a heavyweight toting so many billions of tons of avoirdupois that it makes even the pudgy Buick seem like a flyweight. Happily, the wet-weather braking performance of the Buick is consistent and efficient. Our testers found that La Crosse comes to a screeching halt at midnight sharp every Saturday—rain or shine.
Read More: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/11q3/2012_buick_lacrosse_vs._la_crosse_wisconsin-feature_test
Buick LaCrosse Chicago
