Our view: 2016 Buick Cascada

Source: Our view: 2016 Buick Cascada

Verdict: The 2016 Buick Cascada is a sleek, compact convertible with plenty of power, a smooth transmission and a quick and comfortable top, but Cascada’s real strength may lie in its excellent value for money. Its only real weaknesses: a center console laden with obscure buttons and displays that look a few years out of date.

Against the competition: Most of the cars that the Cascada would compete with are gone, leaving the less-comfortable Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, both of which target buyers other than the Buick. The Cascada is larger, better equipped and significantly cheaper than the BMW 2 Series Cabrio or the Audi A3 Cabriolet.

Meet the new 2016 Buick Cascada, the brand’s first convertible in 25 years, arriving at precisely the moment when the segment’s traditional players have decided to retire. Buick sees this as an excellent time to bring a soft-top convertible from its European Opel division to fill a niche in the market, hoping to also attract new, younger customers to the Buick brand. The brand has already come a long way in redefining its image with buyers – but can a new convertible help push Buick further in its quest to regain relevance?

There’s no denying the Cascada is a head turner. Based on European Opel designs commonly shared with Buick around the world, the Cascada is wide, sleek and designed as a convertible from the start. Underneath it shares some mechanical bits with the Opel Astra (what we know in the US as the Buick Verano compact sedan), but its sheet metal and structure are unique. This isn’t a chopped-off sedan; The design work that went into making the Cascada look good from both above and above is evident. Sleek headlights flank the Buick grille with sculpted sides that end in wide, wraparound taillights that are part of the decklid. Even in a saturated convertible market like South Florida, where Buick invited the media to drive the new Cascada, the droptop caused a stir and sparked conversation. When you open the top, the Cascada transforms into an attractive coupé with a roofline that doesn’t differ significantly from the Cadillac ELR. Buick definitely got the styling right.

The drive of the Cascada is just an engine-transmission combination for the North American market. It features a 200hp 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine mated to a standard six-speed automatic transmission. It rockets the Cascada away from traffic lights with more speed and alacrity than I expected from a nearly 4,000-pound car. When the top is down there’s a definite turbo whoosh, but it’s not overbearing and reminds you that you’ve got a decently powerful engine on tap. This engine puts the Cascada gracefully in traffic or easily past slower vehicles on the motorway, and the transmission is well matched. Never for nearly 200 miles did I feel like the car was underpowered or in the wrong gear for the conditions. It delivers on the Cascada’s styling promise with smooth, refined performance.

The Cascada handles well on slick pavement, but the standard 20-inch wheels with low-profile .40 tires transmit a lot of road bumps and judder to the occupants when you drive it over broken pavement. But even on those bumpy spots, the Cascada’s structural rigidity is impressive—there’s no slack in the chassis or internals at all. The car’s steering is well balanced but not overly communicative, and the overall experience of driving one is leisurely and relaxed. This isn’t a vehicle you’ll jump into for your dose of driving pleasure – it’s a touring car you buy to enjoy being seen in and enjoying the world around you. It can and will dance if asked, but would rather waltz than rumba.

The benefit of this relaxed pace is fair, if unexciting, fuel economy. The Cascada is rated 20/27/23 mpg city/highway/combined, which isn’t unexpected given the car’s hefty weight penalty. Convertibles aren’t really about chasing fuel efficiency anyway – once you drop the top you completely ruin the aerodynamic flow, but the trade-off is totally worth it.

Where the Cascada struggles a bit is inside, but not with cabin comfort or materials. Slip into the seats, which have been redesigned for North American rear ends, and it’s easy to get comfortable up front. The car is wide and feels like it has a lot more room between the doors than an Audi A3 or a BMW 2 Series, despite having similar dimensions. I had no problem sitting side by side with a passenger without even remotely touching. Material quality is good, with soft-touch materials and authentic stitching on the padded dashboard for a touch of class, and a choice of two attractive (albeit muted) colors. The back seat is narrow, but workable for adults. Width isn’t the issue, but legroom is a challenge — the Cascada isn’t long, so front-seat occupants will likely have to move their chairs up a bit to accommodate someone in the back.

Wind management in the Cascada is top notch. Driving with the top down is extremely pleasant – even with the windows open there is no wind. At 110 km/h on the Autobahn with the windows open, it’s easy to have a conversation without raising your voice. If you decide to open the top (which takes just 17 seconds and is possible at speeds of up to 50 km/h), the sound and heat insulation ensure that the cabin remains quiet and composed, almost as if it a hardtop coupe.

The issue I have with the interior is the controls – namely that this isn’t the latest generation of Buick interiors. It’s outfitted with dozens of knobs and controls in the center console, which looks like Buicks earlier this decade. On the console alone, I counted 42 buttons that controlled the climate functions, audio system, navigation and more, some of which I had no idea what they were used for. The latest Buick Regal corrected that situation two years ago by reducing the number of buttons to just 25, a huge improvement in usability. But the Cascada is a 3 year old design launched in Europe in mid 2013 so it uses the old fashioned Opel/Buick design. The touchscreen is just a 7-inch unit mounted too far forward, and the secondary display screen between the gauges is a monochrome red LCD. It’s all attractive, it’s all comfortable, but it’s all outdated. When the Cascada shows up alongside the sleek new LaCrosse sedan and Envision SUV later this year, it’ll immediately look like it needs an interior makeover – which it does.

Since it’s a convertible, the Cascada’s trunk is inevitably compromised by the folding convertible top. When it’s up there’s decent space inside, with 13.4 cubic feet of trunk space beating the 9.9 cubic feet in the Audi A3 Cabriolet, the 11.8 cubic feet in the BMW 228i, or even the 11.4 cubic feet in the Ford Mustang . But to lower the top, you need to install a special partition that will cut the available trunk in half. You can carry your golf clubs to the course, but if you want the top down, those clubs have to go in the back seat.

The new Cascada hasn’t yet been crash tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, but Buick really wants it. It’s been structurally improved to the point where Buick is asking the federal government to test it, confident a five-star safety rating is achievable. That would be a first for a convertible, in part because the government or other testing agencies simply don’t test most droptops.

The Cascada predates some of the latest additions to the Buick GMC showroom and lacks some of the safety features offered on newer vehicles. It has a standard rear camera, front and rear parking sensors, and available Forward Collision Warning and Lane Departure Warning. But there’s no push-button start, keyless entry, automatic emergency braking, and blind-spot warning. Check out the Cascada’s standard features here.

Where the new Cascada really shines may be in its value. The starting price for the base trim is $33,990, including a $925 destination charge. A fully loaded premium trim (there are only two trims and no standalone options for simplicity) costs $36,990. Add $395 if you want metallic paint. That’s a screaming deal for the Cascada’s content, performance and style, which becomes even more appealing when you realize that the Cascada really doesn’t have any direct mid-size competitors anymore. Build one here.

The Toyota Solara, Volvo C60 and Chrysler 200 convertibles have all been discontinued, leaving the door open for a car like Cascada to come in and rally any buyers looking for premium convertible value. The Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet is available, but it’s not a premium experience. Ditto for the VW Eos, which has ceased production but is still being sold as of 2016 (remaining stock appears to be in the hundreds rather than thousands of cars).

Price-wise, the Audi A3 starts where the Cascada ends, and upgrading one that matches the Buick’s trim level easily puts the sticker price on the small German luxury convertible at thousands of dollars more. Same offer for the BMW 2 Series Convertible. While the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro convertibles can compete in price, they don’t compare in terms of comfort or passenger-carrying capacity. Here’s how the Buick compares to its competitors, who aren’t quite apples.

So Buick largely has this segment to itself for the time being. Buyers looking for an attractive, affordable and well-appointed convertible should be satisfied.

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