Buick Encore Ground Clearance: What to Know
2017 Buick Encore by Kevauto — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Buick Encore is a small SUV with a big personality and a big cargo area. It provides drivers a great way to get around town with sleek styling and amenities that often feel like a luxury car with the price of a budget car. With back seats and a passenger seat that fold down, you have a lot more versatility with the Encore than many other subcompact SUVs on the market today.
The Encore’s ground clearance of 6.2 inches also helps add versatility that you don’t find on small cars and hatchbacks, although it is on the low side of its own segment for ground clearance. We’ll go over what that means and how it compares with other similar cars.
What you can do with a Buick Encore
The Encore was made to wow its passengers and the pedestrians walking by it on the confined streets of the city. With 6.2 inches of ground clearance, the plucky little Buick should be able to handle the uneven roads you’ll often find in the city. You should still try not to hit potholes to save your suspension, but if that rare unavoidable one comes around, you shouldn’t have to worry about damaging the gas tank, differential, or drive shaft underneath.
It should also be fine for high curbs coming out of parking lots, sharp ramps, or pesky speed bumps. The short wheelbase combined with the decent space under the base of the car give the Encore a pretty strong breakover angle. That is the angle from the middle of the car’s undercarriage to the bottom of the wheels. This means that a long, low car, like a Honda Odyssey, could get stuck on a 5-inch speed bump unless it’s long enough for the front and rear wheels to both touch.
That car could also get stuck at the top of a ramp with an 15% slope. Thanks to the Encore’s ground clearance, it could survive almost any speed bump (which typically range from 3-6 inches in height) or even a ramp with a slope of 25%. This may seem like a small issue that would never pop up, but cars can and do get stuck or scraped sometimes, and if you see it happen to someone else you’ll be glad that your Buick Encore won’t have to deal with the same problem.
Even though it was designed for use on asphalt and concrete, the Encore shouldn’t have issues maneuvering a little bit off the beaten path. If all the parking spots at your favorite venue or park are taken, you should have nothing to worry about taking your car onto the grass or dirt for overflow parking.
You might even be able to take some unpaved roads on occasion. But any time you are off the streets, take caution. Look out for obstructions on the road from big rocks, bushes, tree stumps, or anything that might be big enough to scrape the bottom of your car. But your new Encore isn’t ready for just anything.
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What you can’t do in a Buick Encore
If you do take your Encore off road, there are some issues to keep in mind. If you have to go off-road, you will be much safer with the all-wheel drive configuration rather than the standard front-wheel drive. And even with AWD, you should only try driving on rougher roads if your tires have plenty of tread on them to grip the uneven surfaces.
You should also only drive if it is dry since mud has much less traction and can be more dangerous. Steep inclines should also be avoided so you don’t risk sliding backwards at an awkward angle or reaching that breakover point if you do reach the top of the incline.
With the Encore’s ground clearance just over 6 inches high, you should not be taking it on serious off-roading adventures. Cars meant to do that have suspensions, transmissions, and tires specifically designed for climbing steep rocky hills or mudding or crossing water. An Encore lacks the powerful engine, big tires, lifted suspension, and torque heavy transmission to make it through those tough environments.
If a rugged off-road car is what you are looking for but you still want a subcompact that can do all that, look for something like a Jeep Renegade with the Trail Hawk equipment package or a Subaru Crosstrek Sport. But if you’re looking for a smooth, stylish ride on streets, the Buick Encore is a great car as long as you know its limitations.
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How does the Buick Encore compare to similar cars?
The Buick Encore does come in on the low end of subcompact SUVs in ground clearance. At 6.2 inches off the ground, the only car in the segment that rides lower is the Toyota CHR, which has only 5.9 inches of ground clearance. Meanwhile, it shares the same ground clearance with the Chevy Trax (which is essentially a rebadged Encore, they share the same GM platform) and the Mazda CX-3. Most other options, such as the Honda HR-V, Kia Soul, Chevy Trailblazer, MINI Countryman, and Mazda CX-30 have ground clearances between 6.5 and 7 inches.
For higher rides, you could look to options like the Jeep Renegade and Subaru Crosstrek (8.7 inches), Mitsubishi Outlander Sport (8.5 inches), Nissan Kicks (8 inches), Fiat 500X (7.9 inches) and Ford EcoSport (7.8 inches). While still not ideal for off-roading, these cars will give you more confidence on the city streets or dirt backroads.
If you really like the aesthetic and features of the Encore but want something a little more capable, you might want to check out the Buick’s Encore GX. It is a very similar car but with a bigger engine, and even a higher ride.
The ground clearance on the GX version is actually 7.5 inches, pulling it closer to the big boys of the segment. And while it might not bring it into competition with a Wrangler or Bronco, some buyers might appreciate the extra horsepower, added cargo space, and higher ride of the Encore GX.
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