I understand the utility of having power to pass “right now”—and have never had the pleasure of owing a vehicle capable of it. But I’m thinking, if you are buying used, then just buy a vehicle that already has the umph desired. Usually hot rodding something takes away from reliability and durability—some take to it better than others, but for a family hauler, usually reliability is what everyone wants.
Any engine upgrades available for the Buick Enclave?
- Thread starter Greyroom
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Yep those things made like an extra 10whp after $2000 of bolt ons and a tune. I don't think I've ever seen a consumer-vehicle naturally aspirated I4/v6 engine make more than like 10hp after a few thousand in bolt ons and tune.
Shell V Power
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When I was a newbie on the Maxima forum, they said K&N panel 2-5 HP gain. I bit, and about all I accomplished was for my mpgs to go down. No performance gain whatsoever....
One thing I never liked about the Enclave was the fuel economy. I always felt some sort of serious disgust, consuming (although 87 not 93/91) as much fuel as a full sized V8. But it did decline over the years. We easily got 14 mpg all day long when new. But at the end, 10-12? HUH? I suspect it needed the intake valves cleaned. I'm not sure if such a procedure exists for GM products. That's one thing I won't miss. Again, we loved the looks and the functionality, but all the repairs just was a sore thumb, and then it was a total loss in May. We're moving on to a truck SUV, I dunno if maybe when interested in a vehicle this size, just skip the crossover and go to the truck based? I was afraid to do so in 2011. I rarely regret decisions so I don't, but I feel I learned.
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it only needs 87, which is actually a plus. But it did consume a LOT of 87. Oh that's another thing, the fuel gauge was erratic, and was such even under warranty. Dealer claimed no issue, even when I showed them a video of the gauge going all over the place. We learned to always be cognizant of resetting the gallons consumed reading. So even if the gauge was empty, and we knew it consumed 8, the 8 was off, and we knew we had about 15 gal left. I mean this is crazy, isn't it, but we got used to it.
The sticker was 2-5hp, not the filter!
Based on post 31 I believe @Greyroom is genuinely looking for good advice here, and hes still in the game after a little lecturing. Respect because he’s still here looking for wisdom. We’ve all been young, and this is an enthusiast board, and of course power is appealing.
I think one of the things a younger generation fella didnt experience, is we used to drive around with far less power than today’s vehicles have, so interests in *more* power as we enter into minivan/diaper years seem foreign. Remember, we older folk are the ones that Honda and Chrysler especially nailed when they put the bigger 3.8 in the town and country … the minivan finally had some muscle, and these things sold.
From a practicality standpoint, most everything we had when I was a kid was beneath 100 hp, including the minivan. The sedans had around 80-95. In the 90s my family broke into the 120s with fuel injection. I was perfectly capable of merging into interstate traffic in a 64hp Volkswagen van, loaded with 5 people, luggage, and a manual transmission. I could easily scoff at anyone looking for more power… because I’m on the other side of it.
@Greyroom - props to you for asking. I know nothing about the enclave but it looks like you got good data here on reliability. Admittedly, some of the Buick SUVs really look sharp, but maybe it’s not the best one out there. WRT horsepower, theres a bunch of stuff you’re about to learn about being a dad. It’s hard and awesome and hard… and awesome. It will shape your priorities away from needing to pass a semi. Youll hopefully enjoy the journey so that you don’t need to. That, is power.
I think one of the things a younger generation fella didnt experience, is we used to drive around with far less power than today’s vehicles have, so interests in *more* power as we enter into minivan/diaper years seem foreign. Remember, we older folk are the ones that Honda and Chrysler especially nailed when they put the bigger 3.8 in the town and country … the minivan finally had some muscle, and these things sold.
From a practicality standpoint, most everything we had when I was a kid was beneath 100 hp, including the minivan. The sedans had around 80-95. In the 90s my family broke into the 120s with fuel injection. I was perfectly capable of merging into interstate traffic in a 64hp Volkswagen van, loaded with 5 people, luggage, and a manual transmission. I could easily scoff at anyone looking for more power… because I’m on the other side of it.
@Greyroom - props to you for asking. I know nothing about the enclave but it looks like you got good data here on reliability. Admittedly, some of the Buick SUVs really look sharp, but maybe it’s not the best one out there. WRT horsepower, theres a bunch of stuff you’re about to learn about being a dad. It’s hard and awesome and hard… and awesome. It will shape your priorities away from needing to pass a semi. Youll hopefully enjoy the journey so that you don’t need to. That, is power.
I'm seeing on K&N's website that on the Ram 1500 up to 25ish Horsepower * . Does K&N test their filters in real world driving?
Yeah it looks like the Camaro mods would be the way to go, if one was going to do it. And as someone said, that means a twin turbo. Then transmission upgrades, brakes, etc. Money.
Man it sounds like you had a LOT of trouble out of that thing lol. I would still be interested in seeing a list of all the problems you had out of it. Maybe you've already covered most of it though.
From my own limited research, I have decided not to buy the Enclave. Although I admit that now I'm considering the Rainier. What can I say, I like Buicks for some reason, even though I'm not old. They've always been classy and rode softly with low road noise. What's not to like?
Thank you for the considerate words sir. I have decided that it's not worth the risk to roll the dice on an Enclave. From what I've learned, it's hit and miss, and I don't want to miss. Some people out there have an Enclave with 300k miles on it, still running and driving, with the original engine and transmission. This was of course well maintained.
Others have an experience similar to John105 where practically everything went wrong. Normally I would like the challenge, because I would fix that wave plate in the transmission myself. The timing chain issues were fixed by GM if you get a 2012 or newer, and I'm also not afraid of the rack and pinion that's over $2,000 to fix at a shop. All those things I would do myself... But I won't have the time anymore. So I'd have to pay.
What I wouldn't ever fix myself is the air actuators that have to have the whole dash removed. No thank you. That's common even on some of GM's very best vehicles, like the GMT-800 trucks. $980 at a shop. My luck I would buy it and they would work at the dealership. Then die 3 months later.
Maybe this is one of those cars where you buy the longest possible extended warranty. If you have the patience to put up with all that, which I don't.
What does trifecta use to tune it?
Might be able to pick up 20hp with a custom calibration. I’d imagine add some spark. If a different intake tube is added I’d figure you could recalibrate the MAF and see where VE is but that’d only be better air dynamics… not necessarily the factory airbox hindering flow.
Trans tuning you’d probably have a calibration take out some torque management and adjust shift points to have a “more responsive” vehicle.
You’d be surprised. Trans tuning along even with the stock performance levels would most likely make the car feel like night and day. But the factory calibration keeps them where they’re at to (A) keep their Buick clientele happy with their Buick feel and (B) not outright murder itself.
Perhaps a K2XX Suburban/Tahoe would fit the bill better? The Gen V platform is no slouch.
Might be able to pick up 20hp with a custom calibration. I’d imagine add some spark. If a different intake tube is added I’d figure you could recalibrate the MAF and see where VE is but that’d only be better air dynamics… not necessarily the factory airbox hindering flow.
Trans tuning you’d probably have a calibration take out some torque management and adjust shift points to have a “more responsive” vehicle.
You’d be surprised. Trans tuning along even with the stock performance levels would most likely make the car feel like night and day. But the factory calibration keeps them where they’re at to (A) keep their Buick clientele happy with their Buick feel and (B) not outright murder itself.
Perhaps a K2XX Suburban/Tahoe would fit the bill better? The Gen V platform is no slouch.
It isn’t the worst job in the world. Time consuming yes, dash can be torn down to accessible components in about an hour.
You know, I'm starting to question a lot of these repair estimates. If you've done the job in roughly an hour, then maybe these shops are doing it wrong. Take the guy linked below for instance. It seems he's pretty well respected. Be he goes on about how the whole thing has to come out and it's this huge pain that his other techs won't touch. And I encountered the same thing when it comes to the Enclave's transmission. Everyone decries the transmission repair cost, but it turns out you don't even have to remove the transmission from the vehicle to fix the problem. (the 3-5 wave plate issue)
Maybe shops have no choice but to do the job the long way, or they'll suffer some kind of consequence.
Well it really depends upon the repair. The pic I posted, that was me having the dash 3/4 of the way out to pull the HVAC box out to replace AC Evaporator core and heater core. This entire job was a good 10-14 hours. But I also gutted the 2G onstar module, fixed a lot of rotten weatherstripping and sealing foam, cleaned out the HVAC box. You know… not a slap together deal.
But just HVAC actuators on a GMT800. Pull the dash bezel, pull out the vents, remove the dash cap and you can get to the actuators. The hardest two hidden ones are the recirc door and the top driver or passenger blend actuator (I can’t remember which is which). The mode select actuator is up on the driver side center and the other blend actuator is on the bottom of the HVAC box. Whole job could be done in 3-4 hours if you went slow and took lunch.
A lot of shop prices are the go away price. I think if I was a tech I’d also wanna choose brakes/suspension/fluids on stuff versus interior work on old 800s where a customer might be crabby when the dash cracks or the mounting tabs rip off the 20 YO dash cap… I had to plastic bond them all back on.
On good day in the best conditions maybe I could get 20 mpg on our Enclave. Average was probably around 16-18 mpg which is about the same as my 5.3 Yukon XL before it. The big difference is my wife hated driving the Yukon so Enclave was a better option. Not everyone likes driving big trucks/SUVs.
A friend of mine had the Acadia version and when the 3rd transmission went out she got rid of it. I'd find something else or save the mod money for a transmission. If i remember right hers was a '13 or '14, I'd pass personally as her issues turned me off of them. Good luck on the vehicle search.
Ditch the Buick and get a Durango R/T Tow n’ Go or SRT. Tow n Go has the gigantic Brembo brakes and adaptive suspension from the SRT but with the 5.7, SRT has the 6.4. Slap a supercharger and long tubes on the 5.7 and it’ll run 12’s in the quarter mile. If you don’t absolutely beat on it every day, the ZF8 will handle it.
basically either this or a BMW if fast, comfy, and luxury (Durango a little less here in terms of feel, but has good features) are what you want.
