2016 Buick Encore Sport Touring Trim Adds Beefier Engine

Small SUVs have become big business for the auto industry as more buyers ditch cars and join the crossover trend. The Encore, a subcompact crossover, is the smallest vehicle in Buick's lineup, but it has made a large footprint by becoming the brand's best-selling model.

Buick hardly has the small SUV market to itself, though, so it's making tweaks to the Encore for 2016 by adding a Sport Touring trim. The Sport Touring's most significant feature is its 153-horsepower, turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine, one of the new global family of GM engines that also will be used in the 2016 Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan.

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The new engine has about 11 percent more horsepower than the Ecotec turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder that still powers other Encore trims. Torque is almost 20 percent higher at 177 pounds-feet. It uses direct injection and comes with stop-start technology that shuts the engine off when the vehicle is stopped; the Ecotec engine doesn't have either of these features.

EPA fuel-economy estimates have not yet been released, but GM is promising that the new engine will deliver higher fuel economy than the 1.4-liter Ecotec. With that engine, the Encore gets an EPA-estimated 25/33/28 mpg city/highway/combined with front-wheel drive and 23/30/26 mpg with all-wheel drive. The engine is teamed with a six-speed automatic transmission.

Exterior touches on the Sport Touring include 18-inch aluminum wheels, a rear roof spoiler and body-colored door handles.

Sales of the Sport Touring will begin in the fourth quarter, and prices will be announced closer to the on-sale date.

The Encore debuted for the 2013 model year as one of the earlier subcompact crossovers, but now it contends with a slew of small SUVs such as the Honda HR-V, Mazda CX-3 and Jeep Renegade, as well as luxury models such as the Audi Q3 and BMW X1.

Even so, sales were up 29 percent in the first half of 2015, and the Encore has posted year-over-year sales increases for 17 months in a row. It also is outselling its corporate cousin, the Chevrolet Trax, which lacks some of the Encore's luxury amenities but has lower prices.