In reply to mr2s2000elise :
Yep. I've seen one in the wild here in KY. The wheels were what caught me, because I could tell it was a Buick but it had Pontiac wheels. I checked the trunk and sure enough, Allure. It had Ontario plates. This was at a gas station.
Still waiting to hear if the numebrs will work out. I noticed a lot of these on the road this week and they have a large presence to them... they are big looking cars.
We'll see soon
In my home state of Wisconsin, Buicks are literally everywhere. I still see them now in Ohio, but nowhere near as often. My upbringing probably explains why someday I know I will own one 
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gearheadE30 said:The haldex system in automatic transmission subarus is very sensitive to wheel size, or at least it was a common trend in transmission failure when I had my SVX. But it seemed related as much to an overall weak transmission and aggressive AWD clutch programming (engagement ramps quickly with relatively small wheel speed difference) as much as anything. If the system engagement threshold is low and it runs FWD only until significant slip is detected, I could see tire size mattering much less.
I wonder if towing rear down is okay because with the engine off, the clutch pack driving the rear wheels doesn't have any engagement pressure so it effectively runs open? Still seems like the relative speed between drive and driven side in a multiplate clutch like that would cause some wear, but maybe not catastrophically and maybe not if it still gets some dip lubrication (bottom of the pack is immersed) when turning. My 2 stroke dirt bikes have the same kind of clutch and are only lubricated by dipping the bottom in oil, and they tolerate some incredible abuse.
On the Lacrosse topic, no personal experience but I have had that generation Impala with the 3.6 as a rental car many times, for 10+ hour drives. I was very impressed with its ability to gobble up miles, and it felt much better put together and more comfortable than the V6 chargers I occasionally got. FWD doesn't really matter for that kind of driving, and the 3.6 made more than enough power to get the job done. I imagine the Buick would be a step better, too.
As road warriors a few of us in the office knew the rental car game well back around this time frame (say ‘12 - ‘15). There was a certain rental we always looked for when landing at DEN. It was the plain Jane Impala with the 2 exhaust tips (but the old body style). Those had the 3.6 vvt. And even in the rare air around Boulder, those little mugs would scoot. Surprised we were that they could open a can of whoop-a$$ on the turbo Ford Fusions of the day. You’d have thought it would be the other way around out there at a mile high plus. For whatever reason the new body style impalas never felt quite as lively to me.
This has little to do with the Buick question but it’s my experience with the GM 3.6 VVT in a front drive platform.
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