2001 Buick Park Avenue Review (continued)
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Walkaround

Park Avenue, particularly in its more aggressive, Ultra guise, projects a muscular grace, like a big cat ready to leap. Comfort was the top priority and drove the design of the Park Avenue. Its cabin and trunk are the roomiest in its class. Big doors make getting in and out easy. Yet the Park Avenue packs these virtues into a shape that's graceful and quietly elegant. It's luxurious, but it's approachable luxury.

Interior Features

The Park Avenue offers more interior room in both the front and rear seats than the Lincoln Continental or Chrysler LHS. You can get in and out thankfully free of the simultaneous duck-and-bend maneuver required by swoopier designs. Park Avenue's trunk is slightly larger than that of the LHS or Continental, too

The interior looks clean and tasteful. The cowl curves modestly over the main instruments. Besides offering a contemporary appearance, this design allows room for a big speedometer and tachometer that are easy to scan. Audio and climate controls use big buttons that are easy to find and operate when the car is in motion, and are visually set off from the rest of the interior by contrasting colors. Wood trim accents the door panels. The Ultra includes a full array of luxury goodies - premium CD sound system, leather, power everything - that make the going more pleasant. A trip computer allows the driver to calculate fuel economy and miles to empty. It also provides tire pressure, oil level and coolant level information. Two trip odometers are provided, which can be useful on long trips.

Next Generation (reduced force) dual front airbags are standard, so are side airbags. Park Avenue offers strong safety cage construction and the doors are designed to automatically unlock within 15 seconds of an airbag deployment. Not surprisingly, insurance costs are low compared with other cars.

OnStar, GM's 24-hour on-demand driver assistance and navigation system, is standard on Ultra and optional on base Park Avenue. So is Personal Choice, a feature that includes individually programmable key fobs that control security feedback, perimeter lighting, delayed locking, and memory settings for door locks, climate control, radio presets, seat adjustments, and inside and outside mirrors.

The Concert Sound III stereo system, standard on Ultra and available on Park Avenue, comes with nine speakers, an amplifier, an integrated antenna system, and steering-wheel controls.