The front bucket seats are comfortable with plentiful headroom and legroom. This is the standard LaCrosse configuration and we prefer it: five-passenger seating with front bucket seats separated by a center console, and a leather-wrapped floor shifter.

However, a six-passenger option is available for the CX and CXL that substitutes a front bench seat. The front bench seat is split 40/20/40 and has a flip-and-fold center back cushion that can be converted into a center console/armrest with a large storage bin and dual cup holders. You'll most likely want to use this assembly most often as a center console, as putting someone in the middle will make for an uncomfortable trip for all front seat occupants. The shifter is mounted to the steering column on six-passenger models.

Back-seat passengers will find the LaCrosse comfortable. Rear-seat legroom is generous, thanks to a relatively long wheelbase of 110.5 inches. We found that a 6-foot, 4-inch passenger can sit behind a 6-foot, 4-inch driver with plenty of room to spare.

In front of the driver are three round instrument dials ringed in chrome and set into a deeply tunneled instrument panel. The instrument graphics light up in blue in the Super model. It's all very nicely presented, and relatively sporty looking.

The center stack is finished a mica-flecked flat black. On the Super model it's finished in silver. The center stack has a simple layout that is easy to use though plain in appearance. The trip computer and driver information center are easy to put through their menus. However, the information panel is so glossy that we found it hard to read in early morning or late afternoon light. The dashboard is decorated in a light woodgrain pattern. Super models have a darker woodgrain. Super models also get unique floormats, metal sill plates, and a seat insert pattern called DreamWeave.

Buick applied its Quiet Tuning treatment to reduce noise throughout the car. Quiet Tuning uses specially engineered parts and adds sound insulation in the engine, on the firewall, under the toeboard, inside the wheelwells and in the roof. It's a school of thinking that makes LaCrosse one of the quietest cars in the class.

OnStar, XM satellite radio, and a remote starting system that will work from up to 500 feet away make the LaCrosse a pleasure to live with.

The trunk has a generous 16 cubic feet of cargo room. Unfortunately, a split folding rear seat is not standard, but it can be ordered. We would recommend it, though a structural beam between the cabin and trunk limits the height of items that can slide through. On the positive side, the trunk uses struts that won't crush packages. On the negative, the size of the trunk opening will make it hard to load large packages.