If you’ve read my review of the 2011 Buick Regal CXL, you’ll note that there were two things I was not terribly happy with. The first was mainly the user interface for the infotainment system. The second was the powertrain. I really harped on that point, as Buick is marketing the Regal as a sport injected vehicle.

So when I was handed the keys to a 2011 Buick Regal CXL Turbo, the main question going through my head was simple: did a turbo really fix my qualms with the powertrain? Is the Buick Regal CXL Turbo the sport injected Buick that we are being promised in the new marketing? After a week with the car, I have found my answer.

Unless you know what to look for you wont be able to tell the base Regal apart from the Regal Turbo. As they say, the devil is in the details. The only visual difference that is standard would be the dual chrome exhaust tips peaking out from under the rear bumper and the rear parking assist sensors.

A base Regal Turbo is $3,000 more than a base non-turbo model. Other than the engine upgrade, you also receive a 12-way power passenger seat with lumbar support, rear parking assist, and a 120V outlet.

If you start adding packages (as my tester was pretty much fully loaded), you can also get 19-inch machine faced alloy wheels that look terrific on the car, as well as projector headlights that also feature LED daytime running lights. This pretty much ends the visual differences between the base Regal and the Regal Turbo.

By the way, as I mentioned in my Regal CXL review, those projector headlights with LED daytime running lights should be standard on all Buick Regals. Turbo or non-turbo, doesn’t matter. They drastically change the look for a more upscale appearance. I will note that for 2012 these headlights will be optional on all Regals, not just the Turbo model. Still doesn’t matter, they should be standard equipment. We should also note that projector headlights will supposedly be standard on all Buick Veranos when they start production. That car will cost less than the Regal.

Aside from the headlight situation, I said the Regal CXL was a sharp looking car. I think the 19-inch machine faced wheels, optional headlights, and dual exhaust really ups the ante and finishes off the car. I still love the integrated trunk lid spoiler. The car looks European without a question.

The interior of the Regal Turbo doesn’t really get any differentiation from the base Regal, and that isn’t a necessarily a bad thing. With soft touch materials in all the right places, this interior wouldn’t be out of place in a European marque.

I still think that the center stack is somewhat of a mess with all the buttons. While I mentioned the interface and what a cluster that is in my other review, Buick has announced that the 2012 models will be receiving a completely new interface. I have seen the new interface (it was in beta) and it looks like a significant upgrade. This will hopefully solve many of the infotainment issues in this car.

The interior is a huge win. I’m a big fan of the overall design and materials. With the new infotainment interface coming for the 2012 model year, this car really does deliver on the sport luxury promise that Buick is pushing.

The Regal Turbo is currently powered by a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder with direct injection. This engine is good for 220-horsepower and 258 pound feet of torque, sent to the front wheels. While my tester had the six-speed automatic with self-shifting capabilities, you can get a six-speed manual transmission as a no cost option. I was actually impressed that the transmission did not feel lazy. It downshifted quickly and seemed smooth overall.

Peak torque is reached at 2,000 rpms, which means that in around town driving the car feels strong off the line. While this car won’t win a drag race, it can hold its own. I also found the engine and overall driving experience to be much smoother in the Turbo model than the base Regal. I did want to mention that you can clearly hear the turbo spool up. While this did not bother me, some consumers may be turned off by this, though some probably won’t even notice.

The Regal Turbo model I was in featured what Buick calls Interactive Drive Control. This can change the suspension, steering, and throttle response with a touch of a button. When you start the car it is in normal mode, and you can change into touring and sport. Touring softens the suspension for highway driving. Sport mode is where it’s at! In the vehicle options you can choose how extensive each setting’s changes are. I had it change throttle response, suspension, and steering. It definitely makes a noticeable difference.

Rated at 18/28, you wont take a huge hit on fuel efficiency when opting for the Turbo model. This a mere 1 mpg difference in the city and 2 mpg difference on the highway when compared to the base powertrain. I saw an average of 20.4 in mixed suburban driving and 25.8 on a highway trip cruising north of 70 mph. I was slightly disappointed with the highway number, though it wasn’t exactly warm here in Minnesota.

So the main question was did a turbo engine really fix my problems with the Buick Regal? The short answer is yes. The car finally lives up to its sport-injected marketing. Though as I mentioned before, this still isn’t a race car. It no longer feels underpowered though, and that’s all I was asking for.

Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by General Motors

Now we have a new Regal, and yes, it is sport injected. At least that is what the marketing tells us. I recently spent a week with the new Regal to see if the marketing really translates to the pavement.

If you think the exterior of the new Regal looks familiar, you must know your European cars. The new Regal and the European Opel Insignia are near doppelgangers aside from their badging and headlights.

The sheet metal is taut, with nice sculpting on the sides. The rear taillights and front headlights both feature a swept back design that again, looks very European. In reality, this car looks nothing like a Buick. If you covered up the badges most people would never guess what it is.

Speaking of headlights, the Regal sports cheap looking halogen headlight housings. The Turbo model receives the European-style projector headlight housings, which also feature LED daytime running lights. This small detail dramatically changes the look of the front end. Luckily Buick is offering the projector headlights with LED daytime running lights as an option on all 2012 Regals. Frankly, these headlights should be standard on all Regals. If the cheaper 2012 Verano will have projector headlights standard, then so should the Regal.

I personally really like the rear end. From the subtle spoiler that is part of the trunk lid, to the complex taillight design, it all works. Oh by the way, those taillights look pretty cool when lit up at night.

The interior again looks nothing like Buicks we are used to. This looks and feels like a German car, right down to the BMW iDrive-like controller sitting in between the two front seats.

The door shuts with a solid thunk, and all the materials you touch feel great. The materials you don’t touch still look good, but some are hard. It would be easy to mistake the interior for something from Germany.

The center stack is a sea of buttons. Once you realize they are somewhat grouped together, it doesn’t get any easier really. After a few days I was able to remember where each function was, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t clumsy.

The electronics in this car have all the right features, but the design was never meant for Buick. You see, the Opel Insignia has a different software interface, and that is what the center stack was made for. It has been now thrown into a car with a Buick interface. The result is a hot mess. Thankfully all 2012 Regals will come with a new touch screen interface as standard equipment. The sea of buttons will remain, but at least the interface will be touch and designed to work with the buttons.

The base powertrain in the Regal is a 2.4-liter Ecotec four-cylinder mated to a six-speed automatic. This setup is good for 182-horspower and 172 pound feet of torque, which is sent to the front wheels.  This engine is shared with the new Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain. In the Regal I found it to be somewhat gritty when pulling away from a stoplight; it seemed to smooth out when higher in the rev band.

To call this powertrain setup sport-injected is darn near a bold faced lie. Now, I am driving the Regal Turbo this week, and that model can be marketed as sport-injected. But the non-Turbo Regal is just too heavy for the amount of power it has to really be sporty.

The chassis and driving dynamics are terrific. With a solid German-like feel, the ride is controlled but never harsh. The steering is nicely weighted with the right amount of road feel.

The Regal tester I was in had a sticker price of $31,975. This undercuts the German competition and is right on par with the Acura TSX, and this tester had nearly $5,000 worth of options. There’s no question that the Regal offers some value.

At the end of the week my thoughts were very clear. The Regal is solid and drives great. But is the Regal really-sport injected this time around? The answer is sort of. Both the chassis and driving dynamics are where they need to be. But the base powertrain is not. It isn’t bad, but it’s not sport injected. Someone coming out of am Audi A4 2.0T, or any car equipped with a V-6 will likely be disappointed in the base powertrain. My advice is if you want the as advertised sport injected driving experience buy the Regal Turbo. If you are merely looking for a car that has nice a nice interior and will get you safely from point A to point B, the base Regal will suit those needs.

Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by General Motors

We then move along to the major news of the week segment. This week included:

• Top 10 ugliest car grilles [Link]
• Dealers are creating monster Camaros [Link]
• Great YouTube find: CHP video from 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake [Link]
• How to install and iPad in your Mustang [Link]

Next came our main topic which was discussing what’s coming in 2011. We take a look at Ford’s financial goals along with some Detroit Auto Show talk.

Last we plug our respective sites: Ford Inside News, GM Inside News, AutoBird Blog and Accelerate Mpls.

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I wanted to write this editorial on Thursday night, but decided it was better to wait a few days and see how the dust settled. How would the fans react? Would my emotions on the topic change once I calmed down? The answer is no.

Buick announced the production version of the Regal GS in Miami, Florida last Thursday. It wasn’t without a few surprises. The biggest surprise of which was a lack of all-wheel drive. Most people assumed the 2.8 liter turbo V-6 from the Opel Insignia OPC would not make the trek across the Atlantic. As for the all-wheel drive, that is a different story.

Lets not forget about power output. The 2.0 liter turbocharged four cylinder will put out 255 horsepower and 295 pound feet to the front wheels (no, that was not a typo). This engine has also done duty in the Chevrolet Cobalt SS, HHR SS,  Pontiac Solstice GXP and Saturn Sky Redline. For all of these models you could purchase a $650 factory upgrade at the dealership that would kick things up a notch, pushing out 290 hp and 340 lb-ft, all while keeping your factory warranty. The engine has the potential.

The Regal GS will feature GM’s terrific HiPerStrut front suspension system, which in theory, should curve most of the torque steer which this beast is sure to feature.

So where are the two main problems? Well, it’s a combination of power and drivetrain. The engineers said they did not need all-wheel drive for the Regal GS. Their reasoning was the added weight wasn’t necessary and the power output did not require it. Wait, the power output did not need it? Hey, we stumbled onto the second problem!

It was initially thought that Buick wanted the Regal GS to take on the likes of the BMW 335i and the Audi S4, like the Opel Insignia OPC does in Europe. These power numbers do not put it even close to competing with those vehicles. Zero to sixty is quoted as “under seven seconds.” Are you joking? That’s slower then the Acura TSX V-6. Did I mention the new Hyundai Sonata Turbo has more horsepower and posts better fuel economy? That isn’t even a “sports car.” Don’t even think about getting close to a BMW 335i or Audi S4 in race away from that stop light.

Also high on the disappointment list is the removal of the terrific Recaro seats. The Opel Insignia OPC features them, as did the Regal GS Concept. I sat in them at the Detroit Auto Show last year – those were comfy seats.

Fans on Buick’s Facebook fan page were outraged. Many have claimed how this car just got knocked off their list. I was told by someone that three people in Detroit that were waiting for this car called the dealership and are no longer interested. My own cousin who has a 2002 Audi A6 2.7t was waiting for this car – I had convinced him this might be the replacement. Now? Not so much.

The Twitter community was just as outraged. The hashtag #GSFail was created quite quickly and really spread fast. Enthusiasts across the nation shared their disappointment.

I still remember standing three feet away from Bob Lutz at the Detroit Auto Show last year. I overheard him talking about the Regal GS to a reporter – he was smiling ear to ear, proud of what Buick was transforming into. What I wouldn’t give to hear Bob Lutz’s candid thoughts on how this car turned out.

My garage has a poster in it of the Regal GS concept car from last years auto show season. The car is something I was looking forward to.

The fact that I have not driven the car is not lost on me. Without a question, the car looks the part. In fact, it probably is still fun to drive, but that isn’t the point. The point is the car is not what was expected from the GS. It has been slightly watered down in all the wrong places, and the enthusiasts know it. The GS model is meant to be niche, meaning it is meant for enthusiasts.

Buick had the opportunity to really make a move here. This car could have stood for something, having the potential to truly ignite enthusiasts and maybe even convert a few past Pontiac owners. Now, it is another watered down product we are getting from Europe. In a discussion this weekend with Nick Saporito, I think he said it best: “the car is “good enough” with excuses.”

Sound off in the comments and we are also running a poll over at Motor Authority about whether the Regal GS meets your expectations. Check it out and vote here.

Getting to that road trip I mentioned earlier –  I drove the car from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Kenosha, Wisconsin and then onto Elkhart Lake, WI for the spring MAMA rally.  Then, I went back to Minneapolis, only to turn around and head up north to my cabin.  Needless to say, this all equated to over 1,200 miles in a short period of time.  That is quite a bit of seat time in a car, and one gets to know things about that car spending that much time in it.

The first thing I noted was how quiet the LaCrosse was at speed.  With the cruise set  to over 70 mph, the interior was library quiet.  The ventilated seats were very easy to adjust and find a comfortable seating position.  I did find them to be a little flat after an entire day on the road, but regardless they were comfortable.  The two cup holders in the center console are the right size.  The second cup holder gets covered by the sliding arm rest, which is quite annoying because I had the arm rest slid out covering it.  The side mirrors are rather large and this makes it easy to see cars in your blind spot (when the mirrors are adjusted accordingly).  The A-pillars are literally ginormous.  You could (and I did) lose a biker at an intersection in those pillars, and it is a real safety hazard.  This is a huge oversight and I am not quite sure how someone in development did not say something.  I found that even though the belt line is rather high (the new trend) I was able to rest my arm on the window sill – but if I set it wrong it was quickly uncomfortable.  The short hood is very noticeable when driving on the highway and it did not bother me, but I took note of it.  I would also like to comment that I think that at least on the CXL (mid trim level) and CXS (highest trim level) model, projector headlights should be standard equipment.

The infotainment system worked terrifically, but I noted a few things.  The navigation system will not let you enter a destination while moving.  This is annoying – because what if you have a passenger that can do it safely while you are driving?  I hate this little safety feature.  Also, the navigation system would not let me enter certain addresses, so I had to resort to using my Google Maps on my iPhone.  I loved the Harman Kardon branded sound system – it sounded absolutely fantastic.  This is the upgraded system and it’s really worth it.  The touchscreen worked well and there are a ton of buttons if you would rather operate the system using them.

On the way up north to the cabin, both my mother and girlfriend noted that the LaCrosse rode nicer than another family members 2006 Lexus LS430.  After questioning them to find out more details, they noted the seats (specifically the rear seats) were more comfortable.

This LaCrosse was equipped with the 3.6 liter V-6, pushing the power to the front wheels.  The transmission was a six-speed automatic with manual shift capabilities and a sport mode.  While the car is rated at 17/27 mpg, I was able to average 28.9 mpg on the highway with the cruise set to 65 mph in Wisconsin.  Once pushed to 77 mph back in Minnesota, the mileage dropped down to a 27.2 mpg average.

After all the miles and discussion about the car with people, my conclusion is quite similar to my original review.  The car is a winner.  With a sticker price of $36,135 out the door, this is a real value for the money.  That said, it is not perfect and has a few flaws that need addressing.  However, no one can say the car is not competitive.

Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by General Motors

Have you ever wondered what it would look like if General Motors made a Buick LaCrosse wagon?  Until now neither had I.  With that said, Nick Wilcox over at Automotive Renderings did wonder just that and decided to draw one out.  Taking inspiration from the LaCrosse and the Enclave, he put together this sketch.  Not too shabby.  Suddenly I would like to see a Buick LaCrosse wagon, that is, if GM could make it look this good.

Source- Automotive Renderings

• Mulally Mum on Mercury’s Future
• GM still has plans for a Lambda-based Cadillac crossover
• Tesla’s Elon Musk: ‘I Ran Out of Cash’, Tesla: Model S ‘May Experience Unexpected Delays’

This week we bring back the clip of the week segment.  This week we featured Mercedes-Benz: Sorry. (Link)

Next came our main topics which we have a discussion about the going to go over some government boondoggles we’ve been seeing cropping up in the news. We actually got the idea from jalopnik which did a recent post about the world’s safest cars that were built here in America

Last we plug our respective blogs,  AutoBird Blog and Accelerate Mpls.

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“Buick kind of lost its way.  We built big, floaty, quiet cars — what our customers wanted at the time.  The GS would be the next step, more performance-based,” Buick spokeswoman Dayna Hart said.

Source- The Detroit News

• Jeep Product Onslaught
• Chrysler to leave the European market
• Buick Dropping trim levels and adding three models
• Chrysler Sebring Name to Stick Around For Now

Next came our main topic which we have a discussion about the differences between American driving and European driving and the overall differences in car culture.

Last we plug our respective blogs, Cheers and Gears,  AutoBird Blog and Accelerate Mpls.

Download this episode (right click and save)

The Vuick thing caught on quick and GM supposedly decided to kill it a mere few weeks later.  In fact they were so proudly announcing how fast they acted based on the negative feedback they were receiving (shocking).  Anyways, next to that Vuick on the floor was a upcoming small crossover for Buick.  This could possibly be dubbed the Encore.  It essentially looked literally like a shrunken down Enclave.  This my friends looked good.  It was most likely based on the new Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain platform.

Yesterday Chris Baccus was driving in Detroit and spotted this test vehicle.  He noted it looked like a Buick grille behind the cladding.  This my friends is one of two things.  The Vuick being resurrected (dear god no) or the baby Enclave (Encore?) that has been severely changed since I saw it and not for the better.  Either way you are looking at something that is not production ready.  I am sincerely hoping this is not the Vuick coming back from the dead rather just a test mule.  I hope they keep the baby Enclaves styling that I saw last fall.

UPDATE-

Some have mentioned this looks an awful lot like the Chevrolet Captiva not sold in America.  I have also just received word from GMInsidenews that GM plans to still sell and produce the Vuick but only for China.  It will be a youth oriented crossover.

Source- Chris Baccus