On a closed section of Nevada State highway 318, a Buick Regal GS came within 0.19 seconds of a perfect 45 minute run over 90-miles of blacktop. That, friends, is some seriously careful, well-planned driving at +- 120 mph.
The feat not only earned the 2012 Buick Regal GS the overall win in the 120-mph Grand Touring class at the Silver State Classic open road rally, but won drivers Bill Rietow and John Townsend the award for most accurate rookie. If those names sound familiar, well then you are all-too-familiar with the Buick development team. Rietow, the driver, is the GS lead development engineer and Townsend, the navigator, is the GS drive quality powertrain engineer.
"The Regal GS did extremely well at course speeds, delivering stable, balanced performance throughout the run. Our racing experience prepared us for the challenge of maintaining a high average speed over a long distance," said Rietow in a statement. Rietow is an SCCA and Corvette Club autocrosser. "While our maximum allowed speed in this class was 140-mph, we only needed to push it to 137-mph to maintain our course speed average. This car has a top speed of more than 150 mph and we had plenty of power in reserve." Loyal readers will remember we had our non-GS Regal CXL Turbo up to 144 and it was steady as can be.
The Regal GS was stock except for safety equipment and data loggers.
Last year's winner in this class was a Dodge Neon SRT4 with a 0.2390 time variance followed by an '07 Mustang with a 0.39. The record speed average is 207.78 set in 2000.
bodyblue says:
10:34 AM, 09/20/11
"Last year's winner in this class was a Dodge Neon SRT4 with a 0.2390 time variance followed by an '07 Mustang with a 0.39. "
In other words what Buick did was no big deal at all for a car this new. It seems the driver was the deciding factor. Next story please.
subytrojan says:
10:53 AM, 09/20/11
It's like bracket drag racing for 90 miles. Ha!
dillworth says:
10:54 AM, 09/20/11
great wheels on this car.
Half the stories here come from manufacturer press releases. This one is no different. One could say few of these company released tidbits are "no big deal"- they still get reported.
csubowtie says:
11:26 AM, 09/20/11
Here's some perspective... The Bandit was rolling around at like 90 mph. And he was the beez kneez. So a buick that can run at those speeds through Neveda temps is kinda cool. The fact the a factory sanctioned Buick was participating in a Grass-rootish form of Motorsports is really cool. At least the people developing the GS have the right mindsets to align with my vehicular views, so we know if the vehicle falls short of our standards we can blame accountants not engineers.
bodyblue says:
11:58 AM, 09/20/11
Any new car in the Regal's class can do what it did with nary a whimper......how is that for perspective? :) Does anyone doubt that a 328 or a Lexus IS or hell even a 200 Pentastar would really have a problem with this run? All it takes is a new car with a really careful and skillful driver....or an old SRT Neon or Mustang with a really careful and skilled driver.
zimtheinvader says:
12:00 PM, 09/20/11
" really careful and skilled driver" Do they get to use gps and computers?
dillworth says:
12:53 PM, 09/20/11
Im sure any manufacturer that wants to enter a car can do so. Could other manufacture sponsored cars do this? Sure. Did they do it and come in first place? No. End of story.
Im pretty sure this was about expanding the exposure of the GS and getting people talking about the car online. Seems like it worked. What other cars coulds, shoulda, woulda done the same thing matters not.
bodyblue says:
01:18 PM, 09/20/11
"Im pretty sure this was about expanding the exposure of the GS and getting people talking about the car online. Seems like it worked. What other cars coulds, shoulda, woulda done the same thing matters not. "
Of course it was....and it was a total puff piece. No other car makers would spend the money on this because it is no big deal to any other company but Buick which has ZERO performance reputation.
speedynk says:
01:49 PM, 09/20/11
What was the competetion?
nismo210 says:
01:56 PM, 09/20/11
Yawn...media event nothing more.
agnh says:
03:15 PM, 09/20/11
I'm sorry, I guess I'm missing something here. I thought the whole idea of this PR deal was to flaunt the Buick's high speed. Almost any car can go a buck 20.
smallfield says:
07:38 PM, 09/20/11
"It's like bracket drag racing for 90 miles. Ha!"
Agreed - I have sometimes trouble being that close 2, 1/4 mile runs in a row. A little wheel hop or slip... But, that's why I have a day job.
Being 2 tenths off over 90 miles is impressive - go GM/Buick and GM drivers.
dillworth says:
05:31 AM, 09/21/11
not high speed test, the point is to come as close as possible to averaging exactly 120mph for the entire route. THe cars are separated into different average speed classes based on power and capability. The top speed of the car is supposedly 152.
viss1 says:
06:00 AM, 09/21/11
You guys need to lighten up. A Buick in any type of speed contest is a welcome change from the golf-centric marketing they did for the last decade+.
transpower says:
07:52 AM, 09/21/11
Now maybe GM will be able to make the money to pay back the taxpayers....
itbeatswalkin says:
01:29 PM, 09/21/11
@bodyblue,
If its so easy for everyone to do, what isn't anyone else doing it? This is America, the path of least resistence is quickly becoming the rule of thumb, and this race is probably the easiest venue to represent in. The reason this is news is because Buick appears to be one of the first, if not the first in factory effort to do this with a factory stock car.
Maybe a 200 Pentastar can do this! If it can, you need to petition Chrysler to put up or shut up and stop hating on Buick for making strides to put others on notice! Until then accept the fact that you rep a non contender! No Lexus, BMW, or Chrysler product has bothered to represent in this venue, and as far as this story is concerned, they don't rate.
The Regal aint for everyone, but it does appear to have some skills despite the lack of a V6 option.
threemopars says:
02:57 PM, 09/21/11
"hell even a 200 Pentastar would really have a problem with this run?"
Yes it would. Considering the fact that the 200 is LIMITED to 120 MPH, how the hell are you going to AVERAGE 120 MPH...stay on the limiter the whole time?
Yea right.
And the OEM Eagle LS2 tires are T (118 MPH) speed rated.
So yes the Chrysler would have issues with the run.
roadburner says:
05:20 PM, 09/21/11
"It's like bracket drag racing for 90 miles. Ha!"
Pretty much. Or A TSD rally with one CAST and one checkpoint. I was going to run in the 130 mph class with a car equipped with a Timewise 798a rally computer, so it was just a question of having a few seconds in hand at the finish line...
roadburner says:
07:37 AM, 09/22/11
"If its so easy for everyone to do, what isn't anyone else doing it?"
Like I said, it's essentially a TSD with one checkpoint. One major key to success is choosing a class that is comfortably less than your car's top speed. The SSC IS a lot of fun, but the people that know what the SSC is realize that the event rewards accurate timekeeping rather than overall performance. Those that DON'T know/understand how the event works may well be impressed, so I suppose that IS Buick's target market.
bodyblue says:
09:48 AM, 09/22/11
LOL @ Buick and this story.....IF this race had ANY prestige, THEN more car makers would participate, period.
"So yes the Chrysler would have issues with the run. "
OK then reset the limiter and put better tires on it.....does anyone really think it would have trouble with this run? LOL give me a break.
All it takes is a set of high speed rated tires and a speed limiter set at around 130...big deal. ANY midsize car with its optional engine could do this. Its stupid anyway since there is nowhere in the country where one can do this legally and few if anybody would consider this in buying this car.