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When we hit 144 mph in our Long Term Buick Regal CXL, we didn't have an on-board video camera, only the still. When Buick sent one of their Regal GSs out on the Nevada Open Road Challenge, they thought ahead and set up a video to document the happenings.
The top speed is cool, but what's really interesting (we have a hard time with "cool" for this), is the precision and planing it takes to hit a specific time during a 40 minute event.
Back in the early parts of 2011, Inside Line was the proud caretaker of a Buick Regal CXL Turbo. That car had 220 horsepower and during a trip to a very closed course with, literally, miles of open space, we managed to hit 144 mph. The Buick Regal GS has 270 horsepower and, according to GM back in September of 2011, is capable of 152 mph.
Now, on the open roads of Nevada, a stock-except-for-a-cage-and-5-point-belts Buick Regal GS has hit 162 mph in the Nevada Open Road Challenge.
"The Regal GS is an incredibly capable performance sedan. In addition to the strong acceleration from the engine, the chassis maintained its composure well while running across these closed public roads at high speeds. Likewise, the Brembo brakes were easy to trust coming hot into a corner," said Bill Rietow, team driver.
A few days ago Buick teased that the Enclave would be the focus of their next celebrity-centered advertisement and that said celeb would be Marisa Miller.
Buick is, of course, desperate to shake off the reputation the brand has for attracting older drivers. They currently have the largest percentage of drivers over 65 with 35.7 percent.
Marisa Miller could help that. Probably not though. You decide after the jump.
Last week we looked at the makes that have been most successful at capturing the youth market.
It would be ageist not to also shine a spotlight on those makes getting the most support from the senior-citizen set, wouldn't you agree?
"I'm back from China and the mania of the Beijing Auto Show. It was a great 4 days spent in the world's largest car market and despite jet lag (including the effects of a 5.5 hour delay + 13 hour flight) I maximized every waking minute of my trip.
"One of the clear highlights was a visit to a Buick dealership in the Chaoyang district of Beijing. I was dying to learn more about Buick because my views of the brand are obviously based on my knowledge of the US market and Buick in China is a completely different animal. It's not easy to drop all pre-conceived notions of the brand, but it was necessary. The field trip was filled with tons of information and insight, but here are the numbers that stood out in my mind..."
Read more from our Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell at Drive by Numbers -- Buick Excelling in China.
Buick's at it again with celebrities having fun. Previously they hired Shaq and shoved him into a LaCrosse with surprisingly good results. Today they've got supermodel Marisa Miller getting friendly with the Buick Enclave.
Now shhhhh, Marissa Miller's on the screen.
Buick has been casting about for an appropriate spokesperson for years, and I don't think you could do much better on the continuum of coolness than Ving Rhames. Mind you, it helps that the company can give him something more compelling than a Rendezvous to drive.
Humor helps, too. And there should be a decent amount of it in this upcoming LaCrosse (or maybe it's a Regal) commercial. In keeping with current trends, Buick has released this teaser, which advertises the commercial, which will advertise the product.
2011 was the best sales year for the Buick Enclave and 50 percent of Enclave sales were new GM customers. A rare feat for a car well into its model cycle, but proof that A) Americans still like big stuff and B) The Enclave is a solid deal on a very stylish package.
Considering that, you can see why Buick designers and engineers were reluctant to change much about the current Enclave. The GMC Acadia and the Chevy Traverse both got redesigns this year that were far more substantial, but neither of those cars are leading a brand the way the Enclave is. So, for 2013, Buick went with a tasteful if subtle refresh with a new front fascia in black chrome, standard xenon headlights with LED running lights, a new hood, new taillights and new real dual exhaust.
The Buick LaCrosse is a car we generally like around these parts. It's subtle, clean, has a great ride, nice build and a ton of features for a good price. It is not, however, cool. Not by a long shot. It's the kind of car you buy because it's nice and you appreciate that.
That feeling puts Buick in a tricky spot when it comes to promotion. In an effort to "[communicate] interesting facts" and " try to drive greater consideration," Buick has brought in Shaquille O'neal for a series of ads that will run during the NCAA tournament. "Shaquille O'Neal full-size sedan, it's obvious why we used him," says Buick Advertising and Promotions Director in this behind the scenes look at the ad.
Not only is he a big guy (7'1") but he's funny, too: "I've got shoes that are bigger than most hybrids," Shaq says. "and more stylish." You can't hate Shaq. Video after the jump.
We've been waiting for this one for a while. So eagerly, in fact, that we took the first of the turbocharged new Regals -- the CXL Turbo -- and shoved it into a comparison with the big daddy of turbo Buicks-- the Grand National -- the minute we found one. That was back in January of 2011 and now, more than a year later, we have the match-up we wanted from the beginning: The 270-horsepower 2012 Buick Regal GS (with the automatic transmission) vs. the 245-horse Grand National.
Torque vs. horsepower. Pushrod vs. DOHC. Turbo vs. Turbo. Buick vs. Buick. Who takes it?...
At the 2012 Chicago Auto Show, GMC showed off the facelifted 2013 GMC Acadia. It has a bold new design that is, at the very least, polarizing. After that reveal Riswick said, "The Acadia's cabin was always a touch nicer than the Traverse and not as gaudy as the Enclave..." And he was right. With the new update, the Acadia took a full step ahead of the Buick and that didn't sit well with Buick.
Now we have the first official teaser for the 2013 Buick Enclave which will debut at the 2012 New York Auto Show. In this teaser we can see GM's new Intellilink infotainment system, a new HVAC layout and the same IP, center console, cupholders and shifter.
No word on what the new exterior will look like, but if the Acadia is any indication, it'll be something bold.
Like they did with ZL1 it appears that the boys at SLP have gone and acquired the rights for the 'GNX' nameplate...and they intend to use it.
This is the first rendering of the SLP GNX. This Regal-based sport sedan is looking to be the GS Buick should've built. SLP says that this one should crank out "more than" 300 horsepower (up from 270 on the GS) and, if this rendering is to be believed, will actually look special. (Note: the Regal itself looks very clean, but the GS is, well, pretty bland for a sporty model.)
We should know more about this one in the coming months, but if you've got any interest you should hit up SLP sooner rather than later. However the final product turns out, they're only building 500 of 'em.
Can't blame Buick for giving it a try. It launched the Buick GS with a six-speed manual transmission only, a move seen as equally cool or stupid depending on who you asked.
For 2013, the 270-hp GS will offer a six-speed automatic transmission as a no-cost option. Buick says it's still good for a 0-60 mph time of 6.7 seconds and will return 27 mpg on the highway.
If that's not enough efficient for you, Buick also announced that its eAssist system will now come standard with the base 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine. The mild hybrid system pushed the Regal's EPA highway number up to 36 mpg on the highway.
If you're a classic car nut, you've probably heard of Hagerty; the company is a leader in classic-car insurance and hosts the world's largest database of classic cars. Each year, the company publishes its Hagerty Hot List, a list that spotlights 10 new vehicles that its valuations experts see as having the best future collectability.
If you've got a spouse and a bouncy castle full of kids, the siren call of a minivan can be a tempting one. Still, minivan ownership need not be as inevitable as some would have you believe.
Buick unveiled its compact crossover, the 2013 Encore. Made in Korea, the Encore is powered by a 140-hp turbo four-cylinder engine, so don't expect much in the way of power. On the plus side, Buick has taken steps to provide a pleasantly quiet cabin. Sales are set to begin in the beginning of 2013.
James isn't impressed; click through for the video and judge for yourself.
In person, the 2013 Buick Encore is noticeably compact. It has the chunky, curvy look of a Hyundai Tucson, but it's almost 5 inches shorter in length (168.5 inches) and its wheelbase is more than 3 inches shorter at 100.6 -- barely longer than the wheelbase of a Chevy Sonic (99.4). But the Encore is still larger than crossovers like the Nissan Juke and Mini Countryman.
Like the Sonic, though, the Encore is roomier inside than you think it will be. A 5-foot-10 adult (your author) climbed into the front seat today at the Detroit auto show and still left room for another average size adult to sit in back. GM's Jim Federico tells us the platform underneath this small crossover is all-new, and with 60 percent high-strength steel in the unit-body, lighter than past designs -- at 3,300 pounds with its optional all-wheel-drive system, it's about 50 pounds lighter than a Tucson.
Maybe you're wondering why Buick picked such a small platform for its compact SUV rather than looking to the Chevrolet Equinox platform architecture, and the answer seems to be that the Encore is largely driven by demand in China, where upwardly mobile consumers gravitate toward small cars with premium furnishings. Buick sold 645,537 vehicles in China in 2011 versus 177,633 in the U.S.
Like most of the cars GM builds and sells in China, the Encore is engineered in South Korea, and the plant in Bupyeong will handle assembly for the U.S., though GM President Mark Reuss was careful to leave the door open for potential North American assembly when we spoke to him today. However, he closed the door to the possibility of badge engineering.
"We're not doing Chevrolets off this platform," he said. "The last thing we want to do is put a Chevrolet alongside this and take Equinox sales away."
Buick finally took the last bit of disguise off the 2013 Encore today just a few hours before we saw it in the metal here in Detroit. And we're still sitting firmly on the fence.
The Encore gets, as we expected, GM's multiport-injection 1.4-liter turbocharged engine producing 140 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque, hooked up to a HydraMatic six-speed automatic transmission. Suspension is a MacPherson strut with coil-over spring and stabilizer bar up front, and a torsion-beam rear with twin-tube shocks out back. Steering is electric.
This doesn't sound terribly impressive even for a crossover, but let's consider one thing: Those wheels that look pretty big on this Encore are 18s with P215/55R18 tires. We're looking at a small crossover (built in Bupyeong, South Korea, on GM's small crossover platform) that has a 100.6-inch wheelbase and is only 168.5 inches long. For comparison, the Cruze is 181 inches long. The Verano is 183.9. The Sonic is 159 inches.
Buick's new small crossover features the brand's first use of active noise cancellation as part of Buick's "Quiet Tuning" philosophy. Other quietness features include an acoustically treated headliner, "quiet-tuned" Continental tires, aerodynamic sideview mirrors, laminated 5mm side windows and foam baffles in body structure openings.
Because this is a very small car (in today's terms) Buick had to be careful with weight management and, if this does in fact ride/sound like a Buick, it has done well; the Encore weighs in at 3,190 pounds for FWD and 3,309 for AWD. The last Sonic we tested rang up 2,775 pounds.
Cargo volume for the Encore is listed at 18.8 cubic feet, which is more, says Buick, than either a BMW X1 or an Audi Q3.
The 2013 Encore will go on sale in early 2013.
And as everybody expected, here's the third teaser of the 2013 Buick Encore on the company's Facebook page. Honestly, we were expecting them to take off the lower-rear first and save the dramatic face for the end, but we're glad they gave us the interesting bits first. And interesting is exactly the right word. The Encore ditches the smooth, sleek face of the current crop of Buicks in favor of this bulky tuner Mercedes type look.
I'm on the fence here. What say you?
Who could've seen this one coming? After releasing a teaser image on Facebook last week consisting of four panes, one removed to show a partial image of the 2013 Buick Encore, Buick has released a second picture that has...wait for it...another panel removed!
With this new peek we get a look at the back of the encore and like so many things coming out of Buick lately, it looks tasteful bordering on cool. That rear quarter panel might be a bit of a blindspot based on what we see here, but aesthetically it looks sharp and just a bit like an EX35.
Now if only they could get rid of those hood vents.
(Facebook)
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