Buick Regal Turbo: A Brief Rental Review

"wiffleballtony" (wiffleballtony)
11/05/2015 at 09:12 • Filed to: None

The TLDR of this is that it’s the best Buick I’ve ever driven and the best rental that I have ever driven. Neither of these statements necessarily means much however.

What’s good about the Regal GS: By far the most surprising thing about it is that it feels genuinely quick. I believe the spec sheet lists it at 259 bhp but it certainly was more than adequate. The next best thing to me was the ride quality. There are a number of roads in my area that are bumpy. Not Michigan bumpy, it’s just that they haven’t been resurfaced since Marky Mark was a musician. In my Mustang these roads are annoying, in my G8, they are noticeably bad, in this car it’s easily ignored. Also surprising was how modern it was on the interior. A large screen reads out what XM Radio station and songs are playing. Honestly, though who needs satellite radio, and 8 different rap stations? Interior materials were nice to look at and mostly nice to touch. Seats were comfortable. There was tons of visibility out of the cabin which seems to be lacking these days. It’s an auto with sport shift, which was fine and irrelevant.

What wasn’t so good on the Regal: This is not a drivers car, not really that much of a shock. It is FWD, and there’s something about that which makes me feel like the weight distribution is noticeably off, biased towards the front. Steering is light and serviceable for normal driving but I didn’t feel the need to find any back roads. I also don’t think this car is as roomy as it should be for back seat passengers. I am a tall feller and with me driving, the seat behind me might as well be in my Mustang. Stupid fake heat extractors on the hood as seen in my pictures.

Final thoughts: I had forgotten that this car existed until it was given to me as a rental. I was relieved that they didnt give me the GMC Terrain that I was threatened with initially. With that in mind, I would easily recommend people wanting a FWD daily driver shopping in the low mid $30k range to try it out. It’s definitely not at all like the LeSabre of yore. With all of that said, I still wouldn’t buy one with my money, but I’m not the target audience.

DISCUSSION (25)

Party-vi > wiffleballtony
11/05/2015 at 09:29

The picture is of a Regal Turbo - was that your rental?

wiffleballtony > Party-vi
11/05/2015 at 09:31

Yes, it was the Turbo.

Party-vi > wiffleballtony
11/05/2015 at 09:32

Thought it might be - the GS should have had buttons for sport and GS modes, and would have had a more engaging suspension setup. Still, the review looks spot-on from what other publications are saying about the Regal Turbo/GS. It’s just disappointing that this 259hp car is still slower than a GTI or similar hot hatch.

wiffleballtony > Party-vi
11/05/2015 at 09:39

Yeah, I didn’t spend too much time pouring through its different features. It certainly felt bigger than a GTI or a Focus.

Party-vi > wiffleballtony
11/05/2015 at 09:43

Kinja'd!!!

How did you like the interior quality? One thing that turned me off was the terrible-looking rental center-stack. All the same big plastic buttons.

Ash78, voting early and often > wiffleballtony
11/05/2015 at 09:44

The TLDR of this is that it’s the best Buick I’ve ever driven

I still have a hard time even calling it a Buick. But I felt the same way about the final years of Saturn, when they gave up on all the old stuff and started selling European GMs.

I guess it’s sort of like if you came to work one day and your friend had a facelift. It might take some getting used to, but then a week later someone completely different comes in and says “Hi, I’m the new Bob.” and the guy is like Bob’s third cousin. It might take a while to really start calling him Bob.

AMC/Renauledge > Party-vi
11/05/2015 at 09:51

That's the 2011-13 version pictured. The 2014-16 has a significantly revised interior.

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > wiffleballtony
11/05/2015 at 09:51

My next door neighbor has a Regal Turbo with a stick. Haven't ridden in it, but it seems like a cool car.

Party-vi > AMC/Renauledge
11/05/2015 at 09:52

Well on Carmax the earlier models of the GS are dirt cheap. Like, $20k for under 40k miles.

AMC/Renauledge > wiffleballtony
11/05/2015 at 09:54

It wasn’t a GS. The GS has Recaro buckets, Brembo brakes, MR shocks, HiPer Strut, and adjustable IDAC suspension.

The Regal GS is the best-handling FWD car you can buy in the US.

The standard turbo models are nice, but they aren't the GS.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Ash78, voting early and often
11/05/2015 at 10:00

So should you call the Ford Escape a Kuga? Because the Kuga had the platform and body of the Escape before they put an Escape badge on it’s ass...

Justin Hughes > wiffleballtony
11/05/2015 at 10:04

Will at Right Foot Down has a Regal GS press car at the moment. I’m looking forward to seeing what he has to say about it!

Ash78, voting early and often > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
11/05/2015 at 10:05

I could argue for it...but Ford at least kept the Escape name continuous, despite the mild rebadging of their European lineup (which, incidentally, I had written to them about on multiple occasions 8-10 years ago as a shareholder and enthusiast).

The Buick move just seems weirder because they changed so much of their image AND their lineup at the same time, including bringing “Regal” back from the dead.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Ash78, voting early and often
11/05/2015 at 10:15

Are you upset that the Chevy SS doesn’t say Holden on it? Were you upset when they did it for the G8 and the GTO?

I don’t know, I just think it’s silly. I hear people on here all the time “Oh it’s just an Opel!” Who cares? They’ve got a really nice car behind a Buick badge and Opel isn’t here anyhow. Why wouldn’t we celebrate that Buick took an opportunity to put a car on the road that doesn’t make your grandma jealous?

Ash78, voting early and often > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
11/05/2015 at 10:24

I guess it’s because there’s a sliding scale between platform sharing and badgineering, but a lot of these are somewhere in between. A lot of people (and I’m not immune) are wary of GM backsliding into their lazy badgineering days. I’m still rooting for them.

For what it’s worth, the GTO was a very weird exercise in using a historical name. Things like the G8 are fine with me because they’re using a new name and a new car altogether (new to the US, that is).

And those are good examples (along with Saturn’s desperate efforts) because the brands were still axed, unfortunately.

I have no beef with Buick. I’m still confused by their reinvention (IMHO, it should have looked more like Lincoln), but it was clear they wanted to mimick what they were doing with the brand in China, which has been extremely successful.

Except that Encore thing. What the hell is that? :D

wiffleballtony > Party-vi
11/05/2015 at 10:25

Kinja'd!!!

This is what the interior of mine looked like. Not my picture though.

wiffleballtony > AMC/Renauledge
11/05/2015 at 10:26

My mistake, my service advisor called it a GS and I never bothered to confirm. That’s why I don’t do this for a living.

wiffleballtony > Van Man, rocks the Man Van
11/05/2015 at 10:31

It’s surprisingly good.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Ash78, voting early and often
11/05/2015 at 10:38

oh good god the encore thing, why are they selling so well? *shudder*

Lincoln is drastically changing itself over again too. I mean the Continental is a massive leap away from what they’ve been doing style wise.

I think Buick is doing exactly what it’s supposed to. It’s upscale but it’s not taking away from Caddy, it’s a very, very delicate balance. It’s clearly differentiated itself away from Chevy.

Party-vi > wiffleballtony
11/05/2015 at 10:42

That looks much better than the previous interior.

wiffleballtony > Party-vi
11/05/2015 at 10:46

Quite. And I’m not an interior snob.

yamahog > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
11/05/2015 at 10:54

People just cannot get enough of compact SUVs, Encore is selling like hotcakes. Even my uncle has one, but I won’t give him any grief because at least he went for a domestic instead of a Hyundai this time...

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > yamahog
11/05/2015 at 11:06

I keep seeing them and I swear they’re lifted Smart Cars at first.

Rico > AMC/Renauledge
11/05/2015 at 11:48

I’ve never driven the Buick Regal GS and those features sound very impressive but I have a hard time believing the claim that it is the BEST. Does it really handle better than the Focus ST, Fiesta ST, and the GTI?

AMC/Renauledge > Rico
11/05/2015 at 13:11

Check the slalom speeds and skid pad g’s.