2011 Buick Regal returns with four-cylinder only engine lineup
Once up a time in the ’80s, it was fashionable in Detroit to create so-called Euro-sedans by taking conventional mainstream grandma-mobiles and painting all the chrome black, dispensing with the white walls and installing overly stiff springs. Fortunately, those dark days are gone and General Motors and Ford at least have gotten their heads around how to build the kind of cars they sell in Europe. Just bring over European cars.
When bankrupt GM decreed that Buick would survive as one of the company’s four core brands, it quickly became clear that Buick would need more models to flesh out its showrooms alongside the LaCrosse and Enclave. It wasn’t long before it became obvious that the next addition would be a new 2011 Buick Regal. The Regal is already available in Buick’s biggest market of China and it’s coming back to North America in 2010 as a 2011 model. Anyone familiar with the Opel Insignia will immediately recognize the Regal as the same car with the brand’s trademark waterfall grille swapped in. Read on after the jump for more information.
The new Regal shares its Epsilon II platform with the recently redesigned LaCrosse, but the wheelbase is four inches shorter than and 6.7 inches shorter overall. While the LaCrosse will soon add an available four-cylinder engine, the Regal will launch with only four-cylinders. The base engine will be the increasingly prevalent 2.4-liter EcoTec with direct injection. As an option, buyers can choose a de-tuned version of the fabulous 2.0-liter DI EcoTec turbo that was used in the Pontiac Solstice GXP, Chevrolet HHR SS and Cobalt SS. For the Regal, output has been trimmed to 220 horsepower while torque remains at 258 pound-feet with a peak at just 2,000 rpm. Both engines are paired only with 6-speed automatic transmissions, the normally aspirated motor getting a Hydramatic unit and the turbo using an Aisin unit.
Only the the premium CXL trim will be available at launch, although others will be added later. When the turbo is added to the lineup next summer, it will have an optional Interactive Drive Control (IDC) system available. The IDC will let drivers pick from three different response modes for the suspension, throttle, steering and transmission. The system offers the usual Sport, Tour and Normal modes but even when the car is in Tour mode, the dampers will automatically stiffen up when the sensors detect a sudden evasive maneuver that could be indicative of an emergency maneuver.
The 2.4-liter Regal will be available in the first half of 2010 with the turbo coming by late summer. Our colleagues in LA will be bring you coverage from the live reveal there this evening.
Oh, to be in the European design studios when someone high up at General Motors slapped his or her forehead and declared, “This would make a great Buick!” Remember, this was back in the days when GM planned to make the Opel Insignia Saturn’s second-generation Aura.
That would have been a mistake.
While GM never got around to recasting Saturn as a Chevrolet-plus import-fighter, it somehow managed to make the Insignia the car that would recast Opel in its long-forgotten role as a mid-priced Audi-fighter. Since its late-2008 launch, the Insignia has nabbed a number of European awards and, Buick says, grabbed a number of conquest buyers from 1.) Audi A4, 2.) BMW 3 Series, and 3.) Mercedes-Benz C-Class. If Opel really has recaptured the upper-middle segment in Western Europe, then it’s a perfect match for Buick, which is trying to go there here with new models like the Enclave and 2010 LaCrosse.
And it’s hard to think of a better-looking front-wheel-drive GM model right now. The Insignia does make good sense as a Buick. The smooth, organic lines, graceful proportions, distinctive side surfacing, and tumblehome recall classic models without the need for the LaCrosse’s sweepspear or the LaCrosse and Enclave’s ventiports.
The Regal is being marketed as Buick’s “sport sedan,” riding on the LaCrosse’s Epsilon II platform, but on the 107.8-inch wheelbase (minus 3.9 inches versus the LaCrosse). It’s 6.8 inches shorter, at 192 inches, and 0.8 inches lower, at 58.4 inches. With its fast c-pillar — vehicle line exec Jim Federico calls it “coupelike” — the Regal sedan isn’t designed to be capacious, like the LaCrosse. The back seat is roomy enough for kids, or adults on a night out, but headroom is a bit tight for six-footers on longer rides.
Opel’s Russelsheim, Germany, assembly plant will supply the first year’s production of U.S. Regals. (The car has already been launched in China.) That’s the result of GM projects having been on hold as the company held on for dear life, plus the aborted plans to sell majority stake in Opel/Vauxhall.
The Regal launches in the second quarter of 2010 only with its middle, CXL trim level, with the base, gas direct-injection 2.4-liter DOHC Ecotec four. It’s rated 182-horsepower and 172 pound-feet. In late summer, Buick adds a gas direct-injection turbocharged 2.0-liter four option, rated 220 horsepower and 258 pound-feet.
The 2.4 comes with a GM Hydra-Matic 6T45 six-speed automatic, while the turbo comes with an Aisin AF40 six-speed automatic. A six-speed manual will be offered later with the turbo. This will be, as far as we can tell, the first manual gearbox production Buick since the 1989 Skyhawk.
Buick expects the 2.0 turbo to do mid-seven-second 0-60 mph runs. The 2.4 will manage mid-eights. Fuel economy is estimated to be about 20 mpg city/30 mpg highway for the the 2.4 automatic, the turbo automatic’s dropping to about 18/29 mpg.
An adjustable sport suspension will be available with the turbo engine, offering standard, sport, and “touring” settings. It changes steering effort, shift pattern, throttle position, shock tuning, and Stabilitrak intervention. The system, called Interactive Drive Control System (IDCS), also adapts automatically to the driver’s style. Suspension consists of MacPherson struts in front and a multi-link rear.
Its aluminum hood is raised over the engine to meet stringent European pedestrian crash standards, but it doesn’t look artificially high, like, say, the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class’. Buick claims a drag coefficient in the 0.27 to 0.30 range — the higher number for the U.S. version depending on engines. The Buick weighs about 13 pounds more than the Opel/Vauxhall because of added structural support in the b-pillar to meet U.S. rollover standards.
[Source: General Motors]
More about Buick Cars Pictures and Articles in AutoFans:
+ Drive Experience:2010 Buick LaCrosse CXS
+ First Drive: 2010 Buick Regal
+ First Look: 2010 Buick LaCrosse
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