The Buick Thread: Your Enclave for all things Buick

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Philly
Anybody know how well this thing does against the Modeo over in Europe? Hopefully this thing will be competitive against the Fusion or something. And maybe if GM feels like putting 350 hp into it, we'll see a Fusion with the EcoBoost, which would be awesome.
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The Insignia won European car of the year if that's any indication.

Re: Narrow power band on the OPC, there are reviews out for the OPC?

Edit: Oh yes, here's one:



Beautiful engine note, looks like it has a lot of grip too. *Goes to finish watching video*.
 
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Paulie
The Insignia won European car of the year if that's any indication.

Re: Narrow power band on the OPC, there are reviews out for the OPC?

Edit: Oh yes, here's one:



Beautiful engine note, looks like it has a lot of grip too. *Goes to finish watching video*.
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The Fiat Uno, Nissan Micra and Toyota Yaris have all won E-COTY. While not terrible cars... I could name you a number of superior competitors to the Micra and Yaris that were released at the same time... and the Uno won over the Pug 205 and the Golf...

They have some very strange rules and scoring systems for their E-COTY. Note when the Micra won, it just edged out the Fiat Multipla and the Opel Zafira (!!!).

One Fiat won because supposedly, it represented a sea-change for the manufacturer, being much better than previous Fiats... so... Honda gets absolutely nothing in these awards because it consistently makes excellent cars? :lol:
 
COTY comps are always meaningless to performance enthusiasts really. You have to wait for Performance Car of the Year comps, and Bang for Your Buck comps from trusted automotive publications.:cool:
 
Paulie
COTY comps are always meaningless to performance enthusiasts really. You have to wait for Performance Car of the Year comps, and Bang for Your Buck comps from trusted automotive publications.:cool:
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Yes... but in the case of E-COTY, they attempt to put all cars in one category... with an incredibly bizarre combined scoring system. Of all the mass-market COTYs out there, E-COTY has got to be one of the bizarrest... well... not quite as bad as Motor Trend, but still... :lol:
 
Paulie
Melted cheese reminds me of pizza, I like pizza.:sly::lol:
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Or what my friend said about the Camry... If you take a blob of mash potatoes, put some weird unnecessary lines in random places and put some wheels on it and call it a day at the studio.
 
I owned one of those big boxy V-8 Buicks. 79 Regal Sport 5.0L 4bbl. Buick doesn't need more of those, it needs some top shelf motors to back up it very nice, but under-powered lineup
 
JCE
My point was to defend the honor of my engine in my car. :D I don't like people dogging on it. And I doubt your Blazer would outrun my Camaro in stock form. But this is getting off topic so I digress. :)
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Your Camaro, no. An '87 Monte? Probably. My Blazer doesn't actually have the stock engine in it. :lol:
 
Toronado
If I was in the market for lardy AWD sedans, I'd rather have a Taurus SHO. The Insignia OPC supposedly isn't very good (engine is laggy with a narrow power band), and unless they do some magic on the 2.8, I don't see that changing. The Taurus at least knows it is a lazy boulevardier car. The OPC's "I'm a Sports Sedan, SRSLY!" attitude doesn't do it any favors, especially not as a Buick.
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I would agree on the SHO sentiment if we were comparing apples to apples. That would be what the LaCrosse is for. Buick doesn't have plans that I know of to be introducing a powerful V6 into the big-boy sedan, which is unfortunate, because it would be an interesting comparison between the two. As I recall, the Regal is actually smaller than the current Malibu, not much larger than the Saab 9-3. That would put it up against the Ford Fusion, which by all means, is not easy competition (I'd say its one of the best cars sold, in any segment, in the US).

As long as they're packing in an interesting drive, with plenty of standard equipment, and a fair level of punch from the I4 (matched with a six-speed slushbox), I think they'll sell a fair number. Buick does need an entry-level car, and this will be a good place to start.
 
Buick has confirmed the 2011 Regal will come with a 2.0L Turbo 4cyl and 6spd manual. I'd post the quote from Autoblog but there's nothing in their news article other than them wondering when the last Buick with a manual transmission was released.
 
niky
They have some very strange rules and scoring systems for their E-COTY. Note when the Micra won, it just edged out the Fiat Multipla and the Opel Zafira (!!!).

One Fiat won because supposedly, it represented a sea-change for the manufacturer, being much better than previous Fiats... so... Honda gets absolutely nothing in these awards because it consistently makes excellent cars? :lol:
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E-COTY makes the recent Afgan elections appear as uncorrupt as snow white. It's won by which-ever manufacturer butters up the judges the most. It has nothing to do with how good any of the cars are.
 
Paulie
Buick has confirmed the 2011 Regal will come with a 2.0L Turbo 4cyl and 6spd manual. I'd post the quote from Autoblog but there's nothing in their news article other than them wondering when the last Buick with a manual transmission was released.
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I'm ecstatic! I'm actually thinking about getting a Buick! I just hope they don't screw it up like the CTS by not offering the manual transmision.
 
Paulie
Buick has confirmed the 2011 Regal will come with a 2.0L Turbo 4cyl and 6spd manual. I'd post the quote from Autoblog but there's nothing in their news article other than them wondering when the last Buick with a manual transmission was released.
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Let's put it this way, just around 20 years ago. :lol: The 1990 Skylark was the last one to be a manual (Stablemate to my N-body Cutlass 442.)

Skylark.jpg


I think the new Regal is bloody fantastic, but...
Wonder if the US will get the watered-down version. 👎



Cheers,
Jetboy
 
Jetboy.
I think the new Regal is bloody fantastic, but...
Wonder if the US will get the watered-down version. 👎



Cheers,
Jetboy
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You mean for the VXR/OPC derived model? The rumour going around that I read on Autoblog was that the US Buick would get more power. I think what ever models you get will be pretty good either way.;)
 
even american COTY's can have bad pick years. Motor Trend admitted that the 63 Calipers winner (with the brand new Corvette out, among others) happened to be a Rambler Ambassador!

and ida thought the last manual buick dated from sometime in the 20's!
 
Sniffs
and ida thought the last manual buick dated from sometime in the 20's!
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Not even counting the numerous copies of other GM cars that Buick had, how could you forget the muscle cars of the 60's and early 70's? Buick GSX anyone?
 
buickgnx88
Not even counting the numerous copies of other GM cars that Buick had, how could you forget the muscle cars of the 60's and early 70's? Buick GSX anyone?
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dude, I've never seen a grand nat even at car shows. other than the occasional oddities and a few turn of the century put-puts, a lot of the entries to car shows around here are Chevelles. even Model A's are sparse, and there's half a million of the things. I've been eyeballing this one guy's used lot 'cause he has a late 60's/early 70's Cutlass he can't get rid of.
 
Let's bring this back from the dead with a VERY nice car shall we?

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/07/...erformance-back-to-trishield-brand/#continued

regalgs---06_opt.jpg


The GS is powered by a higher output version of the 2.0-liter direct-injected EcoTec four-cylinder that we've come to know and love in numerous GM products over the few years, with the tell-tale dual portholes on either side of its hood indicating its intentions. In this application, powertrain engineers have re-tuned the engine from its original 260 hp and 260 pound-feet of torque to 255 hp and 295 pound-feet. The GS is also equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox... in a Buick!
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400Nm in a 2.0L, jolly good show, same torque figure as a 4.0L atmo Falcon 6, but the power is less.
 
Thar's a pretty hot Buick. I think the V6 would have been a cooler engine but I'm sure there are kits to boost this thing up a fair amount. I'm also thinking that that's a lot of boost from a mainstream factory vehicle.

All we have to see now is who on earth would buy one..
 
It's still a Buick so I can't even remotely think of it as a cool car. Why GM rebadged the Insigna as a Buick instead of a Chevy is something I don't understand. But then again a company ran by a team of idiots and the American government is bound to make some stupid moves.
 
500x_regal_gs.jpg

500x_regal_gs__4_.jpg

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Compared to a lot of the other sport sedans available in that price range, its an attractive alternative. I'm very excited that GM decided to make this, at least in concept form, but production seems almost inevitable. I have to admit that the choice for the 2.0L Turbo was a bit strange, but its nice that Buick is remaining totally committed to keeping all the Regals four-cylinder-only. Otherwise, its a lighter, slightly less powerful version of the Insignia OPC/VXR. This is going to be one hell of a value if prices start just above $30K. Screw the Audi A4 2.0T and the BMW 328i, this is what I want.

This is a pretty substantial leap-forward for GM North America if they do it. All of which makes me hope Ford thinks about jamming an EcoBoost 2.0L in the Fusion with AWD.
 
OH! oh, oh, oh! You had me until those ugly chrome things either side of the lower grille. those are absolutely grotesque.
 

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