2012 Buick Regal GS Review

It's good, easily the best-driving Buick in Decades. The 2012 Buick Regal GS packs some decidedly un-Buick-like parts. The revamped engine boosts power from 220 horsepower to 270 at 5.300 rpm. Then there's this shock: A six-speed manual comes standard. There's also a pair of 14-inch front disc brakes with Brembo four-piston fixed calipers (rear brakes Remain unchanged). Add to this a three-mode version of Buick's Interactive Drive Control adaptive damper system as well as a hyper Strut front suspension.

The front seats are bolstered a slightly more variation of the Regal's standard seats. Baby steps, folks, baby steps. Blip the throttle and there's barely a hint of rasp. There's some turbo lag initially, but unlike our long-term Regal, the which is never, ever inspiring, the GS's Breathed-on mill has a healthy, We dare say, exciting midrange (95 percent of the torque is available from 2.300 to 4.900 rpm ).

There's serious braking power and pedal a much firmer than what we're used to in the Regal. OK, so We know the Regal GS has power. More importantly, there's now a third mode (beyond the Standard and Sport) to the IDC driver-selectable adaptive damper system, called "GS." Buick fitted its hyper Strut front suspension in the interest of reducing torque steer and maintaining negative camber through corners. Besides firmer damping, GS Brings also some welcome heft to the hydraulic power steering.

 

The 2012 Buick Regal GS Will start at $ 35.310 (including $ 860 destination) Pls starts production late this summer at GM's Oshawa, Ontario, Canada plant. There's no doubt That the GS rectifies many of the performance problems found in the standard Turbo Regal, and with its added power, stiffer suspension and manual gearbox, it Will attract some enthusiasts back to Buick.

 

A recent new product blitz and brand Revamp Certainly has resulted in a better Buick, but the 2012 Buick Regal GS thrusts the marque into somewhat unfamiliar territory: the luxury sport sedan arena. The performance shortcomings of the Turbo Regal CXL We tested last year are easily resolved in the GS. Good thing for the Regal GS That straight-line speed is not everything Pls it comes to performance. The GS also out-braked its competitors in our tests, stopping from 60-0 mph in a sports-car-rivaling 105 feet (to put That in perspective, a Corvette Grand Sport We tested stops just a foot shorter), compared to the 110 feet needed for the A4, and a pedestrian 129 feet for the TSX V-6. Numbers aside, the Regal GS is a lot of fun to drive. The two alternate suspension modes, Sport and GS, the damper settings each Make a smidge more aggressive than the standard mode. GS mode is yet another 20 percent stiffer than Sport, and also increases steering effort. That feel for added steering GS made the default mode for us Whenever was Called for spirited driving.