regfootball

Getting a 2011 for the Opel / German smell alone is worth it. By the time they build it here that smell will change to the plasticky offgassing which is pleasant but not expensive smelling like the premium cars.....

starting and stopping engines probably creates more engine wear than just letting it run and idle........

if they are so green in Germany then how come the regal only gets 19mpg on 182hp?......just sayin. Sonata does 15% better mpg here and get more hp......yes the diesel gets better mpg but diesels emit more........ pretty hypocritical for the Germans to pretend to be green when most of their cars are far heavier than they should be, especially for their size. and why they have pigs like the Q7, touaregs, etc.....

one of my buddies had a remote start aftermarket on his Honda Civic with manual trans. It can be done. GM will add remote start to the Regal next year. GM's customer base demands it and they will require it be engineered into the product. THis is ONE GM and its a world product. I would assume its a requirement. Our 'One GM' will be crap if they can't figure out something as simple and necessary as a remote start in one of their new defining products. Of course, they decided NAV wasn't worth it for half their stuff recently so...... the folks in cold weather states will tell the jerks in CA to go f themselves and that they can pry their remote starters from their cold dead hands. Fine if CA wants to overlegislate that, but they will have to provide the dealer with the means to inactivate the system.

well perhaps a smaller v8 or even a v6 could get there. lots of vette drivers report easily hitting 30 on the highway with theirs now....its just the epa tests won't reflect it. i am talking real world, where you set the cruise at 75, the motor loafs at 1700 rpm or whatever, maybe its only running on 4 cylinders at that point. With only 3000 pounds to haul around plus a driver, not sure why you can't hit 30. My dad get almost 30 in his pig DTS with Northstar, at least when it maintains combustion. Most urban cars get 20 mpg in normal driving with about 4000 pounds of weight. vette is 3/4 the weight and hess less aero frontage, no reason to think it can't meet 4/3 of the 20 mpg....i.e 4/3 x 20 = 26.6666 mpg. even with the adjustment for bigger displacement and gearing issues, 23 or 24 on the epa scale with a smaller NA 380hp v8 should get that, and that's all a base vette driver really needs. That would be a nice option to have. Not every Vette driver would want or need 440hp. Do an 8 speed if you need to, other makers are doing it already. Use the tranny in the future Caddy flagship and the commodore too.

this is not a literal comparison per se, but a basic miata is what.....25k? and its a genuine hoot, i hear, and a quality piece. so IMO a basic corvette....v8, 6 speed, decent cloth seats, removable targa for 50k should not be an effing hardship. at 50k i don't expect the magnetic suspension. look at how the mustang has evolved to a damn fine car at 25 grand with a new v6 and optional perf package. the vette needs to inspire timeless appeal like all vette's and the way ford has cultivated the mustang. at the same time they sometimes need to tell the vette nerds to eff off and try to reach outside the group for some new appeal. especially youger folks, and those who are not so 'buy American'. The Vette fan base could stand to have a little diversity and not have half its group on social security. Look at the Harley Sportster. There is always a version that can be had at entry for a ridiculous price, but it still brings big value and the product is there and it brings new buyers into the fold. One nit, the Vette has supposedly had lousy seats forever. Why not just pay Recaro to make seats for the damn car and stuff em in there, I find it hard to believe it would cost GM that much to improve the seats NOW, especially when the MSRP's are padded 10-20k for the eventual end of season 15k off discount. Spend another 1000 over what is already in there and fix the effing seats.

I love the Regal's exterior color palette. I hope that is another thing the North American beancounters do not screw with when they start making the car here. I want to see how soon they offer the wagon or hatch. I really could justify one even more if they did that. Sometimes you want like 10 cars in your garage. I would have a Regal and LaCrosse for sure. A Camaro would be in there too. And like 7 other cars. 2 Buicks though, that's huge.

your GM dealer would be happy to do it, I don't see the advanced 2 way start in the brochure. I am willing to bet by the time you are shopping you will be able to get a factory add on put in as part of the lease. In that case, it would be covered and warrantied. I kind of wish the Regal's SW was not the boiler plate new GM SW, that it was more of a true sport 3 spoke. The 'spokes' on the Regal wheel are fat and huge, almost like the old two spoke wheels from the 70's with an even fatter third spoke on the bottom.

perhaps remote start could be added by accessory. i have the regal brochure i should see if the advanced 2 way remote is available.

not a bad idea actually. zr1 really isn't needed all the time. what really i think would make waves is about a 380hp basic vette with low weight, like 2999 pounds, and tall gearing to get freakish mpg numbers for a sports car. i.e. something that would crack 5.0 in the 0-60 which is plenty for a base vehicle, and then something that also could regularly deliver 25 mpg urban and 30+ interstate to most drivers, even with some occasional leadfooting.

base corvette at 50k i am fine with. but then that base corvette had better have decent sport seats, and an interior that doesn't look like $h!. what isn't needed is 100k corvettes. especially when the dealer needs to knock 10-15k off the price so it doesn't rot on the lot.

or WERE

I have a feeling they will fix that, just might take a bit. I am not sure, does the Regal have pushbutton start? That's handy too. Really, the LaCrosse is nice. So is the Regal. A good problem to have. A lot of the people I have seen driving LaCrosses are older, if you want to be lumped in with that group. What is nice about the Regal. You can park it in the company of the CC, TSX, i.e. cars like that and the car is entirely on equal footing. The LaCrosse in base trim does have a little bit of a cheap aura to it. When we get Canadian Regals with cloth seats it will be interesting to see the translation. The two Buicks, the CC, Sonata, and the Taurus are my favorite sedans right now (not necessarily the ones I would buy)....still want to see the new Optima. But the Regal probably kicks the CC off my list. Taurus probably comes off because its huge and is a bit of a floater (although for me its got value as a family car), can't afford a SHO. The Mazda6 and Legacy and Malibu I really like too, but the Regal for just a bit more equally trimmed seems like a better investment. Still awaiting base Chrysler 300 redo but I think that will be too pricey. If I am left to ponder the LaCrosse and Regal.....the LaCrosse gets attention, but may look like its run its course by 2015. I think the Regal will still look good several years from now. That + interior quality may be what tips the scale towards Regal for me.

Let me get rid of some sidebars first. Trunk. HUGE. usable. It does not have the struts, but the trunk opening is more like a hood / clamshell. THe opening is HUGE and the access to all parts of the trunk are great. It could stand to be taller just a bit....but for its droopy rear its a very commodious trunk. It's probably finishes the best of any GM trunk. Clearly this is NOT a north american GM car because usually with the north american products you get a crappy finish in the trunk in comparison. It really intrigues me how the wagon or hatch is finished in the back. Smells. As a big fan of the previous gen Astra which i really made a hard effort to buy, I came to love that 'Opel smell'. The Opel cars have a different smell than the NA GM cars. The Regal has that German Opel smell, too. It should be interesting to see if the smell changes when they start making them in Canada. My fear is the interior plastic and leather will get worse when they start making them on NA soil. If you want that Opel smell, get it now. Regarding then the leather and plastic....more on the plastic in a bit. The Leather IMO met or exceeding the criteria for the vehicle IMO. At this price point the Regal leather is much nicer than the comparatively decent fake leather in the Volkswagen CC (which i consider the primary competition). It has the dry feel and pebble grain you are used to seeing in German cars, not the shiny cheaper stuff of north american cars. Again it will be interesting to see if the leather gets cheapened once they make it on NA soil. One thing that struck me about the quality of the car. Everything felt tight. The new LaCrosse is one of my favorite cars and assembly quality inside the LaCrosse is not bad mostly (hugely improved over a lot of GM stuff). But the Regal's interior really is built well. Nothing felt sloppy, looked misaligned, or felt loose. Particularly the center stack maze of buttons all looked like they were laser cut of one piece; the alignment of all the buttons and the feel of the knobs was amazing...and particularly for a GM car. I would take this interior over any other GM car's interior. I just want to see it in tan. The material quality in almost all cases was more than appropriate for a car like this in this price class. The CC's interior which I liked now feels austere and cold in comparison. The Regal's interior has a very warm quality to it. The Chrome accents have a nice soft glow and depth. The polished metal on the door pulls look very nice. The piano black which is not piano glossy really did not look at all cheap and was absolutely aligned in all spots. Is this a GM car? REALLY? The seats were completely comfortable and adjustable. I would want to sit in them all day! Here is my one material beef. Whereas the upper part of the dash has a nice gloss and grain and texture....the lower dash part and some of the door plastics are just a little cheap and really could be better. My guess is Opel didn't think you would notice. Its just enough of a hint that this is a 30k car...not a 40k car. Nice gauge faces. Radio display (I don't think it was NAV) was a bit grainy and not high rezzzz but the LaCrosse is the same way. I do like the font GM uses on the new radio displays. Scrolling through XM options with the knob was awesome, since the knob has amazing tactile feedback and detents. Shifter and trim even look nice and feel nice. Armrest falls to arm level nicely. I sort of don't like the one sidedness of it but I do admit its kind of sporty and fits the character of the car. Not much padding. The material feels ok though. Not a lot of console storage and its chopped up. USB port is way back and not much room to store a hard drive. But hard drives are getting smaller. I actually didn't examine the cupholders much. Door hinges and opening and closing doors felt GERMAN. Need to know this isn't a North American GM car? Just look at the door seals. I'm not gonna explain it until someone else looks at them and makes a comment. Another item we'll see if the bean counters decontent it here on this side of the pond. Driving position, visibility IMO for just sitting in it were very ideal. Cabin is intimate but not confining. Spacewise though I could see it being the same as my old Diamante. You wish it had just a little more room in the back, especially leg room. Front cabin width feels ok and appropriate. But overall this car is not quite as big inside the cabin as a lot of the popular and lesser priced 'midsize' cars. You should decide if this is an issue. If it is, the cavernous LaCrosse will take car of your needs. No one will confuse the interiors of these two cars. They are very different and the LaCrosse is much bigger. What I hate is, I like them both! even though the LaCrosse has acres of cheap plastic. The Regal only has a small amount of marginally cheap plastic, and its located more in places that are less touchable and noticeable. If this is a single person's car, no worries, space and comfort in the front seat are fine. The car feels intimate and sporty. Maybe the best way to compare size is to say the interior is approximately the size of the current Passat. I hope the next gen Malibu is a bigger interior than this, its troubling that the next gen BU shares its wheelbase with the Regal. If you have rear seat passengers who want room then you can still get the LaCrosse with all its space, and it feels sporty in a different way. The LaCrosse has less visibility but the cabin feels expansive in comparison. The glovebox in the Regal is HUGE and makes up for the small console. It almost looks like maybe there is a chill zone in there but I did not study it at length. The interior on this car really makes the current 9-3 and old Saab 9-5 look like crap. If this is why GM dumped Saab, then I say 'bravo'. You'd really be an idiot to buy a current 9-3 after seeing the Regal. You'd probably be an idiot buying a new 9-5 too (even though it is larger, just get a LaCrosse). You'd be an idiot to be a Saab fan I think with the Opel product this handsome. The Regal really is a classy car and its what Buick should be about. It looks lean and graceful. Not fat and sloppy like the current gen CTS. (inside and out). The interior is indeed better in quality overall than pretty much any non premium midsizer. The Sonata of course has the swoopy design.....and a better price, but the Regal indeed does have a better impression despite the smaller size and conservative design. I want to see the Regal's interior with tan leather. I still think the CC is the rockstar as far as looks go. But the Regal IMO looks just as good and is not as showy. The Regal's interior is easier to warm up to and is on par there. Pricing is better on the Regal. Regal turbo is coming up. TSX only other noticeable competition and really the TSX is not bad but the TSX interior is too Honda. But a Regal. It makes a great impression. Your guests will think you spent more. I can't wait to drive one. Who NEEDS a LaCrosse? (only if you need the space). The Enclave and LaCrosse need immediate interior upgrades to match what you get on the Regal. I hope they consider fixing the few cheap plastic spots and I hope the beancounters don't ruin it when they build it here. I can't wait to see the Astra. Fits like a glove, if it drives nice, you can stop looking for your next car with the Regal.

Was bumming with the kids today. They had a new silver Regal outside the BPG dealer by the Sonic today so I stopped in. First off, let me state that someone must of lit a fire under the GM dealers' asses because the last couple times I have dropped by the Buick dealer I have been treated real well and the salespeople have been absolutely knowledgible (SP) about every aspect of the car. I had an exceptional experience when i bought my Cobalt by the way too. In any case, the salesperson was more than happy to open the car outside since the one that they put on the show floor that morning had already sold and had left the building. I had previously been inside a Regal for a brief moment at another dealer a few weeks ago, but the SP started the car for me this time, fired up the A/C and the stereo and went out of his way to point out the features to me. There is no doubt the Regal is developing a buzz for Buick unlike any other recently except perhaps the new LaCrosse. I can say first hand in terms of interiors for the money I think the Regal meets the price tag and I think meets the demographic as well. I am sort of value conscious or tight when i buy cars so I am more harsh regarding value than a casual shopper. But I also understand that sometimes a car with a crappy interior may have other features or assets that still make it a good buy. Since I did not drive the car, I can evaluate the car in terms of ride and drive vs. the price, but if you were merely sizing up the car and its features and the quality of its interior alone vs the price, I would say in that regard the Regal is an exceptional value as well. When i inquired regarding a lease, the salesperson said the Regal is out of the gate with a 55% residual, which is very good. Also, the units are moving at full sticker price. Even so, the car I looked at (while only having 182 hp) had a great level of interior appeal and features that i think a buyer can feel comfortable with a purchase. The unit I looked at was silver with black interior and about a 28,400 sticker. It had a sunroof. Leather of course. I can't recall if it had the Bose, I think he said it was a Bose but I thought the upgrade for the Regal was Harmon Kardon. It's an incredibly appealing package. This car for the moment sits at the top of my want list. More in the next post.

price. who's gonna buy it? the market for a car this type and price is extremely limited. the economy will suck for awhile. pricing needs to be sensitive.

Buick LaCrosse has cheap plastic and crappy looking wood. Not sure I would use that as any kind of benchmark. The design is nice, but it still is not done well enough.

good question. aging boomers may not care anymore soon. anyone younger may either be fixated on $h! like the Nissan, or be altogether anti domestic. the really young kids probably would rather go fast and furious in a mini or evo. it begs the question, does the corvette need to move away from being a brute no holds barred performance car and maybe move back in a direction of something like the boxster or 911, or mercedes roadster? I love the Evora but I do not think the Corvette should be that small or sparse.

physically the current car is not large or heavy, but it does look it. As blu suggested, perhaps a change in the styling approach would be helpful to make the vehicle look more mean and scrappy. IMO, I'd like to see them shoot for base weight of 3000-3100 pounds. I would decrease width an inch or two. I would reduce legth a tish. I would actually raise the height perhaps an inch or even two. I would try to lessen the overhangs and visually lighten the look of anything outside the wheelbase and width of the car. I would try tricks with the proportions like bringing the windshield forward and lessening the length of the hook and rear deck. I would try to monoform the car instead of having the huge hood and bulbous rear.

why would you bother with a pushrod 6 and 4

sure hope you end up netting better than 15 for your trip.......

i tested a routan minivan last weekend and it felt huge and clumsy in comparison to the Flex, but likewise, the Taurus X in my garage feels a little more nimble compared to the Flex. Yet the Flex in general is one of the more nimble crossovers. In terms of refinement for a family vehicle, its exptremely high. Also, the seating position is still quite a bit lower than most. Its just the high roof tends to exaggerate things when you are inside. Funny how the Flex' 2nd row is way more comfy than the Caravan descendants.......or even the Lambdas for that matter.

sonata outselling malibu and fusion at retail. its exactly because its a better and more desirable car in many ways, its got a better warranty and pricing. customers aren't stupid. this is not the camry thing. the camry was not an all around better car. the sonata might not be the best yet, however, its near the top and between the styling and all the metrics by which consumers shop, Hyundai created the scenario where folks are seeking them out. hyundai ins't going to fall into the toyota trap, by 2020 they may be the boss like smk suggests if every model that comes out has success like the sonata.

fuel consumption, how much does it drink? how bad does it flop in turns?

LNF is a smooth motor.