First Drive: 2010 Buick Regal

How’s this for culture shock? I’m driving a German-designed Buick alongside a Korean-designed Chevy through the streets of a Chinese city. Welcome to the future of General Motors. GM plans to double its sales in China over the next five years, to two million units. “China remains the centerpiece of our global growth strategy,” GM Asia-Pacific boss Nick Reilly said at the Shanghai show, where the GM stand featured 37 models, including the German-designed Buick and Korean-designed Chevy.
The Buick is the 2010 Regal. It’s an old American nameplate for a brand-new car — a rebadged version of the Opel Insignia, a stylish Fusion-size sedan that’s selling to critical acclaim in Europe, having recently been voted 2009 Car of the Year there by a jury of 59 European auto writers. The Opel-based 2010 Regal replaces the old W-body model that has been sold in China since 2003. Like its predecessor, it’s built in China by Shanghai-GM, the joint venture company operated by General Motors and Chinese automaker SAIC. GM is currently selling 5000 new Regals a month in China. (Here’s a startling contrast: Buick hasn’t sold 5000 a month of anything in the U.S. for some time.)

GM originally planned to make and sell this car here in the U.S. as the next-generation Saturn Aura. Saturn was to share Opel’s design language as part of GM’s global product realignment, but as Todd Lassa reported last year, the company subsequently decided Opel design was to be shared with Buick instead, and the Aura plan was axed. But could the Insignia still make it to America badged as a Buick?That depends. First, GM must get through what will almost certainly be a long and complex bankruptcy to emerge as a much smaller, leaner company with just four brands: Chevy, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick. Second, it needs to figure where this Regal would fit in the American Buick lineup.
Like the 2010 LaCrosse, the 2010 Regal is built using GM’s Epsilon II architecture. However, the Regal sedan rolls on a 4.0-in.-shorter wheelbase and is shorter overall, with a much less roomy rear seat. While the LaCrosse will be powered by 3.0L and 3.6L V-6 engines, the Regal comes only with four-cylinder engines.
Base engine is a naturally aspirated 144-hp, 2.0L, while upscale Regals get a 167-hp 2.4L Ecotec. One of GM’s Shanghai show debuts was the Regal 2.0T, which is powered by a 217-hp, 2.0L direct-injection turbo four. The Insignia versions of the car in Europe are available with 1.8L gas and 2.0L turbodiesel fours, a 2.8L V-6 turbo, and all-wheel drive.
The Regal could therefore be positioned just below the LaCrosse as a slightly smaller, sportier model. Reports in the Canadian media have suggested the Regal could be built at GM’s Oshawa, Ontario, plant. However, there’s no reason why a post-bankruptcy GM, freed from pesky UAW constraints on what it can and cannot bring into America from its overseas factories, couldn’t simply import the Regal from China to keep the price low.
And before you start about harping about Chinese quality, a quick walk around our Regal revealed consistent panel gaps and glossy paint on the outside, with quality plastics and tight component fits on the inside. It’s a terrific-looking car: modern, characterful, sporty, with great stance and artfully sculpted sheetmetal. Though designed in Russelsheim, Germany, under the direction of Brit Mark Adams as an Opel, it works beautifully as a Buick – if anything, the toothy Buick waterfall grille, mounted in a new front fascia that includes reshaped lower intakes, gives it a stronger, more upscale presence than the Opel and Vauxhall warpaint it wears in Europe.
Designer Adams admits he pushed hard to get GM management to sign off on the car’s rakish roofline and tucked-in C-pillars. In profile, the Regal is almost a fastback, and rear seat headroom has suffered a little as a result. Rear-seat legroom is not class-leading, either, but if you want your new Buick a little more baggy fit, you’ll buy the LaCrosse. There’s a ton of room up front, as the Regal is fitted with long runners that allow the front seats to slide waaaaay back. Shaquille O’Neal could drive this thing.
The interior design is dynamic, attractive, and upscale. Our 2.4L tester was fitted with sat-nav, a harmon kardon sound system, cruise control, power seats with memory, auto headlights, and a sunroof. Were it not for the Chinese script on the trunk – it says “Shanghai-GM,” by the way – there’d no reason to suspect this car wasn’t made in Germany. Until you drive it.
Chinese roads are rough. Older streets are full of holes and broken tarmac, and even the new freeways and arterial roads that are being built at such a frantic pace the sat nav systems can’t keep up frequently have gut-wrenching heaves and humps. As a result, many automakers increase the ride height of their Chinese-spec cars to reduce the likelihood of having oil pans or transmissions torn out. Chinese drivers also tend to like their cars softly sprung. It’s not a happy combination.
The Regal floats along the freeway like a scaled down Roadmaster. The wheels pit-patter over the bumps, and rapid changes in direction result in hesitant transitions and plenty of body roll. Once it takes a set, however, the Regal’s demeanor remains relatively consistent, revealing some basic goodness in the chassis. My colleagues at Britain’s Autocar magazine, who have racked up hundreds of miles in Euro-spec Insignias, report that, with firmer springs, shocks, and bars, the car shows impressive stability at freeway speeds and is second only to Ford’s Mondeo – beating Honda’s Euro Accord and Mazda’s Euro 6 – in terms of driving dynamics. Memo, GM: If you bring the Regal to America, the European suspension tune is a must.
The powertrain strategy will also need a major rethink for America. The 2.4L Ecotec four is lazy and unresponsive. The poorly calibrated six speed auto is part of the problem, with widely space ratios and a torque converter that locks up very early – presumably in the interest of saving gas. Shanghai-GM claims it takes a leisurely 9.8 sec for the Regal to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph. This thing would get its ass handed to it by a briskly driven Nissan Cube. American drivers, who like a solid shove between the shoulder blades away from the lights, would hate it.
The 256-hp turbocharged 2.8L V-6 available in Europe, which slashes the 0-to-60 time to 6.7 sec, might seem the obvious powertrain choice for the American market Regal. But I think the new Regal 2.0T might be a smarter play. With 217 hp at 5300 rpm, and a useful 259-lb-ft of torque from 2000 rpm to 4000 rpm, it would deliver the performance feel American buyers want – Euro-spec 2.0Ts with six speed manuals will hit 60 mph in 7.2 sec, says GM, while the Chinese-spec version with the six speed automatic is good for 0-to-60 mph in 7.7sec – with the added benefits of better fuel economy and lower cost. What’s more, offering the Regal with a four-cylinder engine would clearly differentiate it from the from the V-6-powered LaCrosse range.
With the right engineering tweaks – the turbo powertrain and European suspension tuning – the Regal would definitely work in America. It’s physically smaller than the new Lacrosse and could be priced and positioned below it, giving GM a car to compete in a segment where the Asian automakers do solid business with smart, well-equipped cars like the Acura TSX, four-cylinder Mazda6, and Nissan Altima.
Crucially, the Regal 2.0T could be brought to America with minimal investment. With the aging Lucerne due to go away in 2010 and cash-strapped GM contemplating tough new fuel-consumption targets, plans to develop a large rear-drive Buick sedan positioned above the LaCrosse (it would be based on a stretched Zeta-derived platform that would also underpin a Cadillac STS/DTS replacement) are on hold. The Regal would give Buick – supposedly one of GM’s four core brands, remember – a modern, stylish sedan that would perfectly complement the new LaCrosse and the solid-selling Enclave.
[source:MotorTrend]