By Drew Johnson
Thursday, Sep 1st, 2011 @ 11:45 am

In 2009, the average life expectancy in the United States was 78 years. In 2009, the average Buick buyer was 72 years old. Obviously, something had to change.

After several decades of catering to the nursing home crowd, General Motors set out to revamp Buick as a young and approachable luxury brand. Think Lexus, but without the country club connotations.

That transition started with the second-generation LaCrosse and continued with the Regal. Then a funny thing happened. Turbo. Buick. Turbo. Buick. Grandpa’s car company was suddenly in the business of making performance vehicles for 30-somethings.

A performance car from Buick?
Turbocharged engine, check. Performance suspension, check. Brembo brakes, check.

The 2012 Regal GS checks all the right boxes, but Buick doesn’t want you to think of the car as an all-out sports car. In fact, Buick refers to the Regal GS as a “luxury performance†vehicle. After spending several hours behind the wheel of the Regal GS, we began to understand why.

The Regal GS’ stat sheet is impressive – 270 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque from an engine displacing just 2.0 liters. Those figures make the Regal GS’s turbocharged four-cylinder the most power-dense engine ever certified by the SAE.

With visions of the Buick Regal GNX dancing in our heads, we hit the open road expecting to be impressed with the Regal GS’ straight line performance. However, it suddenly became obvious why Buick chose to describe the GS as “luxury performance†rather than “performance luxury.â€

That’s not to say the Regal GS is a slow car – it’s not. But with the promise of a 270 horsepower engine and a six-speed transmission, we kind of expected more than we got. Buick says the Regal GS can accelerate from 0-60 in 6.7 seconds and cover the quarter mile in 15.2 seconds @ 98 mph, which is slightly slower than the Hyundai Sonata Turbo.

But what the Regal GS lacks in straight-line speed it makes up for with its overall athletic abilities. The Regal GS rides on a suspension that is 20 percent stiffer than the standard Regal Turbo and also uses anti-sway bars that are 20 percent thicker than the base car. The GS rides on size 255/20-inch summer performance tires (245/19s are standard), which only adds to the car’s grip. The Regal GS even comes with a unique “GS†button which further stiffens the car’s damping and increases steering weighting.

The result is a Buick that we would actually call sporty. When in GS mode the car corners remarkably flat, with the wide 255 tires providing plenty of lateral grip. Although the Regal GS doesn’t provide the road feel of a vehicle like the BMW 3-Series, its steering is well weighted and direct. A thick steering wheel with a flat bottom only adds to the experience.

Slowing for a turn isn’t a problem in the Regal GS either thanks to larger front disc brakes clamped by four-piston Brembo calipers. The standard brakes from the Regal Turbo remain out back, but we were never left wanting for more stopping power.

Although exiting a corner in a high-horsepower, front-wheel drive can sometime be a harrowing experience, the Regal GS actually does a very good job of managing its power. The GS’ wheels are actually set a little farther out and the car uses Buick’s “HiPerStrut†technology. Some tugging of the wheel is still apparent, but it’s only very minor. No need to worry about the Regal GS ripping your arms out of their sockets.

The Regal GS will eventually be available with a six-speed auto, but the car will initially arrive with a row-it-yourself six-speed. After sampling the six-speed version of the Regal Turbo we were a little concerned about the unit in the GS, but Buick engineers have apparently worked out the kinks.

Whereas the Regal Turbo’s six-speed just felt rubbery to us, the GS’ unit felt crisp and direct. Buick says it made a number of changes to the gearbox, which should eventually trickle down to the standard Turbo car.

Although we like the idea of a manual gearbox in a sporty car, we did come across one major issue with the GS’ six-speed. Unlike most manual gearboxes that use a ring or a spring-loaded gear lever to engage reverse, the GS uses a trigger that sits right where your hand falls when you grip the stick. While that setup might not be a big problem if reverse, was say, on the other side of fifth gear, that’s not the case. Reverse is right next to first and on more than one occasion we found ourselves going backward when we meant to be going forward. We were even able to put one car into reverse without pulling the trigger, but we’ll chalk that foible up to the car being a pre-production vehicle.

But what about that Buick luxury?
Continuing its theme of luxury performance, the Regal GS’ cabin does a good job of melding plush with sport. The Regal GS’ interior just has a quality feel, thanks to soft-touch materials everywhere and the general feel of everything being screwed together well. If we had one knock it would be the GS’ piano black accents which just made the cabin feel a little too dark.

We found the Regal GS’ seats to be fantastic in both aesthetics and comfort. We loved the leather pattern used on all seating surfaces and the front buckets provided the right balance of bolstering and comfort for a long cruise.

Rear seat passengers will suffer a bit from lack of head room, but hey, the Regal GS is a driver’s car.

We found the Regal GS’ controls to be well laid out and easy to use. The car’s gauge cluster is easy to read and even changes color from aqua to white if the GS mode is engaged. Unfortunately, that color change is only evident at night.

Luxury car buyers often associate quiet with quality, which could ding the GS’ sales. Its wide performance tires may provide tremendous grip, but they also pump a tremendous amount of road noise into the cabin. We were only able to sample the optional 20-inch wheels, so it’s possible the smaller 19-inch units are a bit quieter, but still, don’t expect the Regal GS to be as silent as some of its luxury rivals.

Premium fuel is recommended for the Regal GS and it sucks down the dino juice faster than you might expect – 19 mpg city and 27 mpg highway. Using the similarly sized and powered Hyundai Sonata Turbo again as a comparison, it manages 22 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway while using regular grade.

Leftlane’s bottom line
As auto enthusiasts, we here at Leftlane support the idea of more performance cars on the road, but the Buick GS has us stumped. The typical old-school Buick buyer – which is still around age 60 – isn’t really interested in Brembo brakes, a manual transmission or a noisy ride. On the flip side, those interested in Brembo brakes, a manual transmission and a noisy ride aren’t really interested in Buick.

So who will buy the 2012 Regal GS?

We’re not really sure, but about 30 percent of all Regal buyers opt for the Turbo model, so there are some potential buyers out there. However, the Regal Turbo bases from $28,860, which is a far cry from the GS’ starting price of $35,310. True the Regal GS comes with more standard equipment – including HID headlights, power seats and an upgraded stereo – but its price can balloon to $39,000.

That’s an extremely tough price point, especially for an automaker that hasn’t produced a performance model in 30 years. Sure the Regal GS offers more content and power than the Audi A4 at a lower price, but its price tag is still about on par with a loaded Infiniti G37, which offers more power and rear-wheel drive. And if performance is really what you are after, a top-spec Dodge Charger R/T can be had for $35,395.

2012 Buick Regal GS base price, $35,310.
Words and photos by Drew Johnson.

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