2011 Buick Regal Turbo

**Yooper** · June-05-11, 08:18 PM

Just saw their ad during the NBA finals.

Buick fucking Regal turbo.

All of a sudden grandma wants a turbo?
Are they intentionally trying to lose money?
Ya gotta wonder.

**BagAJellyDonuts** · June-05-11, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by Yooper

Just saw their ad during the NBA finals.

Buick fucking Regal turbo.

All of a sudden grandma wants a turbo?
Are they intentionally trying to lose money?
Ya gotta wonder.

Wonder about what?

Are you trolling?

Saw that a granny went out of control in her Camry last week up in Birmingham. Smashed into the Lotus dealership.

Stereotypes are hard to kill but truth is these days, old milkshakes drive those crappy Toyotas. Or at least that's what Toyota has been telling us. They say there is no problem with their cars. It's just old drivers.

**Coplin** · June-05-11, 08:45 PM

Ummm, aren't you like .... 30 years too late.....

**downtown_racine** · June-05-11, 08:59 PM

The new Regal looks fabulous in high line trim, it looks like a Lexus fighter but @ 3600 pounds and with only 4 cylinder motivation available it may be a dog in more ways than one .
Nice to have the Regal name back, it never should have left honestly. The Century nameplate should also still be around, build good cars and people wont be ashamed or scared to buy one.

Turbo Regals rule and so do Buick V6's.

I guess 4 cylinder and fuel pinchers are the wave of the future.

**softailrider** · June-05-11, 09:04 PM

Originally Posted by Yooper

Just saw their ad during the NBA finals.

Buick fucking Regal turbo.

All of a sudden grandma wants a turbo?
Are they intentionally trying to lose money?
Ya gotta wonder.

I agree, knee jerk reaction is, doesn't make a whole lot of sense. You want to think they know what they're doing though.......

**RO_Resident** · June-05-11, 09:58 PM

You are not paying attention. Turbo are making a comeback because the automakers are trying to meet CAFE standards. And car buyers are more sensitive to fuel efficiency because of the rising gas prices.

Ford is selling their EcoBoost engines at a premium. In fact, >40% of F150s are being sold with 6 cylinder turbo engines. V-8s are the usual realm of full sized pickups. The new Focus and Fiesta will have new turbo engines in the near future, too.

For GM products, the Chevy Cruze has a 1.4L turbo right now. The Sonic will have a turbo available when the line is [[re)launched. There is a rumor that the next generation Corvette will come with a turbo.

**majohnson** · June-05-11, 10:11 PM

Buick is also trying to lower the median age of their average car buyer.

**Yooper** · June-05-11, 10:17 PM

I'd bet that there are less than 1% of those clunkers still adorning our roadways today.
I wonder what the resale value of the Porsche Turbo is vs those "comparable" Buicks are today?

**Yooper** · June-05-11, 10:29 PM

I'm in my forties.
Never ever have I heard of anyone in my age group buying a Buick.
The only case I can think of is a buddy who bought a 1963 Electra back in high school, for $200 bucks.
Like Oldmobiles, their demographic is the Florida crowd.

**dtowncitylover** · June-05-11, 10:31 PM

I'm in my 20s...if a Buick Regal was in my price range for a car, I would LOVE to have one.

**detmsp** · June-05-11, 10:43 PM

So let me get this straight... You think Buicks suck and they're boring clunkers for old people. And when Buick tries to address this by offering a car with a little excitement, you think it's ridiculous? You want them to make products you don't like?

The Regal is selling quite well, so maybe we "gotta wonder" about you, not those in charge of Buick.

**Richard** · June-05-11, 10:59 PM

I am in my 50s and I will take a Grand National any day : )

You have not seen the commercial with the grand-folks out in the desert tearing it up in their vintage 50s Buick?

**Yooper** · June-05-11, 11:14 PM

Originally Posted by majohnson

Buick is also trying to lower the median age of their average car buyer.

Good luck with that one.
The average age of a Buick buyer is 70.
Putting an Opel under a Buick skin ain't gonna cut it.
Call the Regal what it is, an Opel.

**Richard** · June-05-11, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by Yooper

Good luck with that one.
The average age of a Buick buyer is 70.
Putting an Opel under a Buick skin ain't gonna cut it.
Call the Regal what it is, an Opel.

That was in 2009 in 2010 it dropped down 65 and now it is lower, I guess one could now say that Chrysler is now a Fiat with a Chrysler skin : )

http://wot.motortrend.com/buick-buye...lave-7287.html

**Lowell** · June-05-11, 11:42 PM

I saw an ad for the Regal turbo in WIRED magazine today. I also saw a lot of 'kids' at the DEMF wearing plaid Bermuda shorts, the stereotype staple of the Florida retiree set forever. Times change, retro becomes cool, the past becomes current. I had the same attitude about Buick whose name sounded like the spelling for the sound of projectile vomit to my ear. I would never be caught in one.

About four years ago I found myself driving a Buick Rendezvous when my sister in law unloaded it for a price way to good to refuse. What an attitude adjustment that was. I love it. Outstanding on several facets from handling to just not breaking down. .

Buick has very quietly improved it's product and reputation to where it has equaled Lexus in customer satisfaction. It Is said to be very popular in China. Who'd a thunk it.

**Coplin** · June-06-11, 12:26 AM

Originally Posted by Yooper

I'd bet that there are less than 1% of those clunkers still adorning our roadways today.
I wonder what the resale value of the Porsche Turbo is vs those "comparable" Buicks are today?

Hope this helps.....

**swingline** · June-06-11, 10:59 AM

Sorry Yooper, but you are seriously out of touch regarding the current status of Buick. They have been selling tens of thousands of $40K Enclave SUV's for about four years now to upper middle class suburban families. The 2010 Lacrosse has been a huge success as a Lexus fighter with nary a grandma driving one off the lot. The Regal is a smaller version of the Lacrosse and you can get it with that new 4 cylinder turbo charged engine that reviewers are comparing to the famous Golf GTI engine. Buick quality has been in the JD Power top five for several years.

If you bought a lousy Buick 30 years ago and want to continue thinking that nothing has changed, that's fine. The automobile world is passing you by though.

**rondinjp** · June-06-11, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by Yooper

I'm in my forties.
Never ever have I heard of anyone in my age group buying a Buick.
The only case I can think of is a buddy who bought a 1963 Electra back in high school, for $200 bucks.
Like Oldmobiles, their demographic is the Florida crowd.

GM is using the same playbook with Buick that they used with Cadillac 10 years ago. Guess what, its working. I'm in my early 30's and most of my friends are in their late 20's to early 30's. Most of us have already stated that the new Buick is a car we would definitely look at for a future buy. GM has definitely changed their demographic from even 5 years ago.

**JBMcB** · June-06-11, 12:03 PM

I test drove a CTS-4 and a Regal - I preferred the Regal. The CTS was really nice and handled like a monster, but the interior was just too funky. The Buick was laid out nice and clean, and seemed a bit more comfortable.

By the way, Buick sells twice as many cars in China as it does in the US. It's the single most popular brand of car over there. Good position to be in, in a market of 1.3 billion people.

**Pickford-Bentler** · June-06-11, 12:06 PM

The Regal 2.0 liter turbo combines direct gas injection with advanced turbocharging. The combination of direct gas injection and turbocharging is a match made in heaven.

Control systems can instantly place rich charge proximate the plug to counter the throttle lag that was a problem in older turbocharged engines combined with PFI.

Atomization of the injected charge in the chamber has a cooling effect that allows boost to be applied to a direct injection ICE with a substantially higher compression ratios than he a PFI ICE. Higher compression ratios allow the ICE to convert more fuel energy into useful work, thus increasing fuel efficiency.

In short, these systems have low end torque on par with a diesel and power like a gasoline engine.

The reviews I have read about Ford's ecoboost are postive. The ecoboost V6 pulls like a train in the F-150.

Back to the Regal.

220 hp and 258 lbs out of 2.0 liters is nothing to be ashamed of.

**DetroitPlanner** · June-06-11, 12:08 PM

I am in my 40's and would not hesitate in buying a Buick. I drive a Mercury now which is another 'old' persons car. I would love an Enclave if I thought I could reasonably afford it and if they could figure out a way to get 30 mpg on the road with it!

**Packman41** · June-06-11, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by Richard

I am in my 50s and I will take a Grand National any day : )

You have not seen the commercial with the grand-folks out in the desert tearing it up in their vintage 50s Buick?

Ummm, that's not a Buick.

If you are thinking about the same ad as I am where two "grand-folks" are power driftiing a black car with a brushed, stainless-steel roof, then you are mis-informed.

That car is a 1957-58 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham - a very rare and pricy car.

**hamtown mike** · June-06-11, 02:46 PM

Um yeah. I caught the Regal ad in Wired as well. Hot assed car- and I'm far from 70.

**BagAJellyDonuts** · June-06-11, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by Pickford-Bentler

The Regal 2.0 liter turbo combines direct gas injection with advanced turbocharging. The combination of direct gas injection and turbocharging is a match made in heaven.

Control systems can instantly place rich charge proximate the plug to counter the throttle lag that was a problem in older turbocharged engines combined with PFI.

Atomization of the injected charge in the chamber has a cooling effect that allows boost to be applied to a direct injection ICE with a substantially higher compression ratios than he a PFI ICE. Higher compression ratios allow the ICE to convert more fuel energy into useful work, thus increasing fuel efficiency.

In short, these systems have low end torque on par with a diesel and power like a gasoline engine.

The reviews I have read about Ford's ecoboost are postive. The ecoboost V6 pulls like a train in the F-150.

Back to the Regal.

220 hp and 258 lbs out of 2.0 liters is nothing to be ashamed of.

And don't forget the variable cam timing along with electronic controls. Toss in variable vane turbos and you are all set. BTW, the DI turbo [[ same thing as ecoboost) that GM sells beat Ford to the market by at least two years.

**detmsp** · June-06-11, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by BagAJellyDonuts

And don't forget the variable cam timing along with electronic controls. Toss in variable vane turbos and you are all set. BTW, the DI turbo [[ same thing as ecoboost) that GM sells beat Ford to the market by at least two years.

True, but Ford nailed it with marketing it as EcoBoost and using it to gain fuel economy instead of using it just for performance cars like GM was a few years ago.