2011 Buick Regal CSX Test Drive

The 2011 Buick Regal is sold in Europe as the Opel Insignia (recipient of the 2010 European Car of the Year award) and under the Buick name in China; its development was truly a cooperative venture on a global scale.

The Regal's appearance confirms its cosmopolitan pedigree; it would not appear out of place in any modern city, from San Diego to Shanghai. As a midsize sedan, the new car is smaller and more tautly sculpted than any previous model bearing the Regal name. With Buick's signature grinning grille, its muscular shape was met with positive responses from most of the people we talked to. Given the pedestrian shapes of cars that dominate the current midsize sedan market, that's not entirely surprising. But since GM couldn't beat the competition with the rotund American architecture that formerly defined the Regal, designers had to rethink their options.

Furthermore, the choice of two four-cylinder engines rather than the historical dependence on V6s in the model line speaks of a major identity shift.

The Specs

The new Regal's base engine is a 2.4-liter inline four with 182 hp and 172 lb-ft of torque, and it features direct-injection and variable valve timing, as befits a 21st-century powerplant. The high-performance option is a turbo 2.0-liter with 220 hp and an impressive 258 pound-feet from just 2,000 rpm. Both engines hail from GM's Ecotec family, but are much smoother and more genteel than the corporation's four-bangers of yore.

Fuel economy has not been finalized, but GM estimates that the 2.4-liter normally aspirated engine will achieve 30 mpg on the highway, and the turbo will get 29 mpg. Both engines pedal through six-speed automatic transmissions with manual-override capability, but these are two different units—one a Hydra-matic, the other an Aisin—and the gear ratios vary quite a bit to take advantage of the turbo motor's wide torque spread. A six-speed manual transmission is promised sometime in the future for use with the turbo.

With a wheelbase of 107.8 inches, an overall length of 190.3 inches, a height of 58.4 inches and an overall width of 73.1 inches, the Regal is smaller in every dimension than the Buick LaCrosse. It also provides four fewer inches of rear legroom than the LaCrosse, at 37.3 inches, although chief engineer Jim Federico points out that that's three more inches than rear passengers will find in an Acura TSX.

Designed to meet new federal crash-test standards for 2012, the Regal's body shell claims to offer a 25 percent improvement in torsional bending resistance compared with the outgoing model. According to Federico, the amount of high-strength steel in the structure is considerable, and was limited mainly by weld incompatibilities between it and conventional steels. At around 3600 pounds, the Regal isn't exactly svelte, but a projected five-star rating in both major federal crash-test categories suggests that it is strong.

The Regal's suspension consists of MacPherson struts up front with aluminum lower control arms and an aluminum four-link setup in the rear, both ends equipped with direct-acting, tubular antiroll bars. An electronic adaptive-damping shock system called the Interactive Drive Control System (IDCS)—which features three push-button selectable programs: normal, tour and sport—is available for the turbo model.

The ride firmness—as well as the amount of body-motion control imparted by the shock—changes depending on which IDCS program the driver chooses. Selecting Sport Mode also alters the degree of steering assistance and the response of the Buick's Stabilitrak handling system, reducing the level of electronic intervention and raising the threshold before it steps in. These values can be adjusted independently through the car's info screen.