2012 Buick Regal GS Automatic Tested: That’s Right, It Shifts for Itself

No matter how beguiling its looks or convincing its Opel-derived specifications, the Buick Regal has one major handicap: a name laden with disappointment. Buick has overhauled its model names, but “Regal” inexplicably survives. What’s in a name? Well, gas shortages and vibrating V-6s and gussied-up Luminas are evoked by this one, introduced in 1973, just as the General’s long night was settling in.

And perhaps no car at GM is more deserving of a new appellation, having gone completely off the North American reservation as a car sired in Germany and schooled by  the nuns at Our Lady of  the Nürburgring. Thank them for the Regal’s stout structure, competent suspension, and, in the burly GS, the set of gluey Pirelli P Zero tires. They were 255/35ZR-20s on our car, marked with a wear rating of 220, and shadowed by a replacement price of $426 each, so don’t say you weren’t warned. But they provide settled control in turns and help the Brembo front calipers (and anonymous rears) produce startling braking.

When the turbo’d 270-hp GS appeared last year fitted exclusively with a six-speed manual—any Buick with a stick is news—we saw a 0-to-60-mph time of 6.2 seconds.  As of 2012, the 2.0-liter, direct-injection Ecotec four will also go doggie-style with a no-extra-cost Aisin-Warner six-speed automatic. Our first test-track tussle with the automatic produced a 0-to-60 time of 6.4 seconds, while the braking (163 feet) and skidpad results (0.88 g) are similar if not identical.

So, for a 3751-pound sedan propelled by just four pistons, the GS surrenders little of its fleetness to the automatic. Yes, the Buick’s hydraulically boosted variable-effort steering has some insulating fat in it, but the car drills into corners with convincing certainty and enough grip to send your double macchiato flying out the window. Whether you set the Drive Control System’s suspension, steering assist, and throttle adjustments to standard or sport, or go all red-misty-eyed and push the dashboard’s “GS” button for maximum stiffness and throttle response—frankly, the gradients are pretty subtle—this Buick won’t forget what it is.

Read More: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2012-buick-regal-gs-automatic-test-review

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Early Buick Verano Customers Raring for Red

Data shows new Buick buyers favor expressive exterior color and leather interior

DETROIT – Buick Verano sales continue to trend upward, with nearly 2,500 sold in March, the luxury sedan’s best month yet. Early trends show the Verano is bringing new types of customers to the Buick brand.
Verano owners are:

• Seeing Red. Or at least buying it. One quarter of all Veranos sold have worn the most colorful hue offered, Crystal Red Tintcoat. According to paint supplier PPG, red was only the fifth most-popular color across the industry last year.
• Progressive urbanites. Verano’s top three markets are New York, Philadelphia and Chicago.  Other major metropolitan markets like Dallas, Houston, and St. Louis are among the Top 10.
• New to Buick. Nearly one in two Verano owners are trading in vehicles from brands outside of General Motors.
• Western leather lovers. Almost half of Veranos sold on the West Coast are top-spec 1SL models with soft leather-appointed interiors, a heated steering wheel, and standard Bose audio.
• Saving fuel. Verano’s EPA rating of 32 mpg on the highway beats competitors like the Acura TSX, Infiniti G25, and Lexus IS250. While those competitors recommend the use of premium fuel, Verano uses regular gas.

Karen Schindler of St. Louis became the first Verano owner in early December when she traded in her 2002 Lexus IS300. “I got everything I wanted with this car for a great price. I really love it, and things like the heated steering wheel were a big surprise. And it’s great that it was built here in the U.S.”
The Verano is assembled in Lake Orion, Michigan.

Every 2012 Verano is eligible for Experience Buick, which offers the security and convenience of a 24-month lease that includes routine maintenance, an OnStar Directions and Connections plan and SiriusXM radio, bundled into a single monthly payment.

Read More: http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2012/Apr/0412_verano

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2013 Buick Enclave: Interior and Exterior Styling Updates [New York Auto Show]

Launched as a 2008 model, the Buick Enclave is built on the same GM Lambda platform as the GMC Acadia and the Chevrolet Traverse three-rows. Despite the corporate sharing, the Enclave has managed to carve a lucrative niche in the luxury-crossover segment for Buick, selling more than 58,000 Enclaves in 2011 in the U.S. Still, the Lambda platform is aging and GM has chosen to refresh all three, with the 2013 Enclave being the last updated model introduced. It and the 2013 Chevy Traverse make their debut at the 2012 New York auto show.

Apparently anxious to not alienate its current customer base, Buick chose to handle the Enclave’s 2013 update with kid gloves. Materials, details, and styling cues are revised to remain contemporary, but the Enclave’s essence remains fully intact.

Same as it Ever Was

Viewed from the front, the grille is the most striking detail: The new Enclave employs an alternating pattern of black and chrome uprights of varying dimensions where the previous model had a simple, all-chrome affair. The lower front fascia is now painted to match the body. New headlamps have a longer, leaner, and more-angular profile and replace the more-rotund previous units; they incorporate amber turn indicators, which formerly resided in the lower front fascia. Standard HID lamps are enhanced with LED accent lights; headlamps that turn in concert with the steering wheel are available. Blue rings in the headlights match those on the previous car, as well as the cars in the rest of Buick’s lineup. Buick’s trademark portholes have been re-oriented to a more horizontal position on the hood, now sitting inside the hood’s prominent creases rather than outside them.

LED taillamps and a body-color rear valance echo the design in front. The oval exhaust outlets of the outgoing Enclave have been replaced with more-rectangular units. Aluminum 18-inch wheels are standard; buyers will have their choice of upgrading to either 19- or 20-inch aluminum wheels in painted, machined, or chrome finishes.

Read More: http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2013-buick-enclave-photos-and-info-news

March Specials at Ettleson Buick

Milwaukee Buick Specials

Buick Gets Into 2012 NCAA® March Madness®

Human achievement is focus of basketball tournament sponsorship

DETROIT – As college basketball fans create their perfect bracket sheets, Buick, the NCAA partner of human achievement, launched its own busy month of March at General Motors headquarters on Monday, donating more than 300 pairs of shoes to needy children.

It is Buick’s second year of working with Samaritan’s Feet, an organization dedicated to helping cover the feet of 300 million shoeless children around the world.  Nearly 1 million of these children die each year from soil-transmitted illnesses and foot-borne diseases. The organization’s founder, Emmanuel “Manny” Ohonme, was featured on the Buick Human Highlight Reel during last year’s NCAA basketball tournament.

The Buick Human Highlight Reel is an online collection and archive of short videos featuring former NCAA student-athletes whose greatest victories occur away from the game, where they apply their passion to serving those in need.

New stories in this year’s Human Highlight Reel will be introduced on www.ncaa.com/buick, and many will air throughout coverage of this year’s tournament. Student-athletes to be featured include:

• Chris Duhon, a Duke basketball player from 2000-2004 who now plays professionally. His Stand Tall Foundation works with children to encourage teamwork, commitment, discipline, and work ethic through community outreach events.
• Amber Tollefson, a former Florida State soccer player who founded the Give N Go Project. While traveling abroad, Amber was inspired by poverty-stricken children playing soccer with nothing but goals made of sticks and a coconut for a ball. She now raises money to provide equipment and raise self-esteem in Third World countries.
• Tyrone Grant, who played college basketball at St. Johns. He now works with inner city youth in Brooklyn, N.Y., as a mentor through his Team First program. The organization uses competitive athletics to promote responsibility and teamwork.
• Jason Taylor, a University of Arizona football player who later had a career in the NFL. His Jason Taylor Foundation works to improve health care, education, and quality of life for children in southern Florida.

Buick’s NCAA Final Four® involvement  extends to New Orleans, as well. Bracket Town, an NCAA fan experience  located in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, is expected to attract more than 50,000 people and will feature two Buick displays. Fans will be able to get a close look at current Buick models, as well as the upcoming 2013 Encore crossover. They’ll also be able to compete in what is expected to be the world’s largest game of “knockout”, to win game tickets or other prizes. Buick will also be donating shoes to Samaritan’s Feet for every participant.

Samaritan’s Feet activities will continue in New Orleans, with Buick donating 2012 pair of shoes to impoverished children in the region. The handouts will be split across four different events at local schools and community centers.

“The NCAA Final Four showcases incredible human achievement on the basketball court,” said Tony DiSalle, U.S. vice president of Buick Marketing. “With the Human Highlight Reel and our involvement with Samaritan’s Feet, Buick hopes to demonstrate the difference men and women can make away from the court, all around the world.”

Buick Encore Packs Big Storage in Small Footprint

Dual glove boxes and fold-flat front seat among versatile crossover’s features

DETROIT – When the Buick Encore small luxury crossover goes on sale in early 2013, it will define a new market segment in the United States. But small doesn’t mean cramped when it comes to storage.

“Regardless of a vehicle’s size, Buick has a standard for what items must fit, from iPods and smartphones, to umbrellas and much larger items like handbags,” said chief engineer Jim Danahy. “With Encore, we used every space available, big or small, in a visually pleasing and useful way.”

Encore offers eight beverage holders, storage in all four doors, four different bins in the dash, pockets in the seatbacks, an available bin beneath the front passenger seat, and even bins under the rear load floor around the spare tire.

This holistic approach maximized traditional cargo space concerns and the ever-growing need to stow small gadgets. Deep pockets in each front door can hold a one-liter beverage, along with a book or tablet computer, plus a smaller item like an iPod or portable video game system like a 3DS.

Read More: http://www.media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2012/Feb/0220_encore

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Collectible Classic: 1963-1965 Buick Riviera

Fewer than twenty years after the first-generation Buick Riviera debuted, I was induced to write a chapter on cars for the Catalog of Cool, a cultural compendium assembled by an editorial team of swingin' savants. One of the entries: "Buick's hippest move was the Riviera (especially '63-'65): two-door hardtops with bucket seats, sharp looking from every angle. Inspiration apparently struck style chief Bill Mitchell one foggy night in London town -- a coachbuilt Rolls sliced through the mist, Bill flashed, and the Riv was born." Another three decades on from those scribblings, Mitchell's divine inspiration still has us fawning. His goal to combine the formality of a razor-edge Rolls-Royce with the aggressive stance of a Ferrari stands as one of the greatest styling triumphs of the midcentury.

The Riviera -- with its expansive egg-crate grille, pontoon fenders, neatly creased formal rear quarters, and sumptuous interior -- was more successful at recalling, not mimicking, styling of the classic era than the much-vaunted Continental Mark II. It also stole the spotlight from Ford's four-place Thunderbird that had the personal-luxury segment to itself since '58.

No two ways about it, the Riv was, and is, a scene-stealer of the highest order. Southern California resident Dan Gregg has lived with one such object of adoration for the better part of his life. His father acquired the breathtaking '64 seen here around the time that the Catalog of Cool went to press and bequeathed it to his son, who undertook a thorough, although not frame-off, restoration thereafter. Upon bearing witness to its brawny beauty, strangers invariably lament, "I had one of those; shoulda kept it."

The Gregg family chariot is a '64, very similar to the first-year model but for the fact that it has absolutely no visible Buick badging. Even the stand-up hood ornament, new for '64, was a stylized R rather than the Buick shield. These details underscore that the Riviera had a look all its own; it seemed to have come from a more tasteful automotive universe than its contemporaries. Even most Mercedes-Benzes still had fins at that time.

Read more: http://www.automobilemag.com/features/collectible_classic/1202_1963_1965_buick_riviera_collectible_classic/index.html#ixzz1mZpeP6dF

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