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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