Buick's mid-size Regal receive a mid-life update, but we're still wishing its performance potential would be fully realized.
Europeans know the Buick Regal as the Opel Insignia, itself the recipient of a recent facelift. So it makes complete sense for Buick to update its rebadged version of the stylish sedan. Making its official debut at the New York Auto Show this week, the 2014 Buick Regal and its more powerful and sportier GS counterpart help continue the brand’s quest to attract younger buyers. Both the base Regal and the GS have been given a subtle exterior refresh, specifically up front and out back which both now feature LED lighting.
The interior has also been given a slightly more premium look and feel thanks to added chrome accents, soft-touch materials, a simplified instrument cluster that includes an 8-inch color touch-screen and a 4.2-inch color vehicle info display. But the biggest changes lie under the hood, as the 2.0-liter turbo four has been upgraded to produce a total of 259 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. That’s good for the Regal Turbo, but the GS actually loses power - 11 hp to be exact - over last year’s model due to a new all-wheel drive system and exhaust.
Buick claims the GS’s performance won’t be affected and fuel economy could even be improved. The base Regal engine, however, remains a 2.4-liter inline-four that’s good for just 182 horsepower. Debuting alongside the new Buick LaCrosse, we're expecting to see the 2014 Regal in showrooms shortly.
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