New cars: 2011 Buick Regal

Automobile

This isn’t your father’s Buick Regal. For one thing, it’s made in Germany: The Regal name, discontinued in 2004, has merely been slapped onto the car that’s sold in Europe as the Opel Insignia. This new Regal is “a very different kind of Buick” in other ways, too—the design bristles with such stylish touches as a leather interior and a steeply raked roofline with “European flair.”

Motor Trend

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“It’s been a long, long time” since we liked a Buick this much. Face it: The brand had become “a hapless relic of a Detroit mind-set” that foisted second-rate machinery on domestic-car buyers. Yet will the Regal’s improved handling, 220 hp engine, and fuel efficiency (18 mpg city/29 mpg highway) really be enough to make this car “appeal to young, affluent, trend-setting import buyers”? In many ways, the future of Buick itself is riding on the answer.

Car and Driver

We’ll say this: Driving the new Regal is a lot more enjoyable than driving the old one. True, that may “sound a bit like saying Lindsay Lohan’s acting is way better than her singing,” but a sub-$30,000 car that can run from zero to 60 mph in less than seven seconds is nothing to sneeze at. If you want, you can even get a manual transmission. But don’t: The standard-issue automatic “is a honey.”