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Auto Car Design and Review
Depending on whom you ask, China is either a rising dragon or a paper tiger. But one thing is for certain: The Middle Kingdom is a monster car market. Eighteen million cars, trucks, and buses were sold there in 2010, a jump of 32 percent from 2009. Another certainty is that both Buick and Volvo owe their continuances to China. The former due to a revered brand status that dates back to when that country’s various heads of state were choosing Flint’s finest and the latter due to Geely’s purchase last year.
On our shores, both Buick and Volvo share a certain—how shall we put this?—aimlessness, and some of that confusion is evident in the two cars in this test.
We’ll start with the Buick Regal GS. The Regal is essentially a rebadged Opel Insignia that was meant to be a Saturn. And the GS is a performance Buick. Like we said, confusing. Given China’s penchant for grandiose and wordy proclamations, we’re guessing this top-o’-the-line Regal GS would be described along the lines of ?“Most Glorious Performance and Sporty Feeling Turbocharging for Passenger Delight.”
The direct-injected, turbocharged four remains essentially the same as in the Regal Turbo, but the boost is turned up to 20, an increase of 5 psi. This makes for 270 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque (increases of 50 and 35, respectively). The GS also comes with larger Brembo front brakes, a retuned suspension, and some exterior enhancements to distinguish it from baser Regals. Our test car adds sharp 20-inch wheels shod with Pirelli P Zero tires, a $700 option. Other enhancements to the $35,310 base price are a sunroof ($1000), an upgraded stereo with navigation ($1145), and White Diamond Tricoat paint ($495), which, in addition to looking nice, has the curious effect of making us think of Elizabeth Taylor. All this brings us to an as-tested price of ?$38,650.
The S60 is to Volvo as the Regal is to Buick, an effort to give a staid nameplate a fresher, sportier persona. Or perhaps we should say: “Prestigious Brand Enhancement of Magnificent Styling and Drive Performance.” The R-Design takes things a step further than the midline S60, the 300-hp T6 AWD, with a reprogrammed engine computer that adds 1.4 psi of boost (a total of 14.5) and 25 horsepower. Out goes the S60 T6’s adjustable chassis system; in go stiffer springs, a strut-tower brace, and quicker-responding monotube shocks. The R-Design will set you back $43,375, or $4600 more than the all-wheel-drive S60 T6. Add in the $2700 Multimedia package (navigation, rearview camera, and upgraded stereo) and the $800 Climate package (which includes heated seats and rain-sensing wipers), and you get to a heady $46,875 as-tested price.
In keeping with the Chinese theme, we drove to Chicago’s Chinatown, with additional stops at GingerMan Raceway in South Haven, Michigan, and the C/D 10Best loop. Like China, both of these cars symbolize great potential. Inspired by that country’s rich philosophical heritage, our review borrows the style of the classic Chinese text, the I Ching, or Book of Changes. But unlike China’s supposed Communist egalitarianism, we have picked a winner.
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The two-tone brown paint on this custom caught our eye at first; it wasn’t until we saw the Mercedes head unit, shifter, gauges, and switchgear inside that the car’s split personality became apparent. Hal Wing, the man who commissioned the car, told us he approached Trepanier with the idea of marrying German engineering with American iron. Wing chose the G55’s 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 but left the vehicle selection to the car’s builder. Trepanier tells us the most difficult part of the build was the wiring; specifically, getting the G55’s computers to believe that they were still hooked to a four-wheel-drive system instead of the car’s Detroit Truetrac rear diff.
AMG engine or no, we’re not going to argue with anything that looks this good, but it’s the details that really make it. A shallow top-stitched leather dash recalls that of the G-wagen and is complemented by Mercedes-grade birdseye maple throughout. The custom wheels are styled after iconic flat five-spoke Benz rims of the ’90s and are finished by original Buick center caps. Trepanier even painted them with an AMG-esque Buick logo. Neat stuff.
