2014 Buick Enclave Leather on 2040-cars

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Dear America, you don't need as much power as you think

I recently won a 0-20-mph drag race against a Chevrolet Volt. A day later I smoked a Tesla Model 3. “Um OK,” youÂ’re thinking, “that canÂ’t be that hard.” Well, except that the vehicle I was piloting featured a hybrid powertrain of a Bosch electric motor and 40-year-old human legs. ThatÂ’s right, I out accelerated automobiles on a bicycle. On another occasion, I found myself driving behind my wife in her 2023 Kia Niro EV. The specs say it accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 7.8 seconds, a time thatÂ’s six-tenths off the pace of KiaÂ’s rear-motor-only EV6, a vehicle IÂ’ve repeatedly read being described as “slow.” The Niro, therefore, must be extra-slow. And yet, as she turned left onto a highway onramp, she rocketed forward leaving me in a Mercedes-AMG C43 and every other car in the left turn lane in the distance. I share these anecdotes not to boast about my cycling ability, nor my wife having a lead foot. No no. IÂ’m crap and she really doesnÂ’t. Instead, I want to point out that most drivers accelerate very slowly. The notion of “bigger is better” will forever be engrained in the American psyche, but when it comes to horsepower largesse, todayÂ’s cars hilariously exceed both the expectations and driving habits of most drivers. Most car buyers just donÂ’t have a frame of reference when it comes to equating 0-60 times, output figures and the actual feeling of acceleration.   Eat my dust, Mr Volt! Now, we in the automotive-reviewing media absolutely share some of this blame. We like accelerating quickly and cars that accelerate quicker are bound to reap more positive reviews. At the very least, weÂ’re obligated to point out when a carÂ’s acceleration is slower than a certain competitor's or the segmentÂ’s average. However, just because Car A is slower than Car B doesnÂ’t make Car A slow. It makes it slower. For example, the dual-motor EV6 may be 2 full seconds quicker from 0-60 than the rear-motor model ­– a relatively massive difference – but barring a back-to-back drive or a wealth of comparative knowledge, itÂ’s laughable to think that the average driver could possibly deem the rear-motor version “slow.” Because it isnÂ’t. The near-universal use of turbocharging, the popularity of all-wheel-drive and increased proliferation of electric motors has resulted in this rapid drop in 0-60 times thatÂ’s outpacing customer expectations and driving habits.

2013 Buick Verano Turbo

Not Luxury. Not Sport. Not Buick. Not Bad.
Those of you who still think of the Buick Verano as some sort of callously badge-engineered, gussied up version of the Chevrolet Cruze ("Why would anyone spend that much money on Buick's Cruze?" you may have been heard to mutter) have got the wrong idea. Entirely. Even in its most modest form, the Verano turns out to be a sedan that is feature-rich, insulated from wind and road noise in proper luxury car fashion, pretty good to drive and not bad to look at in the new school of high-nosed pedestrian-impact-regulated fashion. In a less modest form then, one that attaches the word "Turbo" to the moniker and plops a force-fed 2.0-liter four-cylinder under the hood, the Verano is downright interesting.
Of course, "interesting" is rarely a descriptor that fills one with lust - and so it goes with this example. There are two competing forces within this near-premium subcompact sedan, and the balance struck between them must resonate with any potential customer before the Verano Turbo can become a serious purchase consideration.

Buick's new logo ditches the ring, levels the shields

Buick's logo is about to receive a relatively major update. The new-look emblem appeared in a trademark filing in March 2022, and a leaked image posted on social media has given us a better look at the design that should appear on production cars in the not-too-distant future. Published on Instagram by an account called Buick_Saudi_Arabia, the photo shows what seems to be Buick's new logo on the middle of a steering wheel. The changes made aren't groundbreaking, but they're certainly noticeable. The ring is gone, and the red, white, and blue shields are separated from each other and positioned on the same level. As of writing, the shields are staggered and surrounded by a ring.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Buick Saudi Arabia (@buick_saudi_arabia) One question that comes to mind is: why now? Buick has used its current logo for decades without significantly updating it, so what prompted the company to give the design a makeover? Several factors undoubtedly influenced this decision, but one that's worth shining light on is that the brand is no longer twinned with Germany-based Opel. For many years, some Opel-designed models made their way to the United States with Buick emblems on both ends. No one in Europe has heard of a Buick Regal; folks there know the sedan as the Opel Insignia. And, since the visual differences between these cars were often minor, using a Buick logo whose basic silhouette was similar to Opel's logo simplified the design process. Neatly integrating, say, Chevrolet's bowtie-shaped emblem into the Insignia's grille would have been harder, though more improbable acts of badge-engineering have been committed (the Ford Maverick was once a Nissan). General Motors sold Opel to PSA Peugeot-Citroen in 2017, and both carmakers are now part of Stellantis, so Buick's trans-Atlantic design ties have been cut. Losing the Opel connection gives Buick's design team more leeway to experiment with new ideas, like a revamped logo. Keep in mind that nothing is official yet. Full details and an explanation of what the new logo means should emerge soon. Why the shields? Buick isn't rooted in sword-fighting, so why have shields appeared on its cars for over 60 years? The answer, according to Buick, is relatively vague. What's certain is that the tri-shield logo didn't appear on Buick's early cars.