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2018 Buick Regal Sportback First Drive Review | Eyes wide shut

AUSTIN, Texas—Barreling along the tight backroads of Austin's Hill Country, my driving partner was coming in a little hot. Usually, beads of sweat would have appeared by now, hand crushing the grab handle. On roads such as this one, which are barely a car and a half wide, unusual confidence in the car is essential. But even with eyes closed (from the passenger's seat), it felt as if I was riding in an Audi, not in a product that shares its roots with the Chevrolet Malibu. This is a very good thing for Buick. It's unusually planted and stable, almost Germanic in nature. There's no traditional sedan available on these shores, which begs the question: Did the new Regal have to be a hatchback? Nope. Buick sells a traditional four-door Regal in China. The Regal Sportback, which is built in Russelsheim, Germany, is a European take on the sedan, in the vein of the recent proliferation of four-door "coupes" from all sorts of car manufacturers. It's far more versatile than most stylized sedans, however, with a wide opening that can swallow a full-size bicycle with both wheels on. Really—we tried it. There is an alternative to the hatchback, although it won't please sedan purists: the Regal TourX, a wagon in all but name. The 310-hp Regal GS isn't far away, either, and a luxe Regal Avenir is likely to appear. A hybridized Regal eAssist is also a possibility. Alas, the Regal nameplate is unlikely to reappear on a two-door coupe, according to a Buick spokesperson. The closest analogy for the Regal Sportback is the recently departed Volkswagen CC, in both form and function. From the quarter angles, the Regal Sportback has hints of the last-generation BMW 5 Series. Dead on from the front, or in your rearview mirror, there is more than a hint of the Audi shield grille. The LED headlight signature is distinctly European in style, but vaguely defined. Dynamically, the front-wheel-drive Regal Sportback is a match for the Audi A4/A5 Sportback duo. The smooth, turbocharged 2.0-liter inline four is a formidable powerplant, particularly when paired with the nine-speed automatic transmission. Its 250-horsepower output is a close match for Audi's engine of the same displacement. All-wheel drive is offered on the top two trim levels, Preferred II and Essence, as an option, paired with an eight-speed automatic. A trick differential that can direct torque to individual wheels, in addition to splitting it front and rear, is standard on the AWD models.

Jay Leno recaps Pebble Beach

Each year at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance the picturesque, ocean-side setting of the golf course becomes a parking lot for a vast array of multi-million dollar vehicles. However, if you missed the posh event this year, then Jay Leno has you covered yet again. For a nearly hour-long installment of Jay Leno's Garage, the comedian has dumped his denim in favor of a suit to take viewers on an insider tour of the lavish gathering. He interviewed some of the most talented designers in the auto industry, too. Leno starts off checking out a few beautiful classics by the shore, but things really get interesting for his stroll down the Concept Car Lawn for a scoop on the vehicles of tomorrow. Ed Welburn tells Leno all about the Buick Avenir, and Shiro Nakamura offers a tour of the Infiniti Q60. Plus, there are detailed looks at the Lincoln Continental, Hyundai Vision G Coupe, and Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6. News Source: Jay Leno's Garage via YouTube Bentley Buick Hyundai Infiniti Lincoln McLaren Classics Videos Pebble Beach Jay Lenos Garage infiniti q60 buick avenir bentley exp 10 speed 6

1987 Buick Grand National was made to be Kevin Hart's 'Dark Knight'

The Meguiar's booth at the SEMA show isn't the only place comedian and actor Kevin Hart is combining cars and cinema, his "Michael Myers" 1969 Plymouth Road Runner brooding in the car care products pen, while his SpeedKore "Hellraiser" 1970 Dodge Charger also menaces. Hart bought a 1987 Buick GNX last year and put it on Instagram with the caption, "Sundays are perfect for old school drives…. If you know you know." Looks like old G-Bodies are perfect for restomod builds, too, which we all already knew, but this car isn't the GNX that featured on social media. This is the 1987 Buick Grand National, one step below the GNX and half the price at the time. It's nicknamed "Dark Knight" and it's one of the stars of the Magnaflow exhaust booth at SEMA. Going back to work with regular collaborators Dave Salvaggio of Salvaggio Design and Sean Smith, of course there's a lot involved in the overhaul. Still, we appreciate how the team stayed true to the ethos of the Grand National in ways that made the build more complicated than it already was. Take the engine. The original came with a 3.8-liter V6 wearing a single turbocharger to register an official output of 245 horsepower and 355 pound-feet of torque compared to the GNX's 276 hp and 320 lb-ft. Instead of swapping it for a V8, it's been replaced with the 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 from the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing. And instead of leaving both turbos on, the engine junkies plumbed a single turbo in a layout recalling the 1987 engine even as it cleans up the original Chutes 'n' Ladders mess of tubes. We didn't get an output rating for the setup. The Cadillac's twin-turbo mill makes 472 hp and 445 lb-ft. in the CT4-V Blackwing. We would bet Dark Knight's engine's pretty close to that with the single large turbo at the prow, plenty of juice for a car weighing 3,545 pounds. Exterior upgrades include a custom front fascia with a carbon fiber hood and splitter. The interior shows the same tasteful restraint, polished design and nicer materials draped over the stock 1980s layout. That shifter controls GM's 8L90 eight-speed automatic instead of the original four-speed auto.  Elsewhere, Salvaggio did the same here as with the Michael Myers Road Runner, creating a custom frame to increase rigidity and get the car closer to the ground on its 19-inch HRE wheels in the Buick's original weave look.