RideLust

Thumbs Up: Solidly built, quiet as a tomb

Thumbs Down: Needs more power for highway driving

Buy This Car If: You want a plush midsize sedan that delivers decent fuel economy.

Sometimes, things are glaring in their omission. If you scan the outside sheet metal of the 2012 Buick LaCrosse eAssist, you won’t find a single “hybrid” badge on it. Ditto on the inside, where the only indication that you’re driving something other than a regular Buick is the available battery meter in the information display. Even the window sticker avoids any mention of the word “hybrid,” although if you look carefully you can see the term”eAssist” used in reference to the engine and the associated powertrain warranty. Read More…

Thumbs Up: The most entertaining Buick since the 1987 GNX.

Thumbs Down: Needs more power; creaky plastic dash.

Buy This Car If: You want a compact domestic luxury sedan with a dash of sport.

For those of us in a certain demographic, the name “Buick” conjures up images of under-damped land yachts, leisurely driven by septuagenarians on their way to a 3:00 dinner at the Old Country Buffet. For driving enthusiasts, Buick hasn’t built a car of interest since the 1987 Regal-based GNX. The GNX has become the stuff of legend, with clean examples still trading hands at semi-insane prices. Still, the 1987 GNX was capable of a 0 to 60 sprint in under 5 seconds, and in stock form could run the quarter mile in 13.5 seconds at 102 miles per hour. Back in 1987, that wasn’t just fast, that was stupid fast. Read More…

It would’ve been so much easier if I was just into video games or something because there are times when being a car guy totally sucks. You see I don’t just like cars, I love them. In fact every aspect of my life revolves around them. I write about them, build them, race them, film them… hell, they encompass everything I do. Who knew that back in the day when I was playing with Matchbox and remote control cars that it would turn into an obsession that has taken over my life. The problem is this; I want everything, but the fatal combination of a writers salary and lack of space prevent this from happening. Sure being in the industry helps, as we get to drive press cars and go to different automotive related events, but still, that doesn’t change the fact that I jones for something different in the garage on a daily basis. Take this near perfect 1972 Ford Galaxie 500 that I spied recently on eBay. Folks, if I had the money this sucker would be in my garage tomorrow. Sure it’s big and cumbersome, but it’s a classic piece of American iron that I would love to use as a daily driver. Maybe it’s because it’s different, or maybe its because cars like this remind me of my childhood growing up in the 1970′s. Whatever the reason though, road yachts like this always get my blood pumping.

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It’s rare, but sometimes it happens. Sometimes a car company thinks outside the box and decides to have a little fun. Back in the 1980′s there was really no such thing as an American made performance automobile. Sure there were Mustangs and Corvettes, but with their wees-O-matic V8′s they were hardly anything to talk about. What you’ve got to remember was that back then, American auto makers were just coming out of the smog-laden 1970′s where cars were choked by emissions equipment to within and inch of their lives. Then in 1985 Buick, one of America’s luxury car makers, decided to go for broke and stuff a wicked little turbocharged V6 into one of their family cars. The car was the boxy Buick Regal and the result was the bad-ass Buick Grand National. With its 255 hp and 355 lb-ft of torque this mild-mannered sedan was the ultimate sleeper car. It ran 0-60 mph in about 5 seconds and blitzed the 1,320 in around 13.8 seconds making it one of the fastest straight line cars on the road. “Black Air” is the trailer for the soon to be released documentary about Buick’s super car of the 1980′s and by the looks of it, promises to give us some wonderful insider information as to how this hairy chested hot-rod came into being.

Source: Vimeo.com
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The 2011 Corvette Z06, now with free insurance in WA and OR. Image: © GM Corp.

If you’re buying a GM vehicle in the next two months and you live in Washington or Oregon, here’s some (potentially) good news:. GM will pick up the tab on a year’s worth of MetLife auto insurance, above the minimum coverage levels specified by the states. I say “potentially good news”, because the deal comes with certain caveats, like applying only to personal (non-commercial and non-fleet) vehicles, being non-transferrable if you sell the car and being non-refundable if you opt to get your own coverage. Read More…

Looking back at these old road tests from Bud Lindemann’s Car & Track series, it’s amazing to see how far automobile technology has progressed. This is a 1972 Buick Centurion, a car that was considered to be somewhat of a sports sedan back in the day. It was built in a time before anti-lock brakes, stability control or traction control which means that keeping one of these behemoths on the straight and narrow was no easy task. The Centurion like so many cars from the early 1970′s was big (4,500 lbs.), soft and made to soak up road imperfections which meant performance was minimal. 0-60 mph for example took a full 9 seconds and braking distance from 60-0 was a whopping 204 feet. That’s beyond horrible by today’s standards. Still, this was 1972 and back then it was all about road comfort, space and style, things that the big Buick had plenty of. Watch the video in its entirety and get a load of what passed for good road manners and handling… you’ll get a kick out of it, I promise.
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A few years ago SpeedTV used to air a show called Dream Car Garage. It was sponsored by Legendary Motorcars of Ontario, Canada and catered to everything from high end exotics, to big block muscle cars. One of the best segments they ever put together was a match up of the baddest muscle cars from the 1960′s and 1970′s. What you have to remember before you press play on these videos though, is that the American muscle car was and is, a mythical beast. Names like Cuda, Chevelle SS, The Judge and Boss made European sport sedans of that era quake in their boots. Not because of how fast, or how well they did (or did not) handle, but because of their in-your-face, take no prisoners, power house attitudes. I own two muscle cars and while I love them with all my heart and soul, I’m always amazed at how fast people think they are. Like I said, these old sleds are mythical beasts, and while other cars out there may out perform them, there will never, ever be anything as cool as an old school American Muscle Car. Click through for a whole bunch of awesome!
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Autocrossing A ’72 Buick Gran Sport

There are some absolutes in the automotive world: drag racing your Miata, unless you’ve got an LS3 motor stuffed under the hood, isn’t going to be particularly entertaining. Autocrossing a muscle car, pro touring cars excepted, will be much the same, since they’re generally better at going fast in a straight line than they are at turning. The driver in the video below, Jeff Peoples, would beg to differ, and does a very respectable job of getting his 1972 Buick Gran Sport though the cones without drama. Read More…

Due out this fall is the new 2012 Buick Regal with eAssist, a new fuel saving technology that should boost the 2012 Regal’s fuel economy by 25%. By combining a lithium-ion battery system and electric induction motor-generator that works in conjunction with the Regal’s 2.4L Ecotec direct injection four-cylinder, Buick is predicting mileage figures of 26 city / 37 highway. For comparison the standard Regal without eAssist gets 19 city / 30 highway so the improvement we’re seeing is actually quite good. Quite honestly I have no idea why Buick isn’t calling this a hybrid, but I suppose that’s due to their marketing people as “eAssist” just sounds more fun. Aside from the additional mileage generated by the electric motor, eAssist also provides regenerative braking, automatic engine shut-off when the vehicle comes to a stop and improved under-body aerodynamics with tires optimized for performance and fuel economy. Buick has cars like the Acura TSX dead in its sights with the 2012 Buick Regal eAssist. In fact according to Tony DiSalle, vice president of Buick marketing,

“Buick’s eAssist technology means customers don’t have to trade a premium driving experience for efficiency”.
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Thumbs Up: A Buick designed and built for those not in AARP

Thumbs Down: It’s a sporty sedan, not a sports sedan

Buy This Car If: You want an American alternative to an Acura TSX

My first experience with the “new” Buick came at last year’s Barrett-Jackson auction in Palm Beach. Given the opportunity to drive the new LaCrosse, I gladly took the keys and headed out to their parking lot autocross track. It handled, well, like a Buick: lots of comfort, but not much in the way of turn-in or steering feel. The GM product specialist made a point of demonstrating the car’s on-board hard drive and Bluetooth music streaming capability, and I remember thinking that Buick had missed their mark. Buyers of the LaCrosse would be traditional Buick customers, concerned more about ride comfort and interior noise than with the latest electronic gadgetry. If only, I remember thinking, Buick built a car that those of us who enjoyed driving would actually want to buy. Read More…