A Performance Car for Buick?

[wildcat]

Chicago Tribune Auto Reporter Jim Mateja offers a few "They Said It" quotes in a feature called "Glove Box," in the Feb. 19, 2006 paper. Here's what Bob Lutz, Head of Product Development at GM, said about Buick: 'I think every division should have a performance car-even Buick, though at Buick it wouldn't be a pony car.'

Who thinks he's got the Buick LaCrosse Super in mind?

Edited February 19, 2006 by wildcat

[Robert Hall]

Chicago Tribune Auto Reporter Jim Mateja offers a few "They Said It" quotes in a feature called "Glove Box," in the Feb. 19, 2006 paper.  Here's what Bob Lutz, Head of Product Development at GM, said about Buick:  'I think every division should have a performance car-even Buick, though at Buick it wouldn't be a pony car.'

Who thinks he's got the Buick LaCrosse Super in mind?

Maybe...

How about a supercharged Northstar Lucerne?

[wildcat]

moltar: You might be correct, but I'm betting LaCrosse Super.

Does anyone think the Buick Blackhawk or Holden EFIJY might eventually result in any kind of Buick performance car?

Edited February 19, 2006 by wildcat

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I'd like to see a Gran national trim emerge, especially on Lucerne.

Or, better yet, VELITE!

[balthazar]

I don't see the Blackhawk resulting in anything- it was a semi-outside project that could only lend to a full-on retro vehicle, but little else.

That is... unless Buick discovered the tooling to the 455 in an old storage warehouse...

I would like to see 'Super' versions of both the LaCrosse & Lucerne, but at the same time I hope that this performance car is something else entirely... and in addition to.

[wildcat]

FUTURE_OF_GM: I'm still waiting to see "Super" and "Reserve" used, as predicted.

Balthazar: I'd be all for something completely unknown, too, but it can't be something else because, as my friend ehaase would remind me, they just don't have the cash at GM for that right now.

[thegriffon]

moltar: You might be correct, but I'm betting LaCrosse Super.

Does anyone think the Buick Blackhawk or Holden EFIJY might eventually result in any kind of Buick performance car?

Not a snowballs chance in H—. Both the Blackhawk and Efijy werre tributes to custom-car culture. The Blackhawk even was a custom, crafted from existing Buicks, not a concept such as those traditionally built for the major autoshows.

[Croc]

Lutz said "performance car." Therefore the LaCrosse is out of the question. Hello...FWD isn't "performance" by any stretch of the imagination. My bet is on some Zeta model for greater economies of scale on the platform.

[Robert Hall]

Lutz said "performance car."  Therefore the LaCrosse is out of the question.  Hello...FWD isn't "performance" by any stretch of the imagination.  My bet is on some Zeta model for greater economies of scale on the platform.

I'm sure Lutz and plenty others in GM consider the Impala SS V8, Monte Carlo SS V8 and Grand Prix GXP V8 as 'performance cars'. I'm surprised they haven't done a V8 LaCrosse yet...

[buickguy]

Gotta be the Velite

[mjdecker]

I'm betting on a LaCrosse "Super" with a LS4

[sciguy_0504]

I'd rather have a Velite than a LaCrosse Super. Throwing a big engine in an average-looking car does not make it look great.

[Cananopie]

The LaCrosse Super would be a cheap way out of that statement because a LaCrosse Super isn't a "performance car" The Impala SS isn't a performance car, the Corvette is. The Grand Prix isn't a performance car, the GTO is. Let's see a real one with some class. It'd give that one extra car that Buick would need.

[The O.C.]

The LaCrosse Super would be a cheap way out of that statement because a LaCrosse Super isn't a "performance car" The Impala SS isn't a performance car, the Corvette is. The Grand Prix isn't a performance car, the GTO is. Let's see a real one with some class. It'd give that one extra car that Buick would need.

Isn't it a known fact that we get the LaCrosse Super with the 5.3L for '07?

I thought that was a done deal. Don't see it as a "performance car" but I'm curious as to what else GM will do to it....suspension tuning/wheels/tires/interior mods/seats/etc....

[Cananopie]

Isn't it a known fact that we get the LaCrosse Super with the 5.3L for '07? 

I thought that was a done deal.  Don't see it as a "performance car" but I'm curious as to what else GM will do to it....suspension tuning/wheels/tires/interior mods/seats/etc....

Unofficially we've seen enough signs at C&G that the LaCrosse Super is most definitely coming around I'd say without them outright announcing it specifically. A lot of solid hints.

I am interested to see what else they do too, and I hope it's a lot for it to be considered over the other V8 midsize GM vehicles, I'm really hoping it's not the same V8 engine they put in the rest (I'm not very good at knowing what engines GM makes and what would be a good fit for the LaCrosse)... but I wouldn't call it a real performance car unless it had at least another gear and some timing stats that really make people blink.

I hope the exterior looks more aggressive too because the LaCrosse just looks too relaxed and refined to be so tough.

Edited February 19, 2006 by Cananopie

[ocnblu]

A great idea, as always, to wake up a brand... performance. LaCrosse Super will be a nice addition, but not what I hope for. Velite, or something like it, on a RWD platform would be more authentic. Edited February 19, 2006 by ocnblu

[ehaase]

I think that by performance car for Buick, Lutz means one of three things:

1. LaCrosse Super

2. A convertible hardtop for Buick based upon the Pontiac G6 convertible, with a high performance 3.6L V6.

3. Long in the future, a high peformance sedan, coupe, or convertible on Zeta, probably using a 400 hp 6.0L V8.

[Mule Bakersdozen LS]

Personally I think the Super will just be a trim level with a bigger engine (i.e. LaCrosse CXS, but now with a 4.6-liter DOHC Northstar 275hp V-8-ditto Lucerne Super), and once the 4.4-liter (?) DOHC UV8 V-8 engine arrives for the Enclave, I think it'll actually be optional for Super, with the V-6 being standard on both Enclave Reserve and Super. I also still think if the Velite arrives anytime soon, it'll be a more luxurious cousin of the Pontiac G6 retractable-hardtop coupe-convertible-they'll need it to go against the Chrysler Sebring RHT more effectively than with a less-luxurious Pontiac. I like the 3rd idea too ehaase-all three seem like very likely and well-off scenarios.

[ehaase]

Personally I think the Super will just be a trim level with a bigger engine (i.e. LaCrosse CXS, but now with a 4.6-liter DOHC Northstar 275hp V-8-ditto Lucerne Super), and once the 4.4-liter (?) DOHC UV8 V-8 engine arrives for the Enclave, I think it'll actually be optional for Super, with the V-6 being standard on both Enclave Reserve and Super.

Even if the Northstar would fit in the W body (it is a physically huge engine), I seriously doubt that GM would spend the money to put it in the LaCrosse, when the 5.3L V8 is already being used in other W bodies.

If the 3800 in the LaCrosse is replaced by the 3.9L, I wonder if Buick would just drop the 3.6 from the LaCrosse, using only the 3.9 and 5.3 in the LaCrosse, making more 3.6's available for the Saturn Aura.