regfootball

The SIGNIA ^^^^ would have been a great hearse I miss my old aztek cadillac should BRING IT BACK there's a touch of this in the XT4

The Impala name could live on as a crossover, if it trended in the direction of this (but was far better looking) https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2018-bmw-640i-xdrive-gran-turismo-test-review

yeah VW really punted on the design, it looks like Hyundai or something now. Or a Ford Taurus / Sonata mashup. BUt, that means it will probably sell huge! Plus it seems a little more exciting than a Cruze now too. The interior seems nice on this car. I like the driver oriented dash. Even just offering a powertrain and this suspension setup should reward VW. There is a huge lack of smaller cars with any performance ability nowadays and there's still folks that will prefer a sedan over the Golf type hatch. I'd like to see Chevy offer a 250hp Cruze. Doesn't need to be a 9/10th car like a Focus ST. But something like a GTi, chevy version.

nice image. --edit-- to add to that, that shape would be a great Encore replacement when this model cycle is done.

Our Malibu and Pacifica now. U just push the fuel filler cap down and it unclicks to open up. Lots of cars have capless fuller now also. When done filling you just click it closed. No cap lock as far as I know.

Rebadged Bolt?

^^^ Lots of people try to make it sound like the Camaro styling is the problem..... the bigger problem is still that it's a bunker with no space and you can't see out of it.

I do admit. The hatchback is versatile as well. Wish we could get a GS wagon. I've got to get out and try a new LaCrosse as well. V6...

I think it performed better when new. I'm actually looking forward to see if the CVT helps. It might. I've said many times, the 1.5 is a great road car. It's very bipolar in that regard. It's the in town stoplight to stoplight stuff that the car gets tedious to drive. And at the time it was an improvement over what I had. So, progress. I'm real curious to see if the EPA numbers go up any. If not then I am not sure what the point it. Cruze would have been better to put CVT in first IMO.

Driven: 2018 Buick Regal Sportback Essence 2.0t (the original review is in this post. Revised reviews are further down, in this post, and in this other post) HIGHS: -Nice understated shape conceals a cleverly integrated hatchback design -'Decent' propulsion from 2.0t engine -Nicely shaped upper dash with touchsreen oriented slightly to driver. Interesting at least from a design standpoint. -Sporting driving position and good room in both rows, mostly, plus the biggest benefit being improved leg room over previous model -Really nice cargo space, with seats up, or seats down, the cargo area of this vehicle and the flexibility of it in a car like this IMO is a major draw -View outside of this vehicle is improved over its platform mate (Malibu, my daily driver) due to the rear door glass being longer and taller. View out the front and rear is essentially the same. -AWD availability is a nice plus, thanks Buick. LOWS: -I can't recall any of the GM vehicles I have driven with this ubiquitous 2.0t engine, where i have actually been wowed or impressed by it. It has decent thrust, but honestly you gotta spool it up a bit, the tranny doesn't respond instantly, it's not a five star smooth tranny, and it's kind of rough and noisy overall as a powertrain (AT LEAST FOR IT'S PRICE / CLASS). I was hoping the 2.0 would make the car match the near luxury description but I don't think it's overall a smooth enough powertrain to meet that claim. It's neither smooth, nor sporting or exciting. And this is with front wheel drive. I will reserve final judgment until i get in the GS with the v6, which is the engine I think most people will really end up liking in this car. -Heavier than it's Malibu platform mate. No doubt acceptable due to the larger engine, but the benefit of the extra weight doesn't manifest itself in any real tangible way anywhere in the ride and drive of the car. -Not really any quieter inside than my Malibu. Strange, because this Buick is supposed to have quiet tuning, and goo in the tires to help make it quieter. The ride isn't really any more plush, either. -Steering is sort of dead and mushy. That's not GERMANIC now, is it. -NEED TO BE ABLE TO TURN OFF THE AUTOSTOP WHEN YOU WANT TO. -Not really much nicer inside than in my Malibu. The lower dash is the same 'less expensive' plastic you see in cheap Chevy's. The door panels are a little nicer, but not that much more. Many switches and buttons are the same. The console is nicer (I don't like the shifter centered in the console now actually, it's quite a reach) I guess...except for cupholders in front of the climate controls. The upper dash material is an upgrade over the Malibu, but it's not a PREMIUM dash material either. -I can't really tell for sure if the seats are better. My Malibu seats are poor. The Regal seats seemed to hug me more, but they still felt thin and insubstantial. The leather quality was slightly better, but still nothing to write home about. -Rear head room suffers a bit with the hatch design. I don't mind the tradeoff personally, but the Malibu retains a bit more headroom, and the Regal TourX really has much more....so get the wagon if rear head room matters. -Sunroof was nice to have considering how bunkerlike the Malibu can feel....but again the hatch design limits the size of the sunroof here compared to the Malibu's BAMR. I can live with the compromise here myself, and again, the wagon will satisfy your urge for BAMR if you need it. I would encourage GM to develop a way to integrate a larger moonroof with the hatch design. I think it could be done, but would require time and money on a redesign effort. -Options / packages on this car are, simply put, stupid. But that merits its own post. At least in this car, the heated steering wheel and leather heated seats were both included. You can actually get this car with heated steering wheel but without heated seats. How f-cked up is that? In 2019, Fusion, Toyota, and others will have things like blind spot and cross path detection as standard equipment. And those are not 'premium' makes. -I'll let others decide if they think the styling is too tepid. I don't mind the understated styling but do admit that the color selections that are available on this car leave me wanting. I like the red on the GS, and the smoked pearl metallic is nice. And Buick seems to think they should charge extra for paint colors when they don't make the ride and drive anything special. -pricing. I think the average nature of this car would be easily forgiven if the pricing were in line with being an average car; not priced for a premium marque. Like the LaCrosse and Envision, it is best to wait out the model year if you are buying and wait for the inevitable 7,000-10,000 or more in discounts...which might bring the pricing in line with what the vehicle really is. You can't say this vehicle is appealing at the prices it is at now. SUMMARY: This probably seems like a negative review, but you should consider it more of underwhelmed and let down. This car as I drove it just doesn't have any kind of endearing personality to speak of! At the end of the day, it took Buick two extra years to bring to the US it's own Malibu clone, which doesn't have much more to show for it.... apart from the clever hatch and base 2.0 engine upgrade over the 1.5. I actually am very curious now to be among the first to try the 2019 Malibu 1.5t + CVT combo. But that's an aside for another discussion. The 2.0 that general motors puts in so many vehicles has never impressed me, and that's due more to it's character than anything. I had hopes this would be the ONE CAR that it would feel sporting in; one that would make the car feel at least a little, like a SPORTS SEDAN. Nope. I will wait with baited breath to someday find a v6 GS to test, as i think it will be the only Regal worth anything. At least worth anything more than just being another option in the midsize, genericar class. And I hope Buick is working on a twin turbo six option as well for the GS (GSX?). I tend to think this car won't move the needle in marketplace excitement until it has a tire shredder under the hood to brag about...The v6 will promise smoother revs and deeper lungs at least......... Still, as a replacement in the bottom end of the Buick lineup for the Verano, I am ok with this. Just please, sex it up!

those first gen SRX's got really bad fuel economy especially the v8

Funny story, but not, and true. The dealer when they changed the oil on my 1.5t a couple weeks ago said the oil leak was back. So i brought it in again to fix it (again). BUt then they said it wasn't leaking ("Just some residue left over"). Some of you have seen my complaints about the power in the car (being borderline unacceptable). Well, two things happened recently. First was, i am on the freeway and a large commercial truck pulls into the lane RIGHT behind my car....literally it was moving over to free up the left lane and had not seen me in the middle lane. I can swear he may be have missed my rear end and bumper by 3-10 feet at 70 mph. I saw this transpiring in the rear view mirror, and it scared the shit out of me. I FLOORED it like my life depended on it and the CAR WOULD NOT get up and go! No power, no tranny help. I could not escape the situation! At least the truck driver saw their mistake and slowed down. So i mentioned this to my wife after she told me her story. She never drives the car , but one day did and she told me 'it seems like the car is losing power'. So when i was getting the car checked, i told them about the sense of losing power (since this engine has a rep of cracked pistons and other maladies to go with its low power / losing power on some malibu sites). So they claim to have done yet another ECU upgrade. I haven't noticed a power difference and now mpg seems to have taken a 10-15% hit......... When this lease is hope i was so hoping that the 2.0 would be an accessible option in cloth seat Malibu, but instead I get to dream about a CVT!!!!!! Chevy needs to think about their relentless CAFE and cost cutting pushes here. Do you want buyers who like the car or not. I just saw on the car and driver FB post for this another malibu 1.5 owner like me complaining about the lack of juice in the 1.5. I do love the gas mileage when i take trips but Chevy seems to be only concerned with autonomous vehicles, CAFE, no v6's, smaller and smaller interiors, removing good styling....I think GM needs product people again. They are too consumed with PR, social media, etc. EPA may rollback some CAFE soon and not a moment too soon. I am for good mpg but there is a middle ground too and 1.5 + CVT is something that is being forced..... at least give the choice of the 2.0 on the lower trim cars or give us a 1.8 option. Or even the v6. Rumor is the Impala will get cut soon too and in which case no Chevy v6 sedan. I love turbo fours but after this Malibu and my two Chrysler vans with their v6, i am missing the v6 again..... I may skip the Malibu next time because of the CVT and just find a base equipped Traverse as my next ride.

didn't this start with Cadillac's infotainment upgrade? Visteon, Delphi, Harman? is providing the whole systems now? The system in our pacifica has the same font as the new cadillac infotainment. I wonder if these systems are not all starting to come either from the same manufacturer or one or two typical vendors....... and thus using an industry standard font or something

Ah. Just saw the 2019 refresh pictures. The new front end design while not a lot different will definitely help make the car more attractive.

My hate boner for the new Acadia is that GM took an out of the park market success, downsized it, made it less useful, and ugly. Thus, ruining the Acadia brand equity

circle the wagons, the XT5 is the only size and configuration match to the Edge. So GM can support Cadillac in this size class, but is not doing so with Chevy and Buick, which both of those brands could sell the hell out of that size of 2 row crossover.

The Equinox is not anything close to total interior space compared to the Edge. The Equinox is COMPACT An Impala sized crossover would be wider and longer than the Captiva 2.0 (Equinox) and would get back sales the Impala sedan is losing to other crossovers, like the ford edge

No, a- it's a three row b- it looks like a truck not a sporty crossover c- its a GMC not a chevy acadia is now something that is supposed to appeal to someone who either likes grand cherokees, or 2005 trailblazer / envoy / ascender / rainier / saab 9-7x we don't need another trucklike crossover. Chevy needs to go the X4/X6 / panamera / Merc GLC / Ford Edge / Acura ZDX sorts of looks. LARGE front and second row. huge trunk. No need for three rows. see above ^^^^ the edge is the gold standard IMO for accessible priced 2 row sporty crossover that basically replaces the sedan. I would sex it up a little more and slap the Impala badge on it. Plus, they ruined the Acadia, it's ugly now basically they stretched the wheelbase relative to length, gave it to rear leg room, and the trunk area will probably be shorter..

XT5 and SRX have done well because they are GM's only crossover that fits a slot like the Edge is in. Large, 2 row crossover. Chevy badly misses an edge competitor. Buick could use one also. Cadillac benefits because they can still make decent profit and volume by there being no Chevy or buick clone. But the market to me dictates they should have had them yesterday. I saw that GM may ditch the impala. I think it's an opportunity to move the impala nameplate to a crossover, as large as he Edge, maybe longer. A little more sleek and sporty. Malibu should gain 4" in length to the backseat and add some roof height and offer v6. Then give buick an impala clone also.

Happy Birthday !

we need to kidnap ocnblu and tie his arms and legs up, throw him in the back seat and take him for a cross country tour in a Bolt

i may have reclined the seatback for the purpose of taking the photos some.......

i remember when the GM 4 cyl DOHC's that followed the ill fated Quad 4's put out less power

i believe i read where it said this the AFM allows it to run on two cylinders? if an engine is redesigned, it can possibly be -lighter or smaller to fit in engine bay easier -simpler -cheaper -easier to manuf. -incorporate new technologies -more power -better mpg

I do like to ride ghetto style the steering wheel comes out pretty far and so I keep the seat back a little more so it clears my gut only about 6'1 but I do put the seat back. Not really much more than other guys I know.