Monthly Archives: August 2010

2011 Buick Regal – Alberta Buick Dealer Review

2011 Buick Regal Lethbridge

Click for more info

I am a web developer for Davis GM, Lethbridge.  A few people in and around the dealership will come up to me and ask some pretty basic questions about some of our vehicles as if I were a salesperson, – and why not?  I’m wearing a collared shirt and dress pants.  If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, there is a very good chance it’s a duck.  Unfortunately I am not a salesperson, nor a duck.

I decided to write this blog about the new 2011 Buick Regal because one, its one of the hottest cars out there.  The second reason I have chose to write this blog is because I wanted to force myself to do a bit of research on this vehicle. You know, learn a thing or two about it so that I can share about some of the features when approached.

So here is what I know – Let’s start with a bit of history.  First, the last time that this European beauty was offered to the western market was in 2004. Second, the European market knows this vehicle as the Buick Intrigue, where we know it as the Buick Regal.  In 2009 the European Regal (Intrigue) earned Car of the Year honors, establishing itself as the best-selling mid-size car in Europe.  You always hear of young kids talking about European imports, how this car is better than that car etc. etc (Thank-You Fast and the Furious). I guarantee they have never brought up the Regal. Well that’s because it’s a Buick, Buick’s are for the older generation right? NO!

2011 Buick Regal for Sale in Alberta

Click for more info.

So many people have this idea that Buick is not a young person’s car.  Maybe I am too young to be able to trace back-in-time to figure where we got this idea, but after driving this vehicle and seeing it out on the lot, I can guarantee you it is not.  It’s a shame that a company can be stigmatized as an “older generation” vehicle because they excel at creating vehicles with comfortable interior’s and incredible suspensions.  Do people consider BMW and Mercedes Benz an “old person’s” vehicle? Maybe, I guess that depends on one’s personal opinion.  I feel that the new 2011 Buick’s have the appearance of those high-end vehicles.  Only Buick has found a way to pull it off just a little bit better.

I am simply a web developer at Davis GM and do not know a whole lot about the cars we sell.  I would love to be able to tell you that the Regal has a standard 182 hp 2.4 L ECOTEC 4-cylinder engine with Direct Injection and Variable Valve Timing (VVT) and be able to tell you what that all means, but I should probably leave that up to the experts.  I can only tell that if you lined up one-hundred and eighty-two horses to a wagon.  That wagon is going to be able go really, really fast.  The 2.4L ECOTEC 4-cylinder engine with VVT, is a little bit tougher to explain.  If I had to explain it simpler for you; those 182 individual horses are the biggest and badest horses and they can get from point A to point B without expending a whole lot of energy.  Most people think for days for analogies like that, I just did that one the spot… Good for me!

2011 Buick Regal for sale in Alberta

Click for more info.

Last week I posted a 2011 Buick Regal commercial on our Facebook page. You may or may not have noticed that the soft, perfectly toned voice enticing you to buy, is none other than himself, Mr. Kevin Bacon.  If Kevin’s soothing voice couldn’t seduce you into test driving one of the cars perhaps I can.  If you’re like me and cant drive a standard and have always thought they looked fun to drive.  The Regal CXL has a 6-speed automatic transmission with Driver Shift Control allowing you shift like a pro; that’s right, no clutch! . The CXL has 6 different airbags. Dual Driver and front passenger, as well as front and rear side head curtain air bags and a front seat side thorax airbag.  Talk about safety. The sound system in the Regal is unreal.  It has a 7 speaker Harman/Kardon audio system with CD player, MP3 playback and a 10GB storage for your library of songs – Between the 10GB hard drive and Buick offering 130 channels of XM Satellite radio, you’ll never hear the same song twice.

I am running this review a little longer than I had intended, it’s just that there is so much the Regal has to offer.  I wanted to go in to detail about how the odometer is not your average flat digital clock, and that each number is almost an image with shape and dimension.  That is if you didn’t happen to pick up a CXL Turbo which has the digital Heads-up Display on your front windshield… Looks like I told you anyways.  The biggest surprise to me was when I read that Regal basically uses a form of artificial intelligence to learn your driving style. The CXL Turbo offers a interactive Drive Control System that enables you to choose between three driving modes: Normal, Tour and Sport.  Each of these modes continuously adjusts the suspension, steering, throttle, transmission and stability system to respond to your preferences and driving conditions.  Lift this car of the ground and George Jetson would even be impressed.  It is these very reasons why I feel the 2011 Buick Regal is simply a spacecraft on four wheels.

Davis GMC Buick
www.davisgm.ca
1 866 626-0577

 

Come in to see what makes this car the European standard!

Rating brought to you by: http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/

Category CXL Rating Midsize Car Average Rating
Acceleration 5 4.9
Fuel Economy 7 5.4
Ride Quality 6 5.5
Steering/Handling/Braking 7 5.5
Quietness 6 5.6
Controls 6 6.3
Details 7 5.2
Room/Comfort/Driver Seating (front) 7 6.3
Room/Comfort (rear) 4 4.6
Cargo Room 3 3.5
Value within Class 7 6.2
Total Score: 65 59

I am a web developer for Davis GM, Lethbridge.  A few people in and around the dealership will come up to me and ask some pretty basic questions about some of our vehicles as if I were a salesperson, – and why not?  I’m wearing a collared shirt and dress pants.  If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, there is a very good chance it’s a duck.  Unfortunately I am not a salesperson, nor a duck.

I decided to write this blog about the new 2011 Buick Regal because one, its one of the hottest cars out there.  The second reason I have chose to write this blog is because I wanted to force myself to do a bit of research on this vehicle. You know, learn a thing or two about it so that I can share about some of the features when approached.

So here is what I know – Let’s start with a bit of history.  First, the last time that this European beauty was offered to the western market was in 2004. Second, the European market knows this vehicle as the Buick Intrigue, where we know it as the Buick Regal.  In 2009 the European Regal (Intrigue) earned Car of the Year honors, establishing itself as the best-selling mid-size car in Europe.  You always hear of young kids talking about European imports, how this car is better than that car etc. etc (Thank-You Fast and the Furious). I guarantee they have never brought up the Regal. Well that’s because it’s a Buick, Buick’s are for the older generation right? NO!

So many people have this idea that Buick is not a young person’s car.  Maybe I am too young to be able to trace back-in-time to figure where we got this idea, but after driving this vehicle and seeing it out on the lot, I can guarantee you it is not.  It’s a shame that a company can be stigmatized as an “older generation” vehicle because they excel at creating vehicles with comfortable interior’s and incredible suspensions.  Do people consider BMW and Mercedes Benz an “old person’s” vehicle? Maybe, I guess that depends on one’s personal opinion.  I feel that the new 2011 Buick’s have the appearance of those high-end vehicles.  Only Buick has found a way to pull it off just a little bit better.

I am simply a web developer at Davis GM and do not know a whole lot about the cars we sell.  I would love to be able to tell you that the 2011 Regal has a standard 182 hp 2.4 L ECOTEC 4-cylinder engine with Direct Injection and Variable Valve Timing (VVT) and be able to tell you what that all means, but I should probably leave that up to the experts.  I can only tell that if you lined up one-hundred and eighty-two horses to a wagon.  That wagon is going to be able go really, really fast.  The 2.4L ECOTEC 4-cylinder engine with VVT, is a little bit tougher to explain.  If I had to explain it simpler for you; those 182 individual horses are the biggest and badest horses and they can get from point A to point B without expending a whole lot of energy.  Most people think of days of analogies like that, I just did that one the spot… Good for me!

Last week I posted a 2011 Buick Regal commercial on our Facebook page. You may or may not have noticed that the soft, perfectly toned voice enticing you to buy, is none other than himself, Mr. Kevin Bacon.  If Kevin’s soothing voice couldn’t seduce you into test driving one of the cars perhaps I can.  If you’re like me and cant drive a standard and have always thought they looked fun to drive.  The Regal CXL has a 6-speed automatic transmission with Driver Shift Control allowing you shift like a pro; thats right, no clutch! . The CXL has 6 different airbags. Dual Driver and front passenger, as well as front and rear side head curtain air bags and a front seat side thorax airbag.  Talk about safety. The sound system in the Regal is unreal.  It has a 7 speaker Harman/Kardon audio system with CD player, MP3 playback and a 10GB storage for your library of songs – Between the 10GB hard drive and Buick offering 130 channels of XM Satellite radio, you’ll never hear the same song twice.

I am running this review a little longer than I had intended, it’s just that there is so much the Regal has to offer.  I wanted to go in to detail about how the odometer is not your average flat digital clock, and that each number is almost an image with shape and dimension.  That is if you didn’t happen to pick up a CXL Turbo which has the digital Heads-up Display on your front windshield… Looks like I told you anyways.  The biggest surprise to me was when I read that Regal basically uses a form of artificial intelligence to learn your driving style. The CXL Turbo offers a interactive Drive Control System that enables you to choose between three driving modes: Normal, Tour and Sport.  Each of these modes continuously adjusts the suspension, steering, throttle, transmission and stability system to respond to your preferences and driving conditions.  Lift this car of the ground and George Jetson would even be impressed.  It is these very reasons why I feel the 2011 Buick Regal is simply a spacecraft on four wheels.

Come in to see what makes this car the European standard.

Rating brought to you by: http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/

Category CXL Rating Midsize Car Average Rating
Acceleration 5 4.9
Fuel Economy 7 5.4
Ride Quality 6 5.5
Steering/Handling/Braking 7 5.5
Quietness 6 5.6
Controls 6 6.3
Details 7 5.2
Room/Comfort/Driver Seating (front) 7 6.3
Room/Comfort (rear) 4 4.6
Cargo Room 3 3.5
Value within Class 7 6.2
Total Score: 65 59

Saving Gas! Tips on Buying Gasoline and how to conserve it.

Arm and Leg Gas Prices

The surest way you can improve your fuel cost problem is to change your motoring habits. Listed below under four categories are 30 effective methods of doing so… no need to buy expensive add-on equipment.

ENGINE WARM-UP

1. Avoid prolonged warming up of engine, even on cold mornings – 30 to 45 seconds is plenty of time.

2. Be sure the automatic choke is disengaged after engine warm up… chokes often get stuck, resulting in bad gas/air mixture.

3. Don’t start and stop engine needlessly. Idling your engine for one minute consumes the gas amount equivalent to when you start the engine.

4. Avoid “reving” the engine, especially just before you switch the engine off; this wastes fuel needlessly and washes oil down from the inside cylinder walls, owing to loss of oil pressure.

5. Eliminate jack-rabbit starts. Accelerate slowly when starting from dead stop. Don’t push pedal down more than 1/4 of the total foot travel. This allows carburetor to function at peak efficiency.

HOW TO BUY GASOLINE

6. Buy gasoline during coolest time of day – early morning or late evening is best. During these times gasoline is densest. Keep in mind – gas pumps measure volumes of gasoline, not densities of fuel concentration. You are charged according to “volume of measurement”.

7. Choose type and brand of gasoline carefully. Certain brands provide you with greater economy because of better quality. Use the brands which “seem” most beneficial.

8. Avoid filling gas tank to top. Overfilling results in sloshing over and out of tank. Never fill gas tank past the first “click” of fuel nozzle, if nozzle is automatic.

HOW TO DRIVE ECONOMICALLY

9. Exceeding 40 mph forces your auto to overcome tremendous wind resistance.

10. Never exceed legal speed limit. Primarily they are set for your traveling safety, however better gas efficiency also occurs. Traveling at 55 mph give you up to 21% better mileage when compared to former legal speed limits of 65 mph and 70 mph.

11. Traveling at fast rates in low gears can consume up to 45% more fuel than is needed.

12. Manual shift driven cars allow you to change to highest gear as soon as possible, thereby letting you save gas if you “nurse it along”. However, if you cause the engine to “bog down”, premature wearing of engine parts occurs.

13. Keep windows closed when traveling at highway speeds. Open windows cause air drag, reducing your mileage by 10%.

14. Drive steadily. Slowing down or speeding up wastes fuel. Also avoid tailgating – the driver in front of you is unpredictable. Not only is it unsafe, but if affects your economy, if he slows down unexpectedly.

15.Think ahead when approaching hills. If you accelerate, do it before you reach the hill, not while you’re on it.

GENERAL ADVICE

16. Do not rest left foot on floor board pedals while driving. The slightest pressure puts “mechanical drag” on components, wearing them down prematurely. This “dragging” also demands additional fuel usage.

17. Avoid rough roads whenever possible, because dirt or gravel rob you of up to 30% of your gas mileage.

18. Use alternate roads when safer, shorter, straighter. Compare traveling distance differences – remember that corners, curves and lane jumping requires extra gas. The shortest distance between two points is always straight.

19. Stoplights are usually timed for your motoring advantage. By traveling steadily at the legal speed limit you boost your chances of having the “green light” all the way.

20. Automatic transmissions should be allowed to cool down when your car is idling at a standstill, e.g. railroad crossings, long traffic lights, etc. Place gear into neutral position. This reduces transmission strain and allows transmission to cool.

21. Park car so that you can later begin to travel in forward gear; avoid reverse gear maneuvers to save gas.

22. Regular tune-ups ensure best economy; check owner’s manual for recommended maintenance intervals. Special attention should be given to maintaining clean air filters… diminished air flow increases gas waste.

23. Inspect suspension and chassis parts for occasional misalignment. Bent wheels, axles, bad shocks, broken springs, etc. create engine drag and are unsafe at high traveling speeds.

24. Remove snow tires during good weather seasons; traveling on deep tire tread really robs fuel!

25. Inflate all tires to maximum limit. Each tire should be periodically spun, balanced and checked for out-of-round. When shopping for new tires, get large diameter tires for rear wheels. Radial designs are the recognized fuel-savers; check manufacturer’s specifications for maximum tire pressures.

26. Remove vinyl tops – they cause air drag. Rough surfaces disturb otherwise smooth air flow around a car’s body. Bear in mind when buying new cars that a fancy sun roof helps disturb smooth air flow (and mileage).

27. Auto air conditioners can reduce fuel economy by 10% to 20%. Heater fan, power windows and seats increase engine load; the more load on your engine, the less miles per gallon.

28. Remove excess weight from trunk or inside of car – extra tires, back seats, unnecessary heavy parts. Extra weight reduces mileage, especially when driving up inclines.

29. Car pools reduce travel monotony and gas expense – all riders chip in to help you buy. Conversation helps to keep the driver alert. Pooling also reduces traffic congestion, gives the driver easier maneuverability and greater “steady speed” economy. For best results, distribute passenger weight evenly throughout car.

30. During cold weather watch for icicles frozen to car frame. Up to 100 lbs. can be quickly accumulated! Unremoved snow and ice cause tremendous wind resistance. Warm water thrown on (or hosed on) will eliminate it fast.

EXTRA TIPS

Install pressure regulator valve (sold in auto parts stores)… Use graphite motor oil… Beware of oil additives, regardless of advertising claims… Add Marvel Mystery Oil into gas fill-ups… Investigate fuel/water injection methods and products… combine short errands into one trip… Use special gas additives to prevent winter freezing of gas lines… convert your V8 engine over to a V4 – no special kits needed!!!

Thanks to writter Ernest Miles & howtoadvice.com

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