Buick Regal GS Concept - 2010 Detroit Auto Show

What is it?
Buick Regal GS Concept

What's special about it?
What's special about it? It's a Buick with a suede-covered flat-bottom steering wheel, dude. How much more special do you want?

With the former excitement-bringer Pontiac out of the way, GM is beginning to load the Buick lineup with Euro-engineered product. The LaCrosse, based on the surprisingly competent, designed-in-Europe Epsilon II platform, is the first of the non-flaccid Buicks. This curious turn for the old brand has been further promoted by the recent announcement that the rebadged Opel Insignia would be the next Buick Regal and will be offered with a turbocharged engine and a — gasp! — manual transmission.

Now Buick will reveal a Buick-ized concept of the high-performance Opel Insignia OPC, introduced at the Detroit auto show as the Buick Regal GS Concept. That's right, it's a "concept" of the thinly veiled production variety. The production version is assured, judging by Bob Lutz's various winks and nudges during a preview of the "concept."

Anyway, the car itself borrows very heavily from the OPC, including a sport-oriented Interactive Drive Control System (IDCS), which controls damper settings, throttle response and steering sensitivity. There are three protocols: Normal, Sport and GS. All this is presented in the cockpit just as in the Opel Insignia OPC, except the button inside this Buick says "GS" instead of "OPC." The car rides on 20-inch cast-aluminum wheels, which are really very handsome, and wears 35-series Bridgestone performance tires. Further, the front suspension has been reworked with what GM calls "HiPerStrut." This high-performance front suspension strut is meant to reduce torque steer and enhance cornering by maintaining negative camber and it comes from — where else? — the Opel Insignia OPC.

Like the OPC, the Buick Regal GS features an all-wheel-drive system that incorporates an electronic limited-slip differential in the rear. The concept also has a Brembo braking system with 14-inch drilled rotors and four-piston aluminum calipers. Unlike the Opel, which is powered by the same basic turbocharged V6 that's used in the turbo version of the Cadillac SRX, the Regal GS is said to have a turbo 2.0-liter inline-4, a high-output version of which will be offered in the Regal CXL next year. It produces an estimated 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Predictably, it is bolted to a six-speed manual transmission.

Inside the cabin, Buick has blacked out all the interior trim within the GS, plus added the aforementioned flat-bottom steering wheel. The nose of the GS borrows heavily from the OPC with its additional vertically oriented air intakes. In fact, so close is the resemblance of the exterior between the two cars that Buick has prepared the photographic image of the GS you see here by simply pasting a Buick grille and portholes to an existing picture of the OPC.

All of this should provide for a decidedly un-Buick-like demeanor for the Buick Regal GS when it reaches production. If this all seems a bit overblown, well, some items may change for production. Rumors are already circulating that the 2.0-liter turbo will be replaced by a V6, either the turbo unit used by Opel in Europe or GM's familiar 3.6-liter naturally aspirated lump.

The world changes pretty fast, although perhaps not quite as fast as GM is trying to change Buick.

Inside Line says: We're down with OPC. Yeah, you know me! — Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit