TheMercuryNews.com's view

Talk about a change in personality.

The new Buick Regal, arriving in showrooms in May, made its public introduction on the Internet — a first in the auto industry. That’s right, the first car to debut via the Web wasn’t a BMW or a Mercedes but a Buick, a mid-size Buick Regal sedan.

The new Regal even has its own Web site — http://www.regal.com — where you’ll find references to “all the right moves” and “power in motion.”

It’s all part of Buick’s repositioning of the Regal for a younger buyer, someone between 40 and 49 years of age. “We’re going after a new customer, certainly, for Regal,” said Regal brand manager Roger Adams.

That would be a significant shift: Regal buyers in the last model year averaged 60 years old, a bit below the 64- or 65-year-old average Buick buyer.

The new Regal features more than a change in attitude, though.

It’s longer overall, with a longer wheelbase, so it has more room inside and in the trunk. You can’t get a bench seat in the 1997.5 Regal nor a shifter on the steering column. Anyone wanting those traditional items will be redirected to the Buick Century, where those features are still available, Adams said.

And the Regal is stuffed with standard equipment that beats many other competitors.

For example, even on the base Regal — the LS which starts at $22,175 including delivery charge — remote keyless entry is standard. It’s an option on all Ford Taurus models. Traction control is standard on the Regal; it’s an option on Toyota Camry. And the Regal has standard dual temperature controls for front-seat riders — a feature not offered by many competitors.

I drove the top-of-the-line Regal GS, which has bigger tires than the LS and a slightly sportier appearance. Improved body stiffening and careful suspension tuning were evident as the front-drive Regal felt much more responsive, much more capable in its handling, than its predecessor.

Buick added magnetic steering effort to the rack-and-pinion steering and it’s palpable in slow-speed maneuvering, keeping to a minimum the muscles needed to turn the wheel.

The new GS comes with a supercharged V-6. Its smooth power comes on steadily, calmly, not in some crazed, unnerving way. Especially impressive for family sedan drivers is the supercharged Regal’s flat torque curve, which means there’s good “oomph” available across a broad rev range, not leaving you lacking for power.

This 3800 Series II engine, the same one that’s in the more expensive Buick Riviera, produces a maximum 240 horsepower at 5,200 revolutions per minute and top torque of 280 pounds-feet at 3,600 rpm. That compares with 170 horses at 5,600 rpm in the Honda Accord LX with V-6 engine and 194 at 5,200 rpm in the Toyota Camry with V-6.

The Regal can run from standstill to 60 miles per hour in about 6.5 seconds, though Buick officials seem to eschew any comparisons with what many believe was the last great Regal, the 1987 Regal GNX. The wicked-looki ng, turbocharged, rear-drive GNX was sold only as a black coupe and only in limited numbers.

That’s not what Buick has in mind for the new Regal, though. There are plenty of friendly colors, safety features and styling cues to give it solid family car appeal.

But Buick has to do more than put it on the Internet and have the Web site work well. (The computer system crashed during the Regal’s public introduction on the Web last December, Buick officials acknowledged.)

Clearly, the real challenge for Buick will be to entice younger families into a car they’re not accustomed to thinking is built for them. Somehow, they have to get inside the Regal to recognize the car’s new appeal.

As Adams said, “You truly have to drive it to appreciate it.”

SPECS
What we drove: 1997.5 Buick Regal GS, a four-door, midsize sedan with 3.8-liter, supercharged, 90-degree V-6 and electronically controlled, four-speed automatic transmission.

Base price: $22, 0

Price as tested (includes California emissions and delivery charge): $23,450

0-60 mph time: 6.5 seconds

Curb weight: 3,520 pounds

Length: 196.2 inches

Turning circle (curb to curb): 37.5 feet

Standard features: Two front airbags; air conditioning with dual temperature controls; power windows, door locks and heated outside mirrors; remote keyless entry; cruise control; AM/FM stereo with cassette player; rear window defogger; traction control.

EPA figures: 18 mpg (city), 28 mpg (highway)