Hot Turbo Time Machine - Buick Races Back to "70s - NYTimes.com A midsize Buick with fresh looks, robust performance and a manual transmission, just as in the 1970s. HOW MUCH? $35,310 base; $38,650 as tested with navigation system ($1,145), sunroof ($1,000), 20-inch wheels ($700) and White Diamond paint ($495). A 2-liter turbocharged in-line 4; 6-speed manual gearbox; front-wheel drive. The GS races to 60 m.p.h. in a decidedly unBuick-like 6.2 seconds, according to Car and Driver magazine. Compared with some rivals, yes: the E.P.A. rating is 19 m.p.g. in town and 27 on the highway. "HIGH performance Buick" may seem an oxymoron, akin to full-contact mah-jongg or a Red Bull-and-prune-juice cocktail. Buick's reputation for stodgy goes back decades, but the brand has occasionally cut loose with muscle cars, including the GS (or Gran Sport) models of the 1960s and early "70s, or the bullying Regal Grand Nationals of the "80s. But today, a fast-reviving Buick is relying on German sport sedan virtues, rather than Detroit muscle, to shake the old-fogey blues. The Regal GS is the latest example. The name nods to the old Gran Sports, but this 270-horsepower sedan hails largely from Germany. Like standard Regals, the GS is based on the award-winning Opel Insignia from G.M."s European division. When I reviewed the bread-and-butter Regals last October, I called them the best-looking, most contemporary sedans from an American automaker. For attention-seekers, the GS is better. The body is lowered, and the front end gets the biggest flared-nostril air inlets this side of a Lamborghini, along with trapezoidal exhaust outlets and optional 20-inch chrome alloy wheels. The springs are roughly 20 percent stiffer front and rear, and the rear antiroll bar is 20 percent larger. The front brakes are powerful Brembo units with four-piston calipers and 14-inch rotors. The GS adopts the 2-liter engine from the Turbo, but the boost pressure is increased by 33 percent. That raises the horsepower to 270, from 220, and increases the torque to 295, from 260. Just how serious is this Buick? Before the recent introduction of a 6-speed automatic, the GS came only with a 6-speed manual transmission. The cabin of the GS, like the ones in basic Regals, is stylish and smartly appointed, despite a few bits of mismatched trim. Additions for the GS include a metal-trimmed flat-bottom steering wheel and handsome leather sport seats with body-cupping bolsters. After 20 years in which G.M. has handed out tickets to cheap seats, I'm beginning to see and feel relief in some of its newer models. Another gain is the seven-inch navigation touch screen, a feature that will migrate to most Regals next year. On the highway, the car feels as solid and quiet as any Audi, Volvo or Lexus. On the downside, it weighs a chubby 3,710 pounds. The GS also erases major flaws of standard Regals: the straining 2.4-liter engine of the cheapest versions and the upsetting torque steer of the Turbo. G.M. engineers knew that, as with any powerful front-drive car, raising the horsepower could worsen the torque steer, making the wheel twist in the driver's hands under hard acceleration or causing the car to squirt off course. An obvious solution is all-wheel drive, but engineers rejected the added cost and weight. The answer was HiPer strut, a clever suspension design (first used on the Buick LaCrosse) that splits the front struts into two parts. Instead of having to lay down power, control the ride and steer the car - too many chores for overtaxed front wheels - HiPer strut essentially splits those duties. The design largely eliminates torque steer. And as the Buick sprints away from a stoplight there is a naughty note of turbo whistle, bucking the trend of some upscale automakers who seek to banish telltale traces of turbochargers. "The right amount adds character to a car," said Bill Rietow, the lead development engineer. We enjoy that sound, to know that turbo is working for us. There's still so much power that injudicious use of the throttle can cause the front wheels to hop, especially on damp or loose pavement. Press the Sport or GS buttons and the Interactive Drive Control adjusts the suspension stiffness and steering weight over a well-chosen range of responses. Even in the softest mode, the Buick handles well; in the sharpest GS mode, the ride remains smooth. I remember driving the standard and Turbo Regals at night on the tricky Merritt Parkway in Connecticut and feeling a few pale-knuckle moments as the speed climbed. Over the same road at night, the GS felt distinctly better - far more planted and eager to charge through curves that had the other Regals backing off. Grippy Pirelli P Zero summer tires contribute to that security. Such sophisticated performance raises a question: why aren't all Regals tuned, at least their steering and suspensions, like the GS? While the GS capably justifies its price, I wonder how many people will spend more than $35,000 for a 4-cylinder front-drive G.M. sedan. But for those who struggle to explain the quaint Buick badge to skeptics, one look at the GS will tell them you're not the retiring type.