Buick is up to something with its new Regal Sportback, as our own senior photographer William Walker has captured a group of prototypes testing in Southern California. It’s difficult to tell exactly what Buick has cooking, but there are a few details that could hint at a future GS variant.
A total of four prototypes were caught in a parking lot in Westlake Village, Calif. Two are heavily camouflaged, and two wear light camo that only hides the badges and obscures certain styling cues. The two heavily camo’d cars are shod in Hankook all-season tires, so it’s hard to imagine they’re hiding high-performance GS models. They could be powertrain mules, however. The most interesting car of the bunch is the barely disguised white Regal. That car is equipped with Cadillac-branded front brake calipers, possibly the Brembos available on the XTS. It also wears high-performance Bridgestone Potenza tires and appears to sport the Opel lightning bolt badge instead of Buick’s tri-shield emblem. The Buick Regal is sold as the Opel Insignia in Europe.
Buick could be raiding the GM parts bin to find a wheel, tire, and brake combo best suited for a Regal GS model. It could also be testing parts for a future performance package. The green car is equipped with Hankook Ventus S1 Evo2 summer tires, but it lacks the larger brakes of the white car. The OEM tire fitment for the U.S.-spec Regal is still unknown. We do know the standard 2018 Buick Regal Sportback will pack a turbocharged 2.0-liter I-4 making 250 hp and 260-295 lb-ft of torque, depending on whether front- or all-wheel drive is chosen. The Regal will also be available in a TourX crossover-ized wagon variant when it arrives this fall.
We’re not sure what Buick is testing, but it’s definitely not your run-of-the-mill Regal. Check out the photos and decide for yourself.
Photo credit: William Walker
The post Spied! Possible Buick Regal GS Mule Wears Cadillac Brakes appeared first on Motor Trend.
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