Review: 2014 Buick Regal Turbo AWD Is Quiet Elegance With Kick

2014 Buick Regal Front

The 2014 Buick Regal Turbo AWD combines the elegance of a luxury car with the power of a sports car in one beautiful package. This is not the Buick your Father drove. It’s much better.

The Buick Regal gets a nice update for the 2014 model year that includes subtle design changes inside and out. The most noticeable exterior changes are LED accents in the headlights and taillights, a slightly modified but still sporty front grille and reshaped exhaust tips.

Watch the 2014 Buick Regal Turbo AWD come up fast in your rear view mirror and you’ll be looking to get the heck out of its way. That big front grille just screams power and it’s not at all off the mark in that impression.

2014 Buick Regal Interior

Inside, it’s the plush and very elegant look you’d expect from Buick. It manages to be luxurious with just enough wood and metal trim to avoid stepping into gaudy Kardashian territory.

The design is simplified with things like LED lit gauges on the instrument panel and a center stack console that isn’t all buttons and knobs. It’s smooth and refined right down to the touch controls for the heated seats.

The infotainment system sits nicely in the dash with a minimal amount of fuss, clear controls, and an 8″ LCD touchscreen with an available improved IntelliLink system. It’s brighter, cleaner and easier to use without all the old-fashioned knobs it had last year.

2014 Buick Regal Dash

The front seats are wonderfully comfortable and will adjust to exactly the position that you favor. You’ll have just as much stiffness and support, or lack of it, as you like, but the folks in back won’t be quite as happy.

Although comfortable, with the front seats pushed back, even smaller rear passengers will be short on leg room, especially if there are three adults. My eleven-year-old even complained that her Dad was squishing her to death. Her words, not mine.

The 2014 Buick Regal Turbo AWD comes with a turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder that puts out 259 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. It’s also got a six-speed automatic transmission. You’re getting about 39 horsepower more than in last year’s turbo and it handles beautifully.

2014 Buick Regal Turbo

That handling comes in part from GM’s improved electric power steering and in part from the AWD system. It can split up to 90% of available torque to the rear wheels, or shift torque between the rear wheels with an electronic limited-slip differential. You’ll feel it in the car’s cornering which is tight and incredibly controlled even at higher speeds.

You’ll find road noise at a bare minimum too, and feedback in the steering matches with only significant change in the road surface coming through to the driver. It’s one of the smoothest, quietest rides you’ll experience.

If you’re looking for a 0-60 that knocks your socks off, this isn’t quite going to do the trick. The 2014 Buick Regal Turbo AWD is not purely a sports car and doesn’t drive like one. It’s a luxury sedan that simply refuses to be sedate.

2014 Buick Regal Turbo Full

This is a mid-size car and it looks and drives at the top end of its class, but falls some when you look at MPG ratings. The turbo gets just 19 city/27 highway for a combined 22 MPG rating. Gas prices are coming down, but that could hurt if they turn back in the other direction.

What you lose at the pump, you’re getting back when you look at the sticker. The 2014 Buick Regal Turbo AWD as tested is $40,445. Not a bargain, but compared to the vehicles it competes with like the Audi A4 or the Acura TSX, you’re getting a more well-equipped car for a good deal less.

On the TFLcar scale of:

  • Buy it!
  • Lease it!
  • Rent it!
  • … or Forget it!

I give the 2014 Buick Regal Turbo AWD a Buy It!

Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.