2018 Buick Regal Sportback Road Test and Review

About a month before Henry Ford established his car company, Dunbar Buick created his in May of 1903. That makes Buick America’s oldest living automotive brand. Buick was also the cornerstone of the creation of General Motors in 1908, and the Regal, which first appeared in 1973, has been one of the automaker’s most successful models.

The all-new 2018 Regal Sportback builds upon those 115 years of success with new levels of luxury, technology, and style. Unlike the many Regals that have come before, the new Sportback is not a coupe or a sedan; it’s a sport luxury hatchback that offers buyers additional cargo volume and versatility, plus a sleek and sexy fastback body style. Such vehicles have gained popularity in the last few years, but it’s the German automakers that have led the way with such cars as the BMW 3 Series GT, BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe, and Audi A5 Sportback. The new Regal takes on those popular European models, but its base price of around $25,000 makes it far more affordable.

Buick assembles the new 2018 Regal in Germany and offers it in five trim levels: Regal, Preferred, Preferred II, Essence, and GS. The first four use a 250-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, which is competitive with the 252-hp Audi A5 and the 248-hp BMW 330i. There are no hybrid or diesel models. Front-wheel drive is standard, but all-wheel drive is available on the Preferred II and Essence models for an additional $2,000, and standard on the GS. Every Regal comes with an automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive Regals get a nine-speed automatic, while Regals with all-wheel drive use an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Prices start at $25,920, including a $925 destination charge, which is about $2,000 less than a 2017 Regal sedan. Our front-wheel drive Regal Essence test vehicle cost $32,695 before options. Standard features include heated front seats, keyless entry and engine start, and a heated steering wheel. Additional extras like navigation, LED headlamps, and a premium audio system drove the sticker price of our test vehicle up to $35,615.

The most expensive, most powerful and most desirable 2018 Buick Regal is the GS. GS stands for Gran Sport, which is Buick-speak for performance. In the late 1960s, during the original muscle-car era, Gran Sport Buicks were some of the most powerful and quickest accelerating American cars around. And those cars, including the 1965 Riviera GS and 1970 Skylark GS, are now highly coveted by car collectors.

To crank up the performance, the 2018 Regal GS gets a 310-hp 3.6-liter V6, a nine-speed automatic transmission, and standard all-wheel drive. It rolls on 19-inch wheels, comes equipped with Brembo front disc brakes, a sport-tuned exhaust system, and a sport-tuned suspension with GS and Sport driving modes. Inside there are sport seats with heat and massage, a flat-bottom steering wheel, and metal pedals. The exterior is juiced up with unique front and rear bumpers, side skirts, and a small rear spoiler. Prices starts at $39,990, which is $5,000 less than a 248-hp BMW 330i GT and over $10,000 less than a 320-hp 340i GT.

Like its exterior, the interior of the 2018 Buick Regal does a good job of mixing an American luxury aesthetic with sporty, European flair. Although the glossy wood trim is man-made and the Buick’s turn signal stalk feels flimsy, overall its interior shows good quality thanks to precise panel fitment and a smattering of chrome trim. The Regal’s doors and exterior handles also feel solid. The doors close with a satisfying thunk.

Visibility is good, and the outside mirrors are well-sized. The Buick’s controls are well-placed, and the standard automatic climate control system is simple and easy to use. The heated front seats in our test vehicle were firm but well-shaped; however, some may find them to be narrow, especially up by your shoulders. The three-spoke steering wheel is wrapped in leather with contrasting stitching, and it looks and feels great. The gauges are clear and easy to read, but their design is uninspired.

Storage inside the Buick’s interior is abundant and well thought-out. The center console bin is sizable, and the large door bins have slots for water bottles. There are also seatback pockets and three large front cupholders, including one behind the shifter that doubles as a phone and wallet holder. The two rear cupholders are part of the fold-down center armrest.

Of course, the point of a hatchback is cargo capacity. The Regal’s trunk is huge, offering 31.5 cubic feet of cargo space behind its rear seat and 60.7 cubic feet with the 60/40 split rear seat folded flat. That’s more than a BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe or Audi A5 Sportback. Buick also allows you to fold the rear seat with buttons in the cargo area, and a 40/20/40 folding split is available. Unfortunately, the Regal’s liftgate is big and heavy, which makes it hard for preteens to open and close. Surprisingly, a power liftgate is not available.

Bluetooth is standard on every 2018 Regal, and its infotainment system is easy to use. Our test vehicle's 8-inch touchscreen (some lesser trim levels get a 7-inch screen) is within easy reach, the navigation system is simple to program, and the graphics are crisp and modern. There are also auxiliary buttons on the dash and steering wheel to control the audio system. The system is also Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible and it offers an onboard 4G LTE WiFi hotspot, but its voice recognition proved to be incompatible with my New Jersey accent.

Further available tech includes wireless phone charging and a head-up display, which projects the speedometer and other information on the windshield ahead of the driver. This technology keeps the driver from having to look down at the dashboard, which cuts down on distraction and keeps your eyes on the road.

The Regal Sportback seats five with vast rear seat legroom. The back seat also has plenty of headroom if you’re under 6 feet tall, though the middle position is kind of hard and is not equipped with a headrest. Backseat passengers do get a couple of air conditioning vents, and parents of younger children will appreciate the Buick’s easy-to-reach LATCH connectors in the outboard seats. Because it’s such a new model, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have not yet crash-tested the 2018 Buick Regal.  

The Environment Protection Agency has estimated Regal’s fuel economy, however, and it’s good for this class: 22 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on the highway. I averaged 23.9 mpg during a week of mixed driving around Southern California. The significantly more powerful Regal GS is rated for 19 mpg city and 27 mpg highway.

Although the new Regal’s overall safety scores are yet to be determined, buyers should know that Buick offers the hatchback with a long list of high-tech safety systems. Options on our test vehicle included a lane-change alert with side blind-zone alert, rear cross-traffic alert, and rear park assist.

Buick also offers a more extensive package that includes active cruise control, which will keep a safe distance from the vehicle ahead; lane-keep assist with a lane-departure warning, which will steer the Regal back into your lane for you; and a forward-collision alert that warns if vehicles or pedestrians are in your path. Forward automatic braking is also included in this package. It automatically applies the brakes if the system believes an accident is imminent. Another clever safety-related feature is a rear seat reminder that suggests you check for kids or pets before exiting the vehicle.

After a few days behind the wheel of the 2018 Regal in and around Los Angeles, we were impressed with its turbocharged four-cylinder engine, as well as its comfortable ride and agile handling. The engine is smooth, and there’s plenty of torque off the line for lively acceleration, even with five passengers aboard. Most car buyers don’t associate fun-to-drive with Buick, but the Regal Sportback is quick, sporty, and responsive, and its steering feel is good.

We’re also impressed with the Regal’s extremely smooth start/stop feature, which shuts off the engine at red lights to save fuel, and its nine-speed automatic always seems to be in the right gear. The transmission does have a manual mode, which allows you to choose gears yourself, but we never felt the need. Unlike other cars in this class, the Regal does not have paddle shifters. A one-day 300-mile road trip to and from California’s central valley showed off the Regal’s relaxed highway ride, the comfort of its seats, and its impressive stability in a heavy downpour around the town of Grapevine.

Overall, the 2018 Buick Regal Sportback is a solid choice if you’re looking for a sporty luxury hatchback. It’s comfortable, it performs well, and it offers exceptional cargo space, which is pretty much the point of a hatchback.

No, it isn’t as well-appointed as the Audi A5 Sportback or the BMW 3 Series GT xDrive, and it doesn’t offer quite the same performance as those German models. But those vehicles start at over $40,000, and the Buick costs far less. That makes the new Regal a strong value.