  2013 Buick Verano Turbo. Click image to enlarge |
Now that aesthetics are out of the way, I can’t help but touch on the choice of materials in the interior. Within minutes of poking around it was quite easy to see where budget engineering came into play. The upper dash pad was reasonably trimmed, but the lower half is not. The gearshift knob is leather clad and feels sturdy, yet the steering wheel feels just a bit cheap. The wood trim on the side of the centre stack looks fairly reasonable however the pieces on the door handle, combined with cheap plastic trim, just look sub-par. This is exactly where the “Entry-Level Luxury” marketing gets on my last nerve. I’ve been in completely respectable cars within the Verano Turbo’s price range that were equally well trimmed, most recently the Kia Optima Turbo (not that it’s a direct competitor size-wise), but they weren’t trying to tout themselves as a luxury product. They were simply trying to be a good car, which the Verano would do quite well at if Buick dropped the charade and set image and branding aside for a minute.
   2013 Buick Verano Turbo. Click image to enlarge |
Now that that’s out of my system, lets get to the good stuff; how this thing drives. The Verano Turbo is based on GM’s Delta II platform, which was originally developed in Germany for the Opel Astra, and although the Buick is built in the US of A, the European influence is easy to spot. Although it’s meant to be a comfortable cruiser, the Verano is surprisingly well balanced, and quite a bit of fun to chuck around. Steering is precise and though slightly numb it’s definitely better than I was expecting. The six-speed automatic gearbox isn’t exactly quick, nor is it in tune with the needs of an enthusiastic driver. Fortunately, once you throw it in manual mode it is up to the task of swapping cogs with relative speed and precision. For the average enthusiastic commuter the entire suspension setup is firm, yet compliant enough for most of our less than perfect roads, and although the rear suspension architecture is still only semi-independent the Verano never feels awkward or unsettled through the corners.
The other pleasant surprise is the overall performance of GM’s 2.0L turbo engine. Having spent time with a significant number of forced-induction mills over the past couple of years, I’ll admit this one isn’t half bad. Packing 250 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque, the Verano Turbo is capable of 0–100 km/h sprints in as little as 6.2 seconds, and unlike some of the boosted powerplants kicking around, GM has done a great job of keeping power delivery very linear. That linear delivery is also a great help in limiting any kind of torque steer, which was one of my biggest qualms with the Kia Optima Turbo earlier in the year. Far too often in front-wheel-drive cars with over 200 hp, torque steer steps in and ruins the drive experience, but GM’s Opel engineers seem to have put the effort in to keep it to a minimum. All told, the Verano is a pretty smooth and comfortable ride, without being boring, and although I could stand to see it be a bit more brash and bold, my only real qualm is with its sales pitch.
