Man, it would sure be nice if we could actually talk cars in this place.
we are talking cars...for some reason, when someone says this "Sport Sedan" isn't very "sporty", all heck breaks loose.
Now, as I see it, that's not the issue at all.
Some people like the car as is, some require more power. That's all good. The problem starts when personal attacks are used to denigrate and call into question the judgement and enthusiast credentials of those who do like it.
Now to the Regal itself, the ride and handling characteristics are very good. It has a very composed ride with minimal understeer. A person can, and I have, throw it through some twisty stuff (at least as twisty as you can find here) and it works very well in corners. To me, that puts it on the sporty end of the spectrum.
As has also been pointed out, it matches the TSX in acceleration. A few comments were made about power output when the TSX was introduced, but not two very contentious threads rife with nasty comments. The question to me is what is different? The only answer that I can see is that it's a GM product, and a few of the more vociferous voices on here have a history of seeing the negative in anything GM does.
Just so you know where I'm coming from, I've only owned one new GM car, a Pontiac Vibe. I've owned 4 Toyotas (if you count the Vibe), a couple of Fords, a Jeep, a Dodge (Mitsubishi) Colt, a loathsome Eagle Premier ES (Renault 25) and my current Subaru. I'm not especially partial to any brand, I buy what suits the need at the time. Hardly a "slappy" for any brand. If I was, from my history, it'd have to be Toyota.
As Topgun has brought up, is the Miata any less a sports car, just because it can't do 0-60 in less than 7 seconds? Why should it be any different for a sports sedan? Especially when two more powertrain options are in the offing in a few months?
To the question of the importance of acceleration times, look at the history of the pony cars. Through most of their history, the Mustang was slower than the Camaro/Firebird, and yet Mustang almost always outsold them, quite often both cars combined. Now if pony car buyers don't select their cars, cars whose raison d'être is acceleration, on the basis of acceleration times, just how important is it really to sedans of any stripe?
How's that for a long winded answer to a very short question?
![Grin ;D](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/grin.gif)