2018 Regal Tour-X 2500mi road trip - mileage results

[92saturnsl2]

I've had this car for about a year and a half now and finally had the opportunity to take it on a good road trip. I live 35 miles southwest of Louisville. First jaunt was to Laconia, NH and to Pittsburg, NH from there. Took I-86 through southern NY on the way there, and went I-91 south to Hartford onto I-80W going home. I wish I had thought to bring my passport because going through Canada on the way home would have saved a lot of time and been a lot more interesting. I've made the journey many times and have seen all I want to see of the usual US routes through NY/PA/WV, etc.

If there exists a better car for road trips that balances comfort / storage / power and MPG, I've yet to find it. At normal highway speeds >65, I can probably count on two hands how many times it had to leave 8th gear, it pulled up the hills pretty effortlessly. It did some serious gear hunting through the mountain passes in VT (where speeds are ~50mph or below), annoying enough that I used the manual shift mode. I was surprised at the shift logic being pretty smart at using engine braking going downhill on steep grades.

Overall it was a very pleasant drive. Car readout put the 2500mi trip average at 32.4. Hand calculated it was very close to 31mpg average for the whole trip. The portions of the trip where speed limit is only 65mph (which means I was going 70-75) yielded the best MPG. I had two people with me (probably 450 lb of humans with a trunk full of cargo). Fuel used was premium (93) at all stops.

 

[Bailes1992]

They're such great looking cars.

It's unfortunate that mine was literally falling apart after 12 months and I had to get shot of it.

My first GM car and likely my last considering they've all put pulled out of the UK.

Edit: Thinking about it again, my Wife had a '06 Saab 95 Aero and a '04 Vauxhall Astra SRi with a 3.2 Omega/Vectra engine conversion. So I guess we've had 3 GM cars.

 

[shortyb]

Good report. I'm a wagon guy and absolutely love the Tour-X. When it came out no one gave them a second look except those that knew the secret, it was a German Opel Tourer with a Buick badge. Have a neighbor with a perfect condition 2020 Essence, white, loaded, with Shale leather inside. I keep bugging him to sell it to me. The only car that could possibly get me to own a Buick .

 

[gman2304]

Typical GM thinking! Get a vehicle right, then drop it!

 

[92saturnsl2]

Good report. I'm a wagon guy and absolutely love the Tour-X. When it came out no one gave them a second look except those that knew the secret, it was a German Opel Tourer with a Buick badge. Have a neighbor with a perfect condition 2020 Essence, white, loaded, with Shale leather inside. I keep bugging him to sell it to me. The only car that could possibly get me to own a Buick .

When I went shopping for a used car (in the $20-25K range), this wasn't on the radar until one popped up at a local dealer when I was browsing online. Had to have one, I drove 3-1/2 hours to Columbus, OH to buy one with the right options vs mileage vs price.

On the entire trip, I only saw one other 2018+ Regal, it was a wagon like mine in downtown Littleton, NH.

 

[fantastic]

Engine specs? looks like an I4 based on mpg?

 

[shortyb]

Engine specs? looks like an I4 based on mpg?

Most likely the LTG or LSY Ecotec 2.0L standard on this car. His original post from the car purchase shows same.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Engine specs? looks like an I4 based on mpg?

It's the GM LTG 2.0L turbo used in the 2013+ Cadillac ATS, many Regals, higher spec Malibus and perhaps a couple other GM cars of the era. Easily the smoothest I-4 I've ever owned. I used to drive a 2009 Caliber SRT-4 (2.4L turbo) years ago and GM fit more torque, nearly as much HP with 400cc less displacement, and it's far better when it comes to NVH. Stock specs are 295 lb-ft torque, 250hp. I have a tune installed (from Trifecta) which wakes it up a good bit, but the tune is very underwhelming compared to the canned tune I put on my SRT-4. The GM ECU intervenes too much to limit torque, especially in the first couple gears. That's a topic for another time.

A manual would make this wagon really fun, that's really my only gripe is that it wasn't optioned with it here, while it was in Europe.

 

[fantastic]

It's the GM LTG 2.0L turbo used in the 2013+ Cadillac ATS, many Regals, higher spec Malibus and perhaps a couple other GM cars of the era. Easily the smoothest I-4 I've ever owned. I used to drive a 2009 Caliber SRT-4 (2.4L turbo) years ago and GM fit more torque, nearly as much HP with 400cc less displacement, and it's far better when it comes to NVH. Stock specs are 295 lb-ft torque, 250hp. I have a tune installed (from Trifecta) which wakes it up a good bit, but the tune is very underwhelming compared to the canned tune I put on my SRT-4. The GM ECU intervenes too much to limit torque, especially in the first couple gears. That's a topic for another time.

A manual would make this wagon really fun, that's really my only gripe is that it wasn't optioned with it here, while it was in Europe.

Sweet! Yeah, I've been reading up on those 2.0L turbo's over the last few years. I really dig the ATS but would probably end up getting a CTS 3.6L or 3.0L V6 if I had to choose. 30+ MPG is appealing though. I'm happy there are good options that make a joyful trip car. I'd read up on these in the past but they're just not top of mind somewhat not common. So, to make sure I understand this is a car you've bought? Sometimes I can't tell the difference since there are so many bitogers posting "Rental reviews" . I laugh but It is nice to see what options are out their w/o buying into it first.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Sweet! Yeah, I've been reading up on those 2.0L turbo's over the last few years. I really dig the ATS but would probably end up getting a CTS 3.6L or 3.0L V6 if I had to choose. 30+ MPG is appealing though. I'm happy there are good options that make a joyful trip car. I'd read up on these in the past but they're just not top of mind somewhat not common. So, to make sure I understand this is a car you've bought? Sometimes I can't tell the difference since there are so many bitogers posting "Rental reviews" . I laugh but It is nice to see what options are out their w/o buying into it first.

I was shopping for a 2-5 year old used car a year and a half ago online, one of these popped up somehow and I was stuck. I wasn't particularly looking for a wagon, in fact I think I was searching Subaru WRX and other sedans when some random ad came up for a used Tour-X near me. I sort of remember them being released when new, but GM did zero advertising of them, so they were easily forgotten.

I have no complaints, it fits what I use it for well and I don't like driving what everyone else drives so that's a bonus that there's only 6000 or so running around out there in the US. Downsides are it's rare-- mechanical bits are easy to get since it has an Aisin (Toyota?) 8-speed trans and GM powertrain otherwise. If you hit a deer or sustain some moderate amount of body damage, consider it totaled in a heartbeat, that's a definate drawback. And the rear differential is a rare torque-vectoring unit, the GKN twinster also used in the Focus RS. If a mechanical unit is going to break on this car, it's that rear diff-- I hear reports near daily on forums that someone's has bit the dust. I'm changing fluid out regularly and crossing my fingers

 

[fdcg27]

I recall seeing a bunch of these cars at the Buick/GMC dealer to which we often took our fleet GMC pickup for frequent warranty work. One of the benefits of being a minor boss is that if you want to get out of the office for a bit you can assign yourself the task of following our tech to the dealer. Anyway, we still have the GMC and after a couple of internal engine jobs (warranty) and then a new engine (our dime) it's still a complete POS. I pity the poor fool who buys this thing at auction, or the guy who buys it from the used car lot that bought it at auction.
Anyway, this wagon looked good and given the apparently large supply of them in the pre-2020 era, I do wonder what they could be bought for new?
From what you've written, the car seems quite pleasant to drive and fuel economy seems really good.
Another example of a car GM might have stayed with and done something with if only a little advertising and promotional expense had been undertaken. Chinese Buick or German Buick? Does anyone even need to think about that?

 

[92saturnsl2]

Anyway, this wagon looked good and given the apparently large supply of them in the pre-2020 era, I do wonder what they could be bought for new?

Another example of a car GM might have stayed with and done something with if only a little advertising and promotional expense had been undertaken. Chinese Buick or German Buick? Does anyone even need to think about that?

Many folks that waited out the initial release got really good deals on these. Often 6-10K under MSRP because A) wagons don't sell well here B) GM didn't do any real advertising. I've read of some folks getting fully loaded Essence models for $25-28K new. This was pre-pandemic however, before car prices went to the moon.

What I've read is that at some point very early on in bringing the Tour-X to the US, PSA (Stellantis) bought Opel, which left GM with no stake in the company. So I surmise that they cut all marketing budgets and only imported enough to satisfy whatever volume requirement they had before PSA completely took over.

 

[dishdude]

A buddy of mine has one of these, loves it.