Gadgetory

Verano it means summer and espanol which kind of fits because Buick is trying to make hay while the Sun shines on compact premium cars let's drive this 2013 Verano premium t4 turbo and check the tech so what is a Verano well it's got a lot of GM DNA that you'll recognize it's a cousin to the Chevy Cruze in terms of platform and it's a sibling to the Opel Astra we don't get that here in the US but you can see it's part of a very big broad platform for General Motors spot a Verano by its tiny size kind of three series looking rear quarter and by the trademark Buick grille a toothy affair that comes almost as far back on the hood as the freakish headlights on a Nissan Leaf also spot one of these guys by the ventiports I think only Buick maybe Maserati do these things they are fake portholes that date back to 1949 even back then they didn't actually go through the hood they are decoration but their signature Buick there's this complicated formula that you Buick buffs know for how they decided if there are three or four on each side great Buick trivia some combination of trim and number of cylinders all I know is this this may be the first era for which there are more ventiports on the hood than there are cylinders under it the first thing most folks notice when they get in the Verano is wow it's kind of fancy in here you've got three different kinds of metal trim metal eyes trim two or three shades of soft trim around that to my eye since my opinion it's fancy the way in Olive Garden is Italian which isn't to say that neither are but there's something kind of ear sets about it now the belle of the ball is this screen right here this is the IntelliLink interface in a 7-inch touch LCD but kind of set back into that cowl all verrano's have the intelliwhite not all of them though have DVD and navigation you have to option up into that standard sources include bluetooth streaming Pandora and stitcher via Bluetooth link and on the more mundane side am/fm CD satellite USB plus iPod aux jack all the hits you want but notice no HD radio here's what may be the oddest start/stop switch I've ever seen on a car it's so fiddly and dainty it took me like a full minute to figure out how to start this thing the first time I'm looking over here for a big ol engine button that thing's weird also weird and more substantially so are some interface gaffes on this car just three that come to mind for example let's say I'm listening to Pandora or radio or satellite doesn't matter from that screen I can't get to the tone controls to do so I have to go to home then I have to go next then I have to hit the tone app and now I can adjust the sound that's interface for interfaces sake I think here's another one the climate control knobs just have a couple of representative temperatures on them I don't really know where I am to find out I have to actually move the temperature then about a second later this comes up at the bottom of the display now I see what temperature I'm on then I can move the temperature where I want it by then the display is gone and it has to come back to confirm what I just did that's a mess and you'll use temperature controls a thousand times in a car like this and like many Ford's this screen is set too far in surrounded by this fence of kind of plastic garnish it's hard to get to these buttons that are down here and in many cases they're just too damn small and notice this these buttons here on the Pandora screen and many others are very small hard to hit you got this plastic garnish in the way but I can't use my control knob to get to them you have to touch them or nothing now our little verrano's got a high-tech motor up front because we have the premium trim all the other cars get a fairly routine 2.4 liter for we have a smaller - liter side saddle for with an intercooled turbo and direct injection variable valve timing just about everything's been thrown at it that gives you some nice numbers from a little motor 250 horse 260 foot-pounds of torque 0 to 64 this thirty five hundred and fifty pound car takes a tidy 6.2 seconds while delivering 21:30 rated MPG front wheel drive on this car only two choices for transmission 6-speed automatic or 6-speed manual that's a pick now buick says all verrano's get quiet tuning not sport tuning that's very telling and the driving is exactly what's promised smooth and quiet at all times it's a capable handling car but it doesn't reach into the serious driving realm at any time as for the engine the revs float too high and for too long between gears a lot of modern cars do this although this car has no lift shift which means you can keep your foot flat on the accelerator while you work the clutch on the gear shifter and it'll handle rev matching a weird sort of hot hatch feature to find on a car like this okay this price or Verano $30,000 on the nose delivered for the premium the top trim that includes the turbo engine nine hundred bucks for that glass power sunroof that's a nice addition 795 to add nav and DVD playback to the IntelliLink head unit we're at like 31 7 with just about everything seen that style now here's my take on this car it's lots above Accord Camry infusion but below 3-series and c-class and it's got its own sort of an identity crisis it's got sporty things like a turbo motor no lift shift and the available six-speed but it's mostly a very nice car with lots of chrome and bling and a very comfortable ride I'm not sure it knows what it wants to be but for you it's the car to consider when you want to get a compact that feels like you're driving more than you paid for