Test Drive: 2013 Buick Verano Turbo

The 2013 Buick Verano Turbo has new features that compete with luxury brands. Find out how the new compact sedan drives.

Buick has worked hard to overcome its reputation of offering stodgy sedans for an -ahem!-mature market. It added new life to the LaCrosse and Regal and followed this up with the 2013 Verano. The Verano is a sharp looking compact sedan (perhaps a bit too compact in the back seat with useful amenities such as leather heated seats and navigation that make it very competitive.

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2013 Buick Verano Turbo

Base Price: Starts at $28,695

Power: 250 HP

Fuel Economy: 8.4L/100km

Test Drive

The driving experience wasn’t great: a tad slow and sluggish. But the 2013 edition comes with a Turbo model featuring a 2.0 L turbocharged, four-cylinder engine that outputs 250 HP. With improved responsiveness, it now competes well against the BMW 3-Series and Lexus IS 250 – both of which have higher starting prices.

And while it’s got more vim, it’s one of the quietest compacts I’ve driven this year. Inside, I found it both stylish and comfortable, with soft-touch materials complementing the superb finish that runs across the dash and side panels. The main drawback was the centre console, which contained a mass of black buttons that didn’t mesh with the rest of the interior.

A solid debut into the entry luxe market, the Verano will not only help re-shape the public’s perception of Buick but also steal some drivers from higher-end nameplates.

Zoomer consumer bonus: Rear parking assist; rear cross traffic alert; side blind zone alert; heated steering wheel.

—Travis Persaud

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